Beating a dead horse (Towing with tow dolly)

[Goose_XJ88]

!!!1 !!!1 !!!1 !!!1 !!!1

I know it has been debated over and over again but I want feedback from the guys I trust the most.

I am going to need to tow my jeeps to my new house on my tow dolly. Normally I disconnect the driveshaft and save the worry but the new house is only 4 miles away and I really dont want to deal with the driveshaft if I dont have to.

After reading 3-4 threads on the subject, my brain is telling me to treat them as if they were 231s; tcase in 2wd and trans in neutral.

99, Not running, AW4, 242 stock driveshaft
88, Blown LSD, AW4, 242 SYE



.

 

[EricsXJ]

I've never towed like that, on dolly or flat tow, so this might be a stupid question.

Why wouldn't you do it like flat tow, which I believe is transmission in Park and T-case in Neutral?

 

[Goose_XJ88]

Eric, From what I read some of the older t-cases arent in a true neutral when placed in N (Seems to be the older 231s but I could be wrong). Instead of a true N, it locks the front and rear together.

Obviously, this is fine for flat towing but not good when you want one set of wheels stationary.

As for the Trans in neutral and tcase in 2wd, (From my understanding) you run into the problem of the AW4 not self lubricating due to the jeep needing to be running.

So, would it make since to have the jeep running, 2wd tcase, trans in N? Would that push fluid to lube the bearings or whatever would normally run dry?


I really need to re-read the AW4 thread or just not be lazy and unbolt the driveshaft.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

i mean driveshafts take like 5 mins.

 

[WAZZUXJ]

Per manual: Transmission in Park, Transfer case in Neutral.

https://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=30538

 

[Goose_XJ88]

Per manual: Transmission in Park, Transfer case in Neutral.

https://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=30538

I believe that the "Towing behind a motorhome" is referring to flat towing. I don't have a flat tow set-up so that wont work.


I think I'm just going to suck it up and unbolt the driveshaft so there is no worry about damaging anything. Like Jon said, a few extra minutes but might save me loads of time in the long run if 4 miles does damage something.

 

[WAZZUXJ]

Both axles on the ground (flat tow) or one axle on the ground (dolly tow) wouldn't change why you put the transfer case in neutral and transmission in park.

The T/C in neutral will be disconnected from the transmission. The transmission in Park will keep it from possibly rotating internals while pump is not running.

 

[XJensen]

i mean driveshafts take like 5 mins.

I agree. You probably put more time in the researching then it would take to unbolt from the axle tape the ujoint and zip tie up to the body.

I get it if you want to know for the future but for one time...

 

[Goose_XJ88]

Both axles on the ground (flat tow) or one axle on the ground (dolly tow) wouldn't change why you put the transfer case in neutral and transmission in park.

The T/C in neutral will be disconnected from the transmission. The transmission in Park will keep it from possibly rotating internals while pump is not running.

These comments are the reason that I am wary of the 4 tires on the ground is the same as 2 tires on the ground.

If the transfer case shift lever markings say "2H,4H,N,4L" then DON'T try to tow it on a dolly, you must remove the driveshaft as that t-case (231) locks the front and rear driveshafts together in "N". The 242 t-case does not do this.

Not on a dolly. You can tow it on a sling that allows the front wheels to spin, but when you put NP 231 in neutral, it locks the drivetrain into 4WD, so you can't do that on a dolly. If you don't put the TC into neutral but leave it in 2WD, it will turn the output shaft of the transmission and risk damage to the output bearings. .

Neutral in the tcase is not a true neutral. In neutral, the front and rear shafts are connected together, so if you spin the rear shaft, the front shaft will turn. It does disco the tranny in neutral, but not the front shaft.

Josh, the only reason that I am researching this so thoroughly is because I've got a week or so until I can actually put the jeep on the dolly so the time spent now doesn't hinder me at all.


.

 

[WAZZUXJ]

These comments are the reason that I am wary of the 4 tires on the ground is the same as 2 tires on the ground.

Josh, the only reason that I am researching this so thoroughly is because I've got a week or so until I can actually put the jeep on the dolly so the time spent now doesn't hinder me at all.

.

"Early NP231's on Jeeps with a vacuum front axle disconnect feature (as is usually evident by the presence of a vacuum switch on the NP231) did not have a true neutral disconnect when shifted into neutral. The front and rear yokes remained connected. With the advent of full-time front axles in the Cherokee and Wrangler Jeeps, the vacuum switch was removed and Neutral became fully neutral, separating the input shaft from the output shafts and the output shafts from themselves."

https://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/transfer-cases/np231

 

[blondejoncherokee]

Thats cool info. I did not know the early 231s with disco had no true N.

 

[WAZZUXJ]

I couldn't find any such info on the NP242, but I did find a good T/C test for dolly tow.

With Jeep running, put the transmission in Park (Auto) of in gear (manual).
Put the T/C in neutral.

Jack up a front tire, if you can spin it with no resistance, you can tow however you want. If you can't spin it, you can't dolly it without pulling the rear shaft.

 

[Phil]

I’d drop the 88’s 242 into full time and just drive it there under its own power, that solves 50% of it with no extra effort.