towing with a tow dolly

[Joel Hauser]

My Mk4 roadster build is pretty much complete! I painted it - bright yellow! - a couple weeks ago, and put in the carpeting and mirrors last week. I picked the kit up in Wareham in January 2016, and have been working on it most weekends since then. It's been an experience, to put it mildly.
To register the car in NY, I have to tow it to a weigh station to have it weighed, a NYS title inspection office, and a NYS safety inspection station. That's three tows. Has anyone towed a roadster with side pipes on using a U-haul tow dolly? I don't have a truck to pull a full size trailer, and would prefer not to have to rent both a trailer and truck. I would be towing it behind a subaru outback that has a towing weight limit of 2700 lbs. I wouldn't have to tow it more than 20 miles round trip. I'll drive really slowly.
Thanks for the input.

Cobra picture.jpg

[CDXXVII]

I would not risk it. You would be towing at max capacity. I rented the Uhaul F150 + full size car hauler. For a twenty mile round trip it would probably cost about $100. Why risk it. I think I ended up renting the UHaul setup around 6 times. No regrets.

You might be able to do the weigh and safety on the same day and save a tow.

[Joel Hauser]

I guess you're right. I'll check with U-Haul this morning to see if they have both a car hauler and pickup in stock. I don't think I can do the safety inspection until NYS DMV inspects the car. And DMV won't inspect it until I submit an application by mail that includes the weight certificate, photo's, bill of sale for the donor car, and title documents from Factory Five.
Thanks for the input.

[Chris @ Forma]

Joel,

You might also find someone in the FFR community that could help you out. There's got to be someone else in the Albany area with a trailer and tow vehicle. We had the treasurer of the Ohio Cobra club offer to help us out with our inspection etc.

Chris @ Forma

[KDubU]

Agree just rent for Uhaul, we'll worth it.

[first time builder]

For what it cost to rent a uhaul truck and trailer you could probably contact a smaller towing company and have them flat bed it for you.
Here we have several "junk Car" tow companies that work very reasonably. But only use a flat bed.

[Jacob McCrea]

I recently did something similar and wouldn't do it again unless absolutely necessary. I rented a U-Haul dolly to tow my wife's Dodge Avenger (maybe 3500 lbs) 10 hilly miles to the dealer when the throttle body failed. I used my 1994 Pathfinder, which I am sure was maxed out, or beyond, towing the Avenger. We were in a bind as the car needed to be moved ASAP, my full-size truck had a dead battery and was out of inspection, we were leaving town for vacation in the next day or so, and she needed the car for work immediately upon return. Setting aside the low margin of safety and abusiveness, the tow dolly had short, steep ramps which hit the bumper cover when loading and unloading. So, it was a forgettable experience in all respects. Also, Uhaul will likely enter the tow vehicle and towed vehicle data into their computer, which may instruct the clerk not to rent it to you, presumably for liability/legal reasons.

[AC Bill]

So there's no way you can get a TOP "temporary operating permit" in NY, so you can drive the car to the inspection? That would save a lot of fooling around, and expense.

I was able to get one of these through our Govt Insurance agent. The TOP allowed me 24 hours, to drive it to the Govt scales to get weighed, to the vehicle inspection place, and back to the insurance office, so they could verify the new VIN was attached, and correct. At that point I could then purchase insurance, and was given license plates.

[CraigS]

So there's no way you can get a TOP "temporary operating permit" in NY, so you can drive the car to the inspection? That would save a lot of fooling around, and expense.

I was able to get one of these through our Govt Insurance agent. The TOP allowed me 24 hours, to drive it to the Govt scales to get weighed, to the vehicle inspection place, and back to the insurance office, so they could verify the new VIN was attached, and correct. At that point I could then purchase insurance, and was given license plates.

That is a good point AC. Several sates I have lived in allow a drive to an inspection station as long as you have an appointment for an inspection.

[Joel Hauser]

The NYS instructions for registering a homemade vehicle says that the car "must" be towed to scale, the vehicle examination site, and the safety inspection. https://dmv.ny.gov/forms/vs100.pdf

So this afternoon I rented a uhaul truck and trailer and towed it to the scale at a recycling center, where I got lots of compliments and comments about the car. Several people volunteered to direct me as I drove it off and back on the trailer. First time the cars been off my street. It weighed about 2200 lbs.

One tow down, two to go.

Thanks everyone for the input.

[bil1024]

I used the tow dolly with my Traverse, no issue at all

[steno]

I don't know for a fact, but heard that the T-5 trans doesn't tolerate towing well due to some parts not being lubed properly. Best to pull the drive shaft.

[Jeff Kleiner]

I don't know for a fact, but heard that the T-5 trans doesn't tolerate towing well due to some parts not being lubed properly. Best to pull the drive shaft.

STEN JOHNSON IS RIGHT! (((You don't know how many years I've been waiting to be able to use that modified throwback to Blazing Saddles )))

When being towed in neutral with the engine off the output is spinning but the input shaft and cluster gear are stationary which means that no lube is being moved. The result is that the bearings between the stationary input and turning output are running dry and will ultimately fail. Twenty miles at low speeds MIGHT be OK, or might not...

Jeff

[Feen]

Joel, you should only need to tow to the title inspection office now. Once they are done with you, you can send the paperwork to tech services and get the required from. Then to DMV to register, at registration, they will give you temporary 10day inspection sticker, then you should be all set to drive to your safety inspection.

[Joel Hauser]

Thanks Feen, I'll look into getting a 10 day sticker.

[j.miller]

All great info....plus you can't back up with a tow dolly so you need to check ingress and egress before pulling in somewhere.

[Paparazzi]

I'm in NY and did the 3 tows ... (1) for weighing; (2) for State Police inspection; (3) for DMV inspection. Each time I used a UHaul car trailer. Two of them were fine, no issues - just make sure you're centred. The third was a PITA - the ramps were slightly damaged which meant the exhausts bottomed out - I had to use some sections of 2x4 strategically placed to lift the rear as I came up the ramps.