i did a search and didn't see anything, i have a 91 extended cab with the auto and the tcase that does not have a neutral. i want to be able to flat tow the truck behind the rv without having to pull the driveshafts. my question is has anyone seen manual locking hubs on all 4 wheels? if so can you give me some info or point me to any writeups on how to do this? i seem to remember seeing this somewhere.

thanks
sean

 

You need to get a full floater kit which also entails swapping to rear disc brakes and figuring out what to do about an ebrake.

 

That would be awesome as an anti-theft device. No one would ever think to lock the rear hubs lol.

 

Maybe just as easy to swap T-case?

 

Realistically, this is a more practical. I believe later chain drive cases had a neutral position. Chain drive cases can be had for cheap.

Can someone explain to me why you can't just leave the transmission in neutral. Aren't the gears just bathed in oil?

 

For a wheeler, the easiest and safest solution is buy a trailer. Flat towing assumes you have a functional vehicle being towed. Bust up the wheeler and what good is flat towing it?

If you are towing your Prius behind an RV, then go for it.

Flat towing is freaking dangerous IMO period.

Front Range Off-Road offers a full floater rear axle setup. 4x4wire has write-up on it.

 

In a manual trans the gear oil gets distributed by being "flung" off of the roatating gears onto an oil tray where it drains down into the bearings

An automatic has completely different types of gear clusters (planetary gear sets) that do no have teh ability to splash llube like a manual trans - plus an automatic needs hydraulic pressure anyway to apply clutch packs. So an automatic is designed to have an engine driven pump on the very front of the auto trans case to supply lube and hydraulic pressure -- if the engine isn't running, there is no lube to the bearings and they will fail

 

Click me --> Front Range Offroad Full Floater Conversion

 

1. Can't cost effectively swap the tcase on an automatic. You could use the Inchworm adapter and switch to a gear drive case, but it's super spendy.

2. The lubrcation issues mentioned above

3. OK, I get flat towing behind an RV, but a trailer would be SO much better. The reason is that to flat tow, the truck has to basically be driveable, so if you break on the trail, it's not really gonna help you get home.

4. The FF kit has a lot of advantages besides the manual hubs. It takes the load off the axle shafts greatly reducing the chance of breakage. If you DO happen to break one, they are easy to remove/change. If you were to frag a diff, you could drop the driveshaft and unlock the rear hubs and drive out/home in FWD. It gets you disc brakes in the rear. My rig will eventually have it done - seems every time I have the axle apart, I am spending too much cash getting it going to be able to afford it!

 

i think the 2wd 1 ton trucks had full floating rear ends, might be something to look into

 

its more of a problem of being able to continue to tow behind the rv for vacations. i dont have the storage space for a trailer and the rv so the trailer is not a viable option however it would be my first choice if conditions were different. i currently tow and wheel a jeep unlimited that i have put over 30k miles on flat towing behind the rv without any issues, as well as wheeling it hard and then towing it home. i thought about a tcase swap but didn't see any inexpensive options there however i am not a mechanic so i may be missing something. another option i am looking at is a cable disconnect system for the rear drive shaft and manual hub conversion for the front hubs. that would also give me the ability to disconnect the rear driveshaft from the cab and effectively have front wheel drive off road as well, similar to some duel case applications. im still waiting to find out from the company what they will charge, my only concern would be if i broke the driveshaft i would have to get another one made. i also thought having the ability to unlock all 4 wheels might help with gas milage on the rv while towing by reducing the drag from the trucks drivetrane.

 

Actually if you had the FF rear with a trail rig, even if you pretty much destroy the truck, if the wheel bearings and wheels are still able to roll, and you have the tow bar mounts intact, you can tow it. But then again if you mess the tie rod up that could cause trouble towing. I flat towed my old jeep all over and had the ff rear and it was great. Just unlock and tow away. No having to remove driveshafts anymore. It towed fine for me. I do have a trailer now and that is great to have. But the FF is beneficial.

 

Front Range Offroad sells the driveline disconnects too.

 

thats true