think it will tow?

wflaw45

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2005
Location
chapel hill, NC
ive got a 90 toyota 4x4 p/u with the 22RE in it and was wondering if you think it would be capable of flat-towing a samurai that weights 2100 LBS
 
Towing it - yes

Stopping it - I doubt it.

I once got a smoking deal on a Jeep Scrambler with 36" Dick Cepek tires on it. I decided to flat tow it home (about 20 miles) with my 90 Jeep Wrangler which at the time had a 4 cyl, 5 speed, Lock Right and 33" AT's and 6" of lift. I slipped the clutch a lot to get it rolling at each stop light and was very cautious driving the back roads the whole way home. It was a pretty day out, so I didnt worry about weather or anything like that, so I headed home with it. About half way home, there was a pretty steep down hill run with a traffic light at the bottom of the hill. I picked up a lot of speed and tried to slow the rigs down by downshifting and using the brakes sparingly. By the time I got halfway down the hill, the light had turned red so I put on full brakes. I kept speeding up. The Scrambler pushed my Wrangler halfway trough the intersection by the time I got it stopped. Fortunately for me, nobody came through the intersection. I've never been more scared in my life.

My rule of thumb for flat towing is that you want a vehicle at least twice as heavy as the vehicle you are pulling and make sure you have GOOD brakes. Anything less and you are taking a chance with your life and the lives of others.
 
You go ahead and tow the Zuk, It'll be just fine, just let the rest of us know when and where so we can stay out of the way or at least be on the side line with :popcorn: watching the aftermath.

There are more than a few folks on this board who have done this and learned, it ain't such a good idea without a tow rig MUCH bigger than the towed rig.

If you live to tell about it, let us know how it does.
 
saf-t scissors said:
You're both idiots.
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I tried...
I can't put it any better...

And you are flat towing this to wheel it?
Kinda defeats the purpose of towing. I mean hell if you break anything more serious than a u-joint you cant take it home that way. Just drive the rig to uwharrie.

Please you have asked for advice from others because you werent 100% sure, now follow the given advice please.

If you INSIST on doing this, put someone in the in tow vehicle to be a brake man. Oh yeah and tell us all the when and route so we can keep our wives, kids and others off the routes.
 
"up on old man box"

When will you kids learn to listen to us? we have done it, tried it, and seen it. It might work once, maybe twice, soon enough statistically it will fail, and some one or some thing, will be injured or hurt.
 
saf-t scissors said:
You're both idiots.
Click to expand...
first off, im just stating all the facts, theres no reason for name calling

When will you kids learn to listen to us? we have done it, tried it, and seen it. It might work once, maybe twice, soon enough statistically it will fail, and some one or some thing, will be injured or hurt.
Click to expand...

next off, it was my dads idea to start with, he drove a big rig across the country for 10 years, i think he knows a thing or two about towing.

next off, its not like we were gonna go halfway aroud the world without testing it first, we were gonna drive around the neighborhood to see if it would actually work first, no matter what i got in responce here.

and last, its not like im towing a trail rig with another trail rig. this truck is 100% stock exept the wooden flatbed that i built becasue the bed was rusty from living most of its life in colorado.
 
#1. Your 1990 isn't 4000 lbs. it's less.
#2. OTR truck drivers don't necessarily know squat about flat-towing. They know alot about towing with their equipment, but not necessarily anything about other forms of towing.
#3. Your brakes aren't meant to stop 6000#.
#4. If that sami has a lift kit, or worse, extended shackles on the front, the caster will most likely be off, meaning it won't track well behind the towing vehicle.

It might work just fine...as long as nothing goes wrong. but if anything goes wrong, chances are you won't be able to pull out of it, since you're running the truck at its limit.. That's the big issue..
 
This is a typical NC4x4 thread from someone looking for someone to tell them what they want to hear. Therefore, it's a great idea you should think about opening up a car hauling service with your toyota and a 4 car wedge. Hell it'll tow it around a parking lot, surely it's ok to go across country. All I'll tell you is you're a dumbass if you do it and chances are it'll work out fine. If it doesn't you'll be a broke dumbass when someone sues you after you run over them. If you're dad is a "pro" then let him tow it. If he suggested it and you still came on here to ask if it's ok, then you must have some doubts about his "pro-ness". I don't like towing anything behind my dually that doesn't have trailer brakes, in a toyota it's just plain stupid.
 
wflaw45 said:
next off, it was my dads idea to start with, he drove a big rig across the country for 10 years, i think he knows a thing or two about towing.
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Ive been thinking for 30 some odd years, can I perform your brain surrgery?

Sorry my F-I-L owns a trucking company (12-18 trucks and drivers etc.) half of these drivers couldnt change their oil, much less analzye the safety of a rig/load setup. Not saying this is your dad, just I have seen it.

wflaw45 said:
next off, its not like we were gonna go halfway aroud the world without testing it first, we were gonna drive around the neighborhood to see if it would actually work first, no matter what i got in responce here.
Click to expand...

I think this is what everyone is trying to impress upon you. Just because it will work under ideal circumstances (around the neighborhood, ideal conditions etc) Doesnt mean it is a good idea. Think about the what ifs. What if someone pulls out in front of you, what if you have a blow out (on either rig) what if the roads are slick, etc.

wflaw45 said:
and last, its not like im towing a trail rig with another trail rig. this truck is 100% stock exept the wooden flatbed that i built becasue the bed was rusty from living most of its life in colorado.
Click to expand...

I think the point was why not drive the trail rig down?
The whole advantage to a tow rig is if (when) you break down on the trail load it up and jerk it home, flat towing doesnt afford this option. So I guess you are towing it to avoid wear and tear on your trail rig...wait no, it will run the same miles as if you drove it. I guess then you are towing it to save on fuel mileage, it may work...Al Bundy pushed his car to work to save gas money...

Look man nobody wants to be an ass, just read through some old threads, we have seen this before. In the last year, just with members from this board improper towing has resulted in a truck house collision, a 10" drop hitch ripping a frame apart, and a tow dolly incident that tore down guardrail.

I'm not trying to bash you, but your plan is UNSAFE, IS a bad idea, and if you do it after being warned better and something does go wrong I hope you are prosecuted for criminal negligence.
 
http://www.ncttora.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1686

1 more...

Why are all these relevant when none involve flat towing?

They all involve no trailer brakes. Identical to the situation you describe. BTW all worked well at least a few times.


BTW not picking on anyone COUGHrickyCough just trying to point out that bad things can happen...
 
I think what they are trying to say is that this is about as bad an idea as taking a shower with a hair dryer that's plugged in... You might make it... but you might not..
 
SkyHiK5 - very good explanation, and thanks for providing him all those links for reference! :huggy:
 
I think you got it in the bag dude. Here is a Sami towing about 7,000 lbs with no problem.

ai34.photobucket.com_albums_d117_drkelly99_JT_20new_20truck_Tear_20down_IMGP1052.jpg






In the yard that is.
I have never flat towed anything, so I can't really comment. Just felt like posting that picture.
 
Just to follow up here on this thread, something I can tell you about personally.

I bought a Grand Cherokee, tow rated 6500lbs I believe. Later bought a 1990 Jeep Wrangler, lifted, 35s...actually tow dolly'd it home from Chicago to NC.

Later got a flat tow bar for free, tried it once and only once, I "knew" to take corners really slow etc but had to make a turn into wal-mart a hair faster than I wanted due to a guy on bicycle (on a 4 lane road..whole nother pet peeve)

I am not going very fast at all, but just fast enough to jack knife, pushes my ZJ end around and I am about to have a 2 car, 1 driver wreck, PUNCHED the gas hard and yanked the YJ back behind me but it was REAL close. Skipped the errand at Wally world, and VERY VERY slowly drove to dads (4-5 miles) and pitched the flat tow bar.

Now in my case, I towed with a tow dolly very successfully, but I also watched the above thread happen where the exact same tow dolly wreck with a Waggy pulling an XJ.

To wrap up my story...and hopefully you will read this if nothing else. I sold my YJ to a young man, 21 years old, a year ago. He asked about flat towing and I told him all of the above, suggested a dolly, offered to help buy tires so it would fit on a dolly, etc.

Instead he towed the YJ from here to FL flat towing behind his Ford Explorer (v8). Three days later he was cut off on the interstate while pulling the YJ/Explorer, the combo rolled and James did NOT survive the accident. Read that again... and then please do NOT try pulling the Zuk with your Toyota...

Just drive the Zuk to Uwharrie, or wheel the yota... or someday upgrade tow rigs/trailer with brakes and tow as safely as possible. Towing is always going to be MORE dangerous than regular driving, but reduce the danger as much as you can bud...

Sam H
 
These guys are right man, the link above with the truck hitch getting almost ripped off was me and was a direct result of trying to tow something w/o brakes, I really wouldn't do it if I were you man. I know you think oh that wont happen to me I'll just driveslowly/etc. Well I did thed same thing and got away with it for a while and It ended up catching up with me. Since then I've done a crapload to my Z71 to make it tow worthy and still am in progress as well as made damn sure my trailer brakes worked before I towed again after that. I know all this you think you can avoid with "slow cautios driving" but theres always the possibility random tyhings could happen that you just wont have time to slow down for.
 
Simple answer is yes it will tow most likely without incident. The real question is how wise is it to go through with this plan. No very wise I can tell you. You may do it 4 or 5 times and not have a problem but when you do finally have a problem you best hope lady luck is on yourside. I do not flat tow anything to the trails. Flat towing to the trail defeats the purpose of towing to begin with.
 
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