I have a friend who tows his 240D behind his BlueBird, no problems. It is an automatic, so he had a drive-shaft disconnect installed, and I believe the baseplate is custom also.

No problems, he's towed it for years.

I wouldn't tow one backwards, I wouldn't tow on a dolly. I've towed four-down, and four-up, and dolly, the only one I'd never do again is the dolly.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I don't much care for dollies either, last time We used one was the guy I bought a 63 T-bird from bringing it to my house, the straps worked loose on it and as we pulled up to the house the car shifted and crunched the left fender.......DOH! The only other time was a buddy with a rented U-haul dolly hauling a car to the wrecker, as we pulled in to the wrecker, the car unloaded itself in the parking lot.
I have a friend with an old school chain on type tow bar, back in younger days he'd get a posse together, we'd push his Rambler up to the bar, strap it on by the bumper, and someone got elected to ride in the Rambler for brakes and steering since the bar always fell off after a few miles.
I bought a nice steel deck trailer with brakes for my hobbies now, that's all I'll tow with now.

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Chris
64 190D R.I.P.
80 240D W/617 engine -for sale
82 240D -for sale

Trailers for me too. I just sold my 27' Haulmark, going to build a custom air-ride trailer. The Haulmark was just too heavy to tow behind anything but the motorhome.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Towing the 240 with a tow bar is just going to add more ware and tare
on it. I prefere a trailer to be safer, and nothing to modify on the car.

How about an enclosed trailer painted to match your motor home? I have
seen quite a few on the highway. An since we are all $rich$ Mercedes
owners.......

FUNOLA, welcome back.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works

Thanks for the welcome Charlie!
Trailer: My 240D don't need no stinkin trailer. Hey it's no show car, just transportation.

A dolly behind a MH is not a good idea, per RV-ers with many years experience who's tried them all.
1. Dolly's don't handle as well as a toad and more can go wrong.
2. Unloading is slower and more involved than a toad.
3. Once unloaded, the dolly is still there, getting in the way.

I think a toad setup is the way to go. Anyone have or know someone with a W123 base plate setup for sale? How about pics of one?

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

I went through this decisionmaking process a few years ago. I wanted to tow one of my MB's behind my Wanderlodge. I finally gave up and purchased a 96 Suzuki Sidekick for $2k. I got an off-road capable 4wd, simple towing (just put transfer case in neutral and make sure hubs are unlocked), and readily available baseplates.
Granted, I had automatics and the driveshaft disconnect was going to be around $1k, only intstallable at a very short list of specialized service centers, and really added no value to the car upon resale.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Kerry:

A Sidekick was my first toad behind my Wanderlodge, great trailer, awful car. I figured I'd rather walk than drive the Sidekick around, so I looked for other options. My first choice was towing my 4matic 4-down, couldn't be done.

Towing a trailer allowed me to change cars whenever I wanted without spending $1000 on baseplates, lights, etc. and I could take toys like a golf-cart in the trailer too. Best option IMO except for the size & weight of the trailer, a pain to store when not being used. Many campgrounds will tow & park the trailer for you if pre-arranged.

The best 4-down toad I've had is the Land Rover, easy to tow, and nice to drive.

For the 240 I feel that a custom baseplate and 4-down isn't a bad option, if it's just a basic car. If it's something you care about, I would put it on a trailer to protect it from the occasional 4x4 or retread that the motorhome will toss at it, my opinion is that only tougher high-clearance vehicles are care-free towables 4-down.

Another consideration is backing up, you can't back a 4-down toad, and can't back a dolly. Pretty much everyone who has towed 4-down has run into a situation where they have to un-hook to back the motorhome when someone parks them in or a driveway/road is closed.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Boy, do I know about that problem. Coming in the US border at Buffalo, the vicious inspector let me pull right up to the booth before telling me that I could not go thru that lane but I had to move 8 lanes over. This was with every lane full of cars and backed up about half a mile. My wife got in the Sidekick to steer it and I was able to back up far enough to make the swing over the 8 lanes while all the traffic was held up.
I'm not crazy about the ride of the Sidekick but it's been reliable and I like its versatility in snow and off road.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13