I have a 97 Aerostar 3.0L, A/T with 2 wheel rrear wheel drive.

Can I tow this vehicle on a car dolly with the rear wheels up? Front wheels down. Owners manual is not calear and discusses an A/W drive that all 4 wheels must be up.

Thanks,

 

That might work with front wheels on the ground IF you have the right kind of factory made tow dolly. Even then be sure it is tightly strapped down and two safety chains are attached from dolly to towed car's chassis.

If you have a simple home made one without a swivel top plate you shouldn't try it. It's dangerous & could break free from the dolly on a sharp turn. A simple home made one like that is hardly safe to be used with the front wheels tightly strapped down and steering unlocked. They're just not safe. Rent a good one instead of taking a chance. Get the insurance too.

For short distances of a few miles at low speeds you can even have the rear wheels down (in neutral of course with driveshaft still on).

Recommended is driveshaft disconnected with rear wheels on ground. It takes a 12 millimeter 12 point box-end wrench (the round end of standard 12 mm wrench) and a good strong foot to break the bolts loose from the driveshaft. I scratch a mark from the driveshaft to the drive flange so I'll get it back on the same, to minimize vibration, but this really isn't critical. Reattach driveshaft using locktite on the bolts.

I use a coat hanger wire to tightly tie the shaft up outta the way of the rear axle threading it thru a hole in the rear u-joint to make sure it wont be able to sldie backward outta the transmission tailshaft, or hit the rear axle as the suspension bounces up & down.

Wait & get a few more opinions before you proceed. Tell 'em fellas....

 

I would personally get a trailer, and save the wheel bearings and tires from unecesary wear. The trailer is much cheaper to repair. Or you can just rent one when needed.

 

My question is how far do you need to tow it? Wreckers tow cars like that all of the time.

 

Towing it several hundred miles with my RV. Car dolly is a manufactured trailer by hecht. Carries 3500 by rear. Car is 26oo at rear.

 

It sounds like it's not advisable. Consider well what the manufacturer recommends. The issue is with where the weight is in relation to the dolly wheels.

I just towed an Aerostar about 15 hours thru mountains, etc, Missouri to North Carolina, but I put it on forward & disconnected the driveshaft. Disconnecting & reconnecting the driveshaft takes less than 15 minutes.

Does your instructions say to leave steering unlocked or locked? I can't remember what Uhaul requires. I own an old Uhaul tow dolly. I've found alot thru Google on how to do it right. I'm getting ready to tow one two days, 1200 miles now.

Always recheck your trailer & load security regularly anytime you are towing. Check wheel hubs for excessive heat with your hand, and tires for inflation and excessive heat too.

OK, reading the Uhaul guide they say that:

"The vehicle-in-tow MUST be loaded facing forward (front wheels on tow dolly). Failure to load facing forward may result in a combination disturbance at the recommended maximum speed of 45 mph or below."

To me this probably means that the combination may start swaying & get out of control. This could easily happen if the steering was unlocked with the vehicle on backward. Also the added weight of the engine & transmission trailing behind was not considered when to dolly was designed & could affect it similar to a trailer mis-loaded with most the weight to the rear. A dangerous swaying that quickly gets worse resulting in a wreck.

Tow dollys were meant to carry the greater weight over the dolly wheels. If loaded backward with the weight trailing you've made a potential pendulum that is loosely attached at the lightweight end. It just wants to begin swinging to and fro. This is a very bad sickening feeling if you've ever experienced it. About as bad a being out of control on ice!

I was planning on loading some stuff into my Aero before putting it on the tow dolly but Uhaul even recommends against that. If done carefully these things might be gotten away with but most people don't have much experience in loading & towing things or a good innate sense of physics or the forces that may come into play here.