> First, the rear overhand on a roadster is longer than the front overhang
> on most cars, so there may be a clearance problem between the tow vehicle
> and the roadster.
>
I had no clearance problems. Tow dollies usually have a pretty long tongue.
> Second, since the rear end of the roadster is much higher than the front,
> yo will transfer more of the weight of the roadster to the fron
> suspension. I don't know just how much that would affect things, but it
> will probably contribute to front end wear. The steering box would
> probably get more banging in one spot, possibly causing a wear spot on the
> worm gear.
The steering box is pointed straight ahead most of the time you drive on the
highway. I don't see how dollying the car with the steering straight ahead
would be any worse than driving the car with the steering straight ahead.
The car tends to wag when towed backwards on the dolly. The roll center of
the car is at an angle from the upper rear to the lower front anyway. When
put at an additional angle on the tow dolly with the rear up high it
effectively makes a very high center of gravity. The rear track is narrower
than the front causing more problems with the tires fitting in the buckets.
The weight is also concentrated on the front of the car normally and putting
it on an angle like that makes it more front heavy. The alignment of the
front wheels is set up to go straight when driving normally. When you drive
or tow in reverse the caster and toe settings tend to make the car not want
to go straight. Have you ever turned a corner going forward and allowed the
steering to center automatically? Try this while backing up. The wheel
won't center, in fact it goes all the way to lock and stays there. Even
with the steering locked while towing backwards the irregularities in the
road will cause the car to wander. All of this contributes to the tail
wagging the dog at speeds over about 50mph. I tried to tow the roadster
this way and it was not pleasant.
Andy
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