Will a Festy hold up to flat towing around the country?

[d0n]

I'm curious if a standard transmission 1993 festy L can be safely flat towed for extended periods? My plan is to hook it on the back of my RV and tow it (all 4 wheels on the pavement) from NY to Ca and back tp NY this winter.

Thoughts?

thanks!

[festyxfi]

I'm sure you'll get more details from others. I've flat towed (all four wheels on the ground festivas for thousands of miles, without any problem. I've heard and understand the concern about towing an auto trans, but I've down that too for thousands of miles without any ill effects.

[scitzz]

Dennis (don't know his forum name) flat towed his nephews car to either fm4 or fm5 from Minnesota and back, IIRC.

Running around outside the asylum again with my tappy talky appy

[mikeyjd]

It shouldn't be a problem with a 5 speed. It can cause problem with an automatic, however, since you don't get proper lubrication without the oil pump running.

[TorqueEffect]

It shouldn't be a problem with a 5 speed. It can cause problem with an automatic, however, since you don't get proper lubrication without the oil pump running.

Yeah, makes me kinda laugh at all the RVs flat-towing their cars behind them when I am 99% sure they are automatics being flat-towed.

4-speed of 5-Speed should be perfectly fine. Hell when I first bought mine, and it had a rear wheel bearing in pieces, and I had to tow it on a dolly from the rear wheels, so it was like 30 or so miles of towing with the front wheels on the ground spinning in reverse at highway speeds (Transmission in neutral) and had no issues. Transmission even has 316k miles on it, and is still rock solid.

[Festy46]

Towing a FWD car shouldn't be a problem since the final drive gear in the transmission slings oil up onto all the gears. Now a RWD is a different story. Only the top shaft turns when towing and the bearings on the top shaft will eventually get dry because the bottom gears don't turn to sling any oil up on the gears. Voice of experience - we towed a RWD truck for about 120 miles. At 115 miles, the transmission locked up.

[TorqueEffect]

Towing a FWD car shouldn't be a problem since the final drive gear in the transmission slings oil up onto all the gears. Now a RWD is a different story. Only the top shaft turns when towing and the bearings on the top shaft will eventually get dry because the bottom gears don't turn to sling any oil up on the gears. Voice of experience - we towed a RWD truck for about 120 miles. At 115 miles, the transmission locked up.

I bet that was fun. :p

[Flyin4stroke]

Haha I've done that before too. Old parts rangers rear end locked up on me. Flipped it around on the tow dolly drove home.
A lot of people have used festys behind motor homes for yrs.

[TominMO]

My car (Larry) spent half its life being flat-towed behind an RV. So no, there is no problem.

[d0n]

My car (Larry) spent half its life being flat-towed behind an RV. So no, there is no problem.

awesome! Thanks for all the replies. i feel confident now.

[needragr]

So is there a "better than other" kit for outfitting a Festy for RV tow duty?

[denguy]

I had a 91 Festiva that I bought with 245k on the clock and a huge detachable heavy assed steel wishbone shaped towing gizmo on the front bumper obviously used to tow it behind a motor home. The windscreen was peppered with teeny chips that caught the sun and caused a glare at certain times of the day, caused most likely during the towing process. In short, if you intend to extensively tow it, I would cover the wind shield with something.