Are any of these 3 cars toadable?

[hueyman]

I want a fun car to tow 4 wheel down. Can any of these cars be used? 2000 Bmw z3 Auto, 2000 Mercedes 230 SKL auto, or a corvette 1980-1999 auto.

[NLOVNIT]

BMW's are not towable 4-down. I know, I have one.

Lori-

[charliebebo]

I have a '99 C-5 I don't see how you could install a tow bar with such low clearance. I wouldn't want to tow mine as much as I like having it around.

[Gary RVRoamer]

You can refer to the Remco Towing application charts to get answers like this.

Application Charts | Remco Towing

The BMWs are not towable.

The Mercedes may be convertible for towing - call Remco to talk specifics about the drive train on yours.

Corvettes generally are not towable, but again Remco may have a conversion kit that could be used on a particular one, depending on the exact drive train used in the model. A drive shaft disconnect would probably work, but may not stand up to the rigors of sports car usage or to the high torque/horsepower engines found in many of them. A stick shift vet may not even need any mods??? But vintage Corvette owners usually use an enclosed trailer to protect their car anyway.

[Vegasdan]

Without big mods, No, No, and No

[Ernie n Tara]

How about a MiniCooper?

[cncjim]

I tow a Mazda Miata stick shift 4 wheels down and it's a fun car.

[wa8yxm]

I will second the REMCO suggestion

Remco makes 3 products

One is a lube pump, this is an active device that circulates transmission fluid so you don't fry the bearings when you tow the car in neutral.. You need to pull a fuse (usually) to keep the odometer from racking up millage as you tow.

The other two are devices which make a trailer out of your car

For RWD cars.. A Drive Shaft Disconnect.. This is tried and proven technology, which is PASSIVE in operation and which has a very long mean time between failures.. Basically when you pull the lever the drive shaft is disconnected from the differnential Failures are rare and usually are vibration.

You tow with the tranny in park.

For front wheel drive you use an Axle Lock.. This is technology that has been used on Jeeps for years but slightly modified.. Again I don't think I'll live long enough for one to fail it's that reliable. IT is a half axle with a big cylinder on it, you twist the outside of the cylinder using an oil-filter wrench (included) and it "Unlocks'" the axle. Now the wheel with that axle is free spinning. The other wheel will make the differentical turn but you tow with the tranny in park.

One slight advantage of both these systems

Imagine Mr. Auto Thief.. He knows you have to tow with the key in igintion (off, not locked) so he pulls the pins, hopes in via the broken window (he broke it) fires that sucker up, puts it in gear, puts the pedal to the metal and goes.... To jail cause the car did not move but the cop saw him do it.

Finally.. You want a car that is fun to drive, which you can tow 4-down.....

One of the gearhead magazines (Road and Track, Car and Driver, Not sure) does an annual "Bang for the Buck" competition.. They give several very nice cars to assorted people and let 'em drive, the drivers then rate how much fun the car was to drive.. They then divide by the MSRP to get a bang/buck ratio.

The winnner: Usually JEEP LOTS and LOTS of bang.. dang few bucks when compared to the sports cars they test drive.

And a JEEP with a genuine GEAR type transfer box (not an electronics) where you can put it in Neutral and keep it there.... usually on the "Towable" list

But check with Remco first.

[NLOVNIT]

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

And a JEEP with a genuine GEAR type transfer box (not an electronics) where you can put it in Neutral and keep it there.... usually on the "Towable" list.

Confirmed. We tow a Jeep Liberty 4-down & it's fun to drive. I believe many iRV2 members tow Jeeps also.

Lori-

[cncjim]

Originally Posted by hueyman

I want a fun car to tow 4 wheel down. Can any of these cars be used? 2000 Bmw z3 Auto, 2000 Mercedes 230 SKL auto, or a corvette 1980-1999 auto.

hueyman is looking for a fun car.
A Jeep is like driving an ice box.

[Vegasdan]

Originally Posted by cncjim

hueyman is looking for a fun car.
A Jeep is like driving an ice box.

Let's see...I'll take my "icebox" over Engineer Pass outside of Silverton over any sporty car on a smooth track any old day. Better than looking a paint stripes and cones, wouldn't you say?

[jeepsrule]

Originally Posted by Vegasdan

Let's see...I'll take my "icebox" over Engineer Pass outside of Silverton over any sporty car on a smooth track any old day. Better than looking a paint stripes and cones, wouldn't you say?

Silverton is one of my favorite places. The pic of my old Jeep (on left) is on a trail near Gunnison, CO.

[Chuck 1935]

If you go on Moterhome Magazine web page they have a list of all the dingys that are towable by year.

MotorHome Magazine: Making your RV travels easier

[jollyjim]

We went over Engineer Pass in our friends Jeep Grand Cherokee last June. They had just opened it and the snow was piled about 12' high on either side of the trail. It was a fun ride with beautiful vistas and I sure wouldn't try to make it with a stock road car. I think I took the same picture on our way up to Engineer Pass.

We have a Honda CRV we tow that we went trail riding as well until we hit a patch of mud near Rifle Falls, CO. A rock in the mud broke the gas vapor recovery canister that went into the CV joint. Had to have a half axle overnighted to have it fixed. Guess what? We now have a Jeep Liberty that we tow on our grand adventures. It's lifted and has oversized tires. Now we are ready for some real fun without as much worry about trail clearance.

Our travel involves going to new areas and striking out on new adventures. We park the MH and head out in all directions to find new "stuff" to see. Off road is our preferred way to investigate new areas and the Jeep is the way to do it. We are off to Alaska this summer with the Jeep in tow. Glacier National Park and the Canadian Rockies are on the way and we will certainly have to check them out off-road.