I have a 2004 4-Runner and I tow it behind a motorhome with the front wheels on a tow dolly. I currently disconnect the rear driveshaft each time I tow manually which is a real pain. I have been looking at drive shaft disconnect units but I am unsure whether the really work as advertised. Does anyone have any experience or first-hand knowledge about these units? I will probably keep my existing driveshaft for real torque-intensive situations but for day-to-day cruising around it would be nice just to pull the lever and go. Thanks!
Driveshaft disconnect
- Thread starter basher
- Start date
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You are not supposed to flat or dolley tow the 4runner.
True, but I believe that this is because the transfer case oil pump is driven off the transfer case input shaft which only turns under engine power (it doesn't pump when the transfer case is in neutral). So if you were to flat tow or dolly tow the truck with the transfer in neutral the oil pump would not be lubing the bearings in the case and things would burn up. However, if you remove the driveshaft from the wheels on the ground it's not going to do that.
I don't think you'll find a lot of experience with driveshaft disconnects here as they don't tend to be used in offroading vehicles, but I would guess that a RV forum might have more info.
