Bobtailing with car in tow

when being towed in neutral, your tranny doesn't get destroyed because your engine isn't running.. what does an oil pump have to do with with your transmission? your tranny gets jacked while being towed in neutral because your wheels spin which turn your drive shaft which turns the gears in your transmission, putting it in neutral only disconnects it from the engine. the problem occurs when it randomly catches a gear which then causes it to reengage with the engine which isn't running which is in turn a huge brake (only if it fully engages). Normally it just chips away at teeth.. if it's a pick up with a carrier baring, just back it on the truck and crawl under it and take the four bolts out of the rear diff and unscrew the collar from the slip yoke and slide the drive shaft off.. if ya good it'll only take five mins and you can do it with a pair of medium vice grips.

 

You have 3 options- flat towing with a tow bar, tow dolly or get it on some kind of a trailer, somehow.

You should never really flat tow a FWD vehicle as it can damage the transmission on most.

If you are flat towing a truck, SUV, etc. then you need to disconnect the driveshaft(s) (front also if it's 4x4 unless it has lock out hubs). The reason for this is that the pumps in most modern transfer cases can only lubricate them when driven by the transmission. If the vehicle is only 2WD then you chance burning up most transmissions because the transmission's oil pump will not pump fluid as it would when driven by the engine.

If you dolly the vehicle then you only have to worry about what the rear axle is doing. Basically, if there's a driveshaft connected to it then it needs to be disconnected. Front wheel drive vehicles, of course, will always have the front wheels on the dolly.

 

there are some cars that can be towed with 4 wheels down on the ground, and some can with exceptions, like having to start and run them every so many miles. Search your vehicle with 4 wheel down towing.

 

so what about the cars that are towed by mobile homes they have all 4 wheels on the ground? do they disconnect shaft on them too or something else cause i really doubt that?
btw dont mean to be a dick but i m just curious thats all

 

You don't have a driveshaft. Your car being front wheel drive (FWD) has 2 shafts that run from the transmission, one to each wheel. Personally, if it were my ride, I would dolly it. Your car will either have the TH125 (if it's a 3 speed trans) or the 440T4 (4 speed trans). Neither can get sufficient lubrication without the engine running.

There are companies out there that make quick disconnects for driveshafts and FWD axleshafts. Most hard core RVers use those on their vehicles. You pull a pin/cable and the associated shaft is free. I wouldn't recommend them for the OP because this sounds like a one time deal and they're somewhat costly. You can rent a tow dolly much cheaper.

Again, it depends on the vehicle.

 

well that would kinda make sense cause quite often where i live i see a lot of older couples with nice rvs pulling small pickups nice cars and what not and i dont really think they older guy,( not disrespect he is going on vacation not to be mechanic) is gonna crawl under the car to play with disconnecting the shaft and play in dirt/oil

 

I like when people act like they know what theyre talking about when they dont.

What is transmission fluid? Why is it in transmissions? It's a type of hydraulic fluid, which is made of.....oil. There is a hydraulic fluid pump or multiple pumps in a transmission. There is an oil pan at the bottom of the transmission where it pools when not being pumped....the engine has to drive the pump, the wheels cant do it.

And those gears, or well, some of them, are turning if the driveshaft is turning.

Why am i bothering? This is falling on deaf ears.

 

Of which none of this matters to the OP as they are FWD.

 

Had a repo co. pick up my Van by Accident one time... Wrong Van. They ruined my Tranny. Try Suing.... Not a pleasant adventure!