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Towing with a car dolly

OffRoad709

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Seen a few threads here about flat towing so i take it all 4 wheels on the ground using a tow bar ?
I am thinking of using a car dolly (front 2 wheels on dolly with warn lockers) , will this be safe for the diffs / running gear, providing the lockers are free , transfer in neutral and Transmission (5 speed) in 1st?
 

IdahoTory

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I have been a fan of flat towing for a while, but I do use car dollys as well. There are similarities and differences. When using a car dolly, you need to lock the steering in place and remove the key from the ignition. I think it's also worth the extra effort of using a strap, sometimes you can use the seat belt but on my Wrangler I found it easier to just use a ratchet strap and loop it through the steering wheel in two places to prevent the wheel from turning if the steering lock fails.

It's just the opposite when flat towing. when you flat tow you want to leave the key in the ignition in the off position so that the electronics are turned off but the wheels can freely turn when you corner.

When using a dolly and when flat towing the transfer case goes into neutral.

As you said... HUGLEY IMPORTANT - - > With the transfer case in neutral its vital that you put the transmission into gear for both methods. The Roxor operators manuals (I just checked) say you should put it into 1st gear but some people choose 2nd or 3rd (don't know why). If you don't put it into gear, your transmission will not be lubricated and you will burn up your transmission. If I know I am towing across bumpy roads I use a small bungy between the shifter and the dash to be sure it doesn't get knocked out of gear. Not sure if the extra strap would be needed on a modern Roxor but my old Wrangler had a sloppy transmission.

About the Warn wheel locks when using a dolly... The locks and front diff aren't in play. If the front wheels aren't moving because they are on a dolly and the transfer case is in neutral the front drive from the transfer case forward won't spin locked or not. When flat towing, you want to set locks to free so that the front running gear doesn't spin.

HOWEVER, for those of you without manual wheel locks... From the factory, Roxors have fixed hubs meaning even when you aren't in 4WD the front drivetrain from the transfer case forward is engaged and spinning at the same rate the front wheels are turning. If you flat tow, thats something to consider. The operators manual considered this and says to check for heat at the hubs every 25 miles and says not to exceed 50mph. If it were me, I would buy some Warn lockers first thing because thats happening even when your are just driving around normal in 2WD. I suppose you could remove the front drive shaft but way better off putting on wheel lockers. Probably the same amount of effort.

If you wanted to do this the absolute safest way with minimal amount of wear, you can always drop the rear drive shaft when using the dolly or flat towing. If you did that, the transmission would never spin. No wear (minimal as it would be) and no lubrication needed. I always dropped the rear drive shaft when flat towing really far distances. It only takes a couple of minutes.

https://d3lwr7t4tsy765.cloudfront.net/ROXOR%2B2019MY%2BOperator's%2BGuide_V01.pdf
Section 20.2 Towing
 

Woodhound

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That is really good information and makes a lot of sense. Would the same procedure apply with an auto tranny?
 
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