PINTO CAR CLUB of AMERICA
Welcome to FordPinto.com, The home of the PCCA => General Help- Ask the Experts... => Topic started by: delizious on March 29, 2013, 01:52:36 PM
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So I'm trying to get my car and I down to Georgia and I was wondering if you guys think a Ford E150 cargo van would be able to tow my car with a trailer hitch? I think as I remember someone saying that you have to disconnect some sort of cable?
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I think they mean disconnect the driveshaft that connects the transmission to the rear end of the car. If you tow it with the rear on the ground. Or you could just tow it with the rear end up. But I guess what hapens is if the rear wheels are on the ground and the driveshaft is connected the wheels will make the driveshaft and parts inside the transmission turn too fast, unless youre going to drive no more than 30 or 35 mph.
Im not sure why they dont just town them in 4th gear Im sure someone will explain it better than I can.
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With Class III frame hitch you could pull the pinto on a Tow Dolly or use a tow bar. If the rear wheels are on the ground, you most likely will have to disconnect the drive shaft. As for using a trailer, brakes are a must on the trailer and the law in most states.
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you only have to drop the drive shaft if you are using a 2-wheel dolly and have an auto trans in the Pinto. If it's a manual trans just put it in neutral. The reason you should pull the drive shaft on an auto if using a 2-wheel dolly is that the trans will heat up as the rear wheels turn and no fluid will be pumping thru to cool it and ruin the auto. You can get away with using a 2-wheel dolly on an auto trans but only if you keep the speed low (under 30mph) and only for a very short distance. While some will say tow it backwards with a 2 wheel dolly and auto trans... that really is not recommended.
As for car trailers... class III hitch required. Without specs on the van (year and motor) hard to say if it will be strong enough. Also depends on the trailer and it's weight... the U-Haul car transports are really heavy and have surge brakes (nice) but again they are pretty heavy. A standard car trailer that most people own are usually much lighter but if they have brakes you usually have to have a brake controller wired up for the brakes to work.
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Yea I don't own a dolly :( I just have a towing hitch and my car is automatic not manual so I guess that's going to be a problem. Not sure how much it costs to rent a dolly/tow bar from somewhere, and I don't know how to disconnect the drive shaft. All the wiring is there on the van to connect to the Pinto I believe so I'm half way to what I need to acquire. Thanks for the information guys your the best!