An auto car on a tow dolly?

[knote72]

The dolly should come with the straps attached to the trailer. The only thing I can think of that may be an issue is the tire size vs strap length. You will have to ask them what size cars can fit their trailer by width and tire size. Years ago I hauled a duster on a my dolly and while it fit no problem on the rack when I made a sharp turn into the parking lot at the dragstrip the dolly fenders kissed the lower rocker on the duster and dented it up. Then I can't tell you how many times I have had people want to borrow mine and the tires on their rigs were just tall enough that the straps wouldn't fit over and lock in. And no matter how many tie downs you use to try to secure it to the deck they won't hold after the couple turns or bumps. I can tell you from experience, having the rig slip even one tire of the deck is no good. It's a struggle to say the least. Just questions you want to ask before you commit to the trip. How wide of a wheelbase and tire size can the dolly handle. And no, airing the tires down is not the fix. Lol. Nowadays all the cars are small.

I'm sure they'll fit, but I'll ask when I call to verify. I'd imagine the Demon isn't too different from a lot of cars nowadays.

So even though he has the title for it, I still want to sign a Bill of Sale just in case. I printed out both Bill of Sale forms for both Oregon and Idaho, but which one will really matter more? The car and seller are in Idaho, but as the buyer I'm from Oregon.

 

[dartnabout]

The dolly should come with the straps attached to the trailer. The only thing I can think of that may be an issue is the tire size vs strap length. You will have to ask them what size cars can fit their trailer by width and tire size. Years ago I hauled a duster on a my dolly and while it fit no problem on the rack when I made a sharp turn into the parking lot at the dragstrip the dolly fenders kissed the lower rocker on the duster and dented it up. Then I can't tell you how many times I have had people want to borrow mine and the tires on their rigs were just tall enough that the straps wouldn't fit over and lock in. And no matter how many tie downs you use to try to secure it to the deck they won't hold after the couple turns or bumps. I can tell you from experience, having the rig slip even one tire of the deck is no good. It's a struggle to say the least. Just questions you want to ask before you commit to the trip. How wide of a wheelbase and tire size can the dolly handle. And no, airing the tires down is not the fix. Lol. Nowadays all the cars are small.

And that reminds me.....I had to come-along the car forward to the stops on the dolly and then strap it down. Otherwise it would move back and forth and cause a wild sway at 55 mph. But once I tightened it down good I could keep it rolling without problem.

 

[Penstarpurist]

Man, that's a tough call. Oregon dmv is so bad about paperwork. Sadly even if you call and talk to person "a" and they tell you one thing person "b" thay you deal with says another thing. I think you are wise to get both oregon and idaho ones filled out. Though I would think they will want just oregon. But why chance it, definitely get both.

 

[knote72]

In prep for making the trip, I got the trans cooler in the Dakota. I followed the recommended method and installed it downstream from the radiator, still keeping the radiator in the loop.

Before that I dropped the trans pan and changed the fluid + filter, but tbh the old fluid was still red and no metal shavings + barely any gunk in the pan

That's a good sign I guess, the trans is good to go.

After everything was changed and installed, I ran it down the road & up the hill then back a few times. Let it cool off in between, let fittings and the pan gasket to wear in. Made sure pan bolts were tight as with the hose clamps. No leaks at all. Noticeable difference between the radiator outlet and the return from the cooler. Going with 6 quarts was the right call too, after warmed up the fluid sits at 3/4 the "OK" range on the dipstick. Trans is ready to roll. Rewired the trailer light hookup, for some reason the trailer light controller isn't picking up right turn signal (which is clearly working).

 

[Penstarpurist]

Have had that happen a time or two with the trailer wiring. Usually it's a ground wire, dirty socket plug, or of course the bulb.

 

[knote72]

Have had that happen a time or two with the trailer wiring. Usually it's a ground wire, dirty socket plug, or of course the bulb.

I know the kit works since the other turn signal light works, and both taillights come on when I click on the headlights. I figured it had something to do with it being a kit for independent bulb system yet the Dakota shares 1 bulb for turn/brake/taillight, and two of those share the same circuit. Idk how to remedy that though. As long as I have brake lights and left turn signal. I'll take the kit off and return it after I get the trip over with.

 

[knote72]

At the last minute, got the hitch wiring all sorted out. Like I said, the wiring kit is for a vehicles with an independent-bulb lighting system (which the Dakota is not). I realized I could just hookup the plug directly to each circuit and VOILA everything works the way it should. I didn't go to the effort of taking off the wiring harness, I just disconnected the wires and left it on. I'll take it back to Wally-world once I'm done with the trip.

Now I just gotta make sure my brother has the green light. A trip like this requires a spare set of eyes and hands, and he's my designated copilot. Only snag was at the last minute his wife had a problem with it, even though they talked about this and supposedly it was cool and understood

 

[knote72]

Well good news is my copilot got the green light so we're on the way. Currently somewhere an hour east of Bend, legit desert!

That trans cooler was dedinitely a wise investment. Rolled into Sisters, felt the trans oil pan. Was warm, yet I could hold my hand to it no prob.

 

[Penstarpurist]

Good luck on your journey! You have alot more desert to go for sure.

 

[Jimacuda]

post some pics from the road

 

[knote72]

If you want the short story (in the words of my generation, TL;DR), scroll to the bottom.

Long Story:
We headed out from the house at 3am to make as much of daylight as we could on the way back (my brother insisted on driving the way there). Sunrise came somewhere 40+ miles east from Bend. PURE DESERT! A whopping 27 degrees too!

And here people think Oregon is all green!

Anyways, we trucked on thru, gassed up in Burns and kept goin. Plenty o steep grades east of Burns once you cross the plateau! My brother kept ignoring me when I said to slow it to a good speed and let the trans coast down the hills, he kept using the brakes, and I'll touch on this again in a minute.

After a couple more hours we passed Vale and came to the canyons that dropped us down into Ontario

From Ontario it was a straight shot on I-84 to Boise.

We go check out the car, here it is in his garage

Checked it out, all appeared in order, nothing that wasn't shown in the pics. We go and come back with the dolly and cash in hand, and work on loading it on the dolly. He reminds me it runs, cranks it up and it fires immediately, so we drive it on up and strap it in. I couldn't find anything underneath to wire up the driveshaft to, so I decide little option but to pull it all. Prepared with drain pan for a waterfall, just a little trickle, so I just plugged the hole and put the shaft in the pickup and off we went.

Made it back west of Ontario, stopped short of the canyons to eat lunch and let it cool off before the real trials began

With the trans OD off it had no problems climbing the canyon. Once we got to the grades 40 or 50 miles from Burns, however, that was a different story. Made it up to the top, had to stop and let the engine cool off (checked the trans fluid and trans lines, they were gettin toasty but nothing bad thanks to that trans cooler). After cooling down and dropping down the grade, it was much happier. It being almost freezing out and having the heater goin helped too. Found out that thanks to my brother riding the brakes on the way, they were pretty faded on the way down, luckily low gear made the engine slow it down and dropping into 2 under 45mph was an option too. Gassed up again in Burns, once on the desert plateau, the dolly says 55mph max but the OD had no problem cruising a modest 60 (dropped gear obviously for the few small hils before Bend). Few hours of pitch black desert, then Bend then Sisters. Had to stop and let it cool again after the grade this side of Sisters. Once past that it was a straight shot to Sweet Home then ACTUAL home. Bolted the driveshaft back on, parked it in the garage, then turned the dolly in to uhaul the next day (today).

Short Story: The Dakota got worked over a bit on the hills, but we got the car back home.

*Here it is in my garage

 

[Divenut]

If you want the short story (in the words of my generation, TL;DR), scroll to the bottom.

Long Story:
We headed out from the house at 3am to make as much of daylight as we could on the way back (my brother insisted on driving the way there). Sunrise came somewhere 40+ miles east from Bend. PURE DESERT! A whopping 27 degrees too!
View attachment 1715092277 View attachment 1715092278 View attachment 1715092279 View attachment 1715092280 View attachment 1715092281 View attachment 1715092283
And here people think Oregon is all green!

Anyways, we trucked on thru, gassed up in Burns and kept goin. Plenty o steep grades east of Burns once you cross the plateau! My brother kept ignoring me when I said to slow it to a good speed and let the trans coast down the hills, he kept using the brakes, and I'll touch on this again in a minute.

After a couple more hours we passed Vale and came to the canyons that dropped us down into Ontario
View attachment 1715092284
From Ontario it was a straight shot on I-84 to Boise.

We go check out the car, here it is in his garage
View attachment 1715092285
Checked it out, all appeared in order, nothing that wasn't shown in the pics. We go and come back with the dolly and cash in hand, and work on loading it on the dolly. He reminds me it runs, cranks it up and it fires immediately, so we drive it on up and strap it in. I couldn't find anything underneath to wire up the driveshaft to, so I decide little option but to pull it all. Prepared with drain pan for a waterfall, just a little trickle, so I just plugged the hole and put the shaft in the pickup and off we went.

Made it back west of Ontario, stopped short of the canyons to eat lunch and let it cool off before the real trials began
View attachment 1715092294

With the trans OD off it had no problems climbing the canyon. Once we got to the grades 40 or 50 miles from Burns, however, that was a different story. Made it up to the top, had to stop and let the engine cool off (checked the trans fluid and trans lines, they were gettin toasty but nothing bad thanks to that trans cooler). After cooling down and dropping down the grade, it was much happier. It being almost freezing out and having the heater goin helped too. Found out that thanks to my brother riding the brakes on the way, they were pretty faded on the way down, luckily low gear made the engine slow it down and dropping into 2 under 45mph was an option too. Gassed up again in Burns, once on the desert plateau, the dolly says 55mph max but the OD had no problem cruising a modest 60 (dropped gear obviously for the few small hils before Bend). Few hours of pitch black desert, then Bend then Sisters. Had to stop and let it cool again after the grade this side of Sisters. Once past that it was a straight shot to Sweet Home then ACTUAL home. Bolted the driveshaft back on, parked it in the garage, then turned the dolly in to uhaul the next day (today).

Short Story: The Dakota got worked over a bit on the hills, but we got the car back home.

*Here it is in my garage
View attachment 1715092287

Congrats man. Glad it worked out well for you. And nice looking car!

Pat

 

[Penstarpurist]

Awesome! And congratulations! You have a very nice car, and a nice journey and tale to go along with it. Glad it was uneventful trouble free trip.

 

[knote72]

Awesome! And congratulations! You have a very nice car, and a nice journey and tale to go along with it. Glad it was uneventful trouble free trip.

Besides having to stop a couple times for the engine to cool off, yeah it was uneventful. The temps dropping like mad helped cool it off quick, long enough for a quick pee-and-refuel break. The trans sure took it like a champ and nothing broke or came loose from the bumper or frame (although I already knew that it wouldn't, a few days before the trip I took a look and found out "tow haul package" for that year meant a class 3 support welded into the bumper). Nothing eventful with the dolly either, straps held tight the whole way even with how bumpy it got in parts (which is good because in our haste to load the car we forgot to hook the dolly's safety chains to it).

Only issue was for my brother. Even though he's my roadtrip copilot, his wife gets overprotective and panicks if he's away on a trip too long (doesn't help when she expects constant phone updates yet half the trip is outta cell range let alone any sign of civilization). He somehow thought the trip back was gonna be as fast as getting there. Even though I can drive a good pace, he definitely has a lead foot, so I let him drive the way there. I'm more cautious and actually did the towing research, so I sure as hell wasn't gonna let him drive the way back. The return trip taking longer made him pretty grumpy, and the "engine cool-off" breaks didn't help. I sure as hell wasn't gonna risk my project car (or our lives) and haul *** doing 75 the whole way back just to shave off an hour or two of travel.

Note: with how good it's done me, my Dakota's 318 could use a rebuild. Never had one, and after this trip it could sure use some work. Radiator for one has gunk in it that needs to be cleaned out, and some fresh engine work would put it in a much better way. May also consider an electric fan. Whenever the truck itself finally goes, I may save the engine and trans for a project truck (but that'll be saved for AFTER the Screamin' Demon project).

 

[knote72]

Did a more detailed round of pictures

LOL @ that light! I love it! Once the project gets underway, I'll definitely be making that light more relevant!

Here's a plus: Everything electrical (besides the radio) works

 

[knote72]

Started an official build thread, although I don't see any major updates happening for quite a while 72 Demon slanty-to-340 Resto