The RL manual says to flat bed the car... but so does every other car manual...

What will happen if the RL is towed by listing the front wheels off the ground?
Will the AWD go crazy? Will it lock the back wheels? Will it burn out the trans?

On some cars the ignition must be running to allow oil to flow to the back drive system. On some cars if the ignition is off, everything runs free, but if you turn the ignition on, everything locks up.

What do you think?
I'm not willing to experiment without more information.


Thanks,
Mike

 

If they say to flatbed it, I would flatbed it. Besides, you can always use Acura's TLC and request a flatbed.

 

"What do you think?
I'm not willing to experiment without more information".............


Well...You answered your own question.
No one here is qualified or willing to guess at what damage may be caused by FET.
Why risk it? If anyone here short of an Acura SH-AWD component engineer said it was OK to FET the car, I would be dismayed!
If any tow Truck operator attempted a FET, & he said it's OK, I would not allow it.

What information would you need that would allow you to "experiment" with it?
It is just plain foolish to even consider it, or worse yet, to attempt it!

For one, distance & speed the vehicle is FET'd at would greatly determine the wear & tear on the vehicles magna Clutch assembly.

Also, rear end lube concerns under these conditions would be highly questionable, and would most likely be inadequate in a FET condition.

I think the question here really is.....why would you ever prefer or even consider to FET your RL vs flatbedding it?

 

NEVER TOW A 4 WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLE!!!!!!!!1 YOU CAN POTENTIALLY MESS UP THE 4 WHEEL DRIVE SYSTEM BAD. ITS COMMON KNOWLEDGE TO NEVER TOW A 4 WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLE. i have seen vehicles such as mitsubishi eclipses with 4 wheel drive, have all the drive system damaged, and need to be replaced, so dont take ur car at all, or flat bed it.

 

I'm more wondering how it works than anything else.
Many 4 wheel drive vehicles are fine to tow as long as the vehicle is off. The wheels spin free just like it was a front wheel drive, untill the computer tells it to kick in. No damage unless you turn the vehicle on... than you're in trouble.

Other vehicles use a slip clutch type system that will lock up whenever the back wheels are moving the front aren't

I think the MDX and Honda CRV use the first type. (not positive)

 

I've had awd cars and they rolled freely just like any other car when then were in neutral

 

Thats a good thing!
If you are in neutral, (regardless of RWD, FWD or AWD), and your car does not roll, I would hope your emergency brake is on.....or else, something has locked up!

All vehicles roll in neutral.
That has nothing to do with the ability for a particular vehicle to withstand a "drivetrain" tow, regardless of its drivetrain configuration.

No vehicle drivetrain that I know of is engineered to withstand the forces applied to its drivetrain when the wheels are putting input (torque) to that drivetrain.

This is because a drivetrain is designed to apply output (torque) to the wheels. When you are towing, it is the wheels that apply input torque to the drivetrain. The drivetrain is not designed to handle that load for any extended period, regardless of what type of drivetrain it is! It simply is not engineered for that.

 

Isnr it more of an in-built security question/feature? ie, so your car cannot get stolen via a tow truck?

 

Well,
I think you are speaking about the "Lock Pawl" or any other mechanism that can be used to keep a transmissions drivetrain locked up so the vehicle cannot roll.
When you apply the vehicle in "Park" (on an automatic) the transmission drive line is locked up, the drive wheels cannot rotate, they are locked.

Although that does make towing more of an issue, its primary purpose is safety, so the vehicle does not roll unintentionally.

As a redundant safety feature, you now need to keep your foot applied on the brake before you can release a vehicle from the "Park" posistion.

As far as it being an obstacle to towing, these days most tow trucks are equipped with dollies that can be placed in positions where wheels are locked, but they rarely need to be used.

Don't forget, towers' know countless ways to get the car in "neutral" before driving off with the vehicle in tow!

 

Mike,

I hope that you found in the many years gone by not to listen to the responses you got to your question.

And I hope to the ones who responded learned not to speak unless you know what your talking about.

I have been repossessing for 22 years now. Many AWD and 4wd vehicles can be towed on a wheel lift. Naming a few, Lexus GS AWD in neutral from the front, all ford and Chevy 4wd trucks from the back in park or front in neutral. All Toyota 4wd vehicles from the back in park. None of wich take damage to the drive tran. As a matter of fact , I don't think I have seen any 4wd vehicle that could not be wheel lifted unless it said all time 4wd. Pretty much an AWD at that point and still, some of those can be wheel lifted.

Then, some cannot. Like AWD Denali packages, AWD matrix , AWD rav4., ford harly AWD, Subaru AWD, and some others.

Mike has a good question. But it was tore up by forum monkeys with the urge to have people think they are smart. When in fact book smart is not real world smart.

Mechanics will tell you something and most people take the word as if it's holy. Certified dodge mechanics still don't know that the coolant system needs to be bled after adding or flushing the coolant. Yet, they are certified. Books misguide you 99% of the time. Hands on is the only way to truly know. Apparently the above statements don't.

So if your a repo agent or someone who truly just wants to know the answer to this question and stumbled across this thread by google search. I beat you to this post.

Now, I have a 2005 RL to go repo. I hope it's one of the responders who replied to Mikes question. See you soon

 

Bumps a 10 year old thread to boast his experience and talk smack.

You win internets...

And for a side note, just because the repo man is dragging cars around without using dollys for 22 years doesn't make it right.

 

holy fuck; are all REpo guys dumb?


10 year old thread and none of them are active any more.

is it that slow out in the field, repoguy??

 

#becausewinterbrah.... #becausewinter.

Dont feed the snow trolls...

 

Have you ever met a tow truck driver that didn't seem like it was a daily struggle just to tie their shoes in the morning?

 

now, we're just beating the guy up

 

Laughing at the clueless... Let me guess how you found this thread. ... and you don't know what you're doing, so you Goggled "towing Acura RL". Am I right?



So, which category does the RL fall into?

 

Whomp, Whomp!

 

Hi Ho: I tow my 4 wheel drive Suburban with all four wheels on the ground behind the motorhome on a regular basis....no problem. Just put the transfer case in neutral and the transmission in park.

 

4x4 Suburbans are no where near similar to AWD Acuras.

 

Whew. That's great to know. Since Chevy Suburbans and Acura RL's have the exact same AWD systems, we can now close this thread knowing that we are all safe from drive train damage when towing the vehicle on two wheels.

 

I cant find the transfer case in the RL

 

The transfer case is there, but the shifter is a bit harder to find.

 

So what is the definitive final answer on towing the RL?

 

roll back or a lift with dollys.

 

The only definitive answer is there won't be any problems if all 4 wheels are off the ground. It shouldn't be that big of a deal to achieve, so I can't see the point in risking it.