towing K5

[Justin Fleming]

Can you tow a K5 in neutral on a car doly with out disconnecting the rear drive shaft? Its about 20 miles and we have roughly 20" of snow on the ground.

thanks

 

[AV8TER]

It depends a little on which t-case you have. I'm not sure about a 203 or 205. A 208 has no oil pump but some folks have flat towed them hundreds of miles with no issue. A 241 is no problem. Just remember on a 208/241 if the t-case is in neutral the front shaft is hooked to the rear shaft. In a nutshell it is in four wheel drive. The front drive shaft will spin when the rear spins even thou it is in neutral. You will need to have your front hubs unlocked or it will want to crawl off the dolly. Also if you have any front end/drive shaft issues that will be a problem.

 

[skunked]

I would be disconnecting the d-shafts at the axles and strapping them up. Takes all of 15 minutes and you won't need to worry about anything.

 

[dyeager535]

Short distance, slow speeds, no problem.

Long distances/high speeds start to deal with potential lubrication issues (depends on t-case) but for short distances, I'd not worry about it, just stick with side streets.

As mentioned, alternative is to disconnect the driveshafts.

 

[MrSchaeferPants]

I'll 2nd, 3rd, 4th whatever. 20 miles, go ahead and spend the 2 minutes to disconnect the rear drive shaft and tie it up.

Don't know the conditions, but 20 miles could be 40 minutes of driving.

 

[kennyw]

I blew up a transmission once while flat towing across country. I was 600 miles into the trip before it failed spectacularly.

 

[campfire]

I blew up a transmission once while flat towing across country. I was 600 miles into the trip before it failed spectacularly.

Did you blow the tranny on the towed rig or the towing rig?

 

[kennyw]

Did you blow the tranny on the towed rig or the towing rig?

The rig I was towing lost the NP435. The whole truck jumped when it went. I knew better but didn't pull the driveshaft because I was running behind.