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jmd87
Explorer
Oct 29, 2014

Dodge Vogue villa grande 1979 towing question

Hi

I own a Dodge Vogue villa grande 1979 36ft tag axle and its been in storage for 5 years. I went to start it to move it closer to home it turns over but wont start. What I want to do is get it towed by a recovery truck (the ones that lift the front tyres off the ground) and take it to our local garage to get it looked at etc.

What I would like to know is is there anything I should do when having it towed (like remove the propshaft etc)

Thanks for any help :)
Joe
  • Before paying for a tow, you should try starting it. The engine needs three things. Air, fuel, and spark. Air is easy and you can just remove the air cleaner. As for fuel, when you push the throttle you should be able to look down into the carburetor to see if its getting fuel. If its a fuel pump problem the easy fix would be a electric pump to replace the mechanical one. And lastly you need spark. You can pull a plug wire and crank engine while holding the plug wire near a ground point. The spark should be blue. That may save a tow.
  • Hi,

    Thanks for the reply :)

    I shall check the overhang with the driver as the airbags have gone on the motorhome so can't pump them up :(

    Thanks alot for your help though :)
  • The tow truck operator should know, but beyond removing the prop shaft and making sure the parking brake is released there isn't much else. You're obviously going to want to make sure storage compartment doors are secure and that nothing is going to fall off of it.

    My 31-footer was towed to my house with one of those lift-by-the-front-tire rigs. I didn't realize they made them so big - I thought they were just for cars. Massive pieces of machinery.

    Oh yeah - I don't know what kind of overhang you have behind the back axle but if it's a lot you're going to want to pump up the air bags as much as you can (if so equipped). They put 100 PSI in mine so the rear didn't drag when they lifted it by the front.