Is it safe to tow my truck with a tow dolly? Uhaul wants front end on the dolly, so the drive wheels will be on the ground. My truck is 2wd with a manual transmission. I would be towing it for 700 miles. If I did need to disconnect the driveshaft, I would remove the bolts by the diff end, correct?

Thanks

 

Hi Joe,
My '85 owner's manual sez: "Manual transmission-towing with rear wheels on ground: Release the parking brake and put the transmission in neutral"

 

When I moved up to Oregon, the pickup blew out the oil pump gasket. I didn't have any place to work on it in the middle of moving, so I got a tow dolly from UHaul. Just to be safe, I pulled the rear half of the drive shaft off entirely. Put it in the bed of the pickup. After pulling it up onto the tow dolly
What the heck, 8 nuts and bolts. Easy to take out, easy to put in. Better safe than sorry, but I'm a big chicken when it comes to my trucks. Odd for a guy that used to boonie-hopping, banging around in the desert without a care in the world...

Good luck!
Pat☺

 

I remember my dad doing this with a Chevy Luv when I was a kid to tow it from CA to MT.

 

Hey! I had a Chevy Luv. Yellow. Nice little truck for off-roading in the desert around Yuma, Az. Didn't enjoy having file and set the points once a week, though. It's what I traded in to get my pickup. Dealer was having a "Push, Pull, Tug, or Tow it in for a $2000.00 trade in!" special running. I saw an opportunity and jumped on it. Worked out great for me, not so good for the dealer

Have fun!
Pat☺

 

Cool! It was my first vehicle, an early 14 birthday present from my grandfather. Mine was a 1980 4x4, great little truck for growing up in Montana!

 

It's been over 30-some years since I had my Luv, but I think (rarely ) that it was a '78. I know they got rid of the points in the distributor just after that, IIRC.
What really surprized me the most about it, I found out when I went to the Chevy dealer to get some parts for the engine once. Turns out the Chevy Luv is nothing more than an Isuzu Trooper II, with a Chevy body on it. Most of it is a Trooper II, though. Sure enough, I went to the Isuzu dealer, and they were like "Sure, we carry parts for the Luv!" Apparently they knew this little secret already. Heh.
Just thought that was kinda odd, but what the heck

It did off-road like a dream. I pulled people out of the sand, even a couple girls out of a ditch they had driven into one night. Plenty of power for lots of things. Great little truck.
It's not a 4Runner, though

Have fun!
Pat☺

 

Oh interesting, I always thought it was an Isuzu Pup with the Luv body. Either way, I remember the big Isuzu logo on the valve cover. There's a yellow one running around town where I live, but I've never caught the guy to chat with him.
Yeah, It's no Toyota pickup either! But back then I was one of very few of my friends who had a decent off road vehicle.
Guess we hijacked this thread... oops.

To the OP, towing it in neutral would be fine, and if you do remove the drive shaft then yes, it's the 4 bolts at the rear diff. The transmission side should just pull out.

 

I dont know whats going on with all this chevy talk....

But when I do tow dollys, I unbolt the driveshaft at the rear and tie it up out of the way. You probably dont need to but I dont like to worry

 

Yes, UNLESS...
It's a long bed. Did I miss that? If it's a long bed, the drive shaft is two parts, with a carrier bearing in the middle. Roughly in the middle, anywho.
Easy to unbolt both ends of the rear part of the driveshaft, and just toss it in the bed. OR, unbolt the rear of the driveshaft, drop the carrier bearing, 2 bolts, and yes, it'll slip out of the tranny. Stuff a rag into the transmission, and again, drop the entire driveshaft into the bed.

That's just me, though. Unbolting it from the differential and tying it up is a viable alternative, I just have this fear that somehow the shaft will get enough torque onnto it somehow to break the ties, and drop onto the road, grinding it down.
Good luck, whatever you decide.
Pat☺

 

Ive towed with my driveshaft tied up cross country on a dolly.

Ive also had a driveshaft fall out but that was while driving a different vehicle. Check your U joints!

 

Ouch. Definitely keep an eye on the u joints. I've thankfully never had one fail on me while driving that way. I start hearing the slightest little possible "ka-chenk" I pull the u joint and replace it. Much harder since I'm retired and don't have access to the hydraulic press we had out at work. That really sped things up a lot...

Have fun!
Pat☺

 

Just me, but I'd take Toyota's word for it how to tow.. There's no way to do work efficiently ,that doesn't need to be done. I don't know about Toyotas, but Chevy's with 4 spd like my '65 El Camino need the driveshaft front yoke in place to seal the gear lube in. You can buy a plug for those transmissions or use a spare yoke, but then you have to rig up a way to keep the yoke in place whil you're bumping along for 700 miles. Too much hassle for me.