Maciek

Hey guys,
As some of you may know, i bought a wrecked 951 on ebay a few weeks ago and I am going to go pick it up this next weekend. I need to tow it back home, and I dont know what type of trailer to use. The full bed trailers that UHaul rents weigh nearly 2,000 pounds so along with the weight of the car it would be too much for my tow vehicle (1997 Mitsubishi Montero) So i need another option. Will one of thoes two wheel dolly type trailers work? If so can i run the car on it backwards with the back wheels on the trailer? I REALLY need your advice so I can make the necessary arangements. If you have an idea where to rent a better trailer or something like that please let me know. Thanks in advance

Mike S.

Was this the '89 in PA. If so, whatcha end up paying for it?

Mike

Maciek

Nope, it is the 86 in Indiana near chicago, i paid a little over $4K but it is in great shape, 70K miles, original window sticker, still runs fine, LSD, lots of extras, full service record since day one ect. Anyone with experience towing these cars (I know a bunch of you track boys must have experience) please help me out, thanks!

deni durrell

i don't have any experience (yet) but i have been researching stuff regarding truck and trailer.

i found out these things:

the method you are using should work. you could even do it with the rear wheels, but usually most people say not to do it over long distances. what about just hiring a flatbed hauler to do it for you? Tabor knows of a company. Maybe there are other peolpe who know of affordable companies. you could always post a question on that.

jason952

can you rent a full size truck to pull it with? I think 2-wheeled trailers are pretty sketchy, esp for a wrecked car. I used one of those Uhauls once, but didn't know it was that heavy, I had a dually to tow with. good luck,

Jason

muztangFB

I have used the dollies on occasion. Some people love them, some people hate them. I personally have never had a problem with one (knock on wood). How badly is it wrecked (ie, why not fly out and drive it home)? You could rent a uhaul truck to tow it with, but that could get pricey. Depending where you go to rent the dolly/trailer, they may check out your tow vehicle and tell you that it is not large/powerful enough (uhaul did this to me once and I had to borrow a pickup). The trailers are heavy and I have heard that the older ones dont tow very well. Personally I would probably just dolly it home and hope for the best, but if you do it and you kill someone, dont blame it on me . Good luck with whatever you do.

Bri Bro

I had a car transported by an auto carrier (port to port, to the door service is more) from Austin Texas to Indianapolis for $500. This is less then it would have cost me to drive or fly down to pick up the car. Highly recommend it.

Maciek

Thanks for all the help thus far. It looks as I will be using a dolly and hoping for the best. I am borrowing one from a friend, so there shouldnt be a problem with the towing weight, and I am nearly certain the montero can take it. We have used it to tow our sailboat around all the time. I wish i could fly in and pick it up, but unfortuently because of the accident it does not drive anymore, the rear quarter panel was hit, and this messed up the wheel and the suspension. I looked into getting it shipped, but all the options i looked into were very pricey, ($800-and up) and I wasnt sure if they would pick up a wreck. Anyways, if anyone has anymore advice that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!!

BartW

I drive an auto transporter. You should be able to get it shipped for around $400 from Chicago to the East Coast. Transporters will ship a wreck if it is able to be driven on to the carrier and if it has no loose parts that will fly off of it during transport. As far as pulling the Uhaul with your Montero, do it. Do not use a dolly, with the rear wheels in the dolly the car will be at an angle that will rip off your front end on some bump or pulling into a gas station and if you think it is a good idea to tow it with the driven wheels on the ground with the trans in neutral, think again, Porsche manuals advise that no more than 20-50 miles of towing with rear wheels on the ground and only to be used in emergency. Those Uhaul trailer do not weigh that much, for a 944 you can use the shorter ones, the most you will be pulling is 4,500lbs, that is not much for a 6 cylinder. If this is an older high mileage Montero then just put a trans cooler on it. The engine will have no problems and only the trans will work hard, make sure you take it out of overdrive when on hills or even little inclines, the trans heats up tremendously and believe it or not the engine wears less if you drrop to a lower gear and let it perform the work in its power band even though the rpm is higher (you will get piston slap at highloads in low rpms)