flat towing problem, solved

[jbolty]

I had this problem:

Hooked up my new tow bar and on the very first attempt it seems that the wheels do not want to track left.

If I tow straight, no problem. Turning right and straightening, no problem. When I turn left the front wheels sort of drag a little then go full lock the to right; just the opposite way they should. Repeating, to the right works as expected.

Here is my set up.

1990 YJ with a 1994 D30.

The tow bar is level when hooked up.

2 1/2 OME springs. Tires are 33x12.50 MTR

I have an Aussie in the front but I checked the disconnect and both tires spin freely and independantly.

No Shims. It had some old rotted out aluminum ones in the stock springs but I took them out when I added some 3/4 list shackles.

All new tie rod ends, There is no apparent play in the steering box or ball joints. Toe in is set correctly and the jeep seems to drive normally on the street.

The only odd thing, and I don't know if this matters, is that the passenger side tow tab is lined up directly with the frame rail. The drivers side tab is about 1 inch to the left. I tried with the tow bar on the opposite side of the tab to compensate for this and it did not make any difference.

The shims seem like the obvious thing, since the caster may be off. Maybe a brake dragging? I am really stumped and I just missed out on a weekend trip.

Any thoughts here?

And here was the solution:

Ok, here is the deal with why your having trouble. Since I recently ran into the same problem with my 95yj went getting it ready to tow behind the motor home.

The transfer case, np231 in the neutral position connects both the front and rear driveshafts so that they are turning at the same speed. The transmission is the only thing that is left disengaged. With the aussie lock installed and the front driveshaft connected to the rear, when your entering into a left hand corner, the left front wheel will not want to slow down and will essentially get pushed through the left turn straight. At a certain point it then will turn to the right, ie wrong way, and cause all kinds of bad things to happen. Don't ask, been there done that already.

On right hand turns, the left front wheel is basically brought along since the right front wheel is able to slow for the turn, the left just comes along with it. But basically, your right front wheel is free from all the rest of the drive train because of the split axle. With out the spider gears in the front axle the left front wheel it tied directly to the rest of the drive train and even though the locker is working properly, when the right half of the axle is not engaged there is nothing putting pressure on the locker to have it unlock.

One way you can test this is to simply hook up your Jeep in 2wd and put the tranny in neutral. Pull it around the block or whereever for a short distance. It will tow just fine. 2nd check is to start the Jeep. Put it in 4wd, to engage the front axle, turn the Jeep off, so that the axle is still engaged. Then put the trany in gear and the transfer case in neutral, and tow it around the block ect. Both of these methods will make it turn to the left just as it would without the locker, although the second method will tend to scrubb the tires a bit more than the first since it will be relying on the locker to release instead of the split axle.

I hope this makes sense to you. It took me some serious head scratching to get this figured out.

When I tow for long distances, I simply remove the front drive shaft and everything is good.

Since getting the front driveshaft out on the t-case end is such a pita it was suggested to me to just take off the yoke end front and back and strap them up. I like that plus no added miles on the OD.

[Big boy]

I tow my jeep four wheels down and I haven't had any problems yet. I have an auto tranny and I still find it strange putting it in park to tow...............to me that was scary the first time. I'm glad you got that worked out because it is so much easier to tow that way then putting it on a trailer.  ~cool2

[1990JEEPXJ]

i thought the point of neutral was to disengage the DS's all together, not lock them together? if that were the case, everyone would have the same problem towing a vehicle with the 231.

[Big boy]

i thought the point of neutral was to disengage the DS's all together, not lock them together? if that were the case, everyone would have the same problem towing a vehicle with the 231.

As far as I know it does disengage the drive shafts, and does no add any miles while towing. At least thats what the local dealership told me.

[jchappy]

So whats the right method to tow with a tow bar and a front locker?
I just installed a front locker but haven't hooked up the tow bars yet. Before the locker i would put the TC in N and trans in park.

[Jeebs]

So whats the right method to tow with a tow bar and a front locker?
I just installed a front locker but haven't hooked up the tow bars yet. Before the locker i would put the TC in N and trans in park.

If you have a selectable front locker you won't have any issues.  Its only because it was an Aussie locker.  Any non-selectable locker will give you the same issue.

[jbolty]

The drive shafts are disengaged from the engine, but not each other, when in neutral.  The speedo gear, at least mine is on the side of the final output shaft of the t-case so it would turn if the rear driveshaft is turning.

I guess the point is that the aussie is locked all the time but can ratchet around corners. But, it can't do that when the front is disengaged because there is no opposing force on the right to cause the ratchet.

If you jack all 4 tires off the ground you can see it for your self. t-case in N and spin the left front tire and the rear tires turn too.

Had to see it to believe it.

For a very, very short tow 2wd would be ok with the trans in N.

[hammeredtoys]

That seems confusing! toyota Unlock front hub trans in N Tranfer case in N 4 wheel is still engaged, Pull the rear d-shaft if driving more then 20 mile and it's good to go!!!

[1990JEEPXJ]

i would think that would strain the t-case just as driving on the street would. especially when turning. wouldnt the wheels have to fight each other since the front and back are spinning the same speed?

[jbolty]

i thought the point of neutral was to disengage the DS's all together, not lock them together? if that were the case, everyone would have the same problem towing a vehicle with the 231.

As far as I know it does disengage the drive shafts, and does no add any miles while towing. At least thats what the local dealership told me.

newer model 231 cases have a "true" neutral, don't know the cutoff year though. Another option for the older cases is to put in a Teraflex 2 Lo kit.  Meantime I'll just disco the shafts at the yoke, front and rear; two minutes tops.

[Mikegyver1]

I feel safer on the trailer. Seen an accident where the jeep was left in third gear and the tranfercase some how engaged, Motor locked causing the vehicle behind to rearend the jeep. All three vehicle damaged, Jeep biggest loser ~helpsmilie

[Big boy]

I feel safer on the trailer. Seen an accident where the jeep was left in third gear and the tranfercase some how engaged, Motor locked causing the vehicle behind to rearend the jeep. All three vehicle damaged, Jeep biggest loser ~helpsmilie

Now that works both ways. A friend of mine had a trailer break loose from his truck on the freeway, he said it was kind of weird watching a trailer go buy with no truck towing it. It finally came to a stop when it hit the center wall. It had his dune buggy and a couple of quads on it and everything got damaged.  ~cool2

[StvDiego]

Towing is a toss-up either way, flat or trailer.

I flat tow mainly because I; 1. Can't afford a suitable trailer and, 2. Have no where to park a trailer when not using it.

I've also heard of second and third-hand, but never seen first-hand stories of Jeeps and/or other vehicles that had trans lock while flat towing, but I have seen first hand trailers that have broken loose.

I flat tow my Jeep behind the RV and have made a couple of trips to Sedona flat towing it with no issue and I see dozens of Jeeps behind RV's every time i run out I-8 on a weekend.

Now Jeff's problem is a new one, haven't seen that before. We tried a couple of different things to get it going for the full moon run and had an inkling it might have been the locker, unfortunately, we never thought of discoing the d-shaft  ~oops

[Big boy]

Steve, you mean you actually got STUMPED ;D

[StvDiego]

Steve, you mean you actually got STUMPED ;D

Actually, it was more like everything was packed and ready to go to the desert, I had my Jeep behind the RV, Jeff had his behind the GI Joe truck, we take off down the street heading for the full moon run and   ~censored ~censored ~censored ~censored ~censored

So it ended up with more  ~censored ~censored ~censored  "let's just go"  ~clown

We had an idea it might've been the locker but apparently Jeff lives on the busiest 53 foot long with a whole four houses on it block in San Diego County, we were late for leaving for the desert and the sooner we got there to sooner the icy cold ones could come out. Sorry Jeep, we're going without ya

[jbolty]

Steve, you mean you actually got STUMPED ;D

Actually, it was more like everything was packed and ready to go to the desert, I had my Jeep behind the RV, Jeff had his behind the GI Joe truck, we take off down the street heading for the full moon run and   ~censored ~censored ~censored ~censored ~censored

So it ended up with more  ~censored ~censored ~censored  "let's just go"  ~clown

We had an idea it might've been the locker but apparently Jeff lives on the busiest 53 foot long with a whole four houses on it block in San Diego County, we were late for leaving for the desert and the sooner we got there to sooner the icy cold ones could come out. Sorry Jeep, we're going without ya

No kidding. There are about 5 houses on my street but there was a constant stream of cars while we were trying to get the towing issue settled and finally I just gave up. The alternative would have been to drive the jeep out but all the camping stuff was packed in the truck already.    It all worked out though.   

[Big boy]

Steve, you mean you actually got STUMPED ;D

Actually, it was more like everything was packed and ready to go to the desert, I had my Jeep behind the RV, Jeff had his behind the GI Joe truck, we take off down the street heading for the full moon run and   ~censored ~censored ~censored ~censored ~censored

So it ended up with more  ~censored ~censored ~censored  "let's just go"  ~clown

We had an idea it might've been the locker but apparently Jeff lives on the busiest 53 foot long with a whole four houses on it block in San Diego County, we were late for leaving for the desert and the sooner we got there to sooner the icy cold ones could come out. Sorry Jeep, we're going without ya

No kidding. There are about 5 houses on my street but there was a constant stream of cars while we were trying to get the towing issue settled and finally I just gave up. The alternative would have been to drive the jeep out but all the camping stuff was packed in the truck already.    It all worked out though.  

I know what you guys mean about trying to leave for a trip and it seems like everything is going wrong and all you want to do is get there and relax with an ice cold drink in your hand. I'm glad everything worked out.