Flat towing a Land Rover

He is right IMHO I am led to believe that towing one for more than a short distance or at speed can bugger up either the center differential or one of the gearboxes.

someone who knows wot he's on about will be along shortly....

WEll it used to be said you could not tow an auto, but that is bollox, because all you have to do is tow it back to front as I found out, when they could not get anything to load a limo onto, one Christmas.

There ain't nothing you can't tow if you have a mind to figure out a way, after all it is easy enough to disconnect the propshaft on a landie.

I mean if you was that worried, you cold tow it back to front with the FW hubs disengaged and what is that going to knacker ?

Stupid me, should have read flat tow four wheels on the ground, I was thinking of two wheels on the ground only, but honestly if they cant get two of the wheels up what the f*ck are they playing at ?

Larry

Knackers transmission, same reason you should be careful about who MoT's it. Wrong method of testing brakes and oops that'll be ... £ #@?**

Ah cheers for the confidence boost :-))

1 personally I would NEVER tow an auto with its driven wheels on the ground for more then a few miles and only below 30 mph unless the transfer box is in neutral otherwise expensive damage WILL be done to the main box "lack of lube" & torque converter "lack of cooling" .

2 true and true

3 any kind of tow should be fine with a series as long as its in 2wd

but defenders, discos, freelanders 101's and range rovers need a prop removing regardless of whether a flat tow or suspended due to being full time 4x4..

I think!!

anytime :)

The AA man is not right, it can be flat towed no problem. Even if it is an auto, it can still be flat towed, as long as you put the transfer box into neutral.

It can also be suspended towed, but that involves removing a propshaft or halfshaft, which most roadside repair mechanics are too lazy to do!

In article , Hirsty's writes

Rubbish.

a four wheel tow is the perfect way to tow his vehicle. A two wheel tow should be avoided on all LRs with permanent four wheel drive unless a propshaft is removed.

As far as the MOT is concerned......

I put a hundred + Landrovers through the MOT every year and always use the rolling road, (unless it has a viscous transfer box or ETC (DiscoII))

The speeds involved when using a rolling road brake tester are no way high enough to damage the centre diff on a LR. That coupled with there is no power transmitted through the diff while being tested means that they will never be damaged.

On or around Thu, 8 Jul 2004 22:54:49 +0100, "Neil Cummins" enlightened us thusly:

yes, if you have an LT77 or R380 or auto box. Not quite sure about an LT95.

The LT77, et al, rely on the engine-side of the gearbox rotating (i.e. the engine running) for lubrication.

However...

there's no reason I can see why you shouldn't tow it with the *transfer* box in neutral; in this situation, the main gearbox will not rotate. I guess to be really sure, you could put the main box in gear.

The transfer box is splash lubricated like an old-fashioned gearbox, more;s the pity as this is how the oil manages not to get into the gearbox output shaft splines and thus they wear.

You can also suspended-tow with the T-box in neutral, or by removing the rear propshaft.

I *have* flat-towed a 110V8 on an LT95, in fact we towed one for several hundred miles in Iceland. But the gearbox was donald ducked to start with, so any damage was largely academic.

David

In message , Shayne writes

From my 90 handbook (Auto)

All 4 wheels on the ground - main gearbox and transfer box in neutral. Diff unlocked.

Suspended tow - remove prop shaft

All 4 wheels off the ground - no problem

Possibly, but that isn't really the point of this thread!

In message , SimonJ writes

Maybe the point the AA man was trying to make was that his vehicle was not capable of pulling OR stopping it? Depends on what 'tow pole' he had with him.

In message , SimonJ writes

Maybe, but that could be the reason (excuse) he did not want to move it?

Turned up in an inappropriate vehicle?

Did not know the gearbox setup?

Put both boxes in neutral, check fluid level if auto. If moving any distance add 2 pints of ATF, keep to around 30mph and drain at the destination.

On or around Sat, 10 Jul 2004 12:30:22 GMT, Graham Jones enlightened us thusly:

ah, now that's a good point. I've never really understood the idea that you don't touch the brakes when they're towing you. so the AA's escort van has enough spare brake capacity to stop an extra ton-plus of my Audi behind it? I doubt it.

All the rescue operators have to treat the customer as a mechanical idiot, because a the great majority are. Unfortunately their systems do not allow for IQ or trade skills testing when replying to customer requests.

The whole point of towing someone, is that the driver of the towing vehicle is in control.

Unfortunately, some prats always think they know better, and have to keep stabbing the brakes every two minutes, normally when you are coming to a junction, have seen that it is clear, and are trying to pull out! :)

Towing is a skill, for the tower and the towed. It has to be taut. On my trade training, towing took up a whole day and night, on roads and cross country. To expect someone who is being towed to instoictivly know how to do it is unreasonable. That is the trouble with letting amateurs who have passed the very simple driving test behind the wheel. Once they have passed that test they think they can drive.