HELP! Flat towing issues with my FJ40

[arainman]

hopefully I can explain this correctly. I have a '72 FJ40 and have set it up to flat tow behind my RV or p/u. It has power steering and just installed an ARB air locker in the rear because my old locker did not ratchet when turning on city streets. The issue I am having is.....When towing the cruiser and I make a turn, the cruiser wheels turn the opposite direction that I'm turning.....When I turn to the right, the cruiser tires begin to follow, but then all of a sudden they turn left.....I thought it was because of the locright locker that I had in the back, with the torque happening in the rearend so I put an air locker in it and it's doing the same damn thing!! Has anybody ever seen this happen or have any idea what's going on here???? Thanks!

 

[Vitesse_6]

You dont have the correct caster on the front axle, This is why some cut and turn the knuckles on the axle, I flat tow my FJ40 and it tows as it should, Try a search in the 40 section about flat towing and caster angles.

 

[Vitesse_6]

IH8MUD.com - Search Results

Good luck

 

[arainman]

cool, thanks a lot!!!!!

 

[cjgoode]

I have heard a good way to test it is while driving turn to the left or rigth and let go of the wheel, does it want to go back to straight or just keep turning, it should want to go back to driving straight if the caster is correct.

I had the same problem with my jeep after a shackle lift. Would not 100% track behind the vehicle, sometimes would not turn the correct way, others it would not stop turning when I started going straight. Did ok on wide turns, just not sharp ones, yet it drove perfect down the road. You should be able to get some shims to correct the caster angle, also make sure if you have a lift that your steering linkage is correct, lack of a drop pitman arm can also cause this. I put new steering linkage on the jeep and a 4 inch drop pitman arm but have not tried to tow it yet, still need shims before I really start towing it. It use to tow fine even after the lift, but something changed last summer. Also make sure your tow bar is almost level, if it slopes to much up or down that will mess up the tracking as well. I did a lot of research on this problem.

 

[cjgoode]

If you go with shims google for steel ones, I read putting aluminum shins between the two pieces of steel can cause real problems with the two incompatible metals.

 

[KY854RUN]

Have the alignment checked, if the toe-in is off it can cause this problem too.

 

[arainman]

Thanks everybody.....just talked to Ron @ custom cruisers FJ40 in Gilroy, CA He confirmed what all of you said, caster angle. He's going to get me squared away next week! Thanks again!!

 

[Fast Eddy]

Don't tow it more than across town with a pickup. You'll end up learning about what cops call the Pitt Maneuver.

I tow mine with a big dually, but I'm really careful. I looped it towing behind my wife's suburban, fully loaded; $5000 damage. Luckily we were going slow and now one was hurt.

Single rear wheels just aren't enough to resist a push from a 3500 lb trailer with no brakes.

 

[arainman]

ouch, that sounds bad dude, sorry to hear. I plan on using a proportional brake buddy if/when I ever tow it with my truck, and RV for that matter.

Thanks, everyone, for all the input!

 

[BrianSanDiego]

Good source for shims...

4Crawler Offroad Products - Custom Leaf Spring Shims

B.