One Man Towing
 

I'm thinking about buying an 89 4runner, and same yr parts car.
To get the parts car home, I'll have to tow it solo.
Is the steering setup such that the wheels will track the path of the tow vehicle?
Thanks

The safestway to tow a rig with one person is a tow truck. You can't apply the breaks if you're towing by strap with no one in the towed rig.

The only other option is a tow bar or tow dolly. With the tow dolly (front tires ride on the dolly off the ground) you don't need to worry about the tracking, it tracks like pulling a trailer.

With a tow bar you will need to either lock or block the steering wheel and even then it might tend to wag like a tail on a dog :)

tow dolly...worked good for me

If your rear wheels of the vehicle you are towing are on the ground, make sure to remove the rear driveshaft otherwise, you can damage your transmission (auto tranny only... if it's a manual tranny, I believe you can just make sure it and the transfer case are in neutral? somebody else can confirm that.)

No! You just leave the steering wheel alone and it will follow you.

Thanks for the input guys.
Adam F...You're correct about the steering wheel.
If anyone searches this site in future, I'll post what's said in the "Haynes" manual...
"...can be towed with all 4 wheels on the ground, provided speeds do not exceed 35 mph, and the distance is not over 50 miles...transmission and transfer in neutral...steering unlocked..."

I agree. I have used a tow bar for years, and as long as the steering is good on the towed vehicle, it should track right behind the tow vehicle. The only tricky part is if you try to go up or down a driveway ramp at an angle, then the rear steering can get mixed up. In most states, you still need to have a working set of brake and turn signals on the towed vehicle.

by working set of brakes do you mean it just has to have a set that works, or do you mean it has to actually brake when you brake? also, how do you keep the steering wheel from just locking up when your towing all 4 wheels?

turn the key one notch and your steering wheel will unlock


And from what I've read (From Marlin crawler himself, trans/transfer guru) you need to remove the rear drive shaft, due to the way your trans and transfer are oiled. With power from the motor, the trans is properly oiled. If its just spinning from the rear drive shaft rotating, your going to starve your bearings. Just pull the rear drive shaft. Heck, I'd go ahead and pull both.

What I meant was a working set of brake lights and turn signals.

i gotcha, i read it wrong

If the tow is for short distances, less that 50 miles, I wouldn't worry about removing the drive shafts. For longer pulls, it is a good idea, but you should have some type of replacement yoke or output shaft plug (if you have a slip yoke going directly into the trans like a 2wd) so you don't loose any oil or get dirt into the unit. If you have flange type drive shaft connections, then it doesn't matter.