Towing Question

[Ken Carman]

I have a 63 Champ: manual, all low gear. I want to bring it back and forth from the Adirondacks to Tennessee, then back when I come back up. I just bought a Stehl dolly and the manual recommends the driving wheels/power go on the dolly. That would mean I tow it backwards. Is this a problem?

Of course I would leave it in neutral. The Stehl rep said there may still be parts that wear and spin, but someone else a while back recommended NOT to tow with the drive wheels on the dolly. (Backwards essentially.)

The tranny is three on the floor plus a stump puller gear. It's all low gear and the former owner recommended I not go over 50. It's that low gear.

Towing suggestions? Forwards? Backwards? Just in neutral?

[swvalcon]

Backwards or take the time to drop the drive shaft loose off the rear end.

[DieselJim]

Put the steer tires on the dolly. Remove the drive shaft is a must. The reason, when the engine is powering the truck, the gears are spinning sending oil every where. Towing , only the main shaft spins, no oil being moved. I have had to rebuild several transmission because towing and not removing the drive shaft.

[thunderations]

I have towed my 66 Daytona many thousands of miles on a dolly behind my motorhome. Just disconnect the driveshaft, secure the caps with tape and wrap the u-joint up in a plastic bag with tape around it also. Secure the driveshaft to something under the truck. No need to pull it out of the tranny and risk loosing fluids or getting dirt in. My driveshaft lays against the muffler with a couple long radiator clamps securing it. Just having the vehicle on the dolly should give you plenty of clearance to get under it to play with the driveshaft.
If you want to get real fancy, you can get a Renco U-joint disconnect device that attaches to the rear end housing, allowing you to disconnect the u-joint by pulling a cable inside the vehicle. Cost is about $1000 to $1500 plus getting the driveshaft shortened.
Do not try pulling a Studebaker backwards on a dolly. Studebaker steering geometry allows the wheels to go from left lock to right lock without centering. You might be able to lock the steering in a center position somehow, but why take that chance?

[Jerry Forrester]

Put the front wheels on the dolly. Put the transmission in high gear. Put the clutch pedal on the floor. Wedge a 2X4 between the clutch pedal and the dash and you're good to go. That's the way I do it with success. Your results may vary.

[altair]

There are wheels out there in the world with bearings fitted in them that can be put on that turn independently, many race cars use them to and from the track.

[TWChamp]

Back in 1970 when I used a tow bar to tow my 1950 Commander 1500 miles, I never thought about the tranny cluster gear not throwing the oil around. It never seemed to have hurt anything, as I've put many miles on it since towing it home. These days, now that I've thought about the tranny getting oiled, I'd remove the driveshaft, or at least start the engine every couple hundred miles and let the cluster gear spin some oil around.