Re: Spider tow, backwards

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>]

In AD8-0090 Ben Higgins, responding to Ron Ewing's suggestion that Al Will put
the rear wheels on the dolly, writes "Sure, put it on backwards and see what
happens when that cheap ignition lock breaks - steering box will be the least
of your worries."

 Am I missing something? Caster is caster, and so long as the king pin
inclination (or virtual KPI, in the case of ball joints) intersects the ground
ahead of the tire contact patch the wheel should follow as a caster. Towing
with the car backwards on the dolly, steering lock unlocked, should have the
car castering meekly along, so long as you follow Ron's advice and don't back
up. I have never seen a tow dolly that was not articulated, and wouldn't want
to back one up regardless of which way the car was facing, any more than I
would back up while flat-towing a car, for the same reason; reverse caster is
trouble, but caster works. The freedom to back up is a main advantage of a
full trailer over a dolly, apart from the approach-angle hazards to exhaust
systems, pans, and sheet metal on long and/or lowered cars with short
wheelbases. The dolly advantages (and flat-towing advantages) over a trailer
are lower and usually more stable height, lower weight, and less stress on the
hitch and the tow vehicle. The only bad flat-tow experience I know about
(Fred's) resulted from a tire failure on a front wheel of the towed car, at
speed, and it would have been awkward with a dolly or a trailer.

 Apart from all that, I have flat-towed and dolly-towed Alfettas five hundred
miles behind a Volkswagen van, using the dolly in the one case because of a
wrecked front end, and neither was a problem. Flat-towed other Alfas behind
Alfas and an MG TD.  I haven't towed as many as Ben's thirty, so I may well be
missing something. Won't be the first time.

 John H.

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