What seal/berring ect gets destroyed from towing your first gen 7 on a dolly?

 

Auto tranny. I think that's it.

 

If your gonna pull the 7 the haynes manual says to take off the driveshaft. I bought a parts car for $100 and pulled it home backwards so I wouldn't have to mess with taking off the driveshaft in the middle of the winter. I just used the steering wheel lock to keep the front wheels pretty close to straight. It wasn't perfect but you aren't exactly looking to get home as fast as possible either. Just take your time and drive carefully. And don't tell U-haul you broke their rules for using the tow dolly. You obviously aren't going to want to drive very far or fast like this though. If you have much traveling to do with the car I'd recommend taking the driveshaft off and pulling it the right way.

 

I towed my car with the back wheels on the ground a couple of times. Never had any problems

 

I don't like unnecessarily wearing out the rear wheel bearings... 4 wheeler would be best, or front wheels on the ground, towing backwards.

 

The rear wheel bearings are turning anyway no matter what. The manual transmission is all splash lubrication so it won't be hurt. (Heck the main problem with the transmission - the driveshaft yoke bushing wearing out - would benefit since it'd be bathed in oil)

The only thing I can think is that the pinion bearing in the diff might get starved for oil... but it gets its oil from the ring gear throwing oil in that direction. In any event the bearings would all be so lightly loaded that it really would not matter.

Definitely don't try it with an automagic trans.

 

I researched this issue last year and determined that I should pull the car with the front wheels up and disconnect the driveshaft (even for a manual tranny). I had intended to remove it but I wound up tying it up to the bottom of the car.

I pulled my Mariah from Kansas City to north Alabama.

 

Supposedly the manual transmission input shaft needs to be turning in order to achieve the splash lubrication. Therefore towing in neutral would not have the normal lubricatation. Someone that knows for sure can hopefully confirm or correct that. I usually tow them with tow bar all 4 wheels on the ground and if it is longer than 100 miles disconnect the driveshaft. Only thing is the bumper mounts are just aluminum so have to be careful.

 

Never had any problems towing any of my cars and they were all rear wheel drive. Does anybody have a reason for this or is this just a myth.

 

It's true that technically for the splash lube to work (the gears throwing the lube all around) the input shaft has to be turning. (Ever notice that the engine idles faster with the clutch depressed than with it engaged in neutral?)

However, the output shaft (which is turning) rides in needle bearings in the gears (which won't be). Needle bearings barely need any lube at all, even just a mist is fine. For the loading that they see when towing (virutally none) the existing oil film is more than sufficient, plus there will be *some* splash from when gear oil gets up to the synchro sliders/hubs (which turn with the output shaft) when you go over bumps and the like.

Really it is No Big Deal.

 

Also be careful of ground clearance issues (is this a no-brainer?). I tore up my brake cooling duct getting my project car home on a dolly, probably because the front tire pressures were low and as a result the car sat a little lower than normal. Actual travel wasn't a problem, but getting on and off the dolly was. On a lowered car, this will definitely be a concern. Might need to fab some gradual ramps to get it on/off the dolly, if the dolly ramps are too steep.

And, it's been mentioned before, watch for tranny fluid leakage once you've removed the driveshaft and tilt the car up.

 

That's another reason I like a 4 wheeler.

Is there any advantage in towing the car forwards over backwards?

 

I've towed mine 100 miles a couple times and never had a problem....

 

personally for the 4 bolts and 20 minutes it might take to drop the driveshaft, I would.

The countershaft doesn't turn in the tranny unless the input shaft is turning the clutch gears.... this means no lube (unless like Peejay said the syncros drag a bit from going over bumps, etc... no lube to bearings while cruisin down the road at 65 mph = bearing death... gotta remember the rear end is turning the mainshaft at whatever the gear ratio of the rear end is (can't remember off hand) but something like 3 times faster than the wheels are turning.... that's pretty fast...

 

If you're worried about ground clearance, flatbed it.

Every time (ok, both times) I had one of my RX-7s towed, it was on flatbed.

 

I towed my 7 from atlanta to denver with a tow dolly. I did not take the drive shaft out. No problems.

Mike