Toad questions

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Peggyy

Peggyy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2016
Posts
887
Location
Winter springs fl
Can I get an automatic transmission car for towing with four down?
Does anyone still use a tow dolly for theirs?  Trying to figure out all this.  Thanks.
 
There are some automatic transmission models out there that can be flat towed, though it seems to be fewer every year..
 
I flat tow a 2018 Ford Edge with automatic transmission.  Before that I towed a 2007 Saturn Vue,  also with automatic transmission.  You can get Dinghy towing guides on Motorhome.com that's motorhome magazine's website.  They publish an annual Dinghy towing guide. BTW, dinghy is what we call a towed vehicle or toad.
 
To both questions YES.. In fact I tow an Auto-Trans 4 down

Some guidlines

FIrst google REMCO TOWING if nobody provides a link also FMCA and some other magazines publish an annual towing guide. the catch is the towing guide is generally this year's cars so you need a stack of 'em to find a car to tow if not a current model.

Remco you enter your ride's vital stats on the left (Year, Make, Model, Sub Model, Engine, Tranny Fr. Re, 4W or FT. (wheel drive) and they tell you want you don't want to know.

Auto trans vehicles fall into several catagories
1: Tow. just follow instructions
2: Add a DRIVE SHAFT DISCONNECT or 3: Axle lock  these work to disconnect power to the wheels so the wheels turns more or less freely.. (The differential turns but nto the transmission) (How I did it with my first towed)
3: Add a LUBE PUMP (how I'm doing it now)  This circulates transmission fluid under motor home proveded electrical power.

Some can not be towed. PERIOD.
 
Some people use tow dollies because their car cannot be towed four-down.  They're often front-wheel drive vehicles.  In some cases you can do neither and therefore have to put it on a trailer.  I'm glad you're asking before purchase because the owner's manual for a given car will tell you how to tow it.  Also, what is towable one year might not be towable the next year so that's another reason to check the owner's manual.  As an example, it might be indexed under Recreational towing.  Just looking under Towing might get you to the car doing the towing, not to it being towed by a motorhome.

ArdraF
 
Peggy,  Another thing you need to be cognizant of is that most models  will have certain engine and transmission combinations that are flat towable and other combinations that are not flat towable. And manufacturers seem to change these combinations annually.
 
http://www.remcotowing.com/Towing/Store.php 


Lot's of automatics can be towed 4 down. Put the information in the Remco site and it will tell what you need to know.

Towing on a dolly is a pain.
 
For the purpose of shopping, the Dinghy Tow Guides from Motorhome Magazine (aka Good Sam) are easiest - they list vehicles by make/model/year and whether they are automatic or manual transmission, so it's easy to narrow down which ones suit your needs.  I would verify my selection via the Remco site, though, and the owner manual as well.  Seemingly minor differences in vehicle configuration can change the 4-down towability, so double chack before buying..
 
And.....Don't forget about your RVs towing limitations. I believe yours is probably 5k?lbs. You need to make sure of that as well!! I'm new to the whole towing 4 down too, at first it appears very complicated but once you start doing some research, you'll see that it's basic stuff, you just need to be informed. Good luck on your search

Brad
 
1986 Ford Bronco II.  No modifications needed to flat tow, move the floor shift lever to put the transfer case in Neutral, put the automatic transmission in Park and use the key to unlock the steering column.  Most Jeeps work the same way.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 1,075 (members: 7, guests: 1,068)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,972
Posts
1,388,447
Members
137,722
Latest member
RoyL57
Back
Top Bottom