Towing a 911 behind a Motorhome

[air-cool-me]

you will have to look up how to raise and lower the ride hight.


but if you just crawl under the front of the car you can see two 11mm bolts sticking down under at the back of the control arms.

so if you wanted to tow it backwards using a dolly you would jack up the front of the car... run the 11mm screws in to raise the front up then back onto your tow dolly.(or wait till its on the dolly if it wont clear)

when you wanted to drive it you would have to jack up the front of the car and return the screws to the length they were before you started.(i just count the number of turns)

If you had to make a quick trip you could even drive it around with the front in the air like a motorboat as long as you took it easy.

changing the ride high also affects the toe. as i understand it. as you go up the toe goes out and down it goes in. so getting it back to where you had it is important.


so if you jack up the front the tires will toe out.. but if your dragging it backwards.. then its actually toe in.. which isn't a bad thing.

i would do more research before you start twisting away on my advice... but for me.. this is simple and easy. it takes 10min to get the car ready for the tow or ready to drive.

if you want any more details send me an email at carbaf42 at erau (dot) edu

[datedd]

Thanks Nick. Seems Like a lot to do to set up for towing and untowing. I still would rather flat tow because I have used dollies before and at the campsite they are a pain.

I am spoiled with flat towing. So my next project is to have my engineering students design a baseplate that can be affixed to the car from which I can attach my motorhome mounted towbar to. The welding shop at my community college can fabricate it as long as they have the plans.

[johndglynn]

Originally posted by datedd
my next project is to have my engineering students design a baseplate that can be affixed to the car from which I can attach my motorhome mounted towbar to. The welding shop at my community college can fabricate it as long as they have the plans.

Sounds good David, I think one could bolt to the torsion bar end caps pretty easily. I would be very surprised if there wasn't a market for the end product, especially if it was relatively easily removable once at the track.

Keep me in the loop, I might be tempted

[daepp]

The product I used in the 70's was availble mail order from the old PBTweeks. It used two 3" x 3" brackets that bolted to the front pan. In each bracket was an eye. The "Y" shaped tow bar attached to the eyes with pins and cotter keys.

The brackets, btw, did not look too dissimilar to the things people weld under the front of low cars to absorb scraping over driveways, etc.

[JFairman]

For short distances it is probably OK.

Longer distances...?
Seems it would increase wear on the needle bearings that reside between the gears and the main shaft.
The gears on the mainshaft are engaged with the gears on the layshaft all the time. The gearset on the mainshaft are on needle bearings and freewheel all the time unless a gear is selected, then it is locked to the mainshaft.
When the engine is not running and the clutch is out, then obviously the input shaft to the transmission, and layshaft/mainshaft gearsets are stationary.
But if the car is rolling with the CV joints attached and the transmission in nuetral then the differential and outputshaft or mainshaft of the transmission are turning... and the the mainshaft will be spinning inside of the stationary gearset.
The gears being stationary will also not be splashing, swirling gearbox oil around inside the case to keep the needle bearings freshly lubricated.

This may not be much of an issue but for long distances I wouldn't do it.
Just have someone drive the car there or disconnect the CV joints from the transaxle while towing.

If you've ever taken apart a manual transmission then you know what I'm talking about.

[datedd]

Thanks Jfairman. This is exactly the kind of info that I was looking for. You know the manual does not reccomend towing for long didtances either.