FLAT TOW A 200??? ARE YOU CRAZY??? I AM! (1 Viewer)

[jkilcullen]

Update here as it's been a while. The Raptor lasted about a year, 25K driven miles and 10k towed. SYNC s*** the bed and parts were backordered, cam phasers gave out, moonroof rattled over bumps, trans shift from 4-5 got to be unbearably harsh... 3 dealers all essentially told me "sorry thats just how it is".

Oh and it ate the first set of tires in about 30k total road miles (KO2's, a tire I have gotten 70k from on my 200) Dumped it off on a wholesaler and am back to square one.

Was hoping to get 100k out of it and couldn't even get half.

Sooo back to the drawing board, picked up a Tesla Model 3 Performance for my daily driving which has been an interesting and fun change of pace. Still have the 200 though and would love now more than ever to find a way to tow the darn thing. Anyone find a way? Would love to sort this out before March of next year when I get my rig back out of storage. @bjowett your schedule freed up at all to get into some R&D on the lockout solution?

 

[Whiskerz]

Thanks for the update.

 

[bjowett]

No significant developments with hubs for flat towing. Winter is early and looks to be long... I'll try to suss something out in the next month.

 

[speyrod]

I haven’t been around a while due to work and some family health issues. I also have read the entire thread.
Could you swap with a tundra TC? I k ow on one of the tundra forums a guy swapped in 200 TC for AWD.

 

[bloc]

I haven’t been around a while due to work and some family health issues. I also have read the entire thread.
Could you swap with a tundra TC? I k ow on one of the tundra forums a guy swapped in 200 TC for AWD.

Pretty sure that's the guy that posted right before you. Unless more people have done this..

 

[jkilcullen]

I haven’t been around a while due to work and some family health issues. I also have read the entire thread.
Could you swap with a tundra TC? I k ow on one of the tundra forums a guy swapped in 200 TC for AWD.

Swapping in a Tundra case leaves you with a PT 4 Wheel Drive Land Cruiser that still has the same flaw from factory as the LC of not having a manual shift to Neutral and appearing to be very suspectible to damage from flat towing even if tricked into neutral.

 

[bloc]

edit: disregard. Had some TC letters mixed up.

 

[LBridges]

I found an interesting post on tips and tricks at the Australian website LCOOL.org. I cut & pasted the text below. Anybody know if this would/wouldn't work for US vehicles (I can't find it in my later model year owner's manual)? I did search to see if this was a repeat here on MUD and couldn't find it, but then again I suck at searching.

SHIFTING THE TRANSFER CASE INTO NEUTRAL
Extract from the 2008 Cruiser Owners Manual, page 182, "Using other Driving Systems"
Shifting From H4 to the Neutral Position
Step 1 Stop the vehicle completely
Step 2 Confirm the following:
*The four wheel drive control is in H4 (the low speed 4WD drive indicator is not illuminated) - If the switch is in L4, turn it to H4
*The centre differential is unlocked
Step 3 Set the park brake firmly and put the shift lever in "N"
Step 4 Turn the engine off if the engine is running then turn the ENGINE STOP / START switch to the IGNITION ON mode. Do not start the engine till the end of the procedure.
Step 5 Shift the gearshift lever to "P"
Step 6 Depress and release the brake pedal 3 times, keeping the pedal depressed on the third firm application
Step 7 Shift the gear shift lever to "N"
Step 8 Depress and release the brake pedal 3 times keeping the pedal depressed on the third application.
Step 9 Shift the four wheel drive selector switch to L4, then shift to H4 again, then throw it in park ("P") before it can click over to H4. Then the light illuminates letting you know you are in neutral. The neutral position is completed with the above procedure.

To return to H4 when the vehicle:
Step 1 Stop the vehicle completely
Step 2 Set the parking brake firmly
Step 3 Turn the engine start-stop switch to ignition on mode.
Step 4 Depress the brake firmly , keep the brake pressed until the end of the procedure
Step 5 Shift the shift lever to "N"
Step 6 Shift the 4WD control switch to L4 and back to H4
The low speed 4WD indicator will turn off
Shifting to H4 is completed when the low speed 4WD indicator turns off.

EDIT: Feel so stupid - didn't look at the first page, just remembered thread and searched elsewhere. I don't think I can delete after others have posted.

Edit #2: Made change that reflects what @RyanR posted below.

 

[linuxgod]

Going from memory here... I think someone else posted that a while back (can't recall if it's in this thread or another one). It apparently may work in some earlier models (i.e. 2008) but I believe someone tried it in a newer cruiser (2011? 2013?) and it didn't appear to work, nor is it listed in newer owners manuals.

 

[RyanR]

I found an interesting post on tips and tricks at the Australian website LCOOL.org. I cut & pasted the text below. Anybody know if this would/wouldn't work for US vehicles (I can't find it in my later model year owner's manual)? I did search to see if this was a repeat here on MUD and couldn't find it, but then again I suck at searching.

SHIFTING THE TRANSFER CASE INTO NEUTRAL
Extract from the 2008 Cruiser Owners Manual, page 182, "Using other Driving Systems"

Shifting From H4 to the Neutral Position

Step 1 Stop the vehicle completely

Step 2 Confirm the following:

*The four wheel drive control is in H4 (the low speed 4WD drive indicator is not illuminated) - If the switch is in L4, turn it to H4

*The centre differential is unlocked

Step 3 Set the park brake firmly and put the shift lever in "N"

Step 4 Turn the engine off if the engine is running then turn the ENGINE STOP / START switch to the IGNITION ON mode. Do not start the engine till the end of the procedure.

Step 5 Shift the gearshift lever to "P"

Step 6 Depress and release the brake pedal 3 times, keeping the pedal depressed on the third firm application

Step 7 Shift the gear shift lever to "N"

Step 8 Depress and release the brake pedal 3 times keeping the pedal depressed on the third application.

Step 9 Shift the four wheel drive selector switch to L4, then shift to H4 again. The low speed 4WD indicator light will flash slowly, every 2 seconds

Step 10 Shift the gear shift lever to "P". Shifting to the neutral position is completed with the above procedure .

The red unengaged "Park" warning light will turn on when the shift lever in shifted to "P" as per this photo (but the 4Lo light will not be on)

To return to H4 when the vehicle:

Step 1 Stop the vehicle completely

Step 2 Set the parking brake firmly

Step 3 Turn the engine start-stop switch to ignition on mode.

Step 4 Depress the brake firmly , keep the brake pressed until the end of the procedure

Step 5 Shift the shift lever to "N"

Step 6 Shift the 4WD control switch to L4 and back to H4
The low speed 4WD indicator will turn off

Shifting to H4 is completed when the low speed 4WD indicator turns off.

Looks like the same procedure that was posted earlier in the thread. I'll try this in my 08 LX570 and report back. Wife and I are considering taking the family on the road full time for a year and I'ld love to tow the LX behind us.

 

[desmocruiser]

I have never towed anything with an RV, but have towed many miles with my GMC 2500.

Why wouldn’t you just buy an aluminum car trailer and haul ether LC and not risk Drivetrain wear or damage?

 

[RyanR]

I have never towed anything with an RV, but many miles with my GMC 2500, why wouldn’t you just buy an aluminum car trailer and haul ether LC and not risk Drivetrain wear or damage?

Not practical for this application. Imagine getting into a national park/campground/whatever. RV + Trailer do not fit. You have to back the LC out/off of the trailer. Disconnect the trailer. Re-hitch the trailer to the LC. Park it. (If you even have a place to park the LC with a trailer hitched to it. Which you probably don't so now you drop the trailer and put the LC back on it). Then do the process in reverse when its time to leave. If you are moving around frequently you would be doing this regularly. Not fun. Much easier to just disco the LC and park it. Hook it back up and roll.

 

[jkilcullen]

Not practical for this application. Imagine getting into a national park/campground/whatever. RV + Trailer do not fit. You have to back the LC out/off of the trailer. Disconnect the trailer. Re-hitch the trailer to the LC. Park it. (If you even have a place to park the LC with a trailer hitched to it. Which you probably don't so now you drop the trailer and put the LC back on it). Then do the process in reverse when its time to leave. If you are moving around frequently you would be doing this regularly. Not fun. Much easier to just disco the LC and park it. Hook it back up and roll.

Precisely the issue. Looking at replacing my 200 with a clean 100 at this point. Sucks

 

[RyanR]

Ok so the instructions in the factory manual (At least for my 08 LX570) DO work but they are not clear.

On Step 9 it has you shift from L4 to H4 again. Then Step 10 has you put it in Park. If you let it shift from L4 to H4 then put it in park nothing happens. You just shift into L4 then shift back into H4.

What you ACTUALLY have to do is shift from L4 to H4 then throw it in park before it can click over to H4. Then the light illuminates letting you know you are in neutral. I confirmed this works. I started the truck. Put it in Drive. Goes no where just revs. Also shut the truck off and put it in park. I can freely push the vehicle and roll it forward and backwards.

I am guessing this probably works for newer LC's and LX's as well. The instructions just suck.

 

[jkilcullen]

Thanks for this @RyanR I will see if i works on my 13 LC next week. I'm still concerned that the bearing in the Tcase output cant withstand the abuse of flat tow in this state but at a minimum it would be useful to be able to get N in Tcase in the event of an emergency tow.

 

[bloc]

Are we sure being in transfer case neutral is good enough?

I remember older toyota mini trucks would destroy the transfer case if towed in T-case neutral because it needs the input shaft spinning to distribute gear oil around the box. On those you have to tow with the transmission in neutral, not the case.

 

[SWUtah]

As with most things in life you need to tell your wife no

 

[RyanR]

We are about to sell our house and RV full time. I’d love to figure out if there is a safe way to flat tow the LX. We would be traveling with 2 small kids and no agenda or schedule so we probably wouldn’t tow more than 100-200 miles then the lx would be driven.

The manual flat out states do not dinghy tow the LX.

Any other input from the experts here? Tow with the car idling, tow with tranny in neutral vs T-Case I am open to anything and hopefully able to do some
Testing here soon.

 

[DomSmith]

The experts that built the truck say don’t flat tow.




But that’s not fun and certainly doesn’t present a challenge. I hope somebody figures this out. Just so they did.

 

[TonyP]

We are about to sell our house and RV full time. I’d love to figure out if there is a safe way to flat tow the LX. We would be traveling with 2 small kids and no agenda or schedule so we probably wouldn’t tow more than 100-200 miles then the lx would be driven.

The manual flat out states do not dinghy tow the LX.

Any other input from the experts here? Tow with the car idling, tow with tranny in neutral vs T-Case I am open to anything and hopefully able to do some
Testing here soon.

Front wheel dolly, unbolt rear driveshaft at the axle, bungie up so it doesn't hang.