Towing Chrysler Town & Country Minivan

[howdydoody1]

We are new to the Motorhome scene.

We have a 2000 Newmar Mountain Aire Diesel Pusher. We have a 2011 Chrysler Town and Country Mini-Van. The owners manual says no towing except four wheels up. Any thoughts on this subject?

We are also considering towing our older vehicle - 2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser. We would use a tow dolly for that vehicle. Do we have to disconnect the battery to tow a car on a tow dolly?

So much to learn!

Thanks

DH

[tbutler]

A tow dolly wouldn't qualify as four wheels up. This implies that your only choice is to tow on a trailer, all four wheels on the trailer. There is a company that outfits vehicles for towing with disconnects for the drive train. I'm sure someone will come up with the name. It may or may not work for the Town and Country. It would likely void any warranty.

For the PT Cruiser, if it can be towed on a tow dolly there is no need to disconnect the battery. The rear wheels are coasting and the rest of the car, engine, odometer, etc. has no idea what is going on! Before you purchase a tow dolly, you might want to try loading the PT Cruiser on the dolly. We had a dolly and we had to carry extra boards to raise the ramps enough to allow loading a Pontiac. We abandoned the tow dolly after one year on the road.

[jrwitt]

I think Tom is refering to Remco for the towing disconnects. They also have lube pumps for some vehicles. Their web address is remcotowing.com.

There website has an application chart that shows what cars they make kits for. There might be other companies, but Remco seems to be the major player. I have never used there products.

Jack

[desertdeals69]

It might need to be 4 wheels up if it is awd.

[Koliver]

I use a dolly. I have towed my Volvo XC90, and I added power from the MH to the car battery, as I had to leave the key on, in neutral, alarms disabled, so there was some power usage in the car. Adding a pair of wires from the dolly plugin to the car was no biggie. The car towed well on the dolly, and with high ground clearance, was easy to load.

I have also towed my Volvo S70, FWD, so no need to connect the battery, no leaving the key on. Low ground clearance means I have to watch the ground contours where I am loading or unloading, or carry some boards to raise the ramps a bit. Tows very well.

[Grandriver]

I'm puzzled since I've always been led to believe that no Volvo is towable flat (other than RWD with a drive shaft disconnect - or a FWD with a lube pump).

Also, why would you need a power connection if you have it on a dolly. Was the unit on a dolly FWD or AWD (which I can't imagine).

Can you enlighten us please?

GR

[Koliver]

GR:

Sorry if my post was confusing. The XC90 is AWD, can't be towed flat, hence the dolly. The key needs to be on to keep the alarms from sounding (funny I should know this!). Power to the battery was necessary, as we were starting a 1500 mile trip, which we did in 3 days.

The S70 is FWD, can't be towed flat either, but as the dolly takes care of all lighting needs and brakes, and tehre is no alarm on this 2000 unit, no battery supply needed.

I have had the cars for 6 and 11 years respectively, and the MH was new to us, so no way were we also going to change cars, just to get something to tow flat. With all the wingeing I have read here over brands that say they can, but actually can't be flat towed, I am content to keep using my dolly.

[wolfe10]

Really, no, I mean REALLY surprised that you can tow an AWD vehicle on a tow dolly. Two wheels of an AWD vehicle at road speed and two stopped???

Brett

[Koliver]

Brett;

I too was surprised, and delighted when I consulted the owner's manual and found the towing protocol allowed this. Towed from Palm Springs to Coquitlam (1500 miles) in 3 days with no issues, in March. Since then, no evidence of anything amiss. I will not likely be towing that car much, as it is a tad large for a toad, and I also have the smaller FWD Volvo S70.

Regrettably, the Infinity QX4 that my wife would like to bring along states clearly in the OM that it can't have ANY wheels on the ground, if towed. So unless a driveshaft disconnect is a simple matter, which I haven't taken the time to research yet, that one will not get any vacations.