| Author |
Message |
Wayne Buttress (Flyingb) (66.52.189.240)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2002 - 12:40 pm: | |
Hey Guys,
I'm in the market for a new full size pickup and would like info. on towing all 4 on the ground with auto trans..I live in a mountainous area and the auto would be nice. I don't trust what the sales people tell me.
Thanks, Wayne |
Scott Whitney (66.214.66.193)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2002 - 1:45 pm: | |
Smart not trusting the sales people for reliable info in this regard. Ask to see the manual and read the section about towing for the vehicle in question. I think all manuals will list the correct procedure.
Scott |
Jim Stacy (32.101.44.77)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 18, 2002 - 9:36 pm: | |
Each year the January issue of Motorhome magazine has the newest list of toads towable 4 down. Generally speaking, stick shifts and auto 4 wheel drives that have a neutral position in the transfer case are towable but there are exceptions (naturally).
Jim Stacy |
Peter Broadribb (Madbrit) (216.67.212.43)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2002 - 3:07 am: | |
Had the same trouble when we were looking to buy a 4x4 pick-up last year. The Ford dealer had to be pushed into finding out what exactly needed to be done and the Ford transmission has to be reprogrammed to be able to be flat-towed. This cost about $200 was what they quoted.
The Dodge dealer said the Dakota could not be flat-towed and he was reading the owner's manual. I asked to see it and found a section that explained exactly how to set it for flat-towing, but it was not listed in the index!!!!! Look for "RV Towing" in some owner's manuals.
We bought the Dakota 4 door crew cab and love it. There were a lot of the new models that were not towable, strange way to go considering that a lot of people tow that way these days. |
CoryDaneRTSII-NE_IL (198.29.191.147)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 21, 2002 - 9:45 pm: | |
Am looking at a used 96 Blazer, it has the electronic 4wd. I use a dolly for towing so the front wheels are up.
Can this be towed with the rear wheels down, so far manual is no help.
I here there are changes that can be made to the rear driveshaft to allow it to free wheel, anyone hear of a prduct like this??? cd |
Peter Broadribb (Madbrit) (216.67.215.129)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 21, 2002 - 10:30 pm: | |
CD,
unless the owners manual actually says it can be done, I would not advise it. Too many transfer cases rely on a splash oil feed for the rear bearing and although some get away with it, it is not a good idea and often a very expensive one.
Remco make a driveshaft disconnect which should cover your rear wheels.
Warn makes rear hubs for some 4x4s which allow you to unlock them like the front hubs on many 4x4s. The price is about the same whichever way you want to do it.
Peter. |
Scott Whitney (66.214.66.193)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, February 22, 2002 - 2:10 pm: | |
FWIW, a work-around *MIGHT* be to stop every 100 miles and start the truck and run it thru the gears. But don't take that for gospel as you need to know for sure.
My grandpa does that with his Suzuki Sidekick 4x4. (towed four down) So far so good.
Scott |
Jim Stacy (32.101.44.64)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 23, 2002 - 10:21 pm: | |
Cory,
If there is not "neutral" position in the transfer case control, you cannot tow with the rear wheels on the ground. If there is, you can tow 4 wheels down. Most prefer 4 wheels down since you cannot back up with a dolly or 4 down and the dolly is one more pain in the butt when you unhook. If you get somewhere where you must back up, you must unload the truck and then disconnect the dolly and wrestle it onto the truck so you can drive it out of the way. Then once you get the bus turned around you unhook the dolly and recconnect everything.
A dolly can give you easy lights and brakes but most users get rid of them sooner or later.
There is a new towbar on the market that claims yuo can back up with it. Many of us have gotten away with a short, straight backup with a tow bar, but it's dicey at best.
Jim Stacy |
Scott Whitney (66.214.66.193)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, February 23, 2002 - 11:25 pm: | |
There is a device that was on display at the BCC in Laughlin which looked interesting. It looked like a couple of loops which protrude out the back of the bus. The idea is you drive the front two tires of the toad onto the loops. Then it lifts the vehicle up off the ground by the front wheels. Looked cool and for the right toad might work well. Don't know if you could back-up with it or not. Only problem I could see was extending the rear overhang might make it drag on some driveways. Also would have to have a pretty beefy cradle or something to attach it to since a there would be a lot of weight on the device. Can't recall the trade name of the thing. The guy with the double decker RTS had one. |