Towing AWD - Disconnect DriveShaft?

[Ceddy]

Looking for a way to tow my Talon AWD with rear LSD.

U-Haul has the full car trailers, but the trailer is 2000 lb + 3000 lb for Talon = 5000 lb. Which is more then my Cherokee can tow safely.



They also have the Front Wheels Only Trailers.

If I disconnect the four bolts from driveshaft to rear differential and bungee driveshaft up, this is perfectly fine?

Also anyone who has used a Front Wheels Only Trailer, are they stable? Or can they get squirrelly? Tow vehicle is a 2000 Cherokee (3100 lb curb weight).

 

[eazy2g]

See if you can find wheel dollies for the back so that you don't need to drag it

 

[CHAR-FT]

Jeepforum.com is a great website, that I-6 has unbelievable tow power, how far are you traveling with the trailer and car?

I will tell you I had a 2005 grand Cherokee Limited with the 4.7 and the power was amazing on how it handled with a U-haul Trailer and a car loaded, It had the tow package from the factory so I had the hitch on the frame, trans cooler, and 3.73s

Fyi and U-haul wont rent you a trailer either because its on their "do not rent to" list.
Over there they do not recommend towing that weight with an XJ.

 

[And_44]

U-haul??? If your not in a hurry to tow your car, tell them to get a flat bed trailer up to you. The one I have near my house will have one delivered to their store when ever I need it just need to give them a few days.

LoL but don't let them tell you they can't get one because they can. Customer needs always are more important then their inconvienence.

When I towed my Talon the round trip was almost 400 miles and with the truck rental and flat bed trailer it cost me about 190 bucks plus 2 tanks of gas. So about 300 total. I drove 182 miles there with truck and trailer and another 182 back with truck trailer and car.

I got a discount on truck rental. 100 bucks for daily rental plus 100 free miles. The trailer rental was a flat 29.99 I think and mileage was even discounted because of the rate they charged me for the discounted truck rental.

 

[Red4G63]

got AAA? get a roll back.

 

[manny correa]

i have towed plenty awd dsm's, on the uhaul trailer. with my 99 4.0 v6 explorer, and had no problems with it. and have also unbolted the driveshaft from the rear diff, and dropped it completly. (doesnt take long to do) and have towed awd's with the 2-wheel dolly no problem.

 

[99gst_racer]

What kind of distance are you towing?

I'd say that Jeep is more than capable as long as you have good brakes. I've towed DSMs with FAR less capable vehicles and without any issues.

 

[talon1616]

you will be alright with the trailer as long as you dont do it everyday. just make sure your brakes are good.

 

[Shadow21]

The only problem i see is that u-haul wont let u tow anything above the rated towing capacity of your truck with their trailer. I had my gf's gsx towed home on 2 wheels with the driveshaft disconnected. THANK GOD i was there when they pulled up. The guy brought a tow truck with the fork thing in the back for 2 wheel hook up and i told him thats not going to work. He progressed to telling me "mitsubishi doesnt make an awd car'' I made his ass look under there to see the driveshaft and jack the rear of the car up so i could unbolt the driveshaft.... IDIOTS I TELL U IDIOTS! OH. we had it towed 40 miles... No problems.

 

[Ceddy]

Only going ~70 mile.

I've actually towed 7000 lb with the XJ, my brother-in-law didn't know how much gravel weighted and they gave us two yards. But that was very sketchy, had to start braking 100 yards ahead of time.

The U-Haul site won't allow a XJ towing a DSM, because they have almost the same weight. But if you put a Mirage or Colt as towed vehicle they allow it.

Was asking more about using a dolly. Was under the impression that you could only tow AWD DSMs with a flatbed. But saw post here about disconnecting the driveshaft. I'm going out in a bit to see if the driveshaft can be bungee to the exhaust or something.

and have also unbolted the driveshaft from the rear diff, and dropped it completly.

If you remove it completely won't the fluid drain from the transfer case?


Thanks for everyones replys.

 

[DSM1G90]

You got the "flex" joint there that you unbolt it from on both ends ...

 

[viprez586]

If you remove it completely won't the fluid drain from the transfer case?


Thanks for everyones replys.

Yes, If the slip yoke is removed from the T-case.

You got the "flex" joint there that you unbolt it from on both ends ...

The "lobro" joint or aka as almost a CV joint. Trust me, you don't want to unbolt that unless you have to.

 

[SrKegler]

You don't want to bungee cord it up. If the cord comes loose the driveshaft will either drag on the ground or you'll put a lot of pressure on your lobro joints. Just unbolt it and secure it with a strap to the frame.

 

[bsbllfit7]

im in the same dilemma right now, i need to tow my car 100 miles and its awd. I have two options, unbolt the driveshaft and use the two wheel dolly or put the car on the full trailer. My question is is it pretty easy to get our cars up onto the trailer. I am worried about clearances of the car to get it on the trailer. Anyone have any experience or tips for getting it onto the uhaul trailers.

 

[Tanro]

Looking for a way to tow my Talon AWD with rear LSD.

U-Haul has the full car trailers, but the trailer is 2000 lb + 3000 lb for Talon = 5000 lb. Which is more then my Cherokee can tow safely.



They also have the Front Wheels Only Trailers.

If I disconnect the four bolts from driveshaft to rear differential and bungee driveshaft up, this is perfectly fine?

Also anyone who has used a Front Wheels Only Trailer, are they stable? Or can they get squirrelly? Tow vehicle is a 2000 Cherokee (3100 lb curb weight).

I find it a bit hard to believe that a Jeep Cherokee can't pull a full trailer and a DSM. We pulled Talon on a full car hauler with 3 fat guys in the cab of a v-6 s-10... Up a hill.

 

[dsmjunkie97]

A jeep cherokee can easily pull a talon with a tow dolly. I have done it before without any issues. And it also had 200,000 miles on it.

 

[bsbllfit7]

what about getting the talon on a trailer, is it difficult to do cause of ground clearance?

 

[burkgonzo]

what about getting the talon on a trailer, is it difficult to do cause of ground clearance?

Trailer with long ramps is easy, putting it on a tow dolly will tear the front bumper off. Pulling the driveshaft is pretty damn easy. Im not sure why guys are scared of it.

 

[bsbllfit7]

im just wanting to tow it this weekend with one of the trailers from uhaul. Want to make sure it will go up on to it with no problems. If it doesnt clear im sure i could use some 2x4's to make it easier to get on there.

 

[burkgonzo]

You should be fine, or find an incline.

 

[thomcasey]

I find it a bit hard to believe that a Jeep Cherokee can't pull a full trailer and a DSM. We pulled Talon on a full car hauler with 3 fat guys in the cab of a v-6 s-10... Up a hill.

It can, it is the curb weight of the Jeep that is at issue. They would not let me tow a trailer with an engine-less DSM with a 1996 5.2 V-8 Grand Cherokee!! I had to show up at U-Haul with my 2002 Mountaineer.

Just strap the shaft after disconnecting it, or show up with an approved tow vehicle and swap at teh house.

 

[Tyeler18]

The FWD dolly works just fine other than the bumper clearance. I just towed my new 1g AWD home of a dolly last weekend (saturday). We dropped the back of the driveshaft and hung it with wire. The only problem we had was the incline on the dolly was pretty extreme for pushing the car by hand, and the bumper caught at first so we took a hand winch and some long boards and winched the car up onto the dolly. It was a 250 mile drive and we hit some good dips doing ~75mph the whole way and didn't have a problem.