I have searched this throughout the forum and haven't found a straight answer. I am most likely purchasing a 1999 jeep xj on Saturday that was in a fender bender but got a punctured radiator. It still drives fine but would rather use a tow dolly than pull over and add fluid every 10 minutes. I'm looking at renting a U haul tow dolly but my question is, is it safe to use the dolly without disconnecting the drive shaft? I've read that putting the transmission in park and t case in neutral is safe but others have said its not. It is a 4x4 and sorry if a noob question but whats the difference between putting transmission in neutral and t case in neutral? How do you put the t case in neutral? Is there a better method to tow it? I'm looking to do it the cheapest way possible but for $10 more I can rent the auto transport which all wheels are on the trailer.

 

Spend the extra $10


According to the owners manual, you can tow them with all four wheels on the ground and the transfer case in neutral, but I don't remember about using a front dolly.


The problem with the automatic transmission in neutral is that it doesn't get enough lubrication when towing and the engine is off. The transfer case is basically just a manual transmission so it's okay and that's what it's designed for. It should be pretty obvious how to put it into neutral when you get there: just slide it back to the Neutral/N position.


Make sure everything is in gear when it's on a trailer and tie it down well. I hope you have enough tow vehicle.

 

A trailer is always the best way to tow something and safest because it should have brakes (on a rental surge on most of them. Then you will not have any "Other" problems come up that your unaware of now on your trip.


JMHO after 45 yrs. of towing things experience.


Welcome to the Forum!

 

X3 on that. A full trailer simplifies a lot of stuff.

 

Should be X3 since I already suggested spending the extra $10 on a trailer




I did haul a broke down FWD van on a dolly once. It worked out okay especially since we had to use a come-along to just get it up on the dolly. No way we could have gotten up on a trailer.

 

I've used come-alongs to get vehicles onto a full trailer before.

Takes a while.

 

Might have worked better with a ****** block but my old one is single line


The van was loaded pretty heavy as they were on a camping trip. I thought the little cable was going to snap. The van family helped by pushing on the back, too. Finally got the front wheels lashed down and the entire mob of us piled into the Suburban for the ride home

 

Yep! Edited.

 

I think a ****** block will double your pulling power, but cuts in half the speed of the recovery.

Good old Subs. Full size SUVs are very handy. Try that with a Prius.

 

Yes, indeed! "Efficiency" is all about how much you can move per gallon, not just the number of gallons.


I doubt that old Caravan had ever gone up some of those hills that fast under its own power. Seventy mph, a/c, nine people and several dogs plus the broken van

 

Were they big dogs?

 

To answer the OPs question, yes you can tow a cherokee with a dolly, transmission in park and transfer case in neutral. But if you have the towing capacity I would opt for a full trailer.

 

A couple of them were: a St Bernard mix and a Mal, plus a couple smaller dogs.


And four adults and five kids, mostly teenagers.

 

It runs and drives...drive it onto a dolly or a trailer.

If it concerns you, bring a wrench and a ratchet strap. remove the DS and strap it up to the exhaust pipe. Will take you all of 10 minutes. (after you get it on the dolly)

 

if all 4 wheels are not turning, you need to pull the rear drive shaft.
so on a dolly, remove shaft.

if you're using a tow bar, shift trans into neutral so you can shift t-case into neutral, then shift trans back into park. (or for 5spd, put in 1st). this stops the transmission internals from spinning and taking out your torque converter seal.

i towed my 00 auto on a tow dolly last fall 600kms to my new home, pulled the shaft and trans in park.

flat tow behind a motor home with t-case in N and trans in P.