I'm going to be towing my 1st gen from Pittsburgh to L.A. using a tow dolly, is that safe to do? Do I need to loosen the dif?

 

That's all you do is put the trans in nuetral.

Are you renting a tow dolly?

 

I've been under the impression that towing with the rear wheels on the ground, the driveshaft needs to be removed. This is due to the output shaft turning from the rear and not being able to circulate the tranny lube effectively. When only the rear of the main shaft rotates and the lower shaft doesn't, no lube is slung up for the bearings.

The Owner's Manual does say it can be flat towed however. For that distance, I would remove the driveshaft.

 

Is the car an automatic or manual? Probably ok if it's a manual. Maybe not if it's an automatic.

Kris

 

+1



I tow dolly all the time and they tow great.

 

I tow mine backwards. Put the rear wheels up on the dolly, lock the fronts, and don't worry about it (mine's an auto). But it does start to walk around on the highway every once in a while. Scary when you're towing with a little Ranger.

 

Either remove the driveshaft or tow it backwards. Im assuming its a manual trans. You will wipe out the trans if you tow it on the rear wheels with the shaft installed.

Trochoid is correct. The way the trans works, you will not get the oil to climb up the gears and lube them and the bearings. The output shaft is decoupled from the input shaft in neutral and the layshaft is coupled to the input shaft. Consequently the layshaft will not be turning, so with the layshaft being at the bottom of the trans, it needs to turn to make the gear oil climb up the cluster.

FYI- If you decide to disconnect the driveshaft and tie it up so you dont have to drain the trans, tie it securely! I towed from FL to NY years ago (Olds station wagon, not the 7). I didnt tie it secure enough. Needless to say its now embedded in a road somewhere in Newark. Also some roads dont allow you to tow on two wheels, i.e. NJ Turnpike (which forced me to drive the back way all the way through NJ, hence the reason I ended up driving the local potholed/ bomb cratered roads of lovely Newark).

Bottom line- NEVER tow an Rx-7 on its rear wheels with the driveshaft installed.

 

Removed my the driveshaft on the Mariah when I tow dollied it from KS to AL.

I got lazy and didn't do that for the short tow from north AL to Nashville. I wrecked a perfectly good tranny doing that.

I towed a car backwards twice. It's nerve racking. For the long haul from PA to LA it's a no brainer - drop the driveshaft.

 

I must of been lucky with my towing. I have towed probably 7-10 RX-7's distances from 200-300 miles without taking off the driveshaft and never have had a problem destroying a transmission. The only one that I actually removed the driveshaft from was an automatic equipped one.
I have only used a dolly once since I had access to the old tow bar style that you see on the front of Jeeps when people tow them behind their motorhomes. The mounting points attach right to the front tow hooks of the RX-7.

 

Doc, you have been lucky.

The transmission bearings only get lubricated when the input shaft spins and turns the gears. The trans bearings get zero lubrication when the input shaft is stopped, and the output shaft is spinning.

Flat towing without disconnecting the driveshaft can damage the transmission. The long tow from Pittsburg to L.A. will definitely damage the transmission bearings.

 

i didnt think there was another member from pittsburgh on here.

 

If you don't want to risk tying the driveshaft out of the way and don't want to lose your trans fluid. Take a cap off of a can of carb spray or brake clean, etc and stick it in the end of the tailshaft then wrap a few large rubber bands around the outside of the cap. Works like a charm.

 

Why not just get a bigger tow dolly and put the whole car on there? If not, Then pull driveshaft like stated.

 

That's what I did. Then you don't need to pull the driveshaft. All four wheels off the ground is the only thing good enough for my 7's

 

Have you guys seen the cost of renting a car trailer or even a tow dolly for that distance? It's a ton of money. :-(

 

Thats exactly how I dragged the last two 7's home.

 

I'm curious. Did you remove the driveshaft?

 

I had the exact question last year when I wanted to tow dolly a 79 RX7 from Des Moines to Minneapolis. The full trailer was more expensive and also much heavier for my tow vehicle. Answers on the subject were split between "drop the driveshaft you will ruin the tranny" to "it is a manual trans, you can tow with the rear wheels on the ground." I was of the opinion that I could tow with the rear wheels on the ground with a manual trans, but absolutely could not if it was an automatic. I eventually went to the local Mazda dealer and asked a couple of the mechanics in the shop who assured me that a tow dolly with the rear wheels on the ground and the transmission in neutral would not be a problem.

For your own piece of mind, I would talk to a good mechanic at a Mazda dealer.

Good luck.

 

No, but it wasn't very far, 20-30 miles.

 

Ok, I wanted to get some more info about this subject so that I would be educated if the question came up in the future.

I just spoke with the owner that I know of a local Transmission shop. He has been in the business for over 25 years.

This info is based on a occasional or single tow.
Short distances are not a concern.
A one time tow of 300 miles or less with a trans that has no existing bearing problems with the front countershaft bearing is not a concern. Meaning that the chances of it doing any damage to the trans is hihgly unlikely.
Very long tows or regular towing is a concern and will eventually lead to failure of the transmission.
He informed me that what you can do if you do alot of towing of your older vehicles with a manual transmission is to overfill the trans. He said that you can take and install a elbow into the side of the transmission fill hole and extend the level up by a couple of inches then fill to the top and cap it off. This way if you towed there would always be fluid in the input shaft bearings at all times.
It will not harm the transmission whatsoever.
If you do not do this his recommendation is if you are going to tow the vehicle more than a local tow (20-100 miles) that it would be better to remove the driveshaft as to avoid any potential damage to the input bearings.

Hope this helps to clarify.

Remember this applies to our older cars. Newer vehicles are a whole different story and you need to consult with a trans shop or your owners manual.

 

Thanks for all the feedback!!! Sorry I wasn't able to respond earlier. I think after hearing all of the suggestions, I'm going to go with putting it on a trailer. I just got my 85 back from paint and she also runs unbelievably smooth (only 72,000 on original engine). I'm newer to the site and will try to post some pics. And yes... there is another guy from pittsburgh on the site. Thanks again for all the great feedback!