Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > MOTORHOME FORUMS > Toads and Motorhome Related Towing
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 08-01-2019, 08:24 AM   #1
Senior Member
 
bamaboy473's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Gulf Coast, Alabama
Posts: 2,450
SIMPLE questions about towing 4-Down

Blue Ox and Ready Brake on the hitch. 5-speed BMW as the toad

Do you lock the steering wheel with wheels pointed forward, or do you unlock the wheel and let the car find it's way, or do you unlock the wheel and tie the steering wheel down?

Asking for a friend
__________________
Rick and Sandy
2003 American Eagle, 59K miles
bamaboy473 is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 08-01-2019, 08:32 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
mbrooking's Avatar
 
Newmar Owners Club
Winnebago Owners Club
Spartan Chassis
RV Trip Wizard
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Tyler, Texas
Posts: 567
Check the owner's manual for detailed towing instructions; but that being said, leave the steering wheel unlocked.
__________________
Millard & Sherry
2019 Mountain Aire 4018
Toad 2014 Honda CRV or 2019 GMC Canyon
M&G Braking-Roadmaster Towbar
mbrooking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2019, 08:32 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Texas Hill Country
Posts: 363
Tell your "friend" to leave the wheel U-Locked. Steering needs to turn.
__________________
Marathon
Grand Cherokee Toad
Oldkarphart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2019, 08:33 AM   #4
Community Moderator


 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 6,186
Pretty certain the steering needs to be unlocked
pasdad1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2019, 08:33 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
tnedator's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 2,550
You would really need to look in the manual for that specific BMW and see what it says about flat towing and whether it's capable.

Purely guessing here, but I would say car in neutral and steering wheel unlocked. You definitely need the wheels freely finding their own way to follow the coach.

If the wheels were locked in the straight position, you would be at times dragging the front end/tires sideways in hard turns.
__________________
2019 VTDP 4369 (Spartan)
Wrangler JLU / AF1 Braking / Rock Hard Bumper
2018 Thor ACE 30.3
tnedator is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2019, 09:00 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
bamaboy473's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Gulf Coast, Alabama
Posts: 2,450
Quote:
Originally Posted by tnedator View Post
You would really need to look in the manual for that specific BMW and see what it says about flat towing and whether it's capable.

Purely guessing here, but I would say car in neutral and steering wheel unlocked. You definitely need the wheels freely finding their own way to follow the coach.

If the wheels were locked in the straight position, you would be at times dragging the front end/tires sideways in hard turns.
Thanks, there is nothing about towing in a BMW manual because nobody makes a baseplate for them. We've made a towing bar and are about to try it out, so steering unlocked and free-turning is the answer, right?
__________________
Rick and Sandy
2003 American Eagle, 59K miles
bamaboy473 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2019, 09:09 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
tnedator's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 2,550
Quote:
Originally Posted by bamaboy473 View Post
Thanks, there is nothing about towing in a BMW manual because nobody makes a baseplate for them. We've made a towing bar and are about to try it out, so steering unlocked and free-turning is the answer, right?
Knowing nothing about if there is proper lubrication to run extended miles/speed with the transmission in neutral, when it comes to the steering, I would think it has to be unlocked.

The way four down towing works is to allow the front wheels to move freely and follow the coach when it turns.
__________________
2019 VTDP 4369 (Spartan)
Wrangler JLU / AF1 Braking / Rock Hard Bumper
2018 Thor ACE 30.3
tnedator is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2019, 09:11 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
greystroke's Avatar
 
Monaco Owners Club
Freightliner Owners Club
Holiday Rambler Owners Club
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Spring Hill, Florida
Posts: 1,380
Unlocked for mine.
__________________
98 Endeavor DP, ISB275
RX300, Falcon II hitch, BB Vantage Select
VMSpc, 2002 Grey Ford Powerstroke
TST 507 w/ 10 Sensors
greystroke is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2019, 09:50 AM   #9
Moderator Emeritus
 
Gary RVRoamer's Avatar


 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: West Palm Beach, FL. USA
Posts: 27,563
The only time the steering is ever locked for towing is when using a dolly that has swivel wheel platforms. The dolly wheel platform does the turning, not the car wheels. When 4-down towing, the front wheels must be free to turn, which means the steering wheel must be unlocked. Note that not all vehicles have locks of the steering column, so it may not be necessary to do anything special when towing yours.
__________________
Gary Brinck
Former owner of 2004 American Tradition and several other RVs
Home is West Palm Beach, FL
Gary RVRoamer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2019, 10:00 AM   #10
Senior Member
 
lass's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Tarpon Springs, Fl.
Posts: 1,540
I was wondering the same thing when I started towing and since the owners manual didn’t address it, I decided to call BMW and ask. They are not towable. From there, l looked into the Remco and they also told me that the BMW is not towable and they do not have anything to help.

Decision is up to your friend.
__________________
2013 Newmar Ventana 3434 (sold)
2018 Wrangler JLU Rubicon (sold)
lass is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2019, 10:09 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
bamaboy473's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Gulf Coast, Alabama
Posts: 2,450
Quote:
Originally Posted by lass View Post
I was wondering the same thing when I started towing and since the owners manual didn’t address it, I decided to call BMW and ask. They are not towable. From there, l looked into the Remco and they also told me that the BMW is not towable and they do not have anything to help.

Decision is up to your friend.
I had a shop fabricate a towing bar for our 528, with the attaching pieces coming through the openings in the front bumper, so it is barely visible.

Planning to tow it home today, hence my question to be sure to do it right.

If you have a BMW, I can tell you more if you care to know...but maybe better to wait until I've brought it home in one piece.
__________________
Rick and Sandy
2003 American Eagle, 59K miles
bamaboy473 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2019, 12:30 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
nathaniel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 312
There is a reason the manufacturer says not to tow 4 down. Just because it's a manual transmission doesn't mean that it will tow without damage to drive train
__________________
2009 Gulfstream Caribean
40 ft trio
350 Cummins
nathaniel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2019, 12:46 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
bamaboy473's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Gulf Coast, Alabama
Posts: 2,450
Quote:
Originally Posted by nathaniel View Post
There is a reason the manufacturer says not to tow 4 down. Just because it's a manual transmission doesn't mean that it will tow without damage to drive train
Thanks for the warning, but I've towed the car on a dolly for lots of miles and it is a RWD car, so that bridge was crossed long ago.

I think that the bumpers won't support any towing gear and the car rides low enough without having beams riding even lower.
__________________
Rick and Sandy
2003 American Eagle, 59K miles
bamaboy473 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-01-2019, 03:07 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
bamaboy473's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Gulf Coast, Alabama
Posts: 2,450
A nice 15 minute drive and all went well with the fabricated tow-bar. We didn't have to cut a bit into the bumper cover, which was great.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	020.JPG
Views:	72
Size:	138.3 KB
ID:	255443   Click image for larger version

Name:	021.JPG
Views:	85
Size:	137.2 KB
ID:	255444  

Click image for larger version

Name:	022.JPG
Views:	79
Size:	137.4 KB
ID:	255445   Click image for larger version

Name:	025.JPG
Views:	60
Size:	137.4 KB
ID:	255446  

__________________
Rick and Sandy
2003 American Eagle, 59K miles
bamaboy473 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
tow, towing



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Simple question/simple answer JF1957 Allison Transmission Forum 5 10-10-2016 10:54 AM
Considering a Class C & have simple before buy questions johnandcaren Class C Motorhome Discussions 20 11-14-2013 07:59 PM
Simple solar wiring questions Cubey RV Systems & Appliances 9 05-18-2013 10:44 PM
Two Simple Maintenance Questions Retread Excel Owner's Forum 16 11-28-2010 07:16 PM
Two simple questions...so far.. Executive Monaco Owner's Forum 16 02-27-2010 09:31 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:16 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.