Can you flat tow an FJ80?? (1 Viewer)

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Were trying to determine if the 1993 FJ80 can be towed safely behind a motor home. Anyone have any thoughts or experience on this?
 
Were trying to determine if the 1993 FJ80 can be towed safely behind a motor home. Anyone have any thoughts or experience on this?

I have seen them being flat towed, so I know you can do it.

What special equipment or prep it may require, I do not know. Sorry.
 
Were trying to determine if the 1993 FJ80 can be towed safely behind a motor home. Anyone have any thoughts or experience on this?

Thoughts, yes. Experience, no.

There's no mechanical reason that I know of that an 80 couldn't be flat-towed indefinitely. Put the transfer case in neutral and hook it up. You better have a big tow vehicle though. The safety factor is going to be how much the motor home can safely tow.

-Spike
 
According to Toyota Technical Service bulletin AX001-00, the 92-00 Landcruiser should not be "dinghy" towed (4 wheels on the ground). I am trying to attach a copy of the TSB - hope it comes through. Cant give you any particulars why though.
 
if that t-case slips for any reason it will be an ugly day for an AWD vehicle. If I were to do it I would yank both driveshafts to be safe.
 
if that t-case slips for any reason it will be an ugly day for an AWD vehicle. If I were to do it I would yank both driveshafts to be safe.

And if someone's gun went off in your direction it would likely be an ugly day for you, so you should wear a Kevlar suit to be safe. However, that's not very convenient. Neither is removing the driveshafts. The likelyhood of a transfer case jumping into gear is probably less than the likelyhood of you interfering with a bullet's right-of-way. I'd put the transmission in neutral as well as the transfer case, and rather than spending a half-hour pulling driveshafts I'd spent an extra 30 seconds verifying the gear selections before locking the towed vehicle. Having to pull the driveshafts kinda negates the convenience of having a second vehicle with you on a motor home vacation. Yes, it is safer, but if I lived my life doing the safest possible thing in every situation I wouldn't have a life to begin with.

-Spike
 
I thought I somewhere on this board that the t-case has an oil pump that is driven by the input shaft. While flat towing, there is no oil being pumped. I'd look into getting those quick disconnects for the shafts.
 
I thought I somewhere on this board that the t-case has an oil pump that is driven by the input shaft. While flat towing, there is no oil being pumped. I'd look into getting those quick disconnects for the shafts.

That would change my tune in a hurry. :D

-Spike
 
THAT makes a lot of sense as to why they say to keep it under 45. No trailer brakes.

Now... How about flat towing an 80 with an 80?

What about flat towing a 6,000 lb armored 80 with a stock 80?

I've seen stuff like this going down the highway to/from the auto auction. Cars towing cars with bumper clipped to bars... I've also watched them do a ballerina pirouette down the interstate at 70mph...

Who makes a tow bar that could handle the connection? Hmm...

I wouldn't want to connect to the stock front bumper. I think an ARB might handle it... or bolting right to the frame horns.... Just thinking out loud.

Dangerous ideas, YMMV.
 
I thought I somewhere on this board that the t-case has an oil pump that is driven by the input shaft. While flat towing, there is no oil being pumped. I'd look into getting those quick disconnects for the shafts.

I talked to a Toyota tech and confirmed this statement as to why...
 
The safety factor is going to be how much the motor home can safely tow.

-Spike

No joke - I towed my '96 home from Minnesota to St. Louis two years ago on a trailer. The tow vehicle was my '02 Yukon XL Denali with factory tow package (and trailer brake wiring). The trailer was a Felling dual axle (6k each axle for 12k total weight). Six people and gear in the denali and at least 500 lbs of gear in the cruiser on the trailer.

The first 10 miles of towing was white knuckle until I got the trailer brake controller set correctly and learned how to better use it (with only the slightest brake pressure to activate the trailer brakes and slow the trailer without overly braking the tow vehicle).

Really, my heart was jumping out of my chest the first time I hit the brakes and the trailer pushed the rear end of the Yukon out to the side. I'm pretty sure I wet my pants, creased my leather seat and shouted like a small girl.

Oh yeah, don't use ratcheting straps regardless of the strength rating. Go with chains and binders. Some a-hole cut two of my straps while stopped for the night. Luckily, the pre-departure check discovered them.
 
According to service publication RM360U, the FZJ80 can be flat towed at speeds up to 45KPH for distances up to 80Km.

HTH.

Which basicly means "don't do it" unless it's an emergency.
 
There are a couple of products that are spendy that you might want to look in to. Roadmaster and Blue OX are the two that come to mind.

If I remember right Roadmaster has a tranny pump which will prevent you from having to disconnect the driveline as it keeps oil flowing.

The Blue Ox I believe has a "manual" brake system in which the brake pedal of the car behind the motorhome is actually "pulled" when the brake pedal on the motorhome is pushed. The action causes the towed car to slow.

I'm working off of memory so forgive me if you do a search and I've led you down a wrong path.

Roadmaster had some bad press initially in regards to pump failure but aparently they are little to no issues now and according to the company there never was a significant issue.

I think it would be ill advised to tow a heavy cruiser behind any motorhome other then a diesel pusher. I have an older motorhome with a gas Chevy 454 and I'm sure it would pull a car the weight of a cruiser but not for long.:crybaby:

Good Luck. I feel your pain. I would love to tow my cruiser.
 
I talked to a Toyota tech and confirmed this statement as to why...

I thought I somewhere on this board that the t-case has an oil pump that is driven by the input shaft. While flat towing, there is no oil being pumped. I'd look into getting those quick disconnects for the shafts.

Confirmed by experience.......rear output shaft on a Jeep T/C seized while flat towing and lost the D/S. :eek::eek::eek:

Fortunately, the pogo manuever was avoided.

In the Jeep camp, some run locking hubs in the rear to facilitate easy flat tows.
 
Great feedback everyone! When I said "safely behind a motorhome" I meant without damage to the driveline. The tow vehical is more of a bus, 350 cummins, around 18000 lb towing capacity.

Thanks to Kliers for those links-if I was looking for dingy towing-not flat towing!

I'm off to Toyota to see what the transmission tech has to say about all this...
 
Those ARE flat towing links

PM Tuner, he has already done the research for you.
 
I've read all the posts regarding flat towing back to last January and still have questions...

The tow vehicle in question is a diesel pusher motorhome with a 10,000 tow capacity. In July I pulled a 4Runner to North Dakota (4700 miles) and back without any trouble...I did overfill xfer case with 75-140 synthetic and ran it in neutral with the tranny in Park. I checked at every stop and the xfer case was warm but not hot.

I'm trading for a '96 Landcruiser with awd and factory locking diffs. All this talk about a viscous coupling is making me nervious...

If I understand the previous posts, putting the xfer case in neutral disconnects the output from the transmission but the front and rear inputs are still spinning and therefore creating heat which will eventually burn up the xfer case? Is xfer case heat the primary problem or am I missing something else?

If heat is the only concern, how are xfer case fluids cooled under normal driving conditions and how could I replicate i.e. a pump or even just letting the engine idle?

BTW, givens are a 65mph cruise speed with stops every 200 miles or so.
The tow vehicle doesn't even know the cruiser is back there.

Thanks in advance for any assistance to an obviously uneducated newbie.

Au contraire, as previously reported....I started out with short trips behind the dually, stopping frequently to check everything and found no problems. I've since made several trips including one to North Dakota and back without incident.

To set it up, I bought an ARB front bumper and installed Blue Ox universal brackets that I strengthened and used large backing plates. The front and rear diffs got 75-90 synthetic while the center diff got 90-140 synthetic. Even during the Florida summer, the center diff does not get too warm to keep my hand on the output bearings after a couple hundred miles.

Wiring the factory lights to work from the motorhome/dually requires diodes and time....have the diodes but not the time so I've been using those magnetic jobs. BTW, the motorhome weighs 38,000 lbs and does not know the 80 is back there until I apply the brakes so I will be investing in an aux braking system before the next trip.

I've since had two Toyota master mechanics tell me there is no problem doing flat towing my 96. Other models may be different, YMMV


My first post here was to inquire about flat towing my '96 80 behind my motorhome and received numerous opinions....from you'll toast your TC or VC to no problemo. This week I finally found some time to weld up a bracket on the brush bar for the test I described a few months ago.

This morning I hooked to 80 to my dually with the basic towing rig and some beefy chains in case I overestimated the strenght of my welds. After a couple of trips around the block to make sure everything was copacetic, we hit the highway at 60mph for five miles....tranny and every part of the TC were still ice cold. (Ambient air temp: 74 degrees)

We increased the speed to 70 and ran another 20 miles....still no detectable heat from the running gear. After the 25 miles home at 70 mph, there was no heat generated in the running gear whatsoever and no visible overflow from any of the pieces holding fluid. The vehicle tracked perfectly, started instantly and shifted smoothly after the tow.

I have donned an asbestos suit for challenging absolute restriction against doing this in the FSM. If you were wondering if it was possible, it is.

My makeshift bracket is going to be replaced with a ARB bumper and a custom built bracket welded/bolted to it.


All of the above mention "flat towing" it seems like a waste of time for you to come on here and ask the question, and then go take the advice of a toyota tech who does not know Land Cruisers. 99% of Toyota trained techs will say not to do it--not because they know why, but because the FSM says not to.

Some of the people on this board have been there done that.



Note: The above quotes were taken from each of the three linked threads.
 

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