Towing a Cadillac

[Ed Hall]

I'm planning on moving out of the Golden State in a few months and I'm trying to figure out a way to tow my 88 Eldorado. From what I understand, it cannot be towed in neutral with 4 wheels on the ground because it will ruin the transmission. How about if I left the engine idling while towing?

Another possibility is removing the axles. I can't remember if the axle is needed to keep the hub assembly together or not.

[Ranger]

Why not just use a dolly under the front wheels.

http://www.uhaul.com/guide/index.aspx?equi...towing-towdolly

[Ed Hall]

I'm towing one way and it was really expensive. Like $500.

[Ranger]

How far are you going?

[1LowDeville]

if your moving cross country -spend the 500$ or what ever it is and tow it your self - or pay a shipping company to pick up the before you leave to hit the highway -

look at this :

autoshippers average 1,000 min i believe depending on distance to transport cars .

uhaul tow dolly - 500$ is a tad to much i think - then again i had a quote of 200 to use a tow dolly 1 way from the beach area in del to pa . spend the extra and get the whole car trailer and put the car on that won't wear your trans out and wont wear out your tires .Also won't put miles on your car while in tow. If you tow dolly it you have to take the drive shaft out the car cause it will burn the trans . i dunno if the trans fluid would come out of the trans while on a tow dolly or not but i've had some experience when it came out of a trans in a truck i had while in tow ..

only reason u haul wants so much for it going one way is that location will be without a dolly if its the only one - i've seen stores jack the cost up cause they're loosing out on rentals cause they don't know when another dolly comes in - .. part of the rental biz .

look in to a licensed and bonded auto shipper and price quote a couple to find the best price - lookin to the bbb about each . thats my advice.

otherwise spend the 500-600 thats needed to tow it on a car trailer to you new state. Also do you feel confident to tow a trailer behind a moving truck? Alot of ppl think they're confident they can handle something like that especially if they've never driven a box truck , And think they are drivin a car not a truck - Remember your stopping distance is twice the distance of the rolling mass of the truck -

[mmarinov]

/snip.../

spend the extra and get the whole car trailer and put the car on that won't wear your trans out and wont wear out your tires .Also won't put miles on your car while in tow. If you tow dolly it you have to take the drive shaft out the car cause it will burn the trans . i dunno if the trans fluid would come out of the trans while on a tow dolly or not but i've had some experience when it came out of a trans in a truck i had while in tow ..

Mike:

His Eldo is FWD so unless I'm mistaken if he tows on a dolly with the front wheels up he'd only be putting wear on the back two tires. I towed a 1997 Grand Prix across state once and never had any issues. With the car, anyway!

To your point about driving, Mike: Ed take care when towing. I was caught towing the aforementioned Grand Prix with a pickup, which is fine but the truck they gave me was a V6!!! That was a very scary dealer trade...I'm so lucky the brakes didn't overheat on that thing.

[JasonA]

Don't tow with all four down. It's just not worth the risk. I suppose you could remove the CV shafts (I don't think they retain anything), but after all that hassle, you might as well have rented something. I would recommend a full tow trailer that can get you all up and secured. So much safer that way. If you're moving, don't take chances on something like that, and having something possibly happen to you out on the road.

[KHE]

Ed,

I rented a tow dolly from U-Haul one way from Charlotte, NC to Michigan to transport my '97 STS home last March and it was $141 for the rental one way. There are tow dollies for sale all the time on ebay - you could buy one and then sell it when you're done with it - that would be cheaper in the long run than $500 rental.

Make sure you check the tire pressure on the rental dolly - the one I rented had half the required pressure in the tires and the U-Haul store didn't have an air compressor.

When loaded, it is impossible to back up a tow dolly due to the swiveling action of the pads - don't even try.... You just need to be aware when you pull into parking lots, etc. In Ohio, I had to unload and reload the STS at a restaurant because the parking lot was a dead end but it wasn't a big deal - only about 10 minutes of work.

I was able to tow at 70 MPH for the most part except going through the mountains in Virginia and West Virginia - it was 55 MPH there due to the steep grades and sharp curves.

[Ed Hall]

How far are you going?

I'm going approximately 1300 miles

If you tow dolly it you have to take the drive shaft out the car cause it will burn the trans . i dunno if the trans fluid would come out of the trans while on a tow dolly or not but i've had some experience when it came out of a trans in a truck i had while in tow ..

Also do you feel confident to tow a trailer behind a moving truck? Alot of ppl think they're confident they can handle something like that especially if they've never driven a box truck , And think they are drivin a car not a truck - Remember your stopping distance is twice the distance of the rolling mass of the truck -

Removing the drive shaft is what I would do. I have removed the drive shaft on another 440-T4 and no transmission fluid came out. I suppose on an incline some might leak out. I could drain the oil out to ensure that none would leak out and hurt the environment.

I have done a lot of towing in the past with light duty trucks as well as semi trucks and usually always way overloaded. My plan is to tow with my diesel Suburban. I have towed up to 10,000 lbs with this rig.

Don't tow with all four down. It's just notl worth the risk. I suppose you could remove the CV shafts (I don't think they retain anything), but after all that hassle, you might as well have rented something. I would recommend a full tow trailer that can get you all up and secured. So much safer that way. If you're moving, don't take chances on something like that, and having something possibly happen to you out on the road.

Yes, my plan is to remove the CV shafts. I would say it would take me about an hour to remove each shaft. Yes, it would be kind of a hassle but to me it's worth it if I save $500.

[chazglenn3]

You going East or North, Ed? I'm in the Pacific NW if you are coming that way.

Charles

[PAUL T]

You could get a nice car hauler for about $1200-1500 then sell it after you get there. Make sure the trailer has brakes. I have heard nothing good about tow dollys.

[Ed Hall]

You going East or North, Ed? I'm in the Pacific NW if you are coming that way.

Charles

I would be going north to the Pacific NW. I still have several months before I leave but I'm just planning early.

You could get a nice car hauler for about $1200-1500 then sell it after you get there. Make sure the trailer has brakes. I have heard nothing good about tow dollys.

That's an idea - to find a car hauler for a good enough deal that I don't loose money.

[KHE]

You could get a nice car hauler for about $1200-1500 then sell it after you get there. Make sure the trailer has brakes. I have heard nothing good about tow dollys.

Paul,

Just curious, what bad things have you heard about tow dollies? The only bad thing I expierenced (other than the tires that needed to be aired up and the missing vehicle to dolly savety chain which were corrected by U-Haul) was the inability to back up the loaded dolly.

[1LowDeville]

You could get a nice car hauler for about $1200-1500 then sell it after you get there. Make sure the trailer has brakes. I have heard nothing good about tow dollys.

Paul,

Just curious, what bad things have you heard about tow dollies? The only bad thing I expierenced (other than the tires that needed to be aired up and the missing vehicle to dolly savety chain which were corrected by U-Haul) was the inability to back up the loaded dolly.

i've tow dollied bout 6 -7 times . Yes you can't back up with a tow dolly loaded . But unloaded you can if you are carefully and don't try to be fast about it . truck stop /rest stop locations will become your friend as alot of places don't have accomidations for trucks and trailers. You can look on craigslist.org for a used car trailer if you want to put all 4 up off the ground . which will give you a chance to load the car up with belongings that didn't fit in the moving truck or in your burban . if you left the drive shaft in using a towdolly you could still burn up your transmission . and you'd also have to put the car in netural which means you would have to disconnect the battery so it don't run the battery down .. I'd bet you could find a good car trailer on craigslist for 1,000$ to do the job you need- and still be able to get the money for it back when you get to your new state. Only thing is you'd have to hold on to it for a month or so til your new state sends you your title in your name .

[joeb]

drive your caddy to the new site and fly back. I have seen super low 1 way fares listed recently. maybe you could take a bus.

[JasonA]

When towing, I would always prefer to tow "all up". On a tow dolly, the car isn't "locked" to the dolly, so the handling can get squirrely sometimes. Towing on a car trailer, all up, is a safer way to tow, although I'm sure there's nothing mechanically wrong with using a two-wheel dolly.

[KHE]

You could get a nice car hauler for about $1200-1500 then sell it after you get there. Make sure the trailer has brakes. I have heard nothing good about tow dollys.

Paul,

Just curious, what bad things have you heard about tow dollies? The only bad thing I expierenced (other than the tires that needed to be aired up and the missing vehicle to dolly savety chain which were corrected by U-Haul) was the inability to back up the loaded dolly.

if you left the drive shaft in using a towdolly you could still burn up your transmission . and you'd also have to put the car in netural which means you would have to disconnect the battery so it don't run the battery down ..

How would the trans be burned up towing a FWD Eldorado with a tow dolly with the drive wheels not contacting the road? The battery wouldn't go dead in the time it takes to drive 1300 miles.

If a RWD drive car is being towed, THEN the driveshaft needs to be disconnected but a FWD car just has the rear wheels free-wheeling on the pavement.

[PAUL T]

Paul,

Just curious, what bad things have you heard about tow dollies? The only bad thing I expierenced (other than the tires that needed to be aired up and the missing vehicle to dolly savety chain which were corrected by U-Haul) was the inability to back up the loaded dolly.

Besides the backing up issue, I have been told that sharp turns are also an issue. Also I have been told that tow dollies do not have brakes which puts that much more stress on the tow vehicle brakes. I have towed 2 Devilles (on separate trips) from West Virginia to Indiana, about 350 miles, with my 16' utility trailer with no problems. I just prefer a good trailer with brakes. Lately I have been towing a 35' Fifth Wheel that weighs about 9500# and I am thinking about trading my utility trailer in on a fifth wheel utility trailer. It tows so much better and feels more stable. I pull with a Ford F250 4x4 SWB crew cab with a 460 V8, it does a good job but it sucks gas at 8-10 MPG. I would definatly consider buying a good trailer with brakes.

[KHE]

The tow dollys swivel where the tire pads are to help in cornering. I wrally did not notice any issues with cornering - even on residential streets when leaving the seller's residence. I rented the dolly one way because it was only $20 more and I figured I saved that much in extra fuel plus empty tow dollys make a lot of noise and bounce quite a bit. I noticed that when driving from the U-haul store over to pick up the car.

It is often hard to find a tow dolly that is wide enough - a minimum of 3" between the fenders and the vehicle are required due to the swiveling feature of the dolly. If I had to tow a Deville, It would be hard to find a tow dolley wide enough so I'd probably use a trailer.

There are tow dollys with brakes but they are more difficult to find at rental stores. A fifth wheel trailer would tow very well.

[1LowDeville]

You could get a nice car hauler for about $1200-1500 then sell it after you get there. Make sure the trailer has brakes. I have heard nothing good about tow dollys.

Paul,

Just curious, what bad things have you heard about tow dollies? The only bad thing I expierenced (other than the tires that needed to be aired up and the missing vehicle to dolly savety chain which were corrected by U-Haul) was the inability to back up the loaded dolly.

if you left the drive shaft in using a towdolly you could still burn up your transmission . and you'd also have to put the car in netural which means you would have to disconnect the battery so it don't run the battery down ..

How would the trans be burned up towing a FWD Eldorado with a tow dolly with the drive wheels not contacting the road? The battery wouldn't go dead in the time it takes to drive 1300 miles.

If a RWD drive car is being towed, THEN the driveshaft needs to be disconnected but a FWD car just has the rear wheels free-wheeling on the pavement.

i've never owned a fwd vehicle. i've always owned rwd . any ways .isn't your drive shaft still spinning in your tans while in motion even tho its a fwd ? they say thats not good for your trans reguardless. yes caddies are big (atleast the 80 model like mine lol) its probably as wide as a 80 f150 to which i had a severe hard time keeping on the towdolly . granted the tires were alot bigger then a caddys' but still it came undone 2 times while in tow on one side . i'll never try tow dollying a f150 again . they barely fit between the wheel wells.

[Ranger]

isn't your drive shaft still spinning in your tans while in motion even tho its a fwd ?

No, the front (drive) wheels are on a dolly. There is no "drive shaft". The rear whells just spin. There is nothing connected to them.

[KHE]

You could get a nice car hauler for about $1200-1500 then sell it after you get there. Make sure the trailer has brakes. I have heard nothing good about tow dollys.

Paul,

Just curious, what bad things have you heard about tow dollies? The only bad thing I expierenced (other than the tires that needed to be aired up and the missing vehicle to dolly savety chain which were corrected by U-Haul) was the inability to back up the loaded dolly.

if you left the drive shaft in using a towdolly you could still burn up your transmission . and you'd also have to put the car in netural which means you would have to disconnect the battery so it don't run the battery down ..

How would the trans be burned up towing a FWD Eldorado with a tow dolly with the drive wheels not contacting the road? The battery wouldn't go dead in the time it takes to drive 1300 miles.

If a RWD drive car is being towed, THEN the driveshaft needs to be disconnected but a FWD car just has the rear wheels free-wheeling on the pavement.

i've never owned a fwd vehicle. i've always owned rwd . any ways .isn't your drive shaft still spinning in your tans while in motion even tho its a fwd ? they say thats not good for your trans reguardless. yes caddies are big (atleast the 80 model like mine lol) its probably as wide as a 80 f150 to which i had a severe hard time keeping on the towdolly . granted the tires were alot bigger then a caddys' but still it came undone 2 times while in tow on one side . i'll never try tow dollying a f150 again . they barely fit between the wheel wells.

Uh....no - this thread is about a 1988 FWD Eldorado - if it is on a tow dolly, the drive wheels are not in contact with the pavement so there is no way they would spin. If you were going to tow your 1980 car, the drive shaft would need to be disconnected because the drive wheels would still be in contact with the pavement.