I want to pick up a truck in Iowa, and I'm thinking that if I get a car dolly I can just put the loyale on it and tow it home w/ the truck. Otherwise I need her to come with and drive her car back, that sucks- driving alone! So I want to know if it is ok to tow a loyale on a dolly w/ the rear wheels on the ground. That is basically how it drives all the time in 2wd, dragging the rears around, right? What about a tow bar w/ 4 on the ground (alot of searched threads are very confusing, mostly dealing w/ Legacys & AWD)

I'm pretty much positive you shouldn't flat tow it. Towing with the front two is ok, but you need to disconnect the driveline to the rear (i'm like 99% sure you need to)

Rear two, with the driveshaft disconnected maybe?

As long as the car isn't in 4WD at the time, you'll be just fine. You can even tow with all four on the ground as long as the trans is in neutral and its not in 4WD.

I discovered the same lack of consensus about how to tow a 4wd Loyale! My Loyale was residing at my inlaws' ranch about 60 miles up the road with an engine full of water from a blown freeze plug, and I wanted to bring it home to work on. After much hand-wringing and reading conflicting opinions, I finally just winched it up onto a U-Haul dolly, made sure the steering wheel was unlocked and 4WD was disengaged, and took off with the rear tires on the ground. It did not seem to have caused any damage whatsoever. I have since fixed my engine and am back on the road, tranmission (5 speed manual) seems fine, 4WD operation seems fine - no worries. Now if 4WD HAD been engaged, it may have been a different story: rear wheels turning differential, turning driveshaft, turning transmission, turning front wheels which happen to be ratcheted down to the dolly - not good! Bottom line: if the 4WD is definitely disengaged, I can't see what harm can result. And by the way - the Loyale pulled like a dream - it's so light that I forgot it was back there.

As long as the car isn't in 4WD at the time, you'll be just fine. You can even tow with all four on the ground as long as the trans is in neutral and its not in 4WD.

yup

my buddy tows his hatch around all the time with the rear on the ground....usually isn't a problem. until the last time, when it popped into 4WD on the freeway, locking up the rear tires for a minute (buh bye super swampers), then just destroyed the tranny.

 

 

put a strap or bungee cord over the 4WD lever just for good measure, and you'll be good.

Depends if its auto or manual.

I would spend the few minutes it takes to disconnect the 4 bolts on the driveshaft. I did that, then wired the driveshaft up out of the way with a metal hanger and it was fine for my 1200 mile trip.

^^^^ do what he said....it is worth the extra 10 minutes just for the safety sake of accidentally popping into 4wd or something stupid liek that.

I would spend the few minutes it takes to disconnect the 4 bolts on the driveshaft. I did that, then wired the driveshaft up out of the way with a metal hanger and it was fine for my 1200 mile trip.

+1 Grab the two wrenches it takes and give yourself the peace of mind.

 

 

 

 

 

Just don't lose the bolts.

+towdollys do good with subarus. there is no tongue weight, and a 2000 lb hitch will handle it. the soob is geared lo enough it takes off fine, cruise the top of 4th gear at 4000 rom on the hiway if necessary

 

subars on the towdolly are fine for older soobs, anything part time or with open center diff. newer lsd centrers will bind up on the dolly!

 

the sheering wheel should be LOCKED if the dolly has a swiveling deck. this way there is not too much articulation that will catch the fender on the car.

 

i have towed subars with subarus thru chicago rush hour and across iowa, indiana, wisconsin, or ohio

 

 

 

 

 

I'm gonna go ahead and say a dolly is no problem. I am interested in how well it would do on a tow bar. I have towed other stuff like pickups w/ a tow bar and it went very well. It is a very nice convience to be able to pop on a bar and drag it behind another car instead of driving two! I'll let you all know how it does towed flat four. Thanks!

 

I'm not even gonna ask...