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Transporting a BN4 from Md to Fl

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longbridgehealey

longbridgehealey

Obi Wan
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Has anyone pulled a big Healey with one of the "dollies" that just accept the front wheels? I assume disconnecting the driveshaft would be part of the process. Is there enough clearance to put the front end on the dolly and not drag the rear? Is this even a good idea?
We were going to trailer it down but as it turns out our Santa Fe's trailer hitch isn't rated for over 3500 pounds, and the combined weight of the trailer and car exceeds that. I'm not willing to risk our insurance saying "oh well, your fault" if something were to go wrong.
Oh, yeah, forgot to mention, we've sold our 215 year old home in New Market, Md. And we are relocating to Fl. Sometime in Feb. or March! We've got to get the 100-6 and our Bugeye down there.

Thanks,
Larry
 
longbridgehealey said:
Has anyone pulled a big Healey with one of the "dollies" that just accept the front wheels? I assume disconnecting the driveshaft would be part of the process. Is there enough clearance to put the front end on the dolly and not drag the rear? Is this even a good idea?
We were going to trailer it down but as it turns out our Santa Fe's trailer hitch isn't rated for over 3500 pounds, and the combined weight of the trailer and car exceeds that. I'm not willing to risk our insurance saying "oh well, your fault" if something were to go wrong.
Oh, yeah, forgot to mention, we've sold our 215 year old home in New Market, Md. And we are relocating to Fl. Sometime in Feb. or March! We've got to get the 100-6 and our Bugeye down there.

Thanks,
Larry
Click to expand...
You can rent a U-Haul Truck and a add car trailer(also from them) and go that way to Florida assuming you have household goods to move too?
Option #2, Not a long distance...why not drive the Healey?
 
That's actually under discussion (driving the 100-6). The Bugeye probably will go on a trailer behind a U-haul,truck when we move. However I'm driving down there in early February for a couple weeks, and it seemed like a good opportunity to get the 100-6 moved.
 
longbridgehealey said:
That's actually under discussion (driving the 100-6). The Bugeye probably will go on a trailer behind a U-haul,truck when we move. However I'm driving down there in early February for a couple weeks, and it seemed like a good opportunity to get the 100-6 moved.
Click to expand...
What part of Florida?
 
The Villages, north of Orlando and inland from Tampa. Golf heaven!
 
I see two problems with the dollies: dragging the rear end, and kicking up rocks from your car into the front end. I looked into renting a U-Haul trailer to tow our BN4 behind our MH, but after reading posts about tearing off the exhaust on the trailer and U-Haul refusing to rent a trailer because an Austin-Healey wasn't in their computer database, we ended up driving both. I think it cost less than renting a trailer anyway. Only problem was my wife couldn't see my turn signals in bright daylight (a story for another day).
 
longbridgehealey said:
Oh, yeah, forgot to mention, we've sold our 215 year old home in New Market, Md. And we are relocating to Fl. Sometime in Feb. or March! We've got to get the 100-6 and our Bugeye down there.

Thanks,
Larry
Click to expand...

Hi Larry,
Sorry to hear you sold that wonderful old house. I don't get back in that area much anymore, but I was hoping we could meet up and kick a few tires. Oh well, enjoy Florida!

Keith
 
It really surprised us. Last sept we talked to our realtor about selling it, and he said lets put it on the market until Thanksgiving, then take it back off and spend the winter making improvements based on the feedback we get from the lookers. We listed it on a Thursday, and by Monday we had two offers, both within 5000 of our asking price. So we settled in Oct and have been living with our daughter and son in law in Frederick. We have the 100-6 at a friends body shop, the bugeye in my wife sister's garage, and all of our possessions in storage. It's been crazy, but it's off to Florida very soon! Maybe you will see us down there some day?
qw were really surprised that that house sold so quickly, but we weren't going to pass up the opportunity!
 
We were wondering, that's good news!
 
When I sold my 100/6 it traveled across Ma. on one of those two wheelers. New owner never bothered with the drive shaft and I never heard of any complaints. Tailpipe was only a couple inches off the road, much too close for my liking. IMO not a good choice.
 
Auto train requires 4 inch clearance, we might take the bugeye down via the train. The 100-6 doesn't have the clearance.
 
Looking more and more like a road trip for the 100-6!
 
Why not just google car transportation companies in your area . There not that expensive and the cars are all looked after and insured etc , you can choose open or enclosed and its all stress free . The AM Vantage I recently bought was shipped from Chicago to Ogdenberg NY (9hr drive) for 800$.
 
I've had mixed results in the past shipping cars, so I thought I could work things out myself this time. Probably not a great idea. We are currently getting some quotes from a few shippers. Although, having come this far, I'm really leaning to driving the BN4 down, and using the auto train for the bugeye. I could cross two things off my "want to do" list. The auto train, and a road trip down highway 17 along the coast in the Healey. Funny how things work out sometimes. I'm thinking day one to Virginia Beach, stop day two in Charleston and visit a good friend who owns an art gallery/school there, and take it into Florida on day three...maybe add an extra day if this is too ambitious. That's what I really want to do!
 
Years ago we pulled a Fiat X19 mid engine across the country on one of those front wheel dollies. We put in on backwards! I lashed the steering wheel with bungee cords to keep it more or less straight. Turns out, with the rear end in the air, the caster shifted so the wheels tended to caster straight when going forward anyway. It pulled very easily and was quite stable. We avoided backing up, of course.

We did this because removing the drive shafts was not really an option on the Fiat. Might work with a Healey if you can get the rear wheels onto the dolly, perhaps by jacking up the car by the diff and rolling the dolly under it.
 
Now there's a possibility that I hadn't thought of. Still leaning towards driving it down!
 
We had no trouble towing My 3000 MKIII from Cincy to Four in Tune with the 2 wheel dolly.
 

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