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Towing broken down FWD & AWD

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Oreopride18

20+ Year Contributor
278
0
Jun 19, 2002
Crestview_Fl
I've wondered about this (no, I don't park in "No Parking" zones)

If my AWD gets towed by two wheels and the differential gets fried do I have to pay for the damage done or would it come out of the private property/towing companies pocket?
 
You don't need to remove the drive shaft completely. You unbolt it from the rear and then zip-tie it off to the side, exhaust works great for this. This only works if you are putting the front wheels on the dolly and leaving the rears on the ground.
 
And its 3 bolts...the 4 bolt was only from may till december of 92, but exactly what he said, if you zip tie it to the exhaist like ^^^said, well I hope you dont hit a bump. I would just take it all the way off so you dont take the chance of it falling and hitting the road and now you have to go get another driveshaft, dont 1/2 ass it and zip tie it, or you may be paying some more $$$ if the easily breakable zip ties break.
 
I'm FINALLY picking up a 90 tsi AWD tommorow, I went to u-haul today and got a 4wd car trailer. I have some questions to minimize the guessing I will have to do to load it up. I've towed boats and jet ski's before, but never a car. Trailering it will not be a problem with the Dodge 3500 turbo diesel.

How far onto the trailer should I go?
Should I strap it down with more straps then they provided me?
Maximum speed?

Also I have never towed with the new truck, it is a 6 speed, how should I go of shifting it? Higher rpm's/lower rpm's

And finally, this is not a needed answer and I will probably be flamed for it, but the guy is including a tubular manifold and the stock manifold, will the stock manifold bolt up to the 3g eclipse 4 cyl? My buddy has one and wants to buy them if they do fit. Just a question so I don't have to go to the 3g sites.
:talon:
 
Hey, I have done this several times with my 1990 tsi awd. When I bought it it was about 400 miles away and we towed it all the way home with a minivan. You will want to put the wheels up to the lip of the trailer, put the e-brake on, then pull the straps from the back of the wheel (up and over) to the tensioner on the front of the trailer. It is very helpful to mount the car backwards on the trailer (engine away from the towing vehicle) so that all the weight isn't concentrated on the vehicles rear suspension. This may not be an issue for you, but with a minivan its nice to have over 3 inches of suspension travel. You might want to get a hand pulley from like sears or something because these awd's are little tanks, without the pulley it was just me and my dad pushing the talon up onto the trailer and both of our backs hurt afterwards. As for speed I'd say 65-70 tops, we did it in the van and it felt fine, just be careful with the bumps for obvious reasons. The trailer provides you with enough straps, the car is perfectly stable on it. The two most important things that I've learned from trailering my car is to put it on the trailer backwards and if it doesn't run use a winch.

A 1G manifold will not fit a 3g engine, they are completely different engines.

Sorry, can't help you with shifting strategies. Going uphill or merging on the highway keep it at higher rpm's until at cruising speed for sure though.

Good luck, you'll love awd.:rocks:

-Andrew
 
Yeah, the car runs, so I will be able to drive it. The engine was just rebuilt (89 miles on it) and I'm driving from Columbus to Pittsburgh, so I do not want to drive it home without the engine being broken in at all. I'm probably going to pull it on backwards.

I know I will love the AWD, I know for a fact I won't miss running at the track in my mazda and spinning first even with running only a 15.9. I also can't wait to shut the kids that parents buy their cars for them and think they are fast. People call me a #### because I say if you want to run, come to the track on wednesdays, but yet they are scared to run their 14 second mustangs.

Thanks for the info on the 3g, I wasn't sure and did not feel like registering just to ask one question.
 
About that 3g manifold. I believe I mis-informed you. Sorry I didn't even think about the 4cyl version even though you mentioned it. The 4 cylinder engine has a 4g64 block (I believe) so the manifold should bolt up to it. Sorry, I was out of it and thinking of the 6 cylinder engine as a 4 cylinder. Good luck with everything.
-Andrew
 
So I want to go pick up my car and it's a 98 Eclipse GSX. Is it possible to put it on a tow dolly? with just the front wheels jacked up? Someone told me because it's AWD that wouldn't be possible..... is it?
 
it's not that it's out of my price range to get the flat bed... they're only $50 from UHaul. BUT, my friend is the only person I know right now that would let me use a vehicle capable of towing a car on a flat bed, and it's a Durango. WICKED BAD gas mileage. I'd have to drive from Albany to Old Forge and back with that thing. So, the gas is what would kill me. It's end up going from $50 to $200+ just to go get it.
 
You can put your rear wheels on dollie rollers and jack up the front wheels. The tires don't move because they are on rollers. It's usually cheaper then a flatbed if you have to do it.
 
I think they all realize that. It's more that most people are not going to pull the main drive shaft out on the street.

You either get a flat bed, or tow with the rear wheels on dollies. You simply CAN NOT tow the car with the front wheels jacked up and rear wheels on the ground, neutral or not. You will burn out the transfter case and cause other pain in in the ass to fix damage to the driveline.

If you really must tow with the rear wheels on the ground, you must pull the center drive shaft out to disconnect the rear wheels from the front.
 
DSMJim said:
I think they all realize that. It's more that most people are not going to pull the main drive shaft out on the street.

You either get a flat bed, or tow with the rear wheels on dollies. You simply CAN NOT tow the car with the front wheels jacked up and rear wheels on the ground, neutral or not. You will burn out the transfter case and cause other pain in in the ass to fix damage to the driveline.

If you really must tow with the rear wheels on the ground, you must pull the center drive shaft out to disconnect the rear wheels from the front.

Yep...about 2 weeks after I bought my GSX, it broke down on me..so I got a tow truck. Didn't know it had to be a flatbed though..so my car was towed with the rear wheels on the ground for about half a mile since the auto hobby shop was right around the corner. It wasn't until later that I learned all 4 wheels had to be off the ground..my car's drivetrain's been fine though. This was about 3 years ago.
 
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