Pete M Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Even after flushing the block I can still hear the occasional piece of the old water pump flying past the new pump (the bearings died and caused the rotor to wobble and eat away at the aluminum housing). So I'm playing it safe this weekend and borrowing a Durango for the freeway miles. It's just a 4.7L 2wd, but it rated for like twice what the MJ weighs. I'm only going about 2.5 hours from home, but I wanted to try it out now before doing the same procedure for the trip to The Badlands. Back when I replaced the corroded harness connector for my taillights, I got the sweet idea to buy a second generic connector and now I can unhook the battery, turn the key so the steering wheel doesn't lock, and the tow vehicle powers the taillights of the MJ. :D Jeep on! --Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Sounds like a plan.......I love the towin rig u mounted on the front of ur truck, i guess that comes in handy alot around ur area :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bounty Hunter Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Sweet, I flat-tow my YJ the same way. On the subject of tow-rigs, ours is an '05 TrailBlazer EXT with the 5.3L v8 and DOD. 20.5mpg on a recent trip, of course we weren't towing the jeep ;) It's rated at 22mpg, so it's got some more breaking in to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Tell me how it does if you get a cross wind. That's the only thing I'd be worried about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 21, 2005 Author Share Posted September 21, 2005 Well, we all survived the weekend. Had a horrible mystery noise early on Saturday and went through a lot of effort to try and track it down, but it fixed itself before I could figure it out. Sorta sounded like a bunch of bolts in a coffee can coming from the back of the engine or front of the tranny. It's the worst kind of "fix" cause I don't know what happened and so don't know when it might come back. :( Anyway, the towing when just fine. We averaged between 12 and 13 mpg. I've never flat towed anything before and it felt weird when the MJ would make the back end of the Durango wiggle on the freeway. Could have been due to wind or maybe the wide tires were following grooves in the concrete. I'm fairly certain this is due in part to the lack of any tongue weight, so for the trip to The Badlands I'll be putting more of the MJ's stuff in the back of the Durango to shift the weight distribution. Had a couple of "newbie" errors in that one gas station. I didn't give it quite enough room for the turn around and the back tire of the MJ went up a curb (slowly 'cause I was watching it the whole time) and then on the way out we discovered that our "train" couldn't do tight 'S' curves because the front tires of the MJ wouldn't keep up with the back-and-forth movement. D'oh! Mike jumped out and turned the wheel of the MJ to straighten it out. It was definitely a learning experience and we used more gasoline than the MJ would have alone, but as soon as that noise popped up, it seemed all worth while. :D Jeep on! --Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bounty Hunter Posted September 23, 2005 Share Posted September 23, 2005 The jeep will tend to push the tow vehicle around slightly anytime the jeep has larger tires than the tow vehicle. It can be minimized by making sure the toe-in on the jeep is correct, and the towbar is as level as possible. I've never had a problem with crosswinds, or any other problems while flat-towing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 23, 2005 Author Share Posted September 23, 2005 Yeah I kinda figured the MJ tires had something to do with it. I have a couple of junkyard 31s I'll be mounting on the front of the MJ and those 33s will be in the back of the Durango for extra weight. That should help a bit with the wandering. I imagine the toe is fine, as there wasn't any funny wear on the trip out to Moab (other then the wear induced by the Moab terrain :D ). It doesn't really much matter in my particular case though, as the toe isn't exactly adjustible anymore. I don't dare disturb the rusty threads on the tierod. I'll be leaving it as Ford intended until I can upgrade. Jeep on! --Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong Posted October 4, 2005 Share Posted October 4, 2005 I have never flat towed. I jumped right on in it. I went and bought a 2500 HD, and an 18'x82" car trailer to tow my rig. Before I went to Tellico, I always vowed to drive my stuff both ways, well after causing much carnage and burning up my ALTernatyor, then driving 450 miles on battery alone (auto parts stores in Murphy NC don't open till after church), with all kinds of DW, I decided if I go on a ride... I trailer it. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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