Towing car with no engine using a tow dolly

[roger1]

Anyone ever done this?
I just made a deal on a GTO project car but the car is about 850 miles from me. The engine and transmission are out of the car.

I'd like to rent a tow dolly because they are inexpensive to rent 1-way and it would keep the weight down and be less stress on my 2014 Acadia that I'll be hauling it with. The engine and transmission are there but the engine is totally disassembled. I figured I'd load those into the back my Acadia.

This is going to be from AZ to TX and I'm talking mid Oct to mid Nov sometime to make the trip. So the weather will be cooler. A Uhaul tow dolly is 750 lbs and the car without the engine should be about 2900 lbs. So that's a total towing weight of 3650 lbs and about 800 lbs in the back of the Acadia. Tow rating on a 2014 Acadia is 5200 lbs. So my combined cargo weight would still be less than what it's rated to tow alone. I think it should be able to handle that in cool weather and I'll take it pretty easy.

The thing that concerns me with a tow dolly is that without the engine in the car, there would be more weight on the rear wheels than on the front. Uhaul says cars being hauled with the dolly they rent should have more weight in the front than rear or it may cause whipping.
They also say it is not allowed to put the rear of the car onto the dolly and tow backwards.

 

[Longroof79]

I would've figured it to be okay to put the rear of the car on the tow dolly, but of course the front wheels would have to be straight and locked in place. Perhaps for legal reasons they suggest that the rear to be facing back....I don't know. I used a tow dolly once to tow my 914, but it was a short distance. I put the front of the car on the dolly. I've also flat towed one of my cars, but I wouldn't recommend that for a long haul. I could understand you being concerned about the tow weight. After all, you're trying to limit the wear and tear on your tow vehicle.
Of course, the safest way would be putting the car on a flatbed or enclosed trailer.

 

[pagrunt]

I've towed the rolling frame for my Monte with one but it was for a 5 mile trip when we bought the house. Worst case is put some ballast up front to offset the weight. Not what the drive train weighs just something to help. One thing to keep in mind Uhaul will ask what will be towing & what is being towed. If it's the wrong combo they'll deny the rental regardless of how incomplete or how under weight of the towed vehicle is.

 

[pontiacgp]

I would've figured it to be okay to put the rear of the car on the tow dolly, but of course the front wheels would have to be straight and locked in place. Perhaps for legal reasons they suggest that the rear to be facing back....I don't know. I used a tow dolly once to tow my 914, but it was a short distance. I put the front of the car on the dolly. I've also flat towed one of my cars, but I wouldn't recommend that for a long haul. I could understand you being concerned about the tow weight. After all, you're trying to limit the wear and tear on your tow vehicle.
Of course, the safest way would be putting the car on a flatbed.

if you have the drive train with rwd then yes you need to tow it by the back or you'll burn up the transmission if its an automatic and you don't remove the driveshaft.

 

[ck80]

if you have the drive train with rwd then yes you need to tow it by the back or you'll burn up the transmission if its an automatic and you don't remove the driveshaft.

This is correct.

Best practice, IF you want to use the tow dolly, is to remove the driveshaft and have a plug in the tailshaft of the transmission to keep the fluid in. Sounds like this is out of the car though...

if the body is intact and only the engine/trans are out I'm not sure how much difference there will be between the front and rear end of the car. If really worried about it maybe you could just put the engine back on the cross member with the 2 motor mount bolts, and maybe heads with 4 bolts each just to secure to the car for ballast.

I'd also bring 2 known good rims/tires so one of the ones on the car doesn't have a blowout.

 

[fleming442]

U-haul tralers are aluminum. Back the car on. A swaying trailer will tighten your puckering string. I'd hate to see you end up in a ditch with that short wheelbase.

 

[roger1]

Appreciate the replies.
It sounds like a tow dolly behind my Acadia isn't a gread idea.
I just found another option that isn't as expensive as I thought it would be. And it should be plenty safe and all the parts can go in the truck and not worry about rain. Just have to figure out the best way to get to Phoenix. And btw, this is a '69 GTO convertible project car and I don't want to take any chances of something happening to it.

 

[popeye1978]

I've done the U-Haul truck & Auto Hauler rig myself, I think for your situation it's a good decision. Options to get to Phoenix are:

• Rent a car 1-way
• Rent the truck "local" and pick-up trailer in Phoenix (daily fees for the truck may make this more expensive) ... call U-Haul Scheduling as the website will confuse itself, if even to just get a quote
• Airplane, bus, or train

 

[DRIVEN]

I own a retired Uhaul tow dolly and have towed all kinds of things on it. Easily 10000 miles with everything from sandrails to squarebody Suburbans. Your biggest concern would probably be your tow vehicle. I wouldn't hesitate to tow an engineless '69 GTO with a full size pickup but your Acadia might just be a little light. Renting a little truck is a safe bet. Either a little car trailer or dolly would be fine.

 

[DRIVEN]

One other thing, you might run a CL or Facebook ad for transport and make some extra cash on your way home. Lots of extra room back there to haul stuff. There's always people looking to ship heavy parts and motorcycles.