Mike S.

I'll show my ignorance here...

You see it behind motorhomes all the time, a car or SUV in trailerless tow. I just did a DE and saw a 914 in a trailerless tow behind a full size van.

What's wrong with this or is it acceptable with certain precautions if you tried this with a large SUV? Having towed both a car trailer and landscape trailers behind my SUV, I certainly can see that manuverability would be much more difficult than with a trailer. And in the case of a 944 or 911 being trailerless towed, is there anything in the drivetrain configuration that would make this unadvisable?

What's the scoop?

Mike

Todsimpson

You're putting wear on tires, ring and pinion, plus the suspension (I would guess to some degree) more than if the car were on the trailer. Low ride heights create a problem too.

Lack of trailer brakes is the deal killer, IMO.

Kurt R

I've done it. My first year of racing I towed a VW Rabbit with a Rabbit GTi. Sometimes the towed car wants to steer itself and can make life exciting. The biggest reason I stopped was the fear that something would happen to the car that would prevent it rolling, a failed wheel bearing or maybe an off track incident. That being said, last summer I flat towed a 924s with a GM Plastivan (Pontiac Trans Sport) from Wisconsin to Colorado, barely knew it was back there.

Mike S.

Tod,

Thanks for enlightening me. Yea, no brakes on the towed vehicle could make for a scary experience. Given the SUV I have and wanting to pull a stock 911SC instead of say a cute little 60's Mini, I'd be pushing my luck. Come to think of it, when I towed my 911 with a U-haul trailer equipped with hydrualic brakes, stopping was great compared to pulling a 1000# utility trailer carrying 2000#'s of materials.

Kurt,

Now that (Rabbit towing and Rabbit) must have been an interesting sight to see! Gee, I wonder if I can tell my wife that I need to get another 911 to tow the one I have? How tempting!

Mike

P.S. Looks like the hunt for a car trailer will now begin.

cr207

the only way to do that with a nice car is to remove the drive shaft when towing so you don't wear engine. biggest problem is that the oil is not circulating in the engine due to it being off. also having twice as much car to brake is a definate issue.

Bill L Seifert

cr207

A towed car with stick shift in neutral, the engine does not rotate. I'm not even sure automatics turn the engine anymore, but I know that 5 speeds in neutral don't. By the way 911's don't have driveshafts, now that it comes up.

I flat towed a Spitfire 25 years ago, when I first started racing. Lots of things against it. Bad wheels, bearings, wrecks, etc. You can buy a decent trailer for under $2k nowadays, so why take the chance. I guess anything is possible, though. I remember at my first drivers school at Savannah, years ago, when a guy drove his Toyota to the school, then barrel rolled it in turn 4. He had to take a ball peen hammer and knock what was left of his windshield out to drive it home to LA ( Lower Alabama )

Bill Seifert
1987 944S Race Car

Professor Helmüt Tester

Bad idea.

1. You can't 'back up' with a 'flat-tow' or a tow dolly.

2. Many states require valid license plates on any vehicle that is being 'flat-towed'.

luckett

Most cars have mechanical oil pumps so if the engine is reciprocating, there is oil being pumped through it.

M758

I would not see a problem with flat towing a race car for a short distance.

However some cars required flat towed cars to have plates. You also would probably not want to flat tow on the race tires either. Also not ideal to bring home if you have a mechancial issue.

ed devinney

As noted this isn't an engine issue. It is however an issue if the towed car has an automatic trans. The automatic is lubed by a pressure pump that's driven off the engine. No engine == no pressure == wrecked trans if its gears are forced to move (a lot) with no oil feed.

Larry Herman

While it may work for the street vehicles that are towed behind RV's and the like, I would also caution against it unless absolutely necessary. I have a friend who crashed his 914 while flat-towing it to the shop with a Suburban. He rounded a curve which was a little damp, and while the Suburban tracked right through it, the 914 hung it's tail out and whacked the curb, destroying the right rear suspension.

You tend to lose touch that you are dragging your fragile little racecar behind you when your tow vehicle can go through anything.

Alan Herod

Several 911s have shown up at our track events on one of those tow dollies. Personally I don't like the idea and if I tried it the air dam would be worn off. Also, these cannot be backed up effectively and their tendency is to immediately jack-knife; although, I have seen it done.

Back in the day -- (prehistoric times) -- I flat-towed both my Bugeye and my Speedster to track events with no difficulty or apparent problems. I am not sure why this would cause any more wear to bearings and suspensions then normal driving. It did not work as well in the cars that had welded differentials. Maybe I can't remember that long ago.

cooleyjb

Done it, and it's no fun. I only used it to tow a 500 dollar auto-x only car though. I wouldn't do it with a nicer car.

race911

THE best flat tow setup I remember from when I first got involved in racing (crewing and such) was a guy with a TR3 flat towing behind his Jag. Harley Prentice (?), maybe someone from the OLD days remembers him. Towed that thing all around going to Nationals, and even Atlanta for the Runoffs. I think he might have even won one year.

How did everyone do it before we had full garages and residences on wheels????

DanS911

I do it all the time, been doing it for a few years, no problems.
I have tabs welded on to the torsion bar covers so the tow bar is pretty low. I live in Fla (flat) so the brakes haven't been a problem.
I used to pack all the crap in my car and load and unload and load and unload again. Now I throw it in the back of the 4runner and I am done.
DE only so I guess the risk of an incident where it won't roll is less, but when I blew up the motor on the Blue car last year I was sure glad I wasn't driving it to the event.