Towing a mini-van?

[Clyde9]

From: adrienne4468smithycom  (Original Message)   
Sent: 3/3/2004 11:23 AM


Last year I bought a 1979 Brave 27'. I have a family of 6 (7 if you include the dog) so towing a vehicle doesn't leave me a whole lot of options. We have a 2000 Dodge Caravan and I was wondering what the best way to tow this vehicle is. I did some reading on towing and was wondering about your opinions. Which would be better, a tow dolly or a tow bar and if a tow bar can this vehicle be flat towed or how can I find that out. I did some searching on the internet but couldn't find specifics. I am new to this forum as of a few days. This looks like the place to be when not traveling!
Thanks
Tony



From: DaveVa78Chieftain   
Sent: 3/3/2004 2:54 PM


The majority of vehicles with automatic transmissions cannot be towed 4 wheels down without modification.  The problem is that the torque converter has to be turning in order to pump lubrication fluid through the tansmission.  This applies to your Winnies transmission also (remove rear driveshaft to tow it from the front).  Available modifiacations to the toad can be either a modified axle kit (CV shaft) which allows the wheel to turn but not the transmission or an external pump kit that pumps fluid through the transmission.  Both are fairly expensive I believe.  If you still have your owners manual for the van, the information your looking for should be in there under towing (mine is).  I suspect your Dodge Caravan will say the front wheels have to be off of the ground.  My 1990 Plymouth Voyager cannot be flat towed.  I suspect your least expensive option will be a tow dolly.  Make sure you get one with brakes if you can.  Do your have a hitch installed?   I suspect it will or is a welded version.  Chassis wiring for the lights runs down the left frame channel and comes up through the floor in the rear storage area for routing to the rear stop/tail lights.  Thought that might be helpful to know for hooking up lights on the toad.  I am just going to use magnetic base lights rather than hook into the toad lighting circuit.

Hope this helps
Dave

Dave



From: denison   
Sent: 3/3/2004 3:16 PM


Exactly as DavVA78Chieftain says.
To me the best place for info on towing a vehicle with an automatic tranny would be from a shop that rebuilds automatic trannys. Without that fluid being pumped around, you get fluid flung out of the spaces where it is vital for lubrication. The result is a tranny with scorched clutches, bands, and bearings.
Towing Systems
If your minivan has a manual transmission I believe, but I am not positive, they can be towed with the wheels down. Then you could get a towbar installed to the front end of the caravan that had quick disconnects, so the bar wouldn't be in the way when you werent towing it. There are different brands of these things, priced from $100 way up. Any bar you use will require some kind of solid-secure mounting to the front of the van behind the bumper.
And in most states you are to have tailights connected somehow; so that when the Winnebagos running and brake lights come on, so do the lights on the towed vehicle. It is what the law says in my state, Virgina, and its not hard to do. One method is to have a light bar perched inside the rear window, with the power cord run out to the front of the dinghy and connected to the light circuits on the RV. Slightly more elegant are the systems where you drill a hole for an additional bulb in the dinghys taillights.
In most states you are supposed to have the brakes connected on anything being towed that weighs over a certain amount. Its 3000 lbs in Virginia. I know there are RV related sites where they talk about this lots and lots. I am pretty sure a tow dolly with brakes meets the requirement. Other schemes involve a mechanism that applies force to the brake pedal in the towed vehicle when the brakes of the RV come on. I see these selling from $500 to $1500, the higher prices for systems with proportional braking and more convenience. They depend on the battery in the dinghy for their power.
Here is what I would do: 1. If I were going to be towing the dinghy only occasionally I would use a tow dolly - that had brakes and signal lightson it. 3. If I were going to be towing the dinghy most of the time, I would get a vehicle with a manual transmission, and get a towbar attached to the heavy elements of the front suspension, and would get a brake system added in, such as the tow-buddy or similar. $$$$. And I would have the towing lights integral with the vehicles regular taillights, so I didn't have to deal with moving a light bar in and out of the thing.
There is a fine sounding brake system on ebay now, "US Gear Unified Tow Brake" Item number: 2464256056. My only reservations is why is the bidders identity hidden? Another nice sounding system is ebay item 2464489222.
And if you are going to tow that caravan into the real mountains west of the Mississippi, you might want to think about an auxilliary transmission oil cooler.
denison



From: adrienne4468smithycom   
Sent: 3/3/2004 3:44 PM


Thanks for your help everyone. I think I already knew I would use a tow dolly but wanted to confirm this with experience. It is more difficult to deal with at a campground but I will only be towing once in a while. I'm still a working stiff and can only travel on weekends.
The suggestions on the lights were very helpfull. I hadn't thought about hooking those up yet. Mostly I will travel in MI with the occasional longer trip (wish I could drive to HI).

Thanks
Tony