towing dollys

[brettp]

Any one use these are they safe?

[bozie]

they are safe i used 1 to get my escort when i bought it but legally the car on the dolly has to have Tax, mot and insurance. but i never heard of anyone being stoped.

[herb capri]

oh there is allways a copper out there who will stop you! but you can allways book the towed car for a mot even if its a rot box,i did it once and was stopped ,i told the officer, i am not going to rebuild it if its a death trap so mot is best way of checking,,,,,,he let me off for a good blag!

ON more serious note THERE WAS A CAR TOWED ON ONE OF THESE THAT HAD A MAJOR SMASH!

the gear box of an anglia estate was dry and though it had tax and test ,the oil had "left the building" on the M5 it was towed and the box siezed, the engine ripped out of the mounts, twisted then jammed , the prop pulled out and pole vaulted the car across the motorway!

SO CHECK YOUR OIL!!!!!

MIKE

[deltamal]

Does the prop need to be disconnected when towing? seem to remember one of the guys in the OSFDC used one to tow his Pop to a meet, the oil drained to the back of the box causing the bearings to run dry and seizing nice new T5 box! just a thought...

[mk3cokebottle]

i wouldnt do it on a regular basis , there ok for short journeys but wouldnt suggest making it a regular thing to take a car to a show or track you better off buying a trailer you can get a trailer for the same price as a decent dolly anyway.

 

There are also rules that legally mean the car that is being towed effectivley becomes a trailer which means it needs to be braked when being towed because of the weight thats why when you see big american camper vans towing little fiats ,smart cars etc you will also find that the brakes are connected through a new a frame idea which is towed from above the bumper and not of the bottom arms

[Col-ashtonmobile]

used a towing a frame for over 20 years , always used a trailer board with correct number plate on and correct functioning lights and never had a problem , and will use one for cf show this year

[Toby]

Does the prop need to be disconnected when towing? seem to remember one of the guys in the OSFDC used one to tow his Pop to a meet, the oil drained to the back of the box causing the bearings to run dry and seizing nice new T5 box! just a thought...

I would advise disconnecting the prop too. I towed mine to Shakey and when I got there the box was broken. James Harris had a similar problem and there's a few mentioned in this post now.

When you drive your car the layshaft in the bottom of the box spins and slashes the oil over the rest of the box. When you tow any rwd ford the prop spins the main shaft inside the top gear set which has no effect on distributing the oil hence the problems. The lower the diff ratio the higher the prop speed for any given towing speed, which is possibly why some people don't experience any problems.

My advice is two fold. One - remove your prop. Two - do your braking in a straight line and drive carefully.

[Fiesta Steve]

..and 3. Don't bother trying to reverse

[Col-ashtonmobile]

4, careful at roundabouts if you,ve got a welded diff !!

[Toby]

4, careful at roundabouts if you,ve got a welded diff !!

 

And if you haven't

[Col-ashtonmobile]

4, careful at roundabouts if you,ve got a welded diff !!

 

And if you haven't

 

keep your eyes on the road ahead

welded diff keep looking behind to make sure its not trying to overtake you

[FBF]

No good towing 4x4's seems obvious now but you would be suprised, also autos shouldnt be towed more than 20 miles max and that should be slowly if at all.

[banarama]

i stick to trailer