I am moving next october 1800 miles away, and I am renting a Budget Truck. Will be bringing my 2016 CX-5 AWD with me, and its going behind the Truck somehow. I believe the manual says no "flat towing". I know I can drive it up on a trailer to get all the wheels off the ground. But I was wondering about using a dolly and disconnecting the drive line to the rear diff? The drive up trailer weighs 1975 pounds and a dolly might be 1/3rd of that. My CX-5 would be happier up on a trailer though, I was just trying to explore all ideas. Anybody have any experience or knowledge? thanks in advance!
Recreational Towing or Dolly Towing or Auto Transport
- Thread starter ctbale
- Start date
mazdadude
ZOOOOOOOOOM ZOOOOOOOOOM
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- '16.5 Mazda CX-5 Touring
Just adding a few more options that might/might not work for you.
You may have luck using an auto shipper, or one found on uship.com
You might find a friend, co-worker, or family member who wouldn't mind some windshield time, and a one way ticket home with some pocket money?
the auto transport that the whole car rides on is $325. the dolly that just the ft wheels ride on is $160. 150 AND haulin less weight behind the truck is whats motivating me. its just 4 nuts to detach the driveline from the diff. but want to know if the two half shafts spinnin and the diff spinnin is ok like that. Mazda wont give me a thumbs up thats for sure.
Were you towing your CX-5 or towing something with it? If the former, the big difference is that your CX-5 is FWD.
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- Plano, Texas, USA
In theory, you should be able to tow your AWD CX-5 with two rear wheels on the ground AND detached drive shaft. But you may have to remove entire drive shaft which involves more than 4 nuts. You should also consider replacing the rear differential lubricant just in case after the transportation. But I'd not try to save $165 and doing that way as it may still have some risk of damaging the rear differential although you could get new car warranty to cover it if it ever gets damaged! You should mark the position of the drive shaft to front transfer case and rear differential shafts to make sure they're at exactly the same relative positions to prevent any possible vibration issues after you put back the drive shaft.
I agree with looking into an auto shipper. If you've never towed before, especially over a long distance, it's a real hassle and a lot can go wrong if you don't know what you're doing. It wouldn't be cheap, but it might be worth looking into. I've used this company before and had no complaints but it's good to get estimates from a couple.
Jefferywald
Member
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- maruti
Look For an Auto Shipper.
I would get the drive-0n trailer and that way I'd have control over my vehicle. Drive-on trailer saves the headache of marking the driveshaft, plugging the transfer case so oil doesn't leak out and and so forth. A trailer pulls easy. As stated however; depending on you experience with towing, it can be stressful the first time out for awhile. Ed
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- 2017 CX-5 GT AWD
If you tow with front wheels on dolly, then you should only have to remove drive shaft bolts at rear diff and tie the drive shaft up and out of the way. As for balance, the drive shaft with u-joints and yokes is balanced, so its connection/orientation to the differential flange doesn't matter.
But If it were me, I would move it on a flatbed. We don't know how the differential lubrication works, and it is possible (remotely) that the having the rear wheels spinning and not the drive shaft may have a different lubrication "flow" inside the differential.
Towing can be stressful too, especially long distance. I would consider letting someone driving the car out and then paying to fly them home as an option.
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- State of Jefferson
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- 2017 CX-5 GT AWD+
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- San Antonio, Texas
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- '15 CX-5 Miata AWD
This thread is from 2016 bois. I think he figured it out by now lol
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- 2014 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD w/Tech
+1
Yeah, I know it's an old thread and stuff, but the information is still valuable. Have the same dilemma right now. Tow dolly vs shipping company
