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Anyone flat tow a fullsize K5?

garlicbreath

garlicbreath

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I don't have a trailer nor the room for one permanantly, I see jeeps flat towed all the time, even by cherokees.

I would be pulling it with an F350 powerstroke weighing 7800 lbs.

Trips would be about 300 miles one way to PA and NC.
 
I used to flat tow my short bed on 35" boggers all the time. sometimes as often as twice a month to go wheeling. I would think for a one time trip of that distance you should rent a trailer from u-haul. Especially if you are pulling it somewhere to wheel it. If you have a severe break down in the towed vehicle, loading it onto a trailer to get it home and fix it is much easier then rigging it up so you can flat tow it.

for short trips flat towing is fine. If you are gonna flat tow it a big distance then I would suggest another set of rims and tires. I have a set of 16" 8 lug rims with 255/75R16 tires on them that I used when I first went to 44's. You can not flat tow something with tires that big. its all over the road. the little tires made it feel like a trailer behind you minus the brakes.

finding a place to keep a trailer isn't that bad. keep it under the trail rig. :D or see it you can store it at a relatives or work. most storage companies will let you park it there for a small fee. a friend of mine did that. it was a couple of dollars a month.
 
I flat-towed a 3/4-ton burb with another 3/4-ton burb from California to Illinois. No problems whatsoever, either physically or with the law. Just gotta keep your head on a swivel and think ahead constantly.

I also flat-towed a shortbed K10 from Sacramento to southern California with no trouble.

For both trips, I bought a trailer wiring harness, 30 feet of 4-conductor cable, and two cheap trailer lights and c-clamps. Clamp the lights to the rear bumper and you're good to go. The whole thing was about $40.

burbs2.jpg
 
But still to be legal you are supposed to have brake's. Don't get me wrong , My s10 is broke right now and I towed it 2 mile's to get it scanned. With no brake's. But according to the law you are still supposed to have brake's.
 
me and protechk5 towed a 1ton k5 with a toyota t100 from upstate NY through manhattan to VA. that was an experiece to say the least.

towed.jpg
 
I flat-towed my blazer up here from Carlsbad, NM. Route

We did the same with the trailer wiring harness & hooked it up behind a loaded 17ft E350 Uhaul van. Hauled it like butter.

Is it the right thing to do? Probably not. If they had had a tow dolly to put the blazer's front wheels on, I'd have used that, but they didn't & by the time we got to amarillo, I felt comfortable pulling it that way. Anytime we'd stop, I'd check all of the connections of the towbar & look over everything to make sure all was well, and it was.

My only advice is to be careful, take it easy, & don't get lost in a residential neighborhood in a blizzard that ends in a cul-de-sac that's too small to turn around in at 1:00 in the morning! :laugh: Sheesh! That was a pain!

Later,
Buddy
 
they sell tow dollies with brakes. that would be easier to store then an entire trailer. they cost almost as much as a trailer though.
 
a tow dolly will have some tongue weight to it. They also have lights. also if you fubar up one of the axles on the truck you can strap that end on and tow it home.

a u-haul trailer is fairly cheap to rent if you return it to the same store you picked it up at. You should look into it. a friend of mine rents one pretty often.
 
gmc4cw said:
a tow dolly will have some tongue weight to it. They also have lights. also if you fubar up one of the axles on the truck you can strap that end on and tow it home.

a u-haul trailer is fairly cheap to rent if you return it to the same store you picked it up at. You should look into it. a friend of mine rents one pretty often.
Click to expand...

Around here the U haul trailer's are tiny. According to their website they have 2 sizes and I guess we have the big one's:doah:. I decided against it after that. It was only like 12 foot long , and 6 ft wide. To small
 
I've flat towed two K5's a total of 4500 miles...but neither were complete or running. The first one weighed 3400 lbs as it was. It towed fine, but as soon as I crossed back into Canada I had to get a tow truck for the last 10 miles of the trip because here any 'trailer' over 3000 lbs needs brakes. :rolleyes:

The second K5 I flat towed was not much more than a rolling shell...2700 lbs according to the scales when I got back to Canada. That one I was allowed to continue towing as it was.

The biggest PITA is being unable to back up.

As for lights, one both I made a pigtail harness that plugged into the towed K5's tail-lights. It was just a matter of unplugging the tail-lights and plugging them into my custom trailer harness. Presto, GM tail-lights on both trucks.

My towbar was something I custom built, and it attached to the frame of the towed K5 with a pair of 9/16" G8 fine thread bolts. The bar itself nestled between the frame rails and picked up a couple of existing frame holes. For both rigs this got the Tow bar dead level, and with such a solid attach point made towing a breeze.

The only thing that can get you in trouble is any tight corners. You need to be very cautious because the towed K5 will try and push the rear end of the tow rig out. The sharper the corner, the worse this gets.

Rene
 
OK, so since the majority seems to say it's been done, what did you guys use for a tow bar?

I could make my own, using a coupler from a trailer shop, and the lights should be easy enough.

Do you leave the steering free to roam?
Pull the shafts?
 
I towed my K5 from Mesa to Roy thats AZ to UT, ran set of magnetic tow lights from a tow truck. Towed it behind a U-haul truck didn't have any problems with it at all. Not sure what laws you all are reading but I know of none that require you to have brakes on a flat towed vehicles but if you really are concerned put someone in the towed vehicle if it has working stuff.

I built a tow bar that bolted to the frame where the bumper bolted on think I have a pic of it but it worked fine built another for a friend who towed his from Mesa to Boise with no problems but a flat tire. Steering wheel free, shafts your choice, but I pull at least the back out, I f you leave the front in then you can move it if you have too presuming that it runs.
 
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garlicbreath said:
OK, so since the majority seems to say it's been done, what did you guys use for a tow bar?

I could make my own, using a coupler from a trailer shop, and the lights should be easy enough.

Do you leave the steering free to roam?
Pull the shafts?
Click to expand...

I bought mine simply because all you need to do is bolt it on. They are cheap enough that making one would cost you more. Yes you leave the steering unlocked. I unlocked the front hubs and disconnected the rear shaft if I was going more then a few miles. I was flat towing my truck from West Chester, PA. to the pine barrens in Jersey once when the t-case jumped into gear and grenaded high gear. I had the trans in neutral and the t-case and somehow it didn't stay that way. luckily I was coming to a stop at a red light when it happened.

I wheeled the truck for years after that with no high gear.
 
I got mine from Harbor Freight for 49.99
No issues with it . Not bad for the money . Only thing they say is the longer the tow bar the better. I dunno tho Mine is perfect for S10's which is what it has been used for.
You really want the height to be level between the 2 .
It it is not level the towed vehicle has more leverage and cause issue's . Especially not having brake's . Say the towed vehicle is higher , you panic stop it has leverage , and can potentially hit your tow rig.

That is all for now.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94696
 
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