Flat tow a 40 advice??

[fjatheart]

What do I need to do to safely flat two a 40 behind my F-250?

I'm familar with tow bars, safety chains, brake lights, etc. I need to know what gear to put the t-case and trans in. Do the drive shafts need to be removed?

I've flat towed a Samurai and the factor manual said t-case in Neutral and trans in 2nd. Would that work in a FJ-40?

Thank you!

 

[postalWagon]

When I bought my 40, it got towed to me with trans and t-case in neutral.
How far are you towing it?

 

[fjatheart]

150 miles +/-:ylsmoke:

 

[postalWagon]

You should be fine with keeping it in Neutral and not going faster than 55mph, if you are going to take it faster you might consider taking off the rear drive shaft.

 

[doug720]

I flat tow my 60 all the time and have so for years and many thousands of miles with no problem. My 60 is a manual 5 spd with split case.

I tow mine with the transfer case in 2 high and transmission obviously in neutral. I do not disconnect the drive shafts so they do spin. Miles do show on your odo this way, but there is a good reason to tow in 2H if your not going to remove the drive shafts.

By towing in 2h, the main shaft of the transfer case is spinning and lubing the bearings all through the transfer case. If flat towed in transfer case neutral, not all the shafts are turning and some bearings may not get splashed/lubed with oil.

My 60 tows well behind our motorhome and mu E350 van and is quite convenient too, I use the it whenever my van or motorhome needs service so it's a one man show.

Doug

 

[fjatheart]

Why just the rear and not the front as well?

 

[timbercruiser]

Why just the rear and not the front as well?

Because your hubs are unlocked (right?) so the front diff won't turn the front driveshaft.

 

[fjatheart]

Duh! Didn't think of that, thank you!!

 

[Box Rocket]

I flat tow my 60 all the time and have so for years and many thousands of miles with no problem. My 60 is a manual 5 spd with split case.

I tow mine with the transfer case in 2 high and transmission obviously in neutral. I do not disconnect the drive shafts so they do spin. Miles do show on your odo this way, but there is a good reason to tow in 2H if your not going to remove the drive shafts.

By towing in 2h, the main shaft of the transfer case is spinning and lubing the bearings all through the transfer case. If flat towed in transfer case neutral, not all the shafts are turning and some bearings may not get splashed/lubed with oil.

My 60 tows well behind our motorhome and mu E350 van and is quite convenient too, I use the it whenever my van or motorhome needs service so it's a one man show.

Doug

This is the reason for disconnecting the rear driveshaft. Put the trans AND t-case in neutral, unbolt the rear driveshaft at the diff and bungie it up to the frame. (Leave it connected at the t-case). This way there is nothing spinning in the trans or t-case that needs oil. Less wear on everything, no mileage added, less drag=easier towing.

the biggest factor I've noticed when flat towing 40s is without positive caster, or with soft suspension/big tires or any combination of those, the likelihood of the 40 swaying increases. It can quickly turn into a tank slapper and scare the crap out of you and get downright dangerous quick. So it's worth your time to consider those things too.

 

[doug720]

This is the reason for disconnecting the rear driveshaft. Put the trans AND t-case in neutral, unbolt the rear driveshaft at the diff and bungie it up to the frame. (Leave it connected at the t-case). This way there is nothing spinning in the trans or t-case that needs oil. Less wear on everything, no mileage added, less drag=easier towing.

the biggest factor I've noticed when flat towing 40s is without positive caster, or with soft suspension/big tires or any combination of those, the likelihood of the 40 swaying increases. It can quickly turn into a tank slapper and scare the crap out of you and get downright dangerous quick. So it's worth your time to consider those things too.

I'm towing a 60 with a OME 3" lift and 33" tires. The 60 has a much longer wheelbase and tows very well. When behind the motor home, I leave the back-up camera on and can watch it. No sway or other weird things at all, plus the motor home out weighs it by a factor of 4X's.

As to disconnecting the drive shaft...way to much trouble to do this all the time! Many times we disconnect many times during a trip and that would be a nightmare. The bolts on the yokes are a pain and need to be very tight, I'll pass. I really don't care about the miles on the odo anyway, if you do, you can just unscrew the speedo cable from the case. Easy and quick, but I really prefer not having to crawl under my vehicle all the time on a trip.

I have towed my 60 the way i described for thousands of miles over many years with zero issues. But do what you are comfortable with.

Doug

 

[Box Rocket]

Flat towing a 60 is very different than a short wheelbase 40...just saying. I'm not surprised that the 60 tows well with its longer wheelbase. The OP was asking about towing a 40 however.

For someone like you Doug who is towing frequently and disconnecting many times during a trip, I can see how disconnecting the driveshaft would be inconvenient. Personally I still think it's safer and less wear on the truck to have it disconnected, it's only 4 bolts. The OP made it sound like this would be a one-time flat tow of ~150 miles. If that's the case I would unbolt the driveshaft. If it were 2-3 miles, maybe not worth the hassle, but this is enough distance that it's worth 5 min and 4 bolts IMO.

 

[Equipt]

Yep. What Adam said. I have thousands of miles of flat towing my 40 on 35s and now 37s. For a one time tow, disconnect the drive line. It's 10 minutes, and it ensures there will be no problem. I would try towing it a couple miles first, to see if everything works out. Last thing you need is to prep for a trip, and find out the 40 is a train wreck in a flat tow when you don't have a plan B. Try it and see, first.

Cheers,

 

[fjatheart]

Thanks guys. Going to borrow a friends tow bar and try it out. I'll let you know how well it works.

 

[toylandcruiser]

This is the reason for disconnecting the rear driveshaft. Put the trans AND t-case in neutral, unbolt the rear driveshaft at the diff and bungie it up to the frame. (Leave it connected at the t-case). This way there is nothing spinning in the trans or t-case that needs oil. Less wear on everything, no mileage added, less drag=easier towing.

the biggest factor I've noticed when flat towing 40s is without positive caster, or with soft suspension/big tires or any combination of those, the likelihood of the 40 swaying increases. It can quickly turn into a tank slapper and scare the crap out of you and get downright dangerous quick. So it's worth your time to consider those things too.

Uuummmm why would you have to have the tcase in neutral if the driveshaft is disconnected? Nothing would be spinning.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I can count at least a half dozen or more destroyed 40 Series t-cases or rear axles due to flat towing with the driveline on. Jason Call (Box Rocket and Equipt know him) comes to mind. Pinion's are designed to drive a ring gear, not vice versa. The slight vibrations introduced in some circumstances have proven disastrous, dangerous and expensive. In the case of Jason's 40, the slight vibes assumable caused his pinion nut to back off, pinion drops into the housing, blowing itself out the bottom of the diff while the driveline now pulls apart at the slip yoke and falls off on the highway somewhere between SLC and Moab. Nobody in the tow rig noticed a thing until they got to Moab, tried to back it into a parking stall and it bound up as it tried to spin the pinion back through the diff. I can retell other similar situations, all happened while flat towing and seemingly it happens more often on the park-brake drum side of the one-piece case, vibrations that are not present when under normal drive conditions? For that reason its my recommendation that short, slow temporary tows are OK with the driveline on... anything long range (50+ miles) spend 5 minutes and undo 4 bolts.