How far can you SAFELY tow an AOD car?

MTTod

Registered User
I'm picking up an 89 XR7 tomorrow that's not running. I've got about 15 miles from there to home and am wondering if that's too far to haul the thing with a strap. I'd hate to fry the tranny.
 
I DO NOT recomend you do that. 1 MAYBE 2 miles at very low speed but NOT 15 miles. You do that and chances are you will ruin the tranny. The engine needs to be running to pump lubrication through the tranny. If you tow it like this the tranny parts will be turning without any lubrication. The bearings and clutch discs do not like that.
Get a rollback to haul it home for you, its cheaper in the long run.
 
No Aaron, The tailshaft all the clutch's and drums connected to it are turning.
True story:
A buddy of mine did this against my advice and in about 30 minutes I got a call from him telling me his car was just destoyed.
The tranny seized up locking the rear wheels which was like throwing the tranny in park. This in turn ripped the rearend out of the car while being towed. The car then flipped about 3 times and ended up being a pile of junk.
He was not happy to say the least.
 
I always have had a flatbed tow me but how does that work without one? How do they tow auto vehicles without damaging them?
 
They can tow most cars by the rearend. If thats not possable then they can tow by the front with the tranny in N but the engine must be runing to pump lube.EDIT: I foregot that some tow trucks carry dollies with them as well. They pick the rearend of the car up and put the dollies under the rear wheels then set them on the dollies. They then tow it by the front as normal.

The problem with using a normal tow truck is you are going to damage either the front bumper nose or the rear bumper cover if you tow it from behind.

My SVT has a special section in the owners manual that I'm supposed to show the tow truck guy so he can even get the car on a rollback. You have to lay a couple of 2x4's along the edge of the flatbed once he gets it as low as he can.
The angle is still to steep to load the car without doing this and will drag the tailpipes and rear ground affects thus damaging the parts.

The best thing to do if you dont have the money to get a rollback is to disconnect the driveshaft at the rear pumpkin and push the driveshaft forward into the tailhousing of the tranny. Then wire the driveshaft in a way that will keep it from sliding out the tailhousing and hitting the flange on the pumpkin that it bolts up to.
This method will work if you are going to use a tow strap.
You just leave the tranny in P and turn on the ignition to unlock the steering wheel so you can steer.

Hope this helps......and be careful, dont try to go too fast. Remember the brakes are going to be stiff without the engine runing...allow for that.
Good luck.:)
 
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Youre right the tow truck guy isnt going to work on your car. You will have to do that yourself before he gets there.
All tow truck co.'s here have gone to rollbacks because of all the problems towing newer cars.
The only towtrucks you'll see around here are for semi's.;)
 
You can tow it as far as the tranny shop.....might as well just go directly there cuz that's where you'll end up :)

Seriously i'd rent a trailer (uhaul has good ones) or at least take the driveshaft out (kind of a pain)
 
I would only let a flatbed tow my car, even though my car is a 5-speed. The body panels are too damn low to the ground, to be reckoned with, for a hoist.
 
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