Help towing 77' 620 KC

[JVII85]

I'm going to purchase a 77' 620 KC this weekend located in Santa Cruz CA. I currently reside in Los Angeles. my plans are to use my 5.7L Durango and a tow bar to tow it all the way home. I would greatly appreciate any advice on where mounting points may be located so that I can attach the tow bar, and how to get this done safely.

[]2eDeYe]

Thankfully 620s have a fairly nice tow point.
Unfortunately you do not want to put a tow bar to the bumper. 

 

The best way is to use at least a tow dolly, they are fairly inexpensive to rent from U-Haul. 

 

It is also a good idea to disconnect the rear driveshaft flange when flat towing. 
Leave it in the transmission and ratchet strap the driveshaft to the frame to keep the trans from leaking. 

 

I burnt up a 4 speed flat towing a 620 once. :)

[JVII85]

1 hour ago, ]2eDeYe said:

Thankfully 620s have a fairly nice tow point.
Unfortunately you do not want to put a tow bar to the bumper. 

 

The best way is to use at least a tow dolly, they are fairly inexpensive to rent from U-Haul. 

 

It is also a good idea to disconnect the rear driveshaft flange when flat towing. 
Leave it in the transmission and ratchet strap the driveshaft to the frame to keep the trans from leaking. 

 

I burnt up a 4 speed flat towing a 620 once. 🙂

 

Thanks for the reply much appreciated ! Burning the tranny is what I don't want lol although I'm doing a KA swap. I just found your thread on motor mounts going to PM you.

[datzenmike]

Or stop every 20 miles and idle the engine with the clutch out in neutral for 30 seconds to lubricate the gears.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

If the truck has been sitting for a while, it might be wise to rent a trailer.

 

Tires go bad, bearings may be loose, brake cylinders stick, etc.

 

 

[Draker]

I second the dolly, it's like $40. And the full trailer is about $10 more. Because of that, I usually always rent the trailer.

[Digger48]

I second the trailer suggestion.  Even though you may not be towing a long distance a trailer will be easier and safer in the long run.  And a better choice over a dolly.

[Crashtd420]

On 5/7/2019 at 11:42 AM, Draker said:

I second the dolly, it's like $40. And the full trailer is about $10 more. Because of that, I usually always rent the trailer.

In my state the wont let you rent a tow dolly unless the vehicle being towed is registered... 

And I found the same thing full trailer is definitely safer was only a few bucks more.....

[73dat]

Trailer is better 

[wayno]

I believe in CA they require that you have current tags on the towed vehicle to have any wheel/tire touching the ground, use a trailer.

I heard about this when I was going to drive down there to buy a NL320 and tow it home with a tow bar, but the VIN tag was missing so that deal fell thru.

Edited May 9, 2019 by wayno

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Doesn't everybody have a car trailer these days? It seems nobody on this forum has a trailer. Oh, except big tanker. Don't ask to use his trailer though. It's got a car on it...

[]2eDeYe]

I wish I had the real estate for a trailer. 

[wayno]

Only people with big full size trucks have trailers, I don't have a trailer as I would get stopped every time I hauled a vehicle being I only have small Datsun trucks to tow with, but the police seem to leave me alone when I use a tow bar, I have towed 2 or 3 dozen Datsun trucks home with my Datsun trucks over the last 10 years, I will only tow with one of my dually trucks now, the tows are so much better/predictable with a dually, my work truck tows other vehicles great.

Towing this way is not for everybody, you really need to understand what can go wrong and the signs of things going south.

 

[bottomwatcher]

Short distances fine. I actually towed my 720 from south Florida to Maine last week. Uhaul wouldn't rent one way going north. They quoted $500 before they said they wouldn't rent one. Sooo I went and purchased a new hauler for a little over 3k, I didn't want any issues driving north especially with the wife in the truck. I am putting it up for sale as soon as the paperwork comes in and if I lose less than $500 at least this is cheaper than uhaul if it was even available. I see motorhomes towing all kinds of "dinghys" with a tow bar but all I could imagine was ending up with an empty bar. Some roads in the NE especially Massachusetts had me wishing for Costa Rica roads. Truck even threw a tie down strap in mass and I had everything cranked so hard it took a couple days for the torsion bars to return to normal height. Yes Wayno I was towing with an ancient silverado duramax. Many hours were spent on the drive dreaming of a duramax datsun!

[JVII85]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys 👍. I'm going to rent the full trailer from my local U-Haul. 

[gene knight]

i always rent a uhaul trailer never a tow dolly. made that mistake 1 time when towing a 521 back in 2005 and uhaul agent must have been new and didn't secure it right on to hitch luckily i wasn't going far and safety chains were hooked up and i was going going about 25mph

[wayno]

Keep in mind that if you do not have a large truck with more than 5 lugnuts U-haul and other outfits like them will not rent you a trailer as I have had this issue in the past, I had to borrow my sisters trailer made to haul very heavy farm equipment to go get my Roadster when it broke down, I used my 1947 Chevy commercial truck, but it had a 1969 chevell rear axle and a Pacer front end under it with 5 lugnuts, they would not rent me a trailer.

This is the very reason I towed with a tow bar all these years, no one would rent me a trailer, my 1971 Datsun 521 work truck weighs 3900lbs, back in 1970 a C10 weighed 3912lbs and one could rent any flatbed trailer, but times have changed, but I will admit that back 10 years ago my 521 work truck in the photo I posted in my last response weighed slightly over 3400lbs.

By the way I have towed 720 diesel trucks home from over 200 miles away.

Edited May 12, 2019 by wayno

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

They go by tow rating, not by lug nut count. Most light duty trucks built after 2000 have a much higher tow rating that you would think. Even most mid sized SUVs have pretty good tow ratings.

 

I had to tow a Bobcat behind my 2003 Tahoe once when my big truck was down. No problem at all. There's a guy locally who tows a small excavator with his Honda Ridgeline!

Edited May 13, 2019 by Stoffregen Motorsports

[wayno]

They pointed out I only had 5 lugnuts and said they would not rent me a trailer, this was my 1947 Chevy longbed commercial truck with big truck suspension like the really big trucks have back then(leaf mount on the side of the frame), even "Chevs of the 40s" don't carry suspension parts for these trucks.

[bottomwatcher]

Well an update to my previous post on buying a hauler for long trips. I posted the hauler on craigslist for $300 less than what I paid for it two weeks ago. I think that is fair for slapping 1,800 miles on it when uhaul quotes $500 then wouldn't rent me one. Sold In less than 8hrs. Obviously i didn't ask enough but in my  mind i saved $200 over renting and did the trip with a worry free brand new trailer. Just something to consider for a long haul. Now next year i might drag the vw thing my folks bought new in 1973  Buying brand new trailer is a no brainer at least south to north on the east coast 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

16 hours ago, wayno said:

They pointed out I only had 5 lugnuts and said they would not rent me a trailer, this was my 1947 Chevy longbed commercial truck with big truck suspension like the really big trucks have back then(leaf mount on the side of the frame), even "Chevs of the 40s" don't carry suspension parts for these trucks.

I wouldn't rent you a trailer either if you showed up in a '47 Chevy truck...

 

A few years back, I was selling my 1938 Ford 1.5 ton flatbed. It was used in the movie "Tucker". A guy called from Phoenix and asked if I thought he could drive it home. I told him it would more than likely make the trip, but that he was crazy for even thinking about it. Imagine over 800 miles in a truck that rides like a prairie schooner and goes about as fast.

 

So yeah, old trucks are a whole 'nother thing.

[wayno]

That truck was modern except for the body, I used it for years for my pressure washing business hauling my trailer around with all my pressure washing equipment in it, it road like a car as it had a AMC Pacer front suspension with power steering, a Chevelle 12 bolt rear axle(5 lugs front and rear), even Hagerty had an issue with me calling it my daily driver when I wanted to insure my 1967 Datsun Roadster with them, but I showed them it had been insured as my daily driver for years with Amica, so they insured my Roadster, and they checked with Amica.

Here is what it looked like back when I used it for my business minis the hangglider strapped to the side, and I did haul that glider that way.

Here is what it looked like when I sold it, it's in England now.

It had a 1973 Chev 350/TH350 transmission, it also had a posi when it was sold, new wood bed floor, it looked good, but I never drove it anymore and it was getting scratched up in my garage as it took so much room to store it, I never should have restored it, I hardly ever drove it after that.