YJ flat towing problem

**jbolty** · 08-17-2008, 05:46 PM

Hooked up my new tow bar and on the very first attempt it seems that the wheels do not want to track left.

If I tow straight, no problem. Turning right and straightening, no problem. When I turn left the front wheels sort of drag a little then go full lock the to right; just the opposite way they should. Repeating, to the right works as expected.

Here is my set up.

1990 YJ with a 1994 D30.

The tow bar is level when hooked up.

2 1/2 OME springs. Tires are 33x12.50 MTR

I have an Aussie in the front but I checked the disconnect and both tires spin freely and independantly.

No Shims. It had some old rotted out aluminum ones in the stock springs but I took them out when I added some 3/4 list shackles.

All new tie rod ends, There is no apparent play in the steering box or ball joints. Toe in is set correctly and the jeep seems to drive normally on the street.

The only odd thing, and I don't know if this matters, is that the passenger side tow tab is lined up directly with the frame rail. The drivers side tab is about 1 inch to the left. I tried with the tow bar on the opposite side of the tab to compensate for this and it did not make any difference.

The shims seem like the obvious thing, since the caster may be off. Maybe a brake dragging? I am really stumped and I just missed out on a weekend trip.

Any thoughts here?

THANKS

here is the front.

**Joe Dillard** · 08-17-2008, 06:27 PM

Hey Jeff,

I made a call to a friend of mine who flat tows. I left a message. When I get an answer back from him, I'll let you know what he thinks.

**jeeepguy** · 08-17-2008, 07:12 PM

Jeff,

I'm not sure the physics behind it but I'm pretty sure you have the same problem a buddy of mine had three years ago. He had an Aussie as well and when he removed it, his heep towed fine. Had something to do with the spring tension built into the Aussie.

Sorry I can't be more specific but i do know removing the Aussie fixed his problem. He replaced his with a LockRight and all was fine.

Jeebs · 08-18-2008, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbolty

Any thoughts here?

Give me the wheels, tires and suspension and burn the rest?

While I have no clue what it is I do have a few thoughts. The first being the locker. Since it's an Aussie type who knows what kind of shenanigans that thing is up to. The second is I remember you said you were having issues with your steering before. Something about not being able to turn the wheels all the way in one direction but the other was fine. Maybe that has something to do with it?

**Joe Dillard** · 08-18-2008, 12:34 AM

Jason, did you actually build your rig on your porch?

Jeff, I spoke with my friend a little earlier, so he should post some input maybe by tomorrow. Hope you get it figured out.

**jbolty** · 08-18-2008, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Dillard

Jason, did you actually build your rig on your porch?

Jeff, I spoke with my friend a little earlier, so he should post some input maybe by tomorrow. Hope you get it figured out.

Thanks.

I have had an issue forever with my turning radius. I can turn a much smaller circle to the right than I can to the left but if you look at the tires while turned they seem to be both turned the same amount.

fyrdriver · 08-18-2008, 08:55 AM

If it were me I would disconnect the driveshaft and try it again.
Let us know what you find out because I too was planning to flat tow mine.
Good luck.

Matt Pascoe · 08-18-2008, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Dillard

Jason, did you actually build your rig on your porch?

Jeff, I spoke with my friend a little earlier, so he should post some input maybe by tomorrow. Hope you get it figured out.

I flat tow, but with lockout hubs...

My guess would be the locker, somehow it is engaging the left shaft to the front drive shaft. Even with that, the front drive shaft should be disconected in the t-case, right? Maybe you have a problem with your t-case not disengaging the front shaft (stuck in 4 high?).

It's been awhile since I played with a 231 t-case so I may be totally screwed up on this...

Pull the front d-shaft out and see how it flat tows?

**jbolty** · 08-18-2008, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Pascoe

I flat tow, but with lockout hubs...

My guess would be the locker, somehow it is engaging the left shaft to the front drive shaft. Even with that, the front drive shaft should be disconected in the t-case, right? Maybe you have a problem with your t-case not disengaging the front shaft (stuck in 4 high?).

It's been awhile since I played with a 231 t-case so I may be totally screwed up on this...

Pull the front d-shaft out and see how it flat tows?

Everything seems to be disconnecting. I jacked up each wheel to make sure they were free spinning. Worth a try, for sure though.

thanks

**Joe Dillard** · 08-18-2008, 05:35 PM

Thanks for posting Matt. Seems your old profile is missing?

Matt Pascoe · 08-18-2008, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Dillard

Thanks for posting Matt. Seems your old profile is missing?

Yea, at some point I think I got deleted from the grid

Texasjeep44 · 08-20-2008, 10:07 AM

Ok, here is the deal with why your having trouble. Since I recently ran into the same problem with my 95yj went getting it ready to tow behind the motor home.

The transfer case, np231 in the neutral position connects both the front and rear driveshafts so that they are turning at the same speed. The transmission is the only thing that is left disengaged. With the aussie lock installed and the front driveshaft connected to the rear, when your entering into a left hand corner, the left front wheel will not want to slow down and will essentially get pushed through the left turn straight. At a certain point it then will turn to the right, ie wrong way, and cause all kinds of bad things to happen. Don't ask, been there done that already.

On right hand turns, the left front wheel is basically brought along since the right front wheel is able to slow for the turn, the left just comes along with it. But basically, your right front wheel is free from all the rest of the drive train because of the split axle. With out the spider gears in the front axle the left front wheel it tied directly to the rest of the drive train and even though the locker is working properly, when the right half of the axle is not engaged there is nothing putting pressure on the locker to have it unlock.

One way you can test this is to simply hook up your Jeep in 2wd and put the tranny in neutral. Pull it around the block or whereever for a short distance. It will tow just fine. 2nd check is to start the Jeep. Put it in 4wd, to engage the front axle, turn the Jeep off, so that the axle is still engaged. Then put the trany in gear and the transfer case in neutral, and tow it around the block ect. Both of these methods will make it turn to the left just as it would without the locker, although the second method will tend to scrubb the tires a bit more than the first since it will be relying on the locker to release instead of the split axle.

I hope this makes sense to you. It took me some serious head scratching to get this figured out.

When I tow for long distances, I simply remove the front drive shaft and everything is good.

**jbolty** · 08-20-2008, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texasjeep44

Ok, here is the deal with why your having trouble. Since I recently ran into the same problem with my 95yj went getting it ready to tow behind the motor home. ........

Makes sense to me. I'll try it tonight.

Thanks for the detailed explaination.

**jbolty** · 08-20-2008, 03:11 PM

So, I wonder if it would be safe to tow in 2WD and the trans in neutral? I have an auto.

If not, unhooking the front DS is no big deal.

**timatoe** · 08-20-2008, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbolty

So, I wonder if it would be safe to tow in 2WD and the trans in neutral? I have an auto.

I believe you'll burn up the trans. doing that, as no fluid is being pumped. Once around the block should be OK though.