Be careful with the Dolly, the straps U use to tie the wheels down usually get lose over time and U need to check every hour or so and retighten. Mine look like nets.

Almost lost my Wife Kia sportage once.

I was pulling it with a large vehicle. Go slow check often; every 30min to an hour.

If you are having the Unimog towed by a professional, ask him to bring a set of dolly wheels for his rear wheel lift, put the front wheels of the SD in the wheel lift and the rears on the dolly wheels. No possible problem. Otherwise, if using a tow dolly behind a personal vehicle, make sure you rent one that has decent wheel straps. Should look like a basket with a ratchet strap that attaches in line with the wheel, or a side strap that ratchets at a point perpendicular to the wheel. Rear wheels up, front wheels down, steering wheel tied off, no need to remove the driveshaft if the drive wheels aren't rolling. DON'T tow an automatic with the drive wheels down without removing the shaft, no matter what anyone says they've done. (unless they also said they have another tranny they are going to put in your vehicle free). Notice I said remove, not disconnect.
Not much more time involved taking both ends off, and it removes all opportunity for the shaft to get dragged, or worse. I've seen people who removed the trans end of the shaft, then hung it on baling wire. Needless to say, the shaft will rotate as the rear wheels turn, and will eventually beat the bottom of your car to death, right about the time it learns to pole vault. A ratchet strap from bottom of the steering wheel to the brake pedal works pretty easily for securing the steering wheel. Keep in mind that the tow vehicle should be heavier than the towed vehicle, and the combo is going to take twice as long or more to stop. With an SD, anything less than a full size american pick-up is going to be a little dicey. Slow is the operative word. Of course, if it is behind a flatbed and in a wheel lift, go 70 or as fast as you can afford for the ticket.
I've towed cars with everything from my old 85 Forerunner to a 08 International flatbed.
Also, keep in mind that if the wheels of the towed vehicle are touching the road, that vehicle either needs to be registered, or be sporting a tow plate, which would come form the towing company. Would really suck to get halfway on your move and have to drop the SD somewhere until you could get a plate on it.
Could also call AAA, get a plus membership, and have them tow it 100 miles for free. Again, it would need to be registered. I've towed for AAA for a number of years, and pulled quite a few cars that hadn't gone down the road under their own power for years untold.
Hope it all goes well

All excellent advice IMO.

The following however, varies by state, check with your state. Reciprical laws (interstate fwy) allow you to tow legally in any state if you satisfy the laws in your own.

Still, I make it a rule to avoid arguments with armed folk wearing badges, a valid plate is good insurance.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

another vote for AAA plus rv, it is about $100/yr, and you can get it today and call a tow tommorow, get the PLUS, as it allows for 3 100 mile tows/yr, plus RV adds trailer coverage, or, say- unimog RV's??

the best tow I got from AAA was an old fiberglass boat, on a trailer, on a flatbed- classic. the driver was nice enough to write it up as our Honda.........

__________________
1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.

Well, that was a dumb thing to do, and your trans likely sustained some serious wear/damage in doing so. It says right in the owners manual NOT to do that! It says 30Mph or less, for no more than 10-15 miles or so. And only if you HAVE to.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

i think the uhaul trailer is only 10$ than the dolly

In the people's democratic socialist republic of michigan in the county of wayne, the charge is like 150 for a flatbed and about 100 for a dolly. That's why I bought my own dolly and flatbed years ago. Then I converted the flatbed into an enclosed trailer to hold the 170 diesel during the winter.

The dolly was out helping poor Mercedes even in zero-degree weather .

__________________
Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

a uhaul trailer rental is $150?... Dude I use those things like all the time in FL and they are $50 a day or something like that

Dude, that's a little harsh - don't you think?

Obvioulsy it wasn't a good thing to do and it wasn't good for the car, but not everybody knows that.

If he knew it and then did it, then THAT would be dumb, but doing it because you don't know better is called a mistake...

__________________
1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown

My manual says less than 75 miles at 30mph.

I have towed several home with rear down and driveshaft in place. 20 miles or so each. All 3 I had the trans out as soon as I got them home, no damage.

__________________
81 300SD daily driver/project
86 420SEL (sold)
85 380SE(in the graveyard)

I suppose I was a bit harsh and it was a mistake and not dumb.........but he should have checked the manual or looked into it. Rule #1 is to always verify that what you're about to do is ok.......or else expen$ive things can happen...

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

$50 a day for the flat bed here too.

__________________
1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

I got charged $50, discounted from $75 since it went to a local shop that has a deal with the service.

The shop was ohhh....... hmmmm....... 3 miles away.

__________________
"If anyone knows other lessons I need to learn, please tell me. I'm tired of learning them the hard way".
by JerryBro

The Glow Plug Wait: This waiting period is a moment of silence to pay honor to Rudolph Diesel. The longer you own your diesel the more honor you will give him". by SD Blue

My normal daily life; either SNAFUed- Situation Normal... All Fouled Up, or FUBARed- Fouled Up Beyond All Repair

62 UNIMOG Camper w/617 Turbo, 85 300SD daily driver- both powered by blended UCO fuels

Here too....I think....it might be slightly more, but its not more than $65...

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I would not use a dolly.

The u-haul trailer rental is not much more than the tow dolly...and a whole lot safer in my book, especially for anything more than a very short haul (20-30 miles)

It could be higher in some locales and it is a little more expensive for a one-way haul & drop-off.


NON-one-way is $49.95 Daily but it is Probably approx 100 for one way and worth the money for the peace of mind and time savings for set-up, etc.




Good luck and be careful.

__________________
Bama1


2008 SLK 280, Firemist Red - "Hurricane"
2001 F150 Lariat 4x4, Black on Black - "Badboy"
1982 240D 4 speed survivor -"Pearl" - Donated to Vietnam Veterans
1962 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 -"Gertrude"

1954 model original owner - ~2.5M
Gray softtop/solid exterior/modified chassis