yeah if it's auto, I'd pull the driveshaft, or start it and let it idle in neutral for 30 seconds every 10 - 15 miles.


if it's stick, don't even worry about it.

Yes you assumed.:)

The person that posted the question of what is wrong with it was referring to why the thread starter was taking it to a shop.

As far as disconnecting the driver shaft on a M/T vehicle. It is recommended that you do so if you are going to tow it for longer distance such as 100 miles or more. But I can tell you from experience from towing over 20 7's over the years that I have never encountered a problem and have towed 1 way around 300 miles.

If you don't want to go through the hassle of removing the drive shaft you can do what I stated in the thread link I supplied in a previous post.

Well the car made it fine, and is now repaired.

Anybody from north Texas, the guys at The Rotary Shop in fort worth are a good group. Recommended!

I flat towed my spec rx7 for about 6 years before I got a trailer (needed the trailer brakes to slow everything down safely). Never pulled the driveshaft. Many of the other racers do the same thing. My tows are typically 300-500 miles each way. Had no problem with tranny or rear end. That's about 36000 miles of flat towing. Just finally blew my tranny (the one the factory installed) this weekend after 8 years of racing.

Don't worry about towing it with the rear wheels on the ground. Just make sure the tranny is in neutral and emergency brake is off.

towing a RX-7
 

Im looking at putting the front tires up and towing it for about 6 hours. Its a 5 speed, will this cause any trouble if I put it in neutral?

Thanks

minimal. if you are really worried you can disconnect the driveshaft... its all up to you

Agreed, leave the vehicle in neutral and you should be fine. If you're really concerned about it you can either do the rear end up, or disconnect the driveshaft.

Towing
 

You don't need to disconnect the driveshaft if you do that the transmission will leak. The proper way to tow the rx-7 is from the rear. Make sure the steering wheel is locked and you will not have a problem.

You definitely want to tow it from the rear, towing it from the front in neutral for a long distance will destroy your transmission. The reason is because the oil level in the transmission only covers the countershaft which is turned by the input shaft when the engine is running. The spinning of the countershaft is what slings the oil up onto output shaft. Without the engine running, damage will occur to the output bearings, as well as the bearings inside the gears riding on the output shaft.

Tow from front, remove driveshaft, cap end of tranny to prevent leaking (use a spray paint can top + duct tape or cut the front off an old driveshaft and use that to plug it).

or..just get a tralier and then you don't have to worry about anything. :)

Darn, I have a couple of different opinions on this. I was hoping everyone would agree. Anyway, I really dont want to mess with the drive shaft simply because I have never done that before and do not know what Im doing. The towing backward I had not thought about. Why is that better? Im guess the front tires are not connected to anything that could be damaged by towing? Any other opinions out there? I think I could drive the car but just to be safe I was thinking about simply towing to be sure I had no mechanical issues on my 6 hour drive back home.

If you tow from the back, there is nothing to damage. You have to make sure that the wheels are straight and will stay that way (tie with bungee cords/rope). If you tow from the front, it will tow straight, but you have to worry about possible tranny damage with the shaft connected. However, pulling the driveshaft is super easy. Jack up the rear, support with stands, remove the 4 nuts/bolts hold the driveshaft to the rear and slide it out. Probably take 5 mintues to do. Then cap the end of the tranny, and you are good to go.

If you are renting the tow dolly, consider a trailer instead. Usually they are like $10 more, but then you don't have to mess with anything. Load the car, strap it down, and take off. :)

Yes, I might just do that SE. I towed the 81 Z28 back form Nashville about a year ago on a U-haul trailer. I guess I will do that or simply drive it. The guy I thinking about getting it from assures me I can drive it without any difficulty. He may be right, but its still an 84 and I would hate to get stuck beside the interstate 3-4 hours from home.

I have merged these threads together because we just covered this less than 3 weeks ago. :-(

you have to understand how the internals of your transmission are lubricated to understand why the driveshaft does or does not have to be pulled. fyi, i have not read the entire thread so if this is already posted then credit goes to the original poster.

manual transmissions simply have fluid floating in the bottom. as the gears rotate that fluid slings everywhere and lubricates everything inside the case, therefore when the driveshaft is rotating, anything that needs lubrication is getting lubrication, so tow to your hearts content.

automatics are lubricated with lube pressure created by the transmission pump when the converter is spinning, therefore if the engine is not running there is no pressure and no lube, you will burn your transmission up (ive seen an auto burned up in as short a distance as 2 miles from lack of lube, so dont attempt this). alot of people will say that with an auto if you leave the engine running you can tow it. this may work, but its not a good idea. most automatic transmissions have a pressure regulator valve that changes main pressure and lube pressure throughout the transmission in different gears, obviously you will never be running your car at 60 mph at idle, so your transmission may very well not be recieving proper lube if you tow it with the engine idling.

long story short, if its a manual, stick it in neutral and you are fine. if its an automatic, pull the driveshaft.

i dont mean to question your knowledge, im simply curious. all of the manual transmissions i have had apart/rebuilt over the years have worked like this:

the countershaft (soked in oil) rotates anytime the output shaft does as they are splined directly together. the input shaft only rotates when the engine is running and clutch engaged. the gear shift position determines which gears on the input and counter shaft are splined together, therefore giving you a gear ratio. im confused about your statement about the countershaft only rotating when the input shaft rotates. if that is the case, what engages the counter shaft to the output shaft.

like i said, i am certainly not trying to be a dick, just trying to make sure im not misinforming anybody,because until now ive never seen an issue with towing a manual transmission vehicle with the driveshaft in place.

huh? That's ignoring the fact that the differential has an input shaft that can spin the transmission.

Actually, open differentials apply equal torque to both wheels all the time. If one wheel is up in the air, it can't apply any torque, and so the wheel on the ground gets no torque as well. Limited slip locks the wheels and applies equal speed to both wheels, supplying different torque to each.

So....bottom line, if its a manual, I can put on dolly and tow as much as I need without damage? Are most agreeable with this?

yes. that is of course assuming that the transmission has the proper ammount of fluid in it, but i would hope you havent been driving it if it doesnt. :hahaha:

keep in mind, if you DO choose to pull a driveshaft, be it an auto or a manual, be prepared to loose fluid out of the tailshaft of the transmission, so have some rags handy.

Slow5oh: It could very well depend on the trans. On the ones ive seen, while the output shaft is geared to the countershaft, in neutral the gears on the output shaft are not locked to the shaft and allow it to turn freely inside the gears. Heres a picture of a basic 5 speed:
http://www.edmunds.com/media/ownersh...tangt5.500.jpg

For that distance, and to play it safe, I would still recommend towing from the front with the driveshaft removed (or grab a trailer).

When you tow from the rear, you need to get the wheels locked straight (even then might be a difficult tow with how sloppy some of our steering systems are).

I've done about a 2hr tow on a dolly (from front, driveshaft connected). Didn't seem to do any damage, but you never know. On a 6hr tow, I would disconnect the driveshaft if I were you.

If you are going very short distances you don't have to worry about the transmission.

If you want to make sure the transmission is being lubricated properly then install an elbow in the filler hole and fill the transmission to the top. This was recommended from 3 transmissions shops that I had dealt with in the past.
I recommend the above if not disconnecting the drive-shaft and a tow of more than 100 miles.

I did this on my Se when I towed it from Ca to Oregon. It was approx 670 miles and I have had no issues.

Lets recap towing types.

Best and safest towing would be on a flat bed trailer that uses trailer brakes.
Next would be a tow dolly with front wheels off the ground and tow dolly that utilizes assist brakes.
Last would be a tow bar that hooks up to the front tie down hooks and a vehicle capable of handling the extra weight for braking purposes.

Damn it doc! You beat me!

I was gonna say the same thing, if you're really concerned about lubrication, just over fill the tranny for the trip...

just remember to drain the fluid to normal levels after the tow. :)

You do not have to drain the fluid after the tow as the transmission is not like an automatic which has internal fluid pressures to worry about. This information also came from the transmission shops and I have been driving mine like this with the elbow in it and filled to the top for over 2 years.:)