NS_Carguy

ok so I am still looking around for a 944 . there are several available . what keep drawing my attention are the projects . I know they are probably a bad idea but that is what I am drawn too .
there is a nice one in the city with the engine out and torn down , the owner has lost interest in the project . there are several of these types of cars around in various states of repair .

the problem is they are all at-least 1 1/2 hours drive away , and they don't for what ever reason run so how do I get them home . I have access to a car dolly , which should work , but I have never used one before and apparently there are dos and don't s to towing a car with one of these . It is not just for towing a project or parts car that i need the info when it comes down to it , many of the cars I am considering are at-least 1 1/2 hours away so I will need to get them home running or not and likely have to tow them .

What I need to know is how do I tow a 944 150km using a car dolly .
both auto and standard transmission types( I am still thinking about a nice auto 944 3 hours away )

V2Rocket

you can tow a standard 944 with a 2-wheel dolly no problem, just put the front wheels up and use good straps to hold it on...done it plenty of times.

you can't tow an auto 944 unless you either A) put the front wheels on the ground and the rear on the dolly or B) disconnect the axles from the hubs.

NS_Carguy

cool thanks , so with a standard , just pop the front wheels on the dolly strap it down , mount the tow lights put it in neutral and i am good to go ?

I won't damage the trans axel doing this ?

V2Rocket

no, when its in neutral it's like any other standard transmission...

Tiger03447

Or, you can go to town B where the car is, and put it on a U haul 4 wheel trailer and dump the trailer when you get home..No worries that way. With a dead engine, on a "roller" car you will
probably have to get a come along or perhaps you can borrow a buddy's small electric winch to load the car onto the trailer..or if it's parked on a hill...LOL! YEEEE HAWWW!!

FrenchToast

I wouldn't tow any car on a dolly for a distance over a mile.

Dollying probably puts at least 4-5 times extra wear on the rear wheel bearings than normal conditions.

Like Tiger says, Uhaul I think lets you pick up a trailer in one establishment and leave it at another. Find or rent a winch. Since you reference kilometers: Canada has Uhaul. Don't think Uhaul exists outside North America, although there is surely something similar.

If you do go for a box car race down a hill, just remember there won't be vacuum assist on the brakes.

V2Rocket

OK I'll bite... What is your hesitation and what does dollying have to do with rear bearings? The front weight is on the dolly so the rear bearings are still just carrying the back end weight plus maybe some more due to the angle of the chassis.

I've dolly towed 944s hundreds of miles and not given bearings any thought, and none have taken a
**** yet...

guidon112

I've used dolly, and trailer, I can tell you, trailer is the superior way to haul rear drive cars. Dolly is best suited for front drive cars.
Rolling a transaxle in neutral at highway speeds can be potentially disastrous, especially if you don't know the condition of the transaxle.
I did successfully pull a 928 from Wisconsin to Des Moines, with the rear wheels on a dolly, the only issue with doing that was getting the front wheels rolling true, oscillation at 60mph is really freaky. If it happens, ease off the throttle, ignore your urge to brake. Good luck in your adventure.

FrenchToast

When towing a trailer sways quite a bit. Ruts, grooves, bumps, small steering corrections, lane changes, etc. Obviously this is less noticeable on big rigs where the weight minimizes this. However most any other trailer, you get a lot of sway back and forth. Trailer tires are specifically designed for this, as are trailer axles. A car axle isn't explicitly designed to sway back and forth for a few hundred miles at 55-65mph.

As for the trans, you are running the differential and output shaft.

Is either necessarily bad? I can't say. But it would put accelerated stress on the bearings/trans compared to a full trailer.

F18Rep

Your instincts are good Grasshoppah. Or perhaps you have Early-onset insanity. Either way, the world will call you crazy. And even I (the craziest) will join them if you buy a sports car with a slush box....Bruce

V2Rocket

that doesnt make any sense...as long as the trans is in neutral all that is spinning is the ring/pinion and the trans output shaft (attached to the pinion)...
this is the same set of components that would be spinning on ANY manual transmission car with its drive wheels on the ground.


how are any of those bumps and corrections different from driving the car normally?

if the car is attached firmly to the dolly via front wheels the back wheels are free to pivot around the hitch ball...

there may be something to it, i hope you can explain further but i'm not seeing it now.

marky522

I towed my 944 from MI to NC on a dolly with no issues. I also see no reason a manual trans RWD car shouldnt be towed this way.

screamin94Z

I agree with the majority here, no reason that you would put any more side load on the wheel bearings by using a dolly. The loading that you would get from lane changes, etc would surely pale in comparison to the loading you would see from performance driving.

One of my pet peeves is when people throw around numbers like "4-5 times extra wear". Quoting a number like this implies that you have data that quantifies the loading by establishing a baseline for wheel bearing loads and compares this with measurements from towing a car with a dolly. I doubt there are many examples of anyone outside of a major auto manufacturer measuring wheel bearing forces in situ. If you have supporting evidence, let's see it. Otherwise, you're just taking a stab in the dark and it is a disservice to the community to put out misleading information.