Flat towing

[finn_logr]

Hi everybody,

to flat tow a manual Festiva, do I need to unhook the front half shafts or not?? And does anybody know of a cheap tow set up for a Festiva to be towed?? Thanks.

[packrat427]

A dolly would be your safest way to go , that way the drive train is off the ground , for a long distance tow .

Just how far are you looking at to pull it??

If it is under 25 miles , you would be OK to flat tow it .

[festivaWES]

A tow bar from harbor frieght for 34 bucks. Requires you to take of front bumper cover/foam. Drill two holes in the reinforcement, it can be a little tricky if your tool supply is minimal. Do not take the halfshafts out, don't tow a festiva unless it has them in it because the hubs/rotors are held together by it. If there are no axles in it, i would take a hammer a beat the outer cv boot off of each side and install it on the car. Then go to autozone and buy new axles and return the cores. Have you ever seen a set of non torn axles on a festiva with 140k-180k no-maintence other than oil changes/brake pads......i haven't

[25Horseplay]

I flat towed one from North Carolina to Ohio with out any trouble. Just bolted the tow bar to the bumper support like Wes said. Put the trans in nuetural and leave the key so the wheels can turn.

[FB71]

One clarification; it is only safe to flat tow a manual trans car. Auto trans cars CANNOT be flat towed at all.

[SimonTuffGuy]

I rented a U-Haul truck and tow dolly to bring my Festiva from TX back to PA...

[25Horseplay]

One clarification; it is only safe to flat tow a manual trans car. Auto trans cars CANNOT be flat towed at all.

Jim there must be some way to flat tow an auto trans, I see RV's towing SUV's and I know they are auto trans and I doubt they are pulling out the driveshafts on the 4WD ones.

[FB71]

a 4x4 is different. I know with Explorers, you can have a "Neutral tow" kit installed. It shifts the transfer case into neutral, so the output shaft of the transmission doesn't rotate.

The issue with flat towing an auto trans is this; When the engine is not running, there is no lubrication being sent to the various bearing s and bushings, nor the clutch packs. When the output shaft is driven by the wheels, the associated clutches will have the output element rotating, but not the input. This will cause lots of heaty from friction to build. With no fluid circulation, the clutches burn up. Even with fluid circulation, prolonged speed differential in the clautch pack will overheat and destroy it.

[25Horseplay]

OK I was just curious to how they are towing auto trans cars. And it was an Explorer I remember seeing.

[SimonTuffGuy]

My Jeep has a neutral setting in the on the t-case shifter, although it's a manual.

[FB71]

yes, manual shift t-cases often have a neutral position.

[SimonTuffGuy]

I know Jim... I was just adding that tidbit of information to add to my post count. :-P

[FB71]

and being that I'm only 6 (now 5) posts away from 5000, I'll just say that I was confirming your statement for everyone else following along

[stefan]

Don't worry about it, it will be fine.. I've flat towed mine several times... the OLD FASHIONED way.. no tow-bar here!!!

[MONSOON]

Paging Levitan! Paging Mr Dan "the Man" Levitan! Your input is requested.