Dolly towing

[daveymc29]

So the Ace mechanic has a friend who is planning on using his dolly to tow his A. Been thinking about this for some several days lately. If the car is being towed in neutral how is the rear bearing being oiled? (Please don't ask me how I already know you shouldn't tow it in gear.) The cluster gear will just lay there in the oil and the output shaft is turning in its bearing above the oil level unless having it on the dolly puts the front of the tranny high enough to make the oil level in the rear of the tranny reach the rear tranny bearing. I could see for a short haul the residual oil would be enough, but on a real trip? I'm thinking he should at least put the Mitchell OD in the neutral position. Would that solve the problem? Or am I overthinking something that isn't a problem?

[J Franklin]

I towed with a tow bar as a kid and solved this by overfilling the transmission by taking the tower off to fill. there wasn't a Mitchell trans back then.

[Big hammer]

Your not over thinking, what about the rear hub bearings, diff, u-joint?
I would put the OD in high, wouldn’t it be turning tranny slower and lubing the OD? Sounds like over filling the tranny worked. Would a can slipped down over the tower and a smaller hole for the shifter keep the tranny in neutral?

[Jim Brierley]

Like J Franklin, I flat-towed my A for many miles, often over 100 miles per trip. I have a Columbia OD, and put it in high range, hook up and go. I never over-filled the trans or anything else. Low gear in the trans dips into the oil, and splashes it everywhere. The one thing I did when flat-towing was to disconnect the steering drag link, otherwise it wouldn't always return to straight-ahead after a turn.

[burner31]

I am not a fan of towing A's on a dolly or a tow bar.
If I was to get rear-ended, I would rather them hit the back of my trailer then the back of my A.

[Corley]

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Originally Posted by Jim Brierley

Low gear in the trans dips into the oil, and splashes it everywhere.

Jim, when towing in neutral, low gear does not turn, so no oil splashing all around. In fact, nothing in the trans turns except the output shaft, so you are living on the residual oil in the output bearing. I'd be sure to stop and drive it a bit every 100 miles or so to splash some more oil onto that bearing.

[160B]

Years ago a dolly towed Model A slipped into gear during the tow and substantial damage was done as a result of the high speed tow to the engine and transmission.

[Chris Haynes]

Tie the steering wheel and put the rear wheels on the dolly like we do with automatic transmissions.

[CarlG]

Several years ago I had a catastrophic engine failure while close to 600 miles from home. ended up towing it the first 160 miles with a tow strap, just to get back to civilization. The intent there was to rent a U-haul trailer to get it back home, but there were none to be had. Next best thing was to use a tow bar and flat tow it the remaining 400 miles. Throughout the whole ordeal, just towed it with the transmission in neutral. Did not perceive any damage to the transmission and/or differential. 5,000+ miles later and everything still checks out OK.

I don't want to do that ever again though.

[daveymc29]

Corley, This was my thought also, no oil splashing while towing in neutral. I'm guessing one would be fine for a while on residual oil. Then if you can start the engine every 50 t0 100 miles I'm thinking it would work fine. Gives you a chance to check all the connections also. things can happen. Wouldn't need to drive it because even in neutral the engine will be turning the cluster gear. So maybe it's okay to dolly tow but better on a trailer if you get hit from the rear? Oh my. Off topic, but we were in Springfield Mo. on our bike, stopped behind a car at the signal and I saw my gas gauge said empty. As luck would have it there was a gas station twenty feet to my right so I drove toward it and heard a violent crash. You guessed it, the guy I was behind was rear ended at about 30/40 MPH. My luck day, would have made orphans out of our kids and messed up a beautiful bike.

[Jw]

Rent a Uhaul trailer, worries over!

[Tom Wesenberg]

No need to drive it to splash oil in the tranny. Running the engine with the tranny in neutral will spin the countershaft and throw oil around.

[Keith True]

I've never understood the idea that the shift lever could drop into gear while being towed.I've tried to find someone it actually happened to,and get the circumstances,but it's always been the friend of a friend etc.Try running your A up to 40 or so,stick it in neutral,shut the engine off,and try to clap the trans in gear without the clutch.It ain't going in.It's just going to hurt your hand trying.Also,the idea that that engine is going to go from zero RPM to 1500 RPM without the tow driver realizing it is kind of absurd.For that engine and flywheel to suddenly start turning would put the tow drivers nose into the steering wheel in a hurry.I have tried to drive off hooked to an A with a towbar,and left the car in gear.It takes a half second to realize you are hooked to a boat anchor.

[katy]

when towing in neutral, low gear does not turn

Not true, the low/reverse gear is on the output shaft, so ifn the output shaft is turning, so is the gear. It's not 'in' low gear as the gear is not engaged w/the cluster gear.