hey ive never really towed anything before, was wondering if any of you guys had and had some pointers. im towing a 2011 fiesta behind a uhaul truck with one of those tow dollys where the front wheels are lifted off the ground attached to the trailer and the rear wheels drag behind. Its an automatic front wheel drive car, but the owners manual doesnt account for different towing situations and just states "when towing, place car in neutral." Since the driving wheels arent in motion, i would prefer to put it in park so it will move around less on the dolly, but i dont want to break the car for some unforeseen reason that it has to be in neutral even if its just the rear wheels that are moving. anyone?

 

Well if it is strapped down properly it will not more around more on the dolly if it is in neutral. But you do want it in neutral because as you go ever bumps and the angle of the car vs dolly changes it will be turning the front wheels which will cause the transmission and engine internals to turn slightly too. If it is in gear the quick and repeated jerks forward and backward on the driveline could potentially damage something.

If a car is properly tied down it should be ably to be left in neutral with no brakes applied and be fine. However if you are in a situation where the rears are also off the ground it is a good idea to set the e-brake just for extra safety.

 

Ahhhh, driveline shock, that makes total sense. Exactly the reasoning i needed to hear, thank you very much!

 

Also you need to be aware that backing a tow dolly is something that is very hard for even an experienced trailer backer. Make sure that any fuel/food/bathroom breaks are in places where you have a pull through.

Also, how do you like the Fiesta?

 

Yes, im planning on zero backing. I really like the fiesta, its my girlfriends so its an automatic, but i think its the only car the feels as quality inside as the fit. Its faster in a straight line than the fit and handles just as well, in the last road&track it pulled a higher skidpad than the fit. But because of the sleek shape of it, its slightly tighter inside, ours is the hatchback which makes the the length of the car shorter ie the trunk is a little smaller, but in the sedan because of the shape of it i would bump my head on the ceiling in the back seat and im a shortish person (5'8). Also, the automatic tranny is a new 6speed ford tranny, and i think it still needs some smoothing out, first and second gear are very close to each other and sometimes when driving under 20mph, if you let off the gas the get back on it, it hesitates before it picks a gear, and if your on the gas to much in that hesitation period it will THUNK into gear kinda hard, it seems to be a common problem so hopefully ford will update the programming on it. On a side note, I personally think it only looks good in the funky colors like magenta (ours), mustard yellow, things like that, Ive seen it in silver a few times and i think it looks awful, but obviously thats just me since somebody bought it like that.

P.S. It also gets better mpg than the fit

 

Thanks for the info on the Fiesta. I was looking forward to maybe buying one when they first came out. I couldn't find any manuals so I drove the automatic. You described what I experienced. I turned a corner quickly and liked the way it cornered but hated the way the tranny searched for a gear and hesitated before catching up in a clunky way. The steering seemed a little light for my taste but not a deal breaker by any means. While I was still looking for a manual Fiesta I started caring for my elderly parents and needed to buy something with more room for a DD. I may look again as time passes because I really like the idea of the car.