Towing

Cacti_Ken · Post by **Cacti_Ken** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 10:33 pm

When the transfercase and transmission both are in neutral, are any gears in the transmission turning when flat towing the vehicle.

frankthecrank58 · Post by **frankthecrank58** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 12:20 am

as far as i know, the only way to make sure nothing is spinning in the tranny/trans system is to disconnect both driveshafts at the diffs; since the shafts are connected to the output shafts inside the gearbox

wilfreeman · Post by **wilfreeman** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 9:46 am

As long as the transfer is in neutral, the tranny gears won't turn. I think the front and rear output shafts will turn on the transfer though. If you have lockout hubs, you could eliminate the front output shaft from turning, but the rear still would. As mentioned above, you would need to disconnect the u joint at the differentials (and tie up the driveshafts) to eliminate the transfer and tranny gears turning while flat towing.

oilleaker1 · Post by **oilleaker1** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 6:25 pm

Just a note: I was filling a hunters camper with propane years ago, and he was towing a Willys Jeep which i looked at. The transfercase lever had worked itself back in gear from neutral, and at 70 MPH ended up burning things up, locking up, and spun the whole transmission to nothing. He obviously didn't feel much going on behind his diesel powered motorhome

. I'd just put your Jeep on a small trailer and be done with things. But, it's your decision. John

frankthecrank58 · Post by **frankthecrank58** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 6:45 pm

that's what i'm doing. building a small double axle trailer specifically for my jeep

wilfreeman · Post by **wilfreeman** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 7:06 pm

That's what I'm trying to decide - whether I want to buy a small (6x12 or 14?)double or single axle trailer with brakes. A single would work fine with a 3000 or 3500# axle plus would be cheaper to maintain. I pulled mine on my brother's 6.5x16' car hauler to the rally earlier this month, which was a little overkill - about 800 - 1000# overkill!

Oldsalt · Post by **Oldsalt** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 7:49 pm

I have pics and drawings in my photo album of a trailer that my brother has for his jeep. It works extremely well and the jeep just drives on and off in seconds. Safety chains on each corner and away you go. Tows very smoothly and easily.

http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules. ... _album.php

Cacti_Ken · Post by **Cacti_Ken** » Wed Oct 31, 2012 7:58 pm

I trailer mine also. I'm just curious about it. I rebuilt both of them 6 or 7 yrs ago. But now I can't recall in my mind how what happens. I'm going to do some checking on it soon.

wilfreeman · Post by **wilfreeman** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 3:52 am

Thanks for the detailed pics Oldsalt! I'm going to have to think about building one like that myself - I remember you putting a pic of it up when I asked about towing a while back - I liked it then too! Any idea about how much it weighs?

Oldsalt · Post by **Oldsalt** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 7:41 pm

The trailer itself probably weighs 300 lbs or less . One person can grab the back of the trailer and drag it around although with a little difficulty. Two can lift both wheels off the ground and swing it on the hitch. The only caution I might add is that you should use high quality tires. We made the mistake of buying less expensive tires when we first acquired the jeep and trailer. The old ones were old and rotted. Anyway, we only got about 50 miles before we had a blowout. I've thought about maybe converting it to dual axles but once we got good tires on it, they run cool and handle the load well.

frankthecrank58 · Post by **frankthecrank58** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 9:31 pm

make sure that the axle can take the weight of the trailer itself and the load it's carrying. when i first picked up my jeep and towed it home 450 miles i had my landscaping trailer with a 5200# axle and 16" wheels. i had no worries. the trailer i'm building will have two 3500# axles with 15" rims. again, no worries. i like to have more carrying capacity than what i'll actually be carrying. the weight of the trailer is around 8-900 lbs. when it's done.