Spitfire Towing a Spitfire

[tomshobby]

[ QUOTE ]
Making a blanket statement that there is never any need to disconnect the driveshaft on a rwd car is overstating it, by more than just a little bit. Fact is, the output shaft of the transmission is spinning. Problem is, it's getting no oil. The oil normally gets pumped by the input shaft and lay gears, which are not turning.

Now the output shaft is not under any load, and there is some residual oil up there in the bearings, so you're ok...for a while. Exactly how long that while is, that varies.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is true. My dad towed my 64TR4 to Ft Knox for me in '65. He was told this by U-haul. He actually stopped frequently and started the car and even let it idle at times while he was moving. The car made the 350 mile trip with no damage. Would it have had problems if he had not done that? Seemed an expensive risk when the alternative was not much trouble.

 

[YankeeTR]

You know, you are right and I should know better. Heck, I went out in my shop, looked at two transmissions, and STILL got it wrong! I really has my head up my butt on that one!

BUT...it has been my experience that if you remove the front yoke (on a slip yoke type driveshaft) while on a dolly, you will have gear lube leak out of the transmision tailshaft. That sez there will be enough lube to tow with.

As I stated before, I've towed thousands of miles with a dolly and never have I disconnected a driveshaft on a manual transmission vehicle...and never had any damage done.

Make sure the lube level is ok and get on the road.

If you look at the UHaul toing guide I linked to on an earlier post, UHaul also sez to disconnect the driveshaft before towing. But I think it's to cover themselves from hassles when a customer fails to disconnect it when towing an automatic-equipped car...and sez he didn't know or nobody told 'em.

You can also check your owners manual of your late model cars for their towing recommendations. During the six years I spent in sales at the local Ford store, I sold quite a few Ford Ranger pick-ups (with manuals) to snow birds who flat towed or dollied the trucks behind their motorhomes.

 

[vettedog72]

Doug:
My TR6 would not fit on the UHall dolly. The ramps would hit the underside of the rocker panels when the ramps flip up. The retractable ramp type of UHall dolly appeared to have a similar problem (the ends of the retractable ramps would hit the rocker panels) but I did not get to that point because I rented the U Hall Auto transporter....at the same price as the dolly.

 

[skikir]

I towed my 65 Spit from Texas to Oregon behind a Y'all Haul (Southern division of U-Haul). I bought a tow bar from JC Whitney and replace the bumper with it. No problems.

 

[JPrisbe]

Well I towed the Spit home on Saturday. I went ahead and disconnected the drive shaft just to place it safe. A '70 Spitfire will fit on a U-Haul tow dolly, but if the Spit were much narrower it wouldn't have.

As it turned out I had to unbolt and remove the retractable ramps after I got the Spit loaded because they stuck out top far back and too close to the rocker panels for my comfort level. I had to drive home at a max of 57 MPH because any faster and the tow dolly wanted to bounce. I also placed wood blocks in front of the tires to take up some of the slack in the wells where the wheels ride.

She is the coolest little car. I always wanted one of these when I was in high-school. Now 30 years later I finally have one. No, I’m not going through a mid-life crisis, but if I do, I now have a vehicle more appropriate to the occasion.

My wife wasn't so pleased when the round trip took us 14 hours and says I get to choose from the following vanity plates for this car:
LastOne
No More
Finito!

 

[PeterK]

Probaby more appropriate license plates would be:

FirstOne
SpitNo1
Startin!

It tends to grow on you after your first born . . . she'll get over it after her first drive (let her take it to work once and a while helps too.=)

 

[guzzul]

Congratulations on getting it home in one piece. Exhilarating.

What about:
SPITCRZY
SPITNUTZ

or just
NUTZ?

Have fun.

 

[billspit]

Spitfires are an affliction and the only cure is more COWBELL.

 

[YankeeTR]

Good to see you got her home. One solution to the clearance problem with the ramps/rockers would be to flip over a dropped drawbar making it higher therby raising the tongue of the dolly and lowering the ramps.

My dolly has stationary ramps and they drag around corners if I have too high of a hitch. With my F150, I solve that problem by using an 8" dropped drawbar...

How about some pics of the Spit?

 

[foxtrapper]

[ QUOTE ]
I had to drive home at a max of 57 MPH because any faster and the tow dolly wanted to bounce.

[/ QUOTE ]
Next time, lower the tire pressure. That's why it's bouncing.

Skip the wooden blocks also. Gives a false security when tightening down the wheel straps. If the block pops out, and they do, you can suddenly find yourself with a loose wheel and an interesting scenario.

The ramps come close, but don't hit the Spitfire.

 

[Guest]

One of our club members tows his concours MGB to all regional shows with a custom-built dolly and no special preparation on the car. He has no problems, save the fact that his car is a B.



Bill

 

[JPrisbe]

Great suggestions. Can you tell I'm not in the habit of towing anything other than my utility trailer to buy mulch?

Question for you folks. I need to change the oil. What is the recommended oil and weight for a '70 Spit.

 

[Andrew Mace]

Nice looking Spitfire...even if it does have '69 wheel covers! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

As for oil, probably any good 20W-50...mineral if it uses or leaks more than a tiny bit, and perhaps synthetic if it doesn't!

 

[JPrisbe]

What do '70 wheel covers look like?

 

[Andrew Mace]

More like this (a big Triumph sedan, but with virtually identical wheelcovers). Here's a tiny picture of a 1970 US Spitfire magazine ad; unfortunately, it's a bit small to show clearly the wheelcovers; but a larger version of the same ad shows them a bit better.