Can I tow my ‘96 XJS backed up onto a tow dolly?

 

Depends.... How far? Generally speaking is not advisable to tow an automatic becasue the fluid will not circulate to lubricate the transmission's internal parts. There are a few things you can do to manage this. You can leave the engine running with the transmission in neutral. This only good for short trips at slow speeds, you have to make sure the engine remains running. The other long distance solution is to remove the driveshaft so only the self lubricating differential is moving.

 

I read this as backed onto the tow dolly - so drive wheels up on the dolly not the ground. Shouldn't be a problem with the trans that way. Don't know how well the front axle would track going backwards though, or how low the front of the car will be with the back axle up on that dolly. How far are you going? To me it seems like a full trailer might be a better choice, but I'm no towing expert so don't take anything I say as gospel.

Eric

 

Interesting. I recently had my car towed. Less than one mile. It wasn’t a flatbed. Car was in neutral.

Doubt anything bad happened for that short amount of time?

 

Auto's can be towed a short distance if certain rules are followed (Jag handbook states no more than 30 miles and 3 pints of additional transmission fluid must be added - which must be drained before the car is driven again (enjoy that one with no drain plug in the transmission).

Whether you are OK to put the rear wheels on a dolly or even the front depends on the rules where you are, it wouldn't be legal in the UK except for a very short distance recovery especially if it were an unbraked dolly, an XJS also exceeds the permitted towing weight for many without even including the tow vehicle weight.

Even so if the law allows it depends what you want to tow it with too - flatbed truck or beavertail would be the best method unless you have a significant tow vehicle - just because you can doesn't mean you should.

 

Does the tow dolly have brakes? If not, the XJS might push you over the tow vehicle brake capacity. For example - my SUV tow limit is 12,000 lbs, but the manual says only 2,000 lbs if it doesn't have brakes. Can't comment on the reverse on technique because I've never used a dolly. If you're towing a long way, you might consider a flat bed like the the U-Haul auto transport trailer. It tows well, and has brakes. Hope this helps.

 

It won't hurt the car to tow it this way, although the front spoiler will be very close to the ground and that might be damaged. I suspect the car will get unstable and sway at higher speed. I have no idea how high a speed will be required but trailer sway can be difficult to control and can lead to an accident. I would only tow a short distance, at low speed, with the rear on a dolly.