Here's been my experience with towing my Sprites:
1. Stay the hell away from bumper mounted tow bars. One twisted my bumper
into a metal piece of origami, and the free rolling car slammed into the
back of the truck that was doing the towing. That's why I'm looking at
replacing most of the sheet metal in the front of the Sprite.
2. The kind of dolly that supports the front wheels works pretty well, but
make sure that all of the studs and lug nuts are attached on the rear
wheels. Three or less won't cut it. Found out the hard way 30 miles into a
45 mile tow. Also, keep the car in neutral, and make sure that the brakes
aren't seized. No need to remove the driveshaft, since the car is a manual
transmission.
3. The best bet is to find a flat bed trailer long enough to put the
Spridget onto. I've found that this is the best way of transporting them.
It may take a little looking around, but they are available to rent. I had
a place in Fort Worth that made them, and they had a few they rented. I got
a 16' trailer for around $30 a day, but as small as 12' will cut it, due to
the short wheelbase.
If you are going to be taking it 225 miles, take into account how far you
think the Midget has traveled lately. I'd rather push it onto a flatbed
than have it touching pavement for 3-5 hours. Hope this info helps!
Greg Gowins
'69 Sprite
Dublin, CA
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-spridgets@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-spridgets@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of PaulM
Sent: Monday, December 06, 1999 5:10 PM
To: spridgets@autox.team.net
Subject: spridget transporting with a dolly, or...
hi gang,
i nailed down the '69 midget rust bucket on ebay over the weekend.
in
the tradition of 'we tight', i'm considering dragging it the 225 miles
from syracuse, ny to keene, nh with a tow dolly. before committing any
fatal faux pas i'm looking for some advice:
should i roll it with the front or rear wheels on the dolly? i'm
assuming that front wheels dollied would track better. if i pull it
this way, what is the best technique for disconnecting the drive
train? i'm guessing this would be recommended, and necessary.
if i put the rear wheels on the dolly, and secure the steering
straight, would there be a problem with the knock offs working loose
running backwards for this many miles?
i fished through the list archives with some success answering
questions. are there any other issues i am overlooking? any 'been
there, done that, don't do this' advice you have to offer would be
much appreciated. the plan is to pull it home this weekend.
thanks in advance,
paul m
--
paul metzger
keene, nh
'59 bugeye (target)
'60 bugeye (organ donor)
a cellar floor filled with parts boxes.
and soon: '69 midget (for a few more pieces of the puzzle)
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