Towing a TJ on a tow dolley

[John E Lane]

Does anyone know if you can tow a 2000 TJ SE,with standard transmission on a tow dolley without disconnecting the driveshaft??
Any hwlp would be much appreciated, as Mopar and the Jeep dealership in my town said no,Thanks

 

[Rob5589]

I believe the answer is no. Why not flat tow, all four wheels on the ground?

 

[Black_Valkyrie]

Negative. See owners manual. You need to flat tow or tow 4 wheels up.

 

[billiebob]

Mopar and the Jeep dealership are correct.

 

[John E Lane]

I believe the answer is no. Why not flat tow, all four wheels on the ground?

Because I'm not set up for it yet, and I have a tow dolley from my last vehicle ,but not $500.00 for the base plates for my Falcon II hitch and universel wiring harness, this kinda sucks

 

[John E Lane]

Negative. See owners manual. You need to flat tow or tow 4 wheels up.

I didn't get an owners manual when I bought this unit,and am still searching for one

 

[Rob5589]

Because I'm not set up for it yet, and I have a tow dolley from my last vehicle ,but not $500.00 for the base plates for my Falcon II hitch and universel wiring harness, this kinda sucks

There less expensive options. I use a Smittybilt bumper and their tow bar to flat tow mine along with a magnetic base stop light set from Harbor Freight. About 300 for everything if I recall correctly.

 

[John E Lane]

Witch

There less expensive options. I use a Smittybilt bumper and their tow bar to flat tow mine along with a magnetic base stop light set from Harbor Freight. About 300 for everything if I recall correctly.

which one?,as I have found a couple of Smitty builts that I like,I think that I was looking at Extreme Terrain.com,and I believe that it was a XRC bumper for $249.99 With free shipping ,but the people there didn't seem to know much about it

 

[John E Lane]

Tha

Mopar and the Jeep dealership are correct.

What

 

[John E Lane]

Thanks

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I understand the reluctance to tow with the front up on a tow dolly due to the instructions in the owner's manual. But what I don't understand is why it says that when those of us who have installed manual hubs and drive 99% of the time with them unlocked don't have problems. Driving with the front hubs unlocked creates the same condition inside the transfer case as happens when being towed with the front tires off the ground on a tow dolly. Jeep even sold CJs with manual hubs up front with the same net effect.

 

[Drizit]

Not exactly the same, having the front hubs unlocked allows for any binding in the case to still spin the front shaft as needed.

I know I had a tow truck try to pull my jeep up on the spoons but his dollies wouldn't fit my tires. I had the trans and tcase in neutral and whenever he tried to lift it the rotation of the tires acted like it was in 4wd and caused the drive line to bind up and suck down the suspension. It may have been something to do with the case being in neutral I've really got no idea.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.

 

[Rob5589]

Witch
which one?,as I have found a couple of Smitty builts that I like,I think that I was looking at Extreme Terrain.com,and I believe that it was a XRC bumper for $249.99 With free shipping ,but the people there didn't seem to know much about it

Their very basic src bumper. If I were to do it again, I would buy the Dirtworx bumpers. The DW should work with the SB tow bar, or any other that works the same way. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004K298TS/?tag=wranglerorg-20
The tow bar comes with brackets that you can bolt to the bumper. Seems many use those alone bolted to the bumper at the frame. I wasn't a big fan so I went with a bumper instead.

 

[bobthetj03]

So you have the Falcon 2 tow bar, but not the base plate to attach to the jeep? If so, get the DW bumper and these,

https://www.etrailer.com/Base-Plate...MIwd-q2q6m2wIVh0GGCh2NngKxEAQYAiABEgJdKPD_BwE

This will allow you to use your Falcon 2 tow bar and mount to the D-rings of the front bumper. Wiring harness for the tail lights is $60, and is plug-n-play. Sell your tow dolly to offset the cost of the new goodies.

 

[RD3]

So you have the Falcon 2 tow bar, but not the base plate to attach to the jeep? If so, get the DW bumper and these,

https://www.etrailer.com/Base-Plate...MIwd-q2q6m2wIVh0GGCh2NngKxEAQYAiABEgJdKPD_BwE

This will allow you to use your Falcon 2 tow bar and mount to the D-rings of the front bumper. Wiring harness for the tail lights is $60, and is plug-n-play. Sell your tow dolly to offset the cost of the new goodies.

This is great. I have the base plates but they hang down lower than I want so I was going to fab something like this. Should have known it was already out there.

 

[John E Lane]

So you have the Falcon 2 tow bar, but not the base plate to attach to the jeep? If so, get the DW bumper and these,

https://www.etrailer.com/Base-Plate...MIwd-q2q6m2wIVh0GGCh2NngKxEAQYAiABEgJdKPD_BwE

This will allow you to use your Falcon 2 tow bar and mount to the D-rings of the front bumper. Wiring harness for the tail lights is $60, and is plug-n-play. Sell your tow dolly to offset the cost of the new goodies.

Thanks,so far I have spoken to a couple of dealers that sell the Smittybilt bumpers and they don't recommend flat towing from the padeyes,sane goes for the barricade bumpers and they have a 9500# pull rating,but they say that's for recovery only ,but I'm thinking about trying it,as my max weight is 4450#

 

[Rob5589]

I would think that a recovery situation where you are pulling/yanking against a great deal of pressure with a stuck vehicle will put far greater strain on the bumper than towing a free rolling Jeep. But I am no engineer, so....

 

[BendLarry]

Thanks,so far I have spoken to a couple of dealers that sell the Smittybilt bumpers and they don't recommend flat towing from the padeyes,sane goes for the barricade bumpers and they have a 9500# pull rating,but they say that's for recovery only ,but I'm thinking about trying it,as my max weight is 4450#

I tow my Jeep with a Falcon tow bar attached to the recovery tabs on the bumper. I have over 5k towing miles without any issue with the tow setup.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[John E Lane]

I would think that a recovery situation where you are pulling/yanking against a great deal of pressure with a stuck vehicle will put far greater strain on the bumper than towing a free rolling Jeep. But I am no engineer, so....

That's the way I figured it also,as I've been hearing that the manufacturer won't rate them for flat towing just to cover their ASSES in case one of there bumpers fails

 

[BendLarry]

Another reason to flat tow is to reduce my towing weight. I don’t know what you are going to be driving, but you may want to consider the weight reduction you would get by flat towing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk