flat tow or not

[DrMoab]

see now I think the jeep pushing you around while flat towing is wrong my experience is just the opposite, the heavier trailer with closer together tires pushes you around more

It wasn't that way with my set up...With a trailer you don't have any steering wheels with castor trying to center itself all the time.

I flat towed my Xj one time with my grand.....never do that again but with good brakes on the trailer if feels better behind the grand then flat towing....although I wouldn't recomend this either.

One other Pro with towing with a trailer....If the jeep breaks and is undrivable you can still get it home.

 

[Goatman]

The T/C is in neutral, so the tranny does not move. The pump for the T/C is on the rear output so it gets lubed, the only thing bad about flat towing is the tires get miles on them. I flat tow my '98 with Detroits in both ends, with a '99 1500 GMC with no problems.

This can be a bad idea if you don't have a true neutral in the t-case. I think I heard somewhere that at some year model the t-case changed to a true neutral, but I'm not positive about that, maybe someone can confirm. If you don't have true neutral in the t-case (most), then the t-case is in 4wd when in nuetral. So, the trans is disconnected, but the front and rear axles are connected. This depends on open diffs so it doesn't bind up. I have a friend who towed his YJ (locked front and rear) behind his motorhome succesfully for a couple of years, then one day the t-case exploded, one of the driveshafts twisted, and it broke the bellhousing.....nasty.

If you're going to flat tow, and you have lockers, make sure you have a later model with true neutral, or buy the Tera 2low kit that provides a true neutral.

Flat towing is fine, but trailering is better if you can. A class A motor home has plenty big enough brakes, but many class C's are marginal in GCVW capacity. The benefits to a trailer are the trailer brakes, you don't wear out your jeep tires, if you nearly cut a tire through on the trail it could blow out on the drive home (happened to me twice, but I was driving it) and you won't know it soon enough while flat towing behind a big rig, and if you break something critical you can nurse it back to a spot where you can load it on the trailer and fix it at home. If you can do it, trailering is MUCH superior to flat towing.

Oh, and I'd rather blow a tire on the trailer than on the Jeep. If you have a motorhome or truck and camper, you have a chance to see the trailer tires in the mirror, flat towing the Jeep there's no way. If you have a trailer, you shouldn't go cheap on the tires, use a good commercial tire with a heavy load range, and check the air pressure regularly. While on a trip, get in the habit of thumping the tires when you stop, just like a trucker does, to make sure one of them isn't going flat.

 

[DrMoab]

This can be a bad idea if you don't have a true neutral in the t-case. I think I heard somewhere that at some year model the t-case changed to a true neutral, but I'm not positive about that, maybe someone can confirm. If you don't have true neutral in the t-case (most), then the t-case is in 4wd when in nuetral. So, the trans is disconnected, but the front and rear axles are connected. This depends on open diffs so it doesn't bind up. I have a friend who towed his YJ (locked front and rear) behind his motorhome succesfully for a couple of years, then one day the t-case exploded, one of the driveshafts twisted, and it broke the bellhousing.....nasty.

This is true.....I believe it works like this....but don't quote me on it.
The older jeeps....with disco axles do not have a true neutral Tcase. But you can still tow you just have to make sure the front axle is disconnected.

When jeep went away from the disconnect axle they started putting tcases in with a true neutral.

 

[BrettM]

if you break something critical you can nurse it back to a spot where you can load it on the trailer and fix it at home.

that would be a major benefit of trailering in my opinion. the prospect of driving my MJ 500 miles to JV and making sure it's still capable of driving 500 miles back makes me a little nervous. It would provide much more peace of mind to know that even if there was major carnage i could just throw it on the trailer and tear it apart at home.

 

[lesslimited]

There's a ton of helpful info here - http://www.motorhomemagazine.com/dinghytowingguide/index.cfm

And of course www.campingworld.com for various towbars and braking systems.

 

[mgt]

It's a 99 so it should have a true neutral. I would have to rent a trailer. around $600. It will be a one way move. going back to ca.

 

[DrMoab]

It's a 99 so it should have a true neutral. I would have to rent a trailer. around $600. It will be a one way move. going back to ca.

If you are only moving it...I would say tow bar. Just remember you can't back up.

 

[xuv-this]

w/o trailer it will be fine. just remove the rear driveshaft. then the odometer will not clock. also, a marker flag on each rear corner will help backing up/turning. just remember that it is not a trailer when doing that-it does not act quite the same, but no biggie. if you plan on doing it more than once, get a 4 wire tow connector, and wire it into the turn relays.

 

[DrMoab]

w/o trailer it will be fine. just remove the rear driveshaft. then the odometer will not clock. also, a marker flag on each rear corner will help backing up/turning. just remember that it is not a trailer when doing that-it does not act quite the same, but no biggie. if you plan on doing it more than once, get a 4 wire tow connector, and wire it into the turn relays.

you CAN NOT back up a flat towed vehicle...You will rip something apart.

 

[CheapXJ]

well, It's possible, but you can ONLY go straight back. any deviation from perfectly straight and you'll hear tires squealin and sh1t poppin.

it's tough but I've done it (some jackass parked me in once, was flat towin an 83 delta 88 w/ my 78 dodge powerwagon)

and if you have no choice but to back up, check EVERYTHING immediately afterwards.

 

[DrMoab]

well, It's possible, but you can ONLY go straight back. any deviation from perfectly straight and you'll hear tires squealin and sh1t poppin.

it's tough but I've done it (some jackass parked me in once, was flat towin an 83 delta 88 w/ my 78 dodge powerwagon)

and if you have no choice but to back up, check EVERYTHING immediately afterwards.

It is easier and faster just to unhook it, move it to where you need to be and rehook it. Especialy if you have help.

My wife and I found this out on our wedding night. We took off in the moterhome....Jeep in tow and got into a parkinglot we had to back out of....After an hour of trying to back it up with her in the jeep and me in the moterhome we just unhooked it....moved both and rehooked. That took 5 min.

 

[old_man]

I tow with a dolly. The brakes on the dolly really help. The only negative is that I have to drop the driveshaft to tow it on a dolly.

 

[xuv-this]

you CAN NOT back up a flat towed vehicle...You will rip something apart.

i've towed my jeep trailerless before. i'm not saying that it's good on it; but i took it easy and had no problem. i wouldn't ever do it with a ind. susp. vehicle, but i would think that most non-lockedfront/ solid axles would be fine. i mean, granted that the stresses are different, but i've beat my jeep up a lot more than that. would you have a personal experience to share? just curious as to what exactly you're getting at. i would also think that disco'ing the drag link would help, but i've never tried it. what do you think?