Flat Towing D-90

[diffender]

Hello,

I am new to this site. I have read some of the threads and you all seem like a very knowledgeable bunch. Maybe someone has an answer for me. I wanted to flat tow my D-90. I have heard that there can be issues with the tranny output bearing starving for oil. The owners manual says to just put the transfer case and transmission in nuetral. Anyone with experience towing these rigs? Thanks for any help you can give.

[Big D]

you must tow the truck on a flat bed tow truck. All wheel drive. You will destroy your transmission if you do not.

[dmarchand]

Use a tow dolly and disconnect the rear driveshaft.

[WI-ROTTIE]

For what it's worth I just purchased a '95 d90sw that the original owner used exclusively to flat tow behind his RV. The truck came to me with approximately 36k miles of which 5k-10k was actual driving with the balance all being miles that were flat towed. Original owner didn't have any issues with it and I have all the service records. I know I have read many of the posts with concerns/problems with this but I wonder if anyone that has made the posts has experienced a failure first hand as a result of this? There are allot of people here that are way more knowledgable than me so this is only my .02 worth/personal experience. I would be interested to hear from anyone that has had a problem specifically associated to the flat tow.

[Scott 9835]

Problems I have had with flat towing. While driving the wheels have turned to full right or left and drag even though the steering wheel is unlocked. Have to stop and turn the wheels back to straight manually so they don't drag. This could be a caster problem do to slight lift. When i installed the 3 link and added caster the problem went away. Before i installed the 3 link i would lock the steering wheel in the straight position. This only caused the wheels to drag in the corners. Which did not bother me.

Second problem.
I had a crappy tow bar (the ones they sell for 250.00 and rate for 7000 lbs) . Some one cut me off which made me have to slam on the brakes so i would miss them. The tow bar broke and the rover rear ended my motor homes spare tire rack. No damage except a slightly bent camel trophy bumper. Fixed this by making a heavy duty tow bar.

Third problem
On the way back from the desert my front diff exploded. This was proble due to previous damage from the weekend but it drove great before i towed it. When i disconnected it and backed it up the diff exploded and left me a nice black puddle of oil in my drive way.

It seems to tow great flat except for these little problems which were more the likely my own fault.

[LRover]

I used to flat tow my series behind a pick-up camper with no issues. I had lock-out hubs front and rear which prevented any issues with the drivetrain. AVM makes lock-out hubs for the D90 style axle if you want to go that route.

[BarryO]

Flat towing is OK with TC in neutral. DO NOT tow on a two wheel dolly without disconnecting the driveshaft - it'll seem to work OK with the TC in neutral, but the TC is not designed to have the two axles turning at wildly different speeds.

[dnp]

http://www.d-90.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10877&referrerid=2805

[48customfastback]

I hate to bring this string back alive but I would love to talk to someone who regularly Flat Tows an Automatic for extended periods. Extended periods of say 2 to 3 hr stints...say 200 to 300 miles. I want to Flat Tow my '97 Auto. D90 behind my RV. I have read many of the threads associated with Flat Towing and I am concerned about what is the best way to handle. I have a trailer but it is hard to deal with once you get where your going. I called my dealership in JAX, Florida to get their "take" on the issue.
I would think someone out there does this on a regular basis. Prior to purchasing I had much different comments about Flat Towing. It was commonly done and was non-issue. So...I sold my '06 Jeep and moved up to the '97 D90.
If I had to do so, and/or it was recommended, I could Flat Tow it say at 200 to 300 miles intervals, unsnap to FT Hitch and drive it around the gas station to circulate oil... then reconnect.
I am new to this environment and would rather be safe than sorry.
Any insight would be helpful.
Thanks,
Rob

'97 D90 ST Beluga Black
'07 LR3
'80 International Scout -Turbo Diesel
'69 Volvo 1800S
'50 DeSoto Custom S14 Convertible
'48 Packard Custom 8 Club coupe
Regular stuff...stingrays, skateboards and unicycles

[huck1974]

Mine is taking at least one long trip behind the RV this summer. Its going on a 16' trailer. I just don't feel good about the other options although I'm sure it probably would be fine.

[Trigger]

I've flat towed mine behind the RRC many times. As far as 300 miles a couple of them. I like to play it safe so I just crawl under and disconnect the driveshafts at the diffs and strap them to the frame out of the way. When I get to where I'm going <10mins and I'm wheeling.

[Hammertime]

Some people need to quit making dogmatic statments without facts. I have flat towed my Defender many miles behind a RV. Just put the diff and tranny in neutral and go for it. I too have had my wheel turn to far right or left and drag but only when I turn really sharp like a turn around.

This is directly from the manual word for word.

1. Turn starter to the first postion to unlock the steering and leave in this postion while the vehicle is being towed.
2. Set the main gearbox and transfer case to neutral.
3. Ensure that the differential lock is in the unlock postion.
4. Securethe towing attachment to the vehicle.
5. Release parking brake.

[48customfastback]

Hammertime,
I appreciate that. I have heard so many different things. Do you have a special tow bar assembly? I intend to install...if the brackets they recommend work, a falcon II tow bar. I bought the Tow Bar...they have to order the brackets. The Falcon catalog shows brackets for a '97 D90 so...I am going to give it a go and buy the brackets.
Thanks again.
Rob

[midturtle]

Has anyone used a tow dolly from U-Haul? My tow vehicle does not have the rating for an auto transport trailer where all 4 wheels would not spin. So, the only option I have (besides shipping it) is to have the 2 front wheels secured to a the dolly, and the 2 rear spinning down the road. I need to do this for about 2000 miles, but not sure if there would be too much difference between 300 miles vs 2000 miles. I would disconnect the rear drive shaft, set the diff lock in the unlocked position, put t-case in neutral. This is for an automatic transmission.

[cgalpin]

I have not used a tow dolly but can tell you that once you disconnect the rear driveshaft there is nothing else to do. The rear will just spin away. It will be just fine.

[jetmech]

The jeep guys just put the transfer case in netural and tow all day long why is a defender different? Would it cause the bearing to become oil starved? I don't flat tow as I have a full trailer but I would just like to know.

[GYM]

Has anyone used a tow dolly from U-Haul? My tow vehicle does not have the rating for an auto transport trailer where all 4 wheels would not spin. So, the only option I have (besides shipping it) is to have the 2 front wheels secured to a the dolly, and the 2 rear spinning down the road. I need to do this for about 2000 miles, but not sure if there would be too much difference between 300 miles vs 2000 miles. I would disconnect the rear drive shaft, set the diff lock in the unlocked position, put t-case in neutral. This is for an automatic transmission.

I didn't like the U-haul tow dolly because there was an ever-present danger of the dolly fenders coming in to contact with sides of the the car being towed on sharp turns.

The turning contact problem may not be as much of an issue towing a Defender since it is narrower than the old '70's cars I towed at the time.

I've never towed Defenders with anything other than a regular car trailer. YMMV.

[midturtle]

oh, and another thing...I have ARB rear lockers, will this be adversely affected?

Also, what is the best and easiest way to disconnect the driveshaft? Disconnect at the diff, or the t-case?

Thanks.

[evilfij]

have to do it at the diff and bungy/tie the loose end to the frame etc. ARBs won't matter as they act as open diffs when not engaged.

[MC22958]

If the transmission doesn't pump oil unless the motor is running then I would take the transmission out of the mix. Seems like the safe consensus, if you want to flat tow, is to take off both shafts and keep the steering unlocked in town and then locked on the highway?
I knew there was another reason I got that trailer.

[midturtle]

Alright, asking more questions than necessary, but I have one more. To refresh, I'm using a tow dolly to pull my truck about 2000 miles, so the back 2 wheels will be on the ground. I've disconnected the rear drive shaft at the rear diff. This is where I'm confused. If I strap it to the frame at this point it will continue to spin and could wear through the strap. So I think the entire rear drive shaft needs to be pulled off at the transfer case. Any suggestions on this? If its pulled from the tcase, will any fluids come with it? I'm a novice so details/best methods are appreciated. Thanks

[Rugbier]

How could the driveshaft spin if disconnected at the rear diff and your 2 front wheels are on a tow dolly?

Am I missing something?

[midturtle]

Just laughed til it hurt. Feel like a dumbass. Thanks

[cgalpin]

Just for future reference, you can disconnect at the t-case end and nothing will leak. You do need to put the nuts back on or pull the drum to avoid it falling off accidentally, although even this is pretty unlikely.

Why not just drive it? All this sounds like a hassle to me :)