Hi Guys, I know this has been brushed upon before, but that post didn't have concise information. I know some of you have towed your minitrucks around, both dinghy style and two wheeling. Is it was absolutely necessary to disconnect the driveshaft when towing a 4WD minitruck? I'm not talking about long distances, something like 40miles or so. Will a distance like this damage anything towing a minitruck if I just put the transmission in Neutral and turn off 4WD? (no neutral pos. in transfer case) I have a 92' Subaru Sambar 4wd and a 91' Suzuki 4wd Dump coming and I want to tow them using a dolly. Thanks
i don't have experience towing minis around like this but i have a fair bit of experience towing an assortment of jeeps and toyota LC's and P/U's . my answer to you is that it really isn't hard to pop the shaft. Especially if you are using a dolly and only have to pop the rear shaft. it's just less you ever have to worry about. I once bought a cherokee VERY cheaply that had been flat towed behind a diesel pusher motorhome. the tc dropped out of neutral around 65mph. the body was very good though, and well worth the 800 i paid for it. there was some of the t/c left attached to the ruined transmission and the crank in the engine was bent. i always disco the shafts.
OK here is a question... Are the driveshafts flanged? Like a Samurai... I have towed my samurai either on a dolly and more resently on four wheels do to the upgraded front bumper. I am going from memory so bare with me. On a Samurai you can tow it with the rear driveshaft in T/C in neutral and the tranny in second gear for short distances.. for longer distances the manual says to pull over and start the samurai and let it run for several minutes (can't remember the exact time) I have always chosen to unbolt the driveshaft at the rear diff. Because of it being a flange style shaft it comes apart and goes together really easy.. less than 5 minutes I would say. Once apart I hang it up in the under carriage securly and do not have to worry about tearing anything up.. my 2 cents
i have a couple of questions... are you planning on towing both of them at once??? if so, how??? if not, nevermind... what tires are you putting on them?? what is the speed rating, remember these trucks dont do but like 50 or so, so i would be curious as to the speed rating of the stock tires... if they are ATV tires, then forget it... another thing to consider is the width of these trucks... they will be very unstable at speed like a little narrow jetski trailer and although it is ok for them to sway because they only pivot at the hitch, which keeps them from getting out of control... if it is on a dolly, then it will pivot at the hitch and at the front axle... i could definately see so "snake" like action going on... would hate to see someone lose there new toy...
Thanks for the replies guys, I am planning on renting a dolly and towing them with my Jimmy. Stock tires for the minitrucks are fine, they are rated for highway.. I am in Canada and I drive these minitrucks on the highway all the time, over 60mph. I am just towing them back to my shop which is about 40 miles away. My main concern is really the Subaru, since its rear engined, not sure if towing that would be a problem?
You cannot pull the driveshaft at all to tow with a Daihatsu. I learned from replacing the clutch in mine, that removing the driveshafts will allow the t/c to leak oil out of the output splines.
many jeeps have this same trouble. slip yokes make assembly at the factory much easier, but become problematic in the field. my daily driver has this situation. the trick is not to pull the shaft out entirely. i take the straps off the yoke at the diff. this part makes me miss the toy's. then i tape the end caps on the ujoint and strap the the shaft up against the unibody. there was a period about two years back where i was learning the mysteries of Renix fuel injection that i did this regularly. with practice i had it under 10 minutes front and rear. it would have been easier with flanges like on a toy, but then toyota wouldn't have let renault design their fuel injection.
Towing Well, I'm no mechanic and I don't want to contradict anyone with mechanical experience, however, I'd like to post my views on towing. I have a 1994 Mitsu 4x4, 5 speed standard, with a High and Low Range, but no neutral in the transfer case. As I've said, I'm no mechanic. I've heard of a transmission popping out of gear under strain, but never have I heard of a transmission popping into gear. I believe that would take a whole lot of combinations to misteriously occur to mesh gears, flywheel, and a huge bump to push the linkage in the correct direction at the right time for a transmission to pop into gear. Some nay sayers said the tranny would overheat. Well, manual trannys don't have coolers, so why overheat while being towed, without a load. Very unlikely! So having taken all that into consideration, I towed my Mitsu, on a dolly, behind my motorhome throughout the summer of 2009 without a single hick up. I put the key in the ignition and unlock the steering, and then the transmission in neutral, and off I go. The only problem with this is I'm putting all kinds of miles on the odometer even under tow. I could disconnect the speedometer, but who cares. This is a great site, and I've learned so much about these little trucks. Thanks to all who post their knowledge!
I believe the concern is not turning the engine over by accidentally knocking it into gear. The issue is turning the tranny while in tow. Since these trannys are syncro'ed, that means all the gears are meshed with the drive shaft always and thus your shifter only connects the engine to each available ratio or gear. You can't grind a gear with this tranny as they are all in constant mesh. You can grind the syncros though. Because they are in constant mesh, they are vulnerable while in tow. Why they are vulnerable is still a mystery to me but I've continued to hear this come up throughout my life.
towing I tow mine on a small utility trailer. Drive it on, strap it down in four corners, and drive away. No issues with any drive shafts, damage odometer etc.
Hi, I haven't actually looked underneath my Hi-jet, so don't know what is there. What follows may be a load of waffle. I was taught, in 1958, that the bearing between the primary (clutch) shaft and main shaft is only lubricated when the lay-shaft is turning. The lay-shaft is in constant mesh with the primaty shaft. The primary shaft will only turn if the engine is turning OR if a gear is engaged and the wheels are turning. Got that? If you are towing your car, the mainshaft is turning. The engine is not turning, so neither is the lay-shaft is not turning, so the bearing at front of main shaft is not being lubricated. 40 miles? OK, things have moved on, and that bearing is now probably full of rollers, not the old fashioned plain bush. Interestingly, I have been told that the opposite is true of a Hillman Imp transaxle. When this car was first introduced, the factory had lots of gearbox failures. Investigation showed that some owners let their engines tick-over till warm. The rotating shaft was not being lubricated where it turned in some other shaft. The factory test drivers (apprentices?) would never dream of wasting driving time by warming up the engine, so the problem never occured during testing. Back to my lessons in 1958. We were given the options of disconnecting the prop-shaft, over filling the gearbox, or towing with the engine ticking over. I once recovered a broken down car, towed it back to the RAF driver training school, took no precautions. The workshp found the gearbox was damaged, wanted to put me on a "technical fizzer". Luckily, the driver confirmed there was a gearbox fault before the car actually broke down. DO NOT TOW A LAND ROVER or RANGE ROVER built after 1994, WITHOUT DISCONNECTING THE DRIVE SHAFT. Both ends? Sorry if all this has been OT. 602 602
You might be out of luck with the Sambar, if I remember correctly it is an AWD vehicle , not a 4x4 like a Suzuki. Much like a Honda Acty you need to have all 4 wheels off the ground. Some one with a Sambar should chime in. Jon.
I just bought an Acty and was trying to figure out how to get it home. So, thank you for this little tidbit. I was afraid the 'RealTime 4wd" system would require a full trailer tow. Any advice on that tow? Will I need a large 2 axle trailer for 1600lbs?
