That is actually why the guy had it- we have a father /son shop here that builds Tj’s only, pretty neat guys. They bought it for that. I just bought a 241 from him for another project I have coming.
Flat tow disaster
- Thread starter TahoeJohnny
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That is actually why the guy had it- we have a father /son shop here that builds Tj’s only, pretty neat guys. They bought it for that. I just bought a 241 from him for another project I have coming.
This is why I got a trailer. Front driveshaft DC went out while flat towing. It took months to get it back on the road.
This just happened a month ago to a guy on here with a rubicon?does flat towing put more strain on it?or since you’re not in it you just don’t realize it?
Shouldn't be any more stress on it. But rigs that get flat towed a lot often roll more miles being towed than being driven...and you don't hear the angry sparrows trying to warn you.
No more stress. I'm my case, i was towing it behind a 40+ ft. diesel motorhome. I left Salt Lake and drove to Glacier NP. Then i left for Calgary where the TC blew up as I was coming into the city. Because the TJ is full time 4wd and the MH has 1400 ft lbs of torque, the TC never had a chance. New TC, new transmission, and new wiring harness amongst other things.
I got a tilt bed trailer and i don't think I'll ever flat tow again. It wears out the Jeep tires, steering, and you can't back up even a foot.
I've never flat towed so maybe it's obvious but I had not thought of this. Is that directed against in the manual or just doesn't work well?
I don't know that I'll explain it fully but you have to have your steering wheel unlocked when you're flat towing so when you try to back up your wheels will turn and don't track the same direction. So this causes issues.
I only flat towed mine for a short time but my reasons for stopping were due to transfer case issues. (I have a STaK's)
I like having the trailer so I don't have to worry about if I was to break something that would prohibit me being able to flat tow. And I also have more trail type tires so why wear them out on the road.
Wish we had a shop like that around here
I was amazed, it is kind of a private deal- they had like 17 of them …builds, resales, personal rigs. And they have good, accurate knowledge, knew who Blaine was to some extent and are extremely thorough. They have a spare 3” body lift they use to repaint frames with more room - pretty industrious guys.
A buddy of mine said flat towing killed his motor home mileage - that was already bad enough. I see more motor homes with trailers now than ever. I know trailers affect it too.
I don't need it, but if it were going in the garbage, I'd hang on to it, just in case. It DOES have value, as you can use that to put a JK 241IOR Tcase into a TJ, if I understand correctly. I'm sure they know that, and that's why they bought it. I thought it was yours, LOL.
I have flat towed my TJ about 40k miles now. But…. I grease the centering balls often and at the first sign of any trouble I replace them. I worry as much about DW as I do about the shafts. I suspect that if DW were to occur I would feel it, but maybe not? Or maybe not until the TJ had torn itself to pieces? So I am also very diligent about maintaining rod ends, joints, bearings, tire balance, etc. to preclude this from ever happening. As for flat towing destroying my gas mileage, I guess it does. I get about 10.5 mpg when not towing about 10 mpg when towing.
I don't know all of them, but the Tom Wood's drive shaft, has a hole where you use a needle attachment on your grease gun to push grease into it. I "obviously" didn't do that...when my son had the Jeep in college, on the factory DS because it blew up on us, so I can't give good information if you have a factory.
most factory shafts don't have a zerk and are therefore non-greasable. However, if it's up there in mileage or it feels at all gritty or loose or otherwise unhealthy, it would be wise to consider replacing it.
I don't know what the official lifespan is but it seems like 100k is a reasonable service interval for the centering yoke.