The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Flat towing

I have a 1952 6500 that has a 4 speed and 2 speed rear. Can I use a tow bar and flat tow it in neutral without doing any damage to the transmission.

Yes, but you might want to remove the driveshaft, just to be on the safe side.

How far are you towing it? Depending on the bed, it will weigh 5-9,000 pounds. Flat towing it, you have no brakes on it so, it is more than likely not legal to flat tow it! Also, how are the tires on it? I would not want to tow either of the ones I bought with the tires that were on them!

If you do, I agree with Paul, at least unhook the driveline from the rear and tie it up out of the way (better to take it all the way out though).

Easier/better than the driveshaft is each axle shaft, just remove hub covers slide them out and put hub covers back in. Doesn't hurt to squirt some fresh gear lube in the hubs.

I flat towed a 54 GMC 350 cab over once. Washington state to New York in only a few days, quite the trip and it towed fine.

However not sure I'd do it again, certainly not with any less of a truck. Towing truck should weigh as much or more than the towed, and have seriously good brakes. Otherwise risky and hope your not going far or fast.

Here's Grigg, and the trucks, at the end of the tow.

Thanks, again, Grigg

No, no, no, no, you have it all wrong.
For anyone can see that is a GMC pushing a Ford
that was found on the road dead. Jeffrey

Notice the A-D cab on the COE's bed? Grigg transported that across the country for another Stovebolt member.

On his way to NY from WA, Grigg stopped for a few days at ATCA Macungie Show and were pulled a surprise/joke on the olGMCtrucks.com crew.

I doubt if he wants to post how fast he was travelling/towing on open roads?

Sure, 60-65 loaded. Empty on the way out 80-85 where the limit and terrain allowed.

In 1970 my dad and I tow bared a 1935 Buick 3 window coupe home from Watertown, New York to Hauppauge, Long Island. We took two days to bring it home. The tow vehicle was a 1962 Chevy II, 194, power glide. Buick out weighed us by 1,000 lb.

We could not go fast enough so we had to stay off the interstates. We took US 11, US 20, NY 22 till lower
Westchester county then had to get on the Interstates to get over the bridge and stayed on I 495 to home because no steep grades.

Going up two or three steep hills on US 20 with the gas pedal floored the whole climb up we slowed down to 5 mph as we approached the top, in low gear. Then keeping it in low going down I smelled the brakes getting hot twice.

Later that summer the Chevy threw a rod and my dad junked the car. Though we did not disconnect the driveshaft and the Buick did not suffer any problems. Another time we tow bared a 1950 F1 from Phoenicia, NY back home. This time we had a 1967 Impala 283 or was it the 1966 Caprice 327 for the tow vehicle. We did not disconnect the driveshaft and no problems. We tow bared about 6 more cars home that were on Long Island. Never disconnected the drive shafts.

I would not use a 1962 Chevy II, 194, PG, as a tow vehicle anymore. Though if I was to tow bar another car or truck again I would bring some gear lube and see if the rear and trans needed to be topped off. And not disconnect the drive shaft. Unless the gear oil leaked out faster then I could pour it in. Jeffrey

Some transmissions can handle being towed and many can not, they don't oil properly if just the output shaft turns. The shop or operators manuals often explain.
So it's just the safer bet to remove axle shafts or pull the driveshaft.
For real short distances it might not matter in most cases, for a little longer you can just let the towed vehicle idle in neutral to oil the transmission while towing. Anything more and just as well remove shafts, less risk and wear and tear on things.
Particularly an unknown vehicle. Tims COE had few quarts of water in the differential when I got to it, which I drained. With shafts removed all I cared about was wheel bearings which I washed and greased. Didn't harm the differential as it never turned and Tim could deal with that at his leisure.

Yes, I had a grand time replacing the rear axle/wheel bearings. - no joke.

I learned a lot and, with a lot of help from members of oldGMCtrucks.com, I got it done correctly (I hope).

My question has more to do with long range planning for what transmission to use in my truck. I plan to tow it to truck shows when finished. The truck has a smallblock of unknown origin and I am researching engines, transmissions, brakes, rear axles along with wheels and tires. When finished I will tow with my motorhome and I will have some form of supplementary braking.

Flat towing can get - - - - -interesting- - - -especially if there's any wear at all in the front end components such as kingpins, tie rod ends, etc. For some reason a vehicle on a tow bar can develop a tendency to go to full lock with the steering in a turn and try to take the back end of the tow vehicle on a "tiptoe through the tulips". If the towed vehicle outweighs the one doing the towing things can get exciting in a hurry. Be absolutely sure the front end is in very good condition and properly aligned, before dealing with the driveline components.

When I was running a heavy haul towing service we ALWAYS dropped a driveshaft on a big rig before towing for more than a mile or so with the drive axle turning.
Jerry

I suspect getting the correct ratios and spacing would be more useful than finding a specific trans. suitable for towing. Most any STD. trans can be towed safely, just always make sure it is in neutral, no kidding, it happens more than you think, make sure oil is full, heed advice above.

Ed

The most common transmission failure caused by towing with the driveshaft spinning is failure of the pocket bearing where the input and output shafts meet. Unless the cluster gear is turning to splash lube around inside the transmission case, it doesn't take long for the pocket bearing to run dry and seize up. If you absolutely must tow without removing the driveshaft or the axle shafts, start the engine on the towed vehicle and let the trans spin at idle speed with the shifter in neutral. Another work-around is to overfill the transmission by a couple of quarts to submerge the output shaft in lubricant. My wife followed me 2500 miles from California to Tennessee, driving a 59 Burb and towing a Datsun 510 station wagon with the trans over filled. I was driving a Cadillac Fleetwood and towing a 3-axle backhoe trailer.
Jerry

Some vehical like studebakers cant be towbared because there wheels will turn the wrong way. We towed 2 from Co to Mo with towbars by tieing there steering wheels not good on tight turns.There was a guy that rented stuff the my dad used his towbar all the time and bought it when he closed up. My dad towed a cabover IH with a 20 foot van box with a vw bug in the back behind his 72 3/4 ton GMC. I need to tow one of my trucks and i looked the old towbar over it is put together with 3/8 bolts. I built one to tow my IH winch truck. I towed it some not over 20 miles behind my 68 3/4 GMC. The IH weighs around 7 tons i went slow but its a scary ride. 7 tons not a big load for a pickup when its on a trailer but when its being towbared its inpossable to control if something gos wrong.

I just flat-towed a '59 C60 Viking about 60 miles this past weekend. I disconnected the driveshaft and didn't exceed 35mph during the trip. I towed it with my '11 F150. Didn't have any issues other than 3 of the tires shedding their tread at various stages along the way...lol. The truck had been parked in a shed for 33 years. All 6 tires were still up - I was shocked.

What you can get away with flat towing also depends a lot on the terrain.
Here in VA we have mountains to contend with. Out west a lot of places are seriously flat and you might think it's easier to flat tow something- until you get in a pickle and then it doesn't matter where you are.

Dragging along a lot of weight without additional brakes and with a tendency to steer on it's own can get interesting.

For my trip and Tim's GMC mentioned above the towing truck weighed 10,000 lb empty and I had another couple thousand pounds of things on the bed for most of the trip. Not sure what Tim's truck weighed, perhaps similar? it is quite long.

Here's the tow bar I used, military surplus for things about the size of a 2.5 ton truck.
stretching it out quite long I think helped the pulling truck to control the towed one better than a short hitch would have.
https://goo.gl/photos/AAnLoqp9iEAsnqzFA
Sometimes going over a bump on a bridge for example the GMC would still wiggle and jerk the ford around. Ordinarily in that case you'd gently apply the trailer brakes to straighten things out again from the back, but with no brakes on the towed vehicle it can get interesting.. I was able to mash the gas and yank it all straight from the front quite effectively. The ford had a Detroit Diesel 6V53 with twin turbos, it was something else to drive.. and listen to. Wish I could have been on the side of the road listening from a distance as it pulled the grades on I-90 in Idaho, it was singing/screaming pulled even with and slowly passing a semi truck on a long grade doing all it could at about 45-50 MPH. That was a fun trip.

And, I thank you again, Grigg

You're welcome again,
Do you know what the COE weighs?

Grigg

Maybe 6,000lbs?

What a shocking photo that was posted in this thread. Grigg towing a fine GM vehicle with a Ford!