Gary, I haven't flat towed or used a tow dolly for quite a while, but this is what I have been told: The basic reason for disconnecting the driveshaft of an vehicle with an automatic is that, even in neutral, an extended tow could build up pressure in the transmission that could result in leaks or damage. In the old days, when I used to flat tow a stick shifted race car across the New Mexico desert to the drag strip in Demming, I had a front u-joint fail at high speed en route. I was young and dumb (now I am old and dumb). Thanks to dumb luck, nothing really bad happened, but after that, I always disconnected the driveshaft at the rear and tied it up securely with never a problem. Of course, the drive shafts on most, if not all. FL cars do not have simple u-joints, but I have had most of mine converted to the newer style and am very pleased with the results. As a final thought, it may be easier and safer if you were to borrow or rent a car trailer. Good Luck, -mel in the foggy Oregon Coast Range Mel Lester Jr. meljr@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.connet80.com/~meljr Plymouths: 56 Custom Suburban 2DR SW 56 Savoy 2DR Sedan 56 Savoy 4DR Sedan 63 Sport Fury Convertible 63 Fury 4DR HT Racecar 65 Belvedere II Convertible Dodges: 73 Dart 340 Sport Pro St. 76 D100 Adventurer PU 76 D100 Warlock PU 80 Aspen SE /6 Racecar 89 Shelby Dakota Racer 93 Viper RT/10 Others: 74 Dodge B300 Carryvan 98 Dodge Intrepid ES 63 Austin Healey 3000 71 Triumph Spitfire 81 Fiat 2000 Spider 84 Chevrolet Caprice wagon 00 Honda Shadow ACE Tourer 1100 On Sun, 17 Dec 2000, G Graham wrote: > Hello, again, > > I need to tow my '56 ply about 120 miles and am planning to use a tow > dolly. There was considerable discussion on my MG list about the > necessity for disconnecting the propellor (drive) shaft, although no > one could come up with a good reason for it. Many listers mentioned > that they had towed their cars without disconnecting the shaft with no > ill effects. > > What's the preference here? to disconnect or just leave it alone and > let it follow me? > > tia > > gary > > ===== > G Graham > ICQ #713205 > Phonefree ID #3442666 > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. > http://shopping.yahoo.com/ >
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