Tow Dolly towing a 73 Series 3

[bls72bmw]

Gents,
I have to move a 73 S3 about 200 miles behind my Toyota Land Cruiser (oh the shame).

I was thibking of just renting a Tow Dolly from U Haul and NOT disconnecting the rear prop shaft.

Maybe just put out the transfer case in Neutral, gearbox in 4 and go under 65mph?

Put the Fairey OD in Neutral as well maybe?

Thoughts appreciated.

[cnfowler]

You could rent the car hauler, then you wouldn't have to worry about any of it. But if you do the dolly, the rear prop shaft is held on with 4 bolts. Took me a couple minutes to disconnect mine when I did the same behind my Land Cruiser 2 years ago.


Colin

[stomper]

I just towed my 88 across the country with a Land Cruiser Prado. The 4 wheel car hauler is nice, as you have brakes, and extra room to haul fuel cans, propane tanks, etc. on the trailer.

[RPGreg2600]

Why would you need to remove the driveshaft? That's only for full time 4wd vehicles. Put it in 2wd and transfer case and transmission in neutral. If it has free wheel hubs, unlock them.

8 bolts by my count.

Trailer doesn't cost much more than a dolly to rent.

[erik88lr]

Don't mean to derail this thread, but how about just buying a Harbour Freight (or similar) A-frame tow bar. Probably cheaper than renting. See https://www.harborfreight.com/5000-l...bar-61625.html Anyone tow that way?

[SafeAirOne]

Why would you need to remove the driveshaft? That's only for full time 4wd vehicles. Put it in 2wd and transfer case and transmission in neutral. If it has free wheel hubs, unlock them.

Well, let me tell you the story of the day I brought my 109 home on a tow dolly...

I had everything in neutral so I didn't bother to disconnect the driveshaft. After all, I was only towing it about 35 miles. So...5 miles from my house as I'm stopping at a traffic light at a pretty major intersection just outside of the city, I feel something...odd. I wasn't sure what I felt...until the light turned green and the tow vehicle bogged down trying to accelerate away from the stop light with a million angry motorists behind us.

I thought this simple tow job killed my wife's 4 Runner as it had all it could do to get out of the travel lane and onto the side of the road. It wasn't till I was finally on the shoulder and about to pop the hood on my wife's car when I noticed the skid marks from the stop line at the intersection leading directly to the rear tires on the 109.

The rear wheels locked up for reasons unknown to me at the time. So there I was, on the side of the road, in the dirt, removing the driveshaft that should have already been off.

In the end, something probably wasn't in neutral and decelerating at the traffic light encouraged the other thing to come out of neutral and slip into gear. This was day one that I took ownership of this 109. It's been 15 years of the same ever since...

[galen216]

The proper method according to the data plate on Series trucks is transfer case in neutral, transmission in 4th gear. You must have the trans in 4th to circulate the oil.

Every time I've towed a Series I remove the driveshaft at the diff and hang the shaft up in the frame, no reason to fully remove it.

[o2batsea]

Yeh you can "flat tow" the Rover but be sure that you have the transfer case in neutral. This is critical. Fortunately, as noted above, if it jumps into gear somehow, you'll know it pretty darn quick. I don't think you'll damage anything more than your pride, but it will sober you up in a matter of seconds.
Undoing the prop shaft isn't always a sure thing. those bolts are in a pretty harsh environment and they can be awful stubborn even with good tools in a dry garage.Out in the open, well, it could be a half-day project just getting one or two stubborn bolts out.