Re: OMG, not ANOTHER one?! (yes, there IS a way!)

[raysinvegas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

On May 20, 2005 Tom Bunsey wrote:

> On May 20, 2005 Andy Ray wrote:
> 
> > Yeah, direct quote from the wife! I just bought another 64 440(no H with this one). Some of you may have seen it on Ebay recently. The white one with the red interior out of Escondido CA? Anywhoo, now I have to get it here to Las Vegas. I have access to a tow dolly from a fellow club member(Hi Ron! Can I borrow your dolly?!), but it occured to me that this is an automatic. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure I can't just put it in neutral and dolly it back. Is there any way, besides taking the car apart, to move this car 300 miles without renting a trailer? Thanks in advance!
> >
> > Andy Ray
> > Las Vegas
> > 3 64 440's
> > 68 Javelin SST 343
> 
> 
> I apologize for the tardyness of the response (maybe someone has added the solution by now), but...
> 
> 
>  TOWING YOUR '64 (ON A TOW DOLLEY) REALLY SHOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM!
> How's that for a provacative statement?
> 
> Here's why:
> Using a tow dolley with the car on the dolley in the "normal" position, I towed a 1965 Ambassador 990H several hundred miles home (ON A TOW DOLLEY) without any ill effects. The tranny was fine, afterwards. The original, earlier versions of the B-W automatics had TWO oil pumps (one driven by the input shaft, the other driven by the output shaft). About 1966 or so, B-W decided that the output shaft oil pump wasn't needed and deleted it (cost savings). Of course, the side effect was the towing issue.
> 
> I have towed cars with their rear end on the dolley and have experience the fishtailing described earlier. I think that the cause is the heavier end of the car (engine & tranny) needs to be on the dolley. There is probably a nice physics term to explain this, but I can't recall it just now. Something about center of mass over towing wheels....
> 
> When I tow later cars (those that don't have a rear pump in the tranny), I use a Holmes dolley that I found at a swap meet several years ago. This is what the old Holmes wreckers used when a wrecked car had all four wheels inoperable. Essentially, it is a little cradle supported by 4 small wheels that the rear wheels of the towed vehicle sat in. I used this to tow a 1957 Rambler from St. Louis to Columbus, Ohio.
> 
> Tom Bunsey


Thanks to everyone who responded so fast! I think I'll take Tom's advice here and I'll tell you why. In the back of my mind there was a speck of info flashing telling me this was possible. I used to have a 66 American with the 232/Auto. One of the times I had to tow it(head gasket learning curve!), a friend of my dad's mentioned that the older Americans could be towed without dropping the driveshaft. I guess that's why I asked about this particular car. It has the original OHV 195.6/Auto and runs from a can underhood(tank dropped-bad gas) My TSM says : 
                            HYDRAULIC PUMPS
The front and rear pumps are high volume positive displacement crescent type.
The front pump is driven by lugs on the torque converter impeller and operates whenever the engine is operating. The rear pump is driven by the transmission output shaft and operates only when the output shaft is turning(car moving).

So if I read this correctly, the pumps are completely separate and the rear pump is driven by the rear differential as the wheels roll? Since there will be no load on the operating drive parts, I guess the rear pump will just circulate fluid in the back half and keep the rear seal(s) lubricated? This makes sense to me. Maybe the engineers knew they were going to permanently attach the drive shaft(big stupid nut/coupler) to the rear diff., and this redundant rear pump was an easy solution to towing issues? Just guessing here! I wonder if it would help to stop every 100 miles to unhook the car and run it through the gears?
Anywhoo, the thought of towing this car backwards and fishtailing for 300 miles seems insane. I have enough stress in my life! If I can use the free dolly, my life will be a lot simpler. The full size trailer not only costs more, it puts a lot more stress on the tow vehicle with the added weight. Since my Pathfinder just broke its timing belt(yes, bent valves-ouch), I'll probably have to use the wife's Grand Cherokee V8. These are not known for strong trannys! Oh well, life is an adventure right? I'll post the results of my tow in the next few weeks. 
Thanks again to all who responded, this list rocks!

Andy Ray
Las Vegas
AMCRC #7092--See you in Sacramento!
Charter Member Southern Nevada AMC 


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