scientific quesiton of towing my car

[Thomas Pain]

right so I have a 1 ton capacity extended length ford van.  biggest van ford ever made.

it has a class III hitch on the back.  I bolted it on myself.  I think I only used three bolts because one of them didn't fit.  I don't recall but maybe I had a shop drill out holes so the hitch would fit, but they drilled one a little off?  I can't remember.  I can't recall if I used grade 8 bolts made of an appropriate material, or if I used cheap crap that will rust.  Kinda defeats the purpose of safety chains if the chains is hooked to the hitch and the whole fncking hitch falls off.  Well anyway, I'm sure all the bolts won't break at once.  There'll probably be some kinda warning as the hitch starts to swivel on the last remaining bolt.  Maybe it'll puncture the rear gas tank and cause a fire ball.  That kinda thing.

yes this van has two gas tanks.  Can drive a long-ass distance without filling up.  Can put a whole fnckin' paycheck's worth a gas in one fill-up. 

so anywho

question for ya

I got this 2000 hyundai elantra.  front wheel drive.  stick shift.

now it's been my experience once that I hooked a stick shift front wheel drive car to the van with a tow bar... we went a thousand miles or so... and soon thereafter, transmission problems.  My friend's car.  I was helping him move.

Apparently, automatic or manual, either way, the heat generated from the friction of the drift shaft spinning the transmission fncks up something in the transmission -- even a manual transmission.  seals I imagine?  I dunno. 

anyway

question... how hard do you suppose it would be to disconnect the axles from the front wheels?

and other question...

what if I just leave the Elantra idling and in neutral while I tow it?  Shouldn't this keep the transmission fluid circulating, thereby keeping the relevant parts of the transmission nice and cool? 

I'd rather waste a little gas and gum up the spark plugs and fuel injectors a tad than screw with disconnect the drive shafts.  It's fuel injected so I imagine it should stay roughly in stoich and not gum everything up too bad, despite idling for a couple thousand miles or so.  I'm planning a 2,000 mile trip.

thanks for your feedbacks.

[pmcd9]

I hauled a 2001 Toyota Echo on a tow dolly 1600 miles from Utah back to Houston through the mountains and three years later I don't have transmission problems.

[Arachno-capitalist]

God thanked me for defending him against such vicious attacks on Him
and me in the newsgroups over the years. He said one reason they want
to torture me for the “long war” over many years is because I told
about the crimes of the establishment’s skull-copulators in my
newsgroup postings and blogs. “You defended Us well,” God said on one
occasion. On another, he said, “It took them years to falsify your
newsgroup postings.” My e-mail accounts, in which I was combative but
good, and with which I posted to the newsgroups or usenet for four
years or a bit more are:

polomag@flips.net
mark_gerard@mydeja-news.com
mgm21@msn.com
mgm21@bellsouth.net
mark_g_miller@hotmail.com

[Thomas Pain]

I hauled a 2001 Toyota Echo on a tow dolly 1600 miles from Utah back to Houston through the mountains and three years later I don't have transmission problems.

yeah but that doesn't help me.  I'm asking about a tow bar, which is a device that hooks to the bumper... all four wheels stay on the ground and therefore the driven shaft rotates, whereas, with a tow dolly, if the driven wheels are placed on the dolly, they don't rotate.

Problem is a tow dolly is kinda expensive.  A tow bar is like $100.

[AugustWest]

yeah but that doesn't help me.  I'm asking about a tow bar, which is a device that hooks to the bumper... all four wheels stay on the ground and therefore the driven shaft rotates, whereas, with a tow dolly, if the driven wheels are placed on the dolly, they don't rotate.

Problem is a tow dolly is kinda expensive.  A tow bar is like $100.

Yabbut you could probably rent a tow dolly for like $50.

[Thomas Pain]

nopers... reserved one month ahead of time, Uhaul is $310.00 -- Includes up to 8 days of use

(uhaul charges by the distance, pretty much)  a local 1 day rental might be $50 or so.

so not only do I blow $300, I don't have the option of hanging out with friends along the way.  Also if I have downtime due to deferred maintenance on the van, or being arrested for whatever, or being kidnapped, or wanting to take some time out of my trip to kidnap a hitch hiker, then I risk going over my 8 days as well.  It's not like you want to leave the body right along your path of travel.  no.. you establish an alibi, and you drop the body at least a couple hundred miles away from your established location.  This all takes time.  Not to mention, the way this society has gotten so crazy with paranoia these days, it's not uncommon to drive 8 days without even seeing a single hitchhiker.

[AugustWest]

nopers... reserved one month ahead of time, Uhaul is $310.00 -- Includes up to 8 days of use

$310.00!!! Dang.   I rented a 16 foot truck not long ago for less than that.  Just get you one of those, park the car in the back and take off.

Bonus points if you drive up into the back of the truck while both vehicles are moving like in Spy Hunter.

[Bobby Isosceles]

nopers... reserved one month ahead of time, Uhaul is $310.00 -- Includes up to 8 days of use

(uhaul charges by the distance, pretty much)  a local 1 day rental might be $50 or so.

so not only do I blow $300, I don't have the option of hanging out with friends along the way.  Also if I have downtime due to deferred maintenance on the van, or being arrested for whatever, or being kidnapped, or wanting to take some time out of my trip to kidnap a hitch hiker, then I risk going over my 8 days as well.  It's not like you want to leave the body right along your path of travel.  no.. you establish an alibi, and you drop the body at least a couple hundred miles away from your established location.  This all takes time.  Not to mention, the way this society has gotten so crazy with paranoia these days, it's not uncommon to drive 8 days without even seeing a single hitchhiker.

On the other hand, the economic downturn has lead to a lot of down-and-out people with possibly spurious limps and poorly written PLEASE HELP GOD BLESS cardboard signs at street corners. They are the new hitchhiker, plus their malnourishment means they won't fight back/may offer you favors.

[Thomas Pain]

On the other hand, the economic downturn has lead to a lot of down-and-out people with possibly spurious limps and poorly written PLEASE HELP GOD BLESS cardboard signs at street corners. They are the new hitchhiker, plus their malnourishment means they won't fight back/may offer you favors.

I keep waiting for the "PLESE HELP GOD BLES" cardboard sign that's just hovering in the air there at the intersection, with the only the faintest translucent outline of a bum holding it up.  If they don't have invisibility cloaking, it's not honorable to go after them, plus it becomes just boring after a while.