Conflicting information tow dolly
Just bought a 2019 Ford Fiesta and a Stehl tow dolly. The Steering wheel does not lock and it’s front wheel drive. The vehicle manual says when on a tow dolly to put it in neutral and disconnect the b...
Forum Discussion
I downloaded the manual and I think it is just poorly written. For a manual transmissions it mentions that when using a tow dolly follow the dolly manufacturers instructions. After this is goes on to mention towing 4 down with the trans in neutral. But when it gets to the automatic transmission section it never mentions a tow dolly. The way the manual is written I think they are assuming their instructions on the tow dolly in the manualtransmission section are automatically applied to the automatic section. But it's hard to say for certain.
In this case you're going to have to do some thinking for the person who wrote the manual as they obviously don't have any experience in this area and didn't know to ask the design engineer for clarification.
Call the dealer back and ask if your particular vehicle has any type of rear wheel drive. Or take to any mechanic (the dealer, the corner gas station, a brake and tire shop) and ask if the rear wheels have any power applied to them like in rear wheel drive or all wheel drive.
If the answer is no then there is no reason to put the vehicle in neutral when the front wheels are on a dolly. Just follow the manual transmission section of the manual and follow the tow dolly instructions.
If the answer is yes to all wheel or rear wheel drive then follow the Ford manual on towing.
As far as tying off the steering wheel. It sounds like this it to prevent the steering wheel from turning when taking a corner. If the steering wheel turns the vehicle can be damaged by the tow dolly. If the wheel is tied down then then the car and dolly turn as one and no damage occurs.
In this case you're going to have to do some thinking for the person who wrote the manual as they obviously don't have any experience in this area and didn't know to ask the design engineer for clarification.
Call the dealer back and ask if your particular vehicle has any type of rear wheel drive. Or take to any mechanic (the dealer, the corner gas station, a brake and tire shop) and ask if the rear wheels have any power applied to them like in rear wheel drive or all wheel drive.
If the answer is no then there is no reason to put the vehicle in neutral when the front wheels are on a dolly. Just follow the manual transmission section of the manual and follow the tow dolly instructions.
If the answer is yes to all wheel or rear wheel drive then follow the Ford manual on towing.
As far as tying off the steering wheel. It sounds like this it to prevent the steering wheel from turning when taking a corner. If the steering wheel turns the vehicle can be damaged by the tow dolly. If the wheel is tied down then then the car and dolly turn as one and no damage occurs.
