Originally Posted by +fireamx
Scott, for the record, My Nephew and I use to have a used car lot, and we would travel to Florida and bring vehicles back to OHIO, sometimes using a bumper mounted "tow bar" and more times than I can remember with a tow dolly. Every tow dolly we ever rented, swiveled, and we NEVER had any problems with them.
I honestly have no idea of what you're talking about when you mentioned "nasty side forces".
Disconnecting the drive shaft is usually a very easy thing to do, but truth be told, I've never even looked at what it would take to do so on the Crossfire.
I only suggested the tow dolly as a cost saver over "renting" a trailer.
This probably won't thrill you either, but speaking as a "used car salesman" I would never suggest using a front driver Chrysler Mini Van as a tow vehicle for anything of much weight. Their 4 speed automatic trannys are notorious for failing. Just be sure you change the tranny fluid often, and only use Mopar fluid and you should be OK.
But good luck to ya in what ever you decide to do.
What kind of cars were you towing? A high performance sports car like the crossfire needs special care on the transmission and suspension when towing, I am sure with special care it is possible to safely tow a crossfire with a dolly, but I am not going to do it.
The side force are delivered to the wheels on the dolly in a turn situation, I can describe it on paper, but not in the forum. For that reason alone they are shunned by sports car enthusiasts, and most manufacturers require a flatbed tow. Cutting corners here to save a buck is the wrong place to do it.
This is my 3rd Mini-van, I have had remarkably good luck with them over the years, each one has gone over 200,000 miles, and I have only replaced 1 tranny. I got the van with the towing package, the bigger engine, 5 speed tranny, etc... That should do the the trick for the 2-3 times a year I am going to do this. Heck the PT Cruiser would tow the crossfire, it's the trailer that weighs more than the car. The towing capacity is 5500lbs, the hitch capacity is 3500lbs, and the ball is 3000lbs. The first number is pulling cap. the second revers to the maximum tongue weight (downward force on the hitch), and the third refers to the total force on the ball. According to u-Haul, more than enough for the trailer and a Mecrcedes SLK350 (same car I think - LOL)
I will add a tranny fluid cooler as soon as I get the bank account out of the iron lung - LOL