Towing my 370Z
 

I'm making a cross country trip from California to North Carolina at the end of this week and I need to tow my 370Z behind my Jeep. Because me and u-haul aren't friends...I can't rent a trailer from them so I'm buying a tow dolly. Do I need to remove the rear drive shaft or Is it safe to run it in neutral as long as I'm stopping ever 300-350 miles for gas? I notice that in the owners manual it says you can tow 500 miles at a time if you are flat towing it...but only 50 miles at a time if just the rear tires are on the ground. Is this because of the angle of the car?

Just trying to get this all straight before I pull this thing and end up cooking my manual trans. And if I do then I need to come up with some BS story on how it happened so its replaced under warranty......lol.

Your better off just shipping the Z or the jeep by a cargo carrier or have a friend drive one vehicle and just pay for his or her expenses and return plane ticket.

All odds are that you wil do some serious damage to the jeep or the Z by trying to tow it across the country.

Your jeep is not really made for long distance towing , also factor in the reduced gas mileage, while towing a 3500 load.

I moved from NY to Vegas 3 yrs ago and drove my Nissan Titan loaded to the gills and had our nissan sentra shipped by a auto transport company cost was around $900.

I second gsxr750's recommendations. In addition to the potential for damage to either vehicle from the towing, I sure would not want my Z six feet off the bumper of a Jeep for a cross-country jaunt. Unless you have a really good clear bra or disposable vinyl bra, the front will take a fair amount of punishment on such a trip. OK for a DD or a beater, but probably not what you want to do to your Z.

I wouldn't do it even if I had to.

Ship the Z.

Take the auto train!!! They have a BAR car!!!! FTW!

Need the specifics on your Jeep - which model/trim/motor? If it's a Grand Cherokee or something, you'd be fine.

Yes, you'd have to remove the driveshaft, which shouldnt be TOO difficult. I wouldn't even think about running in neutral, and it certainly isnt recommended.

But, you'd probably have a much happier time just having an auto transport ship the damn thing. I towed my 69 Camaro about 1200 miles from Omaha to Baltimore on a dolly, and it was fine, but it also was a live axle and built like a tank really :-p.

Oh, the final option? Rent not only a full drive-on trailer from UHaul, but also one of their trucks, too. That'll get pricey FAST.

Well I leave in two days so shipping isnt an option. Can't rent from uhaul due to an issue with them from years ago. So it's basically buy a tow dolly and pull the thing. And the jeep is a grand cherokee with the 5.2L magnum and all time 4WD. So the pulling wont be a problem for the jeep.

And yeah I know this is not close to the idea way of doing this but I have a very limited moving budget since its such short notice. When I moved here I shipped my Z and my stuff...and flew here.

You might want to buy a good condition used car trailer and then sell it when you get back.

That's what I'm thinking about doing. Even if i lose like 300-400 dollars on it...its worth it in the long run.

So, did it ever work out? How'd the trip go?

Stupid question, how do you properly remove the tow hook plug? I feel like I'm going to break the damn thing trying to pry it off.

it just pops off....don't be afraid to pull on it.

Ended up shipping the Z...should be on this side of the country within the next few days. Going through some serious withdraws right now. My jeep made it all the way here...and then 2 days after being here one of the tires blew out and now with a spare on one of the wheels keeps locking up so trying to get that squared away....so currently driving my dads 01 dakota with a whopping 288K miles on it (original motor).

I assure you that I'll never drive cross country in that short period again. Even with stopping quite often...and being set back around 8 hours because the tread started coming off my trailer tires on my little 4X8 enclosed trailer i bough...i still managed to make the trip in a little under 60 hours.

That's an insanely long drive!

If I may ask, how much did shipping cost you?

I totally agree. You never know what can happen when you towing it that long distance. Better of shipping the car there and fly yourself to Cali.