DieselJeepLuvr wrote:
More importantly, should it? No. At least not very far. I towed a 67 dodge D100 using a car dolly once. It worked but was it the right tool for the job? No.
AGREED!
Just because a vehicle has a maximum tow rating does not make it a good idea to tow a maximum amount. If you have to tow that much, keep the distance as short as possible and give your engine plenty of idling time to cool off. Better yet, get a bigger tow vehicle. Try never to go above 2/3 the maximum tow rate of any given vehicle.
You can definitely tow to the maximum and do it safely if you are a good, cautious driver, but you are shortening the life of the vehicle. Manufacturers have made sure of this, especially with automatic transmissions with aluminum valve bodies and plastic check balls in those bodies.