Semi new guy here. Just registered but have been following for sometime now. I have a 87 cherokee that I plan on flat towing. Its welded in the rear and has an aussie in the front with 34" TSLs. its an auto. I know I need my TC to be in N and to be in Park also. Now ill be towing it about 60 miles each way to a rockcrawling event here in Texas. What problems do you forsee with flat towing besides a little wear to my rear tires?

 

you don't say what your towing with but I wouldn't flat tow EVER with a 4x4.....spend the $$ for a trailer and do it right! It would actually be cheaper in the long run after replacing destroyed TC and more.

 

Ill be towing with a dodge 1500 crew cab hemi. I know theres not a problem with the rig. I would buy a trailer but I havent found for under 2k around here. Id rent one but the cheapest I can find is $100 a day here. Flat towing a cherokee isnt a hard thing or a bad thing if you do it the right way. Im just wondering about it being welded in the read and locked in the front. The rear end is a 8.8 by the way.

 

Yeah, I agree, use a trailer. If you flat tow an automatic, it may burn up the trans because the vehicle isn't turning the pump and will starve it of lube. Better to be safe than sorry!

 

You got it right. TC in neutral, Tranny in park. Front locker will be fine - it's a auto-locker not a full locker. Rear doesn't matter.

Make sure to leave the steering wheel unlocked

 

MYTH.

The transfer case in neutral completely disconnects the tranny from the driveline. No movement, No lube required.

 

Cool guys. Thanks for clearing the locker problems up for me. Thats what I thought but just wanted to make sure. It will mostly be 2 lane HWY driving but its pretty much my only option if I want to camp. so to recap this, Tranny in park, TC in N steering unlocked and hook it up and be good to go correct?

 

you got it

 

Could be on this vehicle, but in general it's a bad idea on most automatics unless you remove the driveshaft. I've seen many units get toasted from this. I agree though, if it's totally disconnected it should be ok....

 

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Yes. And the transfer case has an oil pump driven by the rear output shaft.

That was one of the Cherokee's selling points: That it could be flat towed behind a motorhome or whatever. Dukie has the procedure and shifter settings correct.

I will add something though. Make darn sure the t-case is in neutral with the shifter in P by rolling the rig back and forth to verify. I had a customer with a new Jeep skip that step and burned up both the trans and t-case towing it from Phoenix to Prescott, Az..