Flat Towing with RV/Motorhome...need some input please

marty79

marty79

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2015
Location
Newton, NC
Hey guys/gals...what's the scoop on Flat towing a car/jeep behind a RV as far as concerning the driveshafts...specifically referring to Hauling my Jeep flat tow behind a RV. I can't help to think every time I see an RV towing a suv/truck do they really all pull their driveshafts or what..
Q1: With my Jeep flat towing 1hr trip would i need to pull driveshafts or just N and N for drivetrain
Q2: If needed pulled, with locking hubs in front could the front driveshaft stay connected
Q3: does steering wheel stay locked or unlocked when flat towing or is is a "preference"
I'm all new to this and a friend is giving me a 79 Fleetwood Sounthwind 26' RV with 40k miles, 454 dually rear, air suspension along with regular leafs, all the gizmos and gadgets the 79 had to offer so looks like a new Family Camper and Tow Rig for me. He tells me the RV has towing capacity of 7500lb but I really don't want to haul the jeep on the trailer so looking into getting stock tires for it and flat towing seems to be lot less stress and weight on it. Any and all help is greatly appreciated...I'm getting it in a week or so and will get some pictures up. Thanks
 
Make , model and year of jeep make a difference. I flat tow an avalanche but they were also designed to do that and it works fine with driveshafts in.

As for older jeeps you leave key in the on position so wheel does not lock and put transfer case in neutral and tranny in 5th gear. But newer jeeps are different.
 
For a part time case (like in a common xj, Tj, YJ) all you do is trans in neutral and tcase in neutral. Oddly enough on a full-time case, (zj, wj) you put the trans in park and tcase in neutral.

I had a 96 zj get its trans burned up one time by an idiot tow truck driver that did it backwards.

I'm not 100% certain on this info so do verify.
 
would be towing my Trail Rig 88 XJ Auto 231J with D44 front locking hubs and 44rear...thank you
 
XJsavage said:
For a part time case (like in a common xj, Tj, YJ) all you do is trans in neutral and tcase in neutral. Oddly enough on a full-time case, (zj, wj) you put the trans in park and tcase in neutral.

I had a 96 zj get its trans burned up one time by an idiot tow truck driver that did it backwards.

I'm not 100% certain on this info so do verify.
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that's what I was thinking and still looking into it but so far there's some mixed feelings about it as usual so I figured I would stick with you guys and get some personal experience from someone. thanks
(I'm so exited I can't stand myself right now...)
 
guess I might as well ask: would this RV pull 6000lbs and would it pull up the mountain back home without major issues...roughly what my trailer and jeep weigh together...my 95 tahoe pulls the mountain 2nd gear revved out to hold 35mph once we start the climb so kinda figured the RV would struggle just as much coming up it..but maybe not??
 
Depends on the RV. Brakes are going to be the biggest issue. Flat towing 6k with a E350/E450 based RV is a recipe for disaster.
 
shawn said:
Depends on the RV. Brakes are going to be the biggest issue. Flat towing 6k with a E350/E450 based RV is a recipe for disaster.
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no i meant flat towing just the jeep which is maybe 4000lb....the trailer with jeep is around 6000 and it has dual axle brakes but I really am gonna try and avoid using the trailer at all cost just cause it's still an extra 2000lb or so.
 
I will have the full specs of it when i get it but from what he texted me: 1979 Fleetwood Southwind 26ft 454 Auto, has Dually Rear, leaf springs with Air Ride (still works somehow), and it looks identical to this but not as clean lol..
awww.freeride.co.uk_img_review_large_2462.jpg
 
I flat towed a Suburban with a Suburban. I could go but couldn't stop. Extra weight of trailer slows me down some but I can stop when I need to
 
shawn said:
That thing probably doesn't stop for shit when it's empty and dry.
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i probably agree totally with you...it will for sure get ALL NEW breaks front and rear with hopefully upgraded rotors/pads maybe calipers...I want this thing to be as safe and reliable as can be for us.
 
marty79 said:
i probably agree totally with you...it will for sure get ALL NEW breaks front and rear with hopefully upgraded rotors/pads maybe calipers...I want this thing to be as safe and reliable as can be for us.
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It's 37 years old. New parts is only part of the problem. Hell, it's old enough it might have front drums.
 
moldman05 said:
I flat towed a Suburban with a Suburban. I could go but couldn't stop. Extra weight of trailer slows me down some but I can stop when I need to
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you make a good point i guess but the climb back to Boone is pretty steep and i hate to do 15/20mph going up with that trailer behind it...taking it slower flat towing with more breaking distance I'd rather do
shawn said:
It's 37 years old. New parts is only part of the problem. Hell, it's old enough it might have front drums.
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well dang..shows how much I know lol..i guess I'll find out soon..thanks for the heads up
 
moldman05 said:
I flat towed a Suburban with a Suburban. I could go but couldn't stop. Extra weight of trailer slows me down some but I can stop when I need to
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Yeah, flat towing is dangerous as fawk. If you're a baller like @BRUISER, you just roll on down the road in your monster MH with its twelve enormous brake shoes all honey badger-style. But in something smaller, it gets dodgy in a hurry. A couple of years ago, we had a guy on here sell his rig to somebody else. It was set up to flat tow, but the seller warned the buyer that it was sketchy as hell and he didn't recommend doing it. Well, duder only lasted a few months before he wrecked while flat towing and got himself dead.
 
I had two close calls with disaster. First one I had to use the right turn lane ( it was open) to have enough room to stop. The second I was behind a tractor trailer with all it tires locked up and smoking. My ABS had all four tires screaming. No room to go around. I stopped just before impact. That was my last trip flat towing. Imagine going down a long hill using the brakes to keep at speed limit. About 1/2 way the rear drums are hot and faded. The front disks are cooking, that's all you got. You pickup speed near bottom to get a run for the next hill and somebody else or something else gets in your way. At least you have front row seat to see. I'd leave the family at home.
 
Ok beside me towing all Honey Bagger style like @shawn said :)

the only true safe way to flat tow is to have a break box in the tow vehicle

google: flat tow brake system or Dingy Brake system, or brake buddy.

the gist is that it applies the towed vehicle brakes as you apply the RV brakes..
 
I would not flat tow with that rv, use the trailer and just deal with the slow hill climb! It's a 454 it will be slow no matter what! BTW if the tires on the rv are more then 5 years old (per DOT stamp) you need to replace them!
 
Getting back to Boone will be slow, but getting down from Boone will go very fast with that setup (READ: that thing will not slow down going down the mountain and the sand runaway ramps may be your friend)
 
My 1 and only post in this thread.
Let me predict how it goes:
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...
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[8 pages]
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Admin locks thread.
 
holy cow you guys def got me scared enough to just about forget about flat towing. I'm going to take all this in HIGH consideration and either look into a lighter trailer or that brake thingy someone mentioned that goes in the towed vehicle...
My trailer weighs 2076lb exactly...went to a local trailer dealer and he has a 18ft open car hauler all metal with dual brake axles weighing in at only 1426lb...that's a HUGE DIFFERENCE and he's offering trade in of my trailer plus 600.00 for that new 18ft so that's an option too maybe.
Thanks everyone for the advise and input and NO @Ron I'm not going to ignore people and be stupid. Dude we're talking about 26' RV with my wife and daughter, maybe guests, going up and down the mountain and even farther eventually so this isn't something I take lightly...
 
btw went to scope it out some today and auto parts can't look up parts...front is rotors and pads 8 lug, rear is drum dually big ass differential LOL...anyone know what size that differential in the rear is and the front to look up brake/suspension parts for.
Do I count the bolts on the rear diff and that will help identify...thank you. trying to start pricing brake parts but don't know what to look up
 
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