Moving car from Iowa to Cali, need help
 

Hey everyone,

I just recently bought a 94' FD from Iowa.:D Because I don't want any unneccessary miles on the car or any breakdowns along the way, I'm going to be towing my car on a half-dolly.

A half-dolly is like a half flat bed trailer. Only the two front wheels will be on a trailer, the rear wheels will be touching the ground.

The trip from Iowa to Cali is roughly 1,600 miles.

Now my question: Will pulling the car on it's rear wheels do any damage to the car besides tire wear?? would it do any damage to the suspension?

Has anyone else had to do this before?? What can I expect??

note: I'm going to be going through the Rockies, so wish me luck.:)

You should pull the car with the rear tires on the dolly and the front tires on the road. I maybe wrong about this but I heard from a mechanic that you do not want your drive wheels turning like that for a long period of time.

Icemastr,

If I did that, how would i keep the front wheels from turning? Damn... now i'm really starting to get worried...
anyone else have any more input or experience on this?:(

driving through the rockies eh? I would just drive it through the mountains, it would be a blast! But if not, have you considered a full trailer?

Take the key out of the ignition? That will lock the steering wheel.

As a safety measure, tie a rope through steering wheel and a yoke to the brake pedal.

Just some suggestions. I have never towed with a dolly so take them with a grain of salt.

I believe those dollies are mainly for FWD cars, at least thats what the U-Haul guy told me awhile back when I was going to rent one. I dont know if it would cause any kind of damage but ideally I think you should get all 4 wheels off the ground. Where in Iowa did you buy this car? I am in Iowa so I was curious, let me know. G'luck and congrats on buying an FD!!

Steve

Rent one of these deals:

https://www.rx7club.com/photo/data/5...iler_front.JPG

it is IMPOSSIBLE to find the UHaul auto transport trailers without significant notice. I checked everywhere from Baltimore to Newark, DE to get one so I could trailer my car back from the paint shop in PA.

Keep that in mind, seems they don't have many out there.

Did you try to rent one without renting a truck from UHaul also?

I had no problem renting an autotransport and a box truck from UHaul when I needed to take my FD to KD Rotary.

But, I think UHaul sucks big time. They are the cheapest but they are not reliable in terms of having the reserved equipment available on time. Also their trucks are the oldest in the business.

I recommend the other truck rental companies such as Penske or Budget over UHaul.

No, there is no reason for me to get a box truck. Also, I contacted Penske live online and they only rent trailers when you rent a full truck :(

just drive it. i think the car is too low and will scrape on one of those half dolly things.

hell no, thats alot of miles that dont need to be put on the car. just get what SpeedKing shows in the pic from U-Haul. Just call them asap so you can try to reserve one. Thats exactly what I was going to use when I was going to tow my car but I ended up not needing it.

I drove my FD from Michigan to California when I moved. I stopped in Des Moines the first night. If you have the stock suspension, it is actually a pretty comfortable highway cruiser.

If you get a trailer, I agree with the other posters that it would be best to get all four wheels off the ground.

Will towing it on a dolly keep the miles from accumulating on the odometer?

-Max

I can't use a full auto transport and have all four wheels off the ground because the vehicle I'm using to pull the car isn't heavy enough or something.. that's what the UHaul guy said in Des Moines, Iowa.

I have a ford windstar. The towing capacity is like 3,500 pounds.

damn! I still need to know how I can lock the front wheels or if letting the back wheels ride is bad.

I absolutely refuse to drive it back.. Only becuase that's just 1,600-1,700 useless miles to put on such a beautiful car

by the way, that's one kuh-leeeeeennnnnn FD! :D

by the way... do you think someone who specializes in rotories and FD's (like a shop owner) would get mad if I called?? I'm thinking of calling Jeff at Rotary Power in Gardena, CA.

is this that white one?? I came pretty close to buying it hahaahh

but i got a red one and its leet as hell i am so eleet

I think you would be ok towing with a fully dolly. Get an acurate weight of it. It's prolly 1000lbs or less and the FD is 2800lbs. Don't just beleive the sales guy wanting a commision. Besides that, if you rent a truck it will cost you "More" money then if you have it shipped!!! yes, that's correct. I towed my 1st gen MR2 from WA to CA and it was $600 in gas and that was like 10yrs ago. Those trucks get about 5-8mi/gal ...do the math!

jajjidam: Congrats on the buy. And BTW, what are the specs on this car? Must be a real peach for you to go all the way out to Iowa for it. :)

What are you talking about Iowa ROCKS, lol......not really. When you pick your car up you should come a little more east of DesMoines to Dubuque and chill with me and Bryan(bricke), the only other FD owners we know of that live here, lol.

hey

i'm around

So if I take the key out, and lock the steering wheel, it would be okay to have the front two wheels on the ground right??

but doesn't the steering wheel only lock at an angle?? so the front wheels really won't be straight will they??

Here are the specs of the car:

94' Montego Blue FD
30,000 original miles
everything is stock
touring package
1st owner / original owner
the cleanest FD i have EVER seen

Nice! I just picked up a '94 as well, 23K original miles, bone stock, from an older woman up in the Sacramento, CA. area. She was the original owner, and the car was in near mint condition. Gotta hold out and look far and wide for these low mileage cherry cars. Hope you got a good deal. Enjoy! :)

You're better off driving the FD here. The Windstar is going to have a tough time getting over the Rockies, and pulling 3000+ lbs isn't going to make it any easier to drive.

I don't see why you think those would be useless miles to put on the FD. On the contrary, they would be fantastic miles!! When you get out of Nebraska, and into Colorado and Utah, it is really a beautiful drive, particularly through the Rockies (assuming that the weather is okay).

Useless miles are the miles that you rack up on LA freeways, going nowhere fast with a million other people in their Civics. But a nice extended drive through the mountains? That's a great drive with your FD!

If you're still set against driving here (and I really don't understand why), you can also ship your car by rail or covered transport.