89&90PATHY Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 I did it! Went out and bought myself a new 06 Nissan Titan SE as my daily driver and weekend tow vehical. Decided to keep it NISSAN. My question is: To tow my 89 Pathfinder with manual trany, can i tow it without a trailer? Is it safe to just put the transfer case in neutral and the trany in neutral or do I have to trailer it? I'm thinking of buying one of those A-frame tow bars to pull it behind the Titan. What do you guys think? :help: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89&90PATHY Posted May 20, 2006 Author Share Posted May 20, 2006 Oh ya, here's a picture of my new love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 (edited) My 88 Manual does not recommend towing a 4WD model with ANY wheels touching the ground, they recommend tow dolly be used on the wheels touching the ground [one end up, the other on a dolly(wheel carts)] From the manual: If you must tow your vehicle with four wheels on the ground or towing with the front or rear wheels raisedObserve the following restricted towing speeds an distances. Speed: Below 30 MPH (50 km/h) Distance: Less than 40 miles (65 km/h) If the speed or distance must necessarily be greater, remove the front and rear propeller shafts beforehand to prevent damage to the transmission. And congrats opn the Titan, my brother has one... nice trucks Edited May 20, 2006 by RedPath88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VW_Factor Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 All I can really recommend for ya is what my parents years ago did. They shopped SPECIFICALLY for a 4wd vehicle to use as a "dingy" behind their coach. They didnt want to bother with trailers, etc. Just hookup and go. Transfer case being in neutral while towing of course. This goes without saying, that the axles and such will still rotate while towing. Anyway. They did that for many years with their YJ Jeep (92 I believe). Never any damage to anything. I cant say that Pathys are the same in this aspect, but I remember my father didnt care what kind of 4wd, just as long as it had a transfer case to put into neutral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffman Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 If you can unlock your hubs you should be ok, but you really need a dolly to protect that 4wd drivetrain. Or at least thats what the AAA guy said as he was towing my sorry ass to the shop cous my started went. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrik Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 The problem, as it has been explained to me, is with the automatic transmission. If the engine isn't running, the trans isn't getting lubed, so you have to make sure nothing is trying to turn it (disc. the rear driveshaft & transfercase in neutral). But with a manual tranny, this isnt a problem. Does anyone know if the transfer case and trans share fluid/lubrication; specifically, is the transfer case lubricated by the action of the input shaft? That would be my only main concern before committing to it. eh, just let the engine idle as you tow it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 The trans and t-case are separately lubed...if you have an auto, the t-case still takes gear oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 As Red pointed out, unless it is slow and for short distances, the pathy needs to be trailered or dollied. The one time I had my pathy towed, the driver stated the same thing as the manual. I'd tend to believe it... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pathfinder Phil Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Well, I kinda hate to respond to this, but I will anyway, with a few caveats. If you do anything I say, you're on your own. Don't come back and complain to me that you messed something up. This is what I do, and it works for me. You and your truck may be different. I flat tow my '88 manual with no problems at all. I just put the tranny and t-case in N and go for it. I have towed my Pathy probably a couple thousand miles total with no problems. The furthest "single" trip I've taken is about 300 miles, and I've done that about 6 times. At speeds up tp 75MPH. Up and down hills, NOT mountains. The big thing with ANY towing is watch your braking distance. You have just nearly doubled your weight, with NO increase in braking ability. It WILL take you MUCH longer to stop SAFELY. Watch "sharp" corners, the tow vehicle will want to continue pushing you straight, even more so when it's slick out. DO NOT attempt to back up while flat towing!!! It won't work. Also remember lights. And, some states (don't know whitch ones) require a "VEHICLE IN TOW" sign in the back window of the towed vehicle. In most states, if ANY wheels touch the ground, it must be properly liscened and insured. Most places it is illegal for passengers to be in the towed vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 As Red pointed out, unless it is slow and for short distances, the pathy needs to be trailered or dollied. The one time I had my pathy towed, the driver stated the same thing as the manual. I'd tend to believe it... B I have towed my Pathy twice and had it towed twice :o is that love or what! Once it was done by a towing company and he gave me two choices... 1 A Flatbed truck 2 I remove the rear driveline and he would use a standard tow truck... he would not tow it with two on the ground if I did not remove the driveline... for the same reasons pointed out above. The three other times it has been towed (why oh why do I put up with this thing ) it was done with a tow dolly and I had the rear tires on the ground. The first time I was dragging the rear tires when I first started moving but could not figure out why... In that instance and every other I unbolted the rear driveline and secured it up and forward (to prevent it from working out of the transfer case. So yeah given my experiences, the fact that the manual and the truck driver both say NO to towing on two wheels is enough for me. I will not do it if I do not have too and if I must I will disconnect the driveline again -thnkboutit- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 I had a situation arise where I thought I might need to tow mine, and did a bunch of research. As others have alluded to here, the key thing is to NOT have anything rotating without it's lubrication system working. Having the output shaft of a automatic transmission turning without the pump operating would be a bad thing, as the bearings will not be getting enough lubrication. With regards to your situation, an 89 with MANUAL transmission and true transfer case: If your transfer case is in neutral, the output shaft of the transmission will not be rotating. The only things turning are the rear axles, driveshaft, and output shaft of the transfer case. All of these do NOT require any kinds of pumps or the like to be lubricated. The differential and transfer case have their gears dip into the lube, so they stay perfectly lubricated whether the engine is running or not. So theoretically, it should be fine. Experientially, I have read about many people who flat towed 5 speed 4x4 WD21's for thousands of miles with no problems, just like Pathfinder Phil reports. And I could not find one report of it causing problems. Just lots of people saying it shouldn't be done, just because they think it shouldn't be done. If you want to read about more real-live experiences, do a search on rv.net So, my conclusion was that the pre-'90 pathy's are about as optimal a vehicle as any to be towed 4 down and I wouldn't hesitate to do it with mine. If it was more than a hundred miles or so, I would probable disconnect the driveshaft from the differential just for peace of mind. And install manual locking front hubs and leave them unlocked - again, for peace of mind. So why does the manual say not to? My guess is that notice was put in there by the lawyers. Does anyone know if this notice appear in the owners manuals of WD21's sold outside of the US? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89&90PATHY Posted May 22, 2006 Author Share Posted May 22, 2006 Now that's what I'm talking about. My thoughts along the same reasoning. Any one know of a drive shaft quick disconnect system? As mentioned above by Pathfinder Phil: "DO NOT attempt to back up while flat towing!!! It won't work." I don't understand that. Anyonr care to enlighten me as to what the backing up problem is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 Now that's what I'm talking about.My thoughts along the same reasoning. Any one know of a drive shaft quick disconnect system? As mentioned above by Pathfinder Phil: "DO NOT attempt to back up while flat towing!!! It won't work." I don't understand that. Anyonr care to enlighten me as to what the backing up problem is? Because you then have two or more pivit points to try and control while backing. One at the ball, one at the trucks front tires (steering) and if the truck is on a tow dolly, then one on it centered over the dollies axle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Yep, the front tires on the tow vehicle will mess you up if you try backing up UNLESS everything is perfectly straight... And then, you can only go straight backwards and I doubt you could get much farther than 100 feet before it's all akimbo... my conclusion was that the pre-'90 pathy's are about as optimal a vehicle as any to be towed 4 down Er, why pre 90 and not any manual tranny WD21 ? What am I missing here ?? B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Because I don't know enough about the post '89's to say for sure my research applies to them as well... I strongly suspect it does, but they did make some changes - some I'm aware of, some I'm sure I'm not - so I don't feel I'm qualified to have an opinion on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Fair enough. Baed on what you have said, flat towing a manual tranny should be fine other than maybe taking some precautions. I don't know of any changes made between 2 and 4 door models that would make a difference... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vengeful Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Other than the change on front CV spline count, there were no drivetrain changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrik Posted May 25, 2006 Share Posted May 25, 2006 Because you then have two or more pivit points to try and control while backing. One at the ball, one at the trucks front tires (steering) and if the truck is on a tow dolly, then one on it centered over the dollies axle Umm, yeah.. I don't think it was mentioned but, related to "why its hard to backup"... EXTREMELY important (and easily ovelooked for the for the first 50 feet) ... You have to leave the STEERINg COLUMN UNLOCKED (of the towed vehicle.. though it helps if you also leave it unlocked on the tow vehicle as well.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89_trailboss Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 so what about autos? we towed our 95 auto 4x4 with a car dolly, but we only could tow it backwards(rear tires off the ground) we tried turning it around but the rear tires would not spin at all. tcase in N and trans in N. why is this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrik Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Emergency brake was engaged? I dunno, is this a riddle? Anyway, No towing auto-trans without disc. the driveshaft on the rear axle. Towing backwards on the dolly is fine too (lock the steering column when towing this way, boys and girls). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 so what about autos? we towed our 95 auto 4x4 with a car dolly, but we only could tow it backwards(rear tires off the ground) we tried turning it around but the rear tires would not spin at all. tcase in N and trans in N. why is this? My manual did the same until I disconnected the driveshaft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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