How to tow a Supra with Dakota...

[suprarx7nut]

So after reviewing the existing threads on towing, I am utterly confused.

I will be picking up a non-running turbo 89 and I need to tow it about 40 miles. I have a 98 Dodge Dakota with a 5.0 Magnum V8. Plenty of power and torque.

But UHAUL says it doesn't weigh enough to tow it. Now I know you guys have towed supras with less than a healthy 5 liter V8, so how did you do it? I dont have a car dolly or car trailer so I will be renting one.

I imagine if I go to UHAUL with the Dakota, they will refuse to hook it to the hitch because it doesn't meet their "weight" requirements.


Any suggestions? Should I just pay a tow company to tow it? I figure that'd be about 200 bucks.

 

[noah89t]

just go rent a car dolly and pull the supra with that. since it is not running, get a cum-a-long or a buddy to help you push the car up the ramps. i tow my supra with my tacoma with no problem. hell, my brother pulls a t300 bobcat in a dump trailor (about 9000lbs) with his tacoma.
if you don't want to rent one, i heard you can just take the dolly at night and return it before morning with no problems.:evil2:

 

[sancho886]

I went through the same bs with uhaul. They said an 07 quad cab f-150 wasn't heavy enough to tow an 87 supra :nono:. So i told them i was towing a crx, problem solved

 

[gaboonviper85]

yeah just tell them your towing a geo metro.....

 

[bmoss85]

you can go on uhauls website, and put in your truck, the type of trailor or dolley and what you will being towing with and it will tell you if your truck can tow it or not.

i pulled my supra with a carhauler 400 miles with my durango. its a 4.7 v8 magnum w/ a tow package though.

or just tell them its a metro or festiva.

 

[Kangae]

I also used a durango to tow my supra from brooklyn to utica (a little east of syracuse), they said that the durango was a recommended towing setup.

 

[ForcedTorque]

Call a tow company and get a rate, you may be surprised. I have always paid $50 or less, and have had them pull cars about that distance. I haven't had one pulled in a year or so, so gas prices may have caused somewhat of an increase, but it still might not be any more than what you're gonna pay in rent fees and gas. And, guess who's doing all the work! NOT YOU!

 

[shaeff]

I bought a tow dolly a year or two ago. It's a U-HAUL unit. It pivots, and swivels, and is generally AWESOME. $700 well spent! I used it to tow s383mmber1's car from his place to mine (about an hour and fifteen minute trip) when I was working on it.

 

[bmoss85]

do you have AAA. i called them and had them move one of my old cars after a year. youre not supposed to use it for that but the tow guy didnt care.

 

[black89t]

if your using a tow dolly you have to disconnect the driveshaft from the diff. when i towed my supra from sac i used a heavy equipment trailer my dads buddy has. it worked great other that combined with the trailer and car it weigh like 7000lbs, so it was slow up hill. that was in a ford desiel too. i don't like those car dollys. i would rent a real trailer if i were you. its like $50 a day i think here. i would want to know my car was going to be safe. thats just me.

 

[natedogr]

i toed my supra with a '01 dodge ram with the V8 magnum. UHAUL gave us no problems renting a trailer.

 

[ILikeCarsYesIDo]

if your using a tow dolly you have to disconnect the driveshaft from the diff. when i towed my supra from sac i used a heavy equipment trailer my dads buddy has. it worked great other that combined with the trailer and car it weigh like 7000lbs, so it was slow up hill. that was in a ford desiel too. i don't like those car dollys. i would rent a real trailer if i were you. its like $50 a day i think here. i would want to know my car was going to be safe. thats just me.

Or you could just drive up the tow dolly backwards and not have to disconnect the drive shaft.

 

[suprarx7nut]

Well I wont be using a tow dolly. I dont want to risk any nightmares with that. I think I'll just tell them I'm towing a CRX or del sol. Not sure why I didn't think of that.

 

[SupraMario]

I towed an 89 with a full trailer, on a 99 silverado and they said it wasnt heavy enough, so i went there anyways and told them to cram it. They did, and I dropped off the trailer after I was done. They only have those warnings to cover their own ass.

 

[Facime]

you dont have to pull the driveshaft if its a manual trans, only the automatic shouldnt be towed that way, but for 40 miles it would be ok. Or as someone else said you can pull the driveshaft.

 

[Kangae]

I would just go with the tell them its a CRX plan...and get the full trailer too, not a tow dolley, just seems better and I know I had no problems...except I had a hard time opening the door when the supra was on the trailer...even with the trailer's fender thing folded down...

 

[noah89t]

i have never heard of uhaul giving a shit about what the trailer is being used for. as long as they get paid, who cares what you put on it.
i would just rent the dolly, pull the car on it and get it where you need it, simple and done.

 

[shaeff]

You guys must have used crappy tow dollys. Mine is awesome, super easy to load/unload, very easy to drive with it behind you, etc...

And for a manual car, you don't have to disconnect the driveshaft. Auto's and AWD's, yes, but a manual, rear wheel drive, no.

 

[noah89t]

why wouldn't you just put the tranny in neutral while towing with the drivable set of wheels on the ground?

 

[Facime]

drive wheels turn transmission internals, on a manual box thats ok, thats how its designed to work. On an auto transmission its basically a hydraulic pump powered by the torque converter and turning the internals without fluid circulating = bad. For very short distances its not the end of the world, but heat builds up pretty fast.