Flat towing a '95 ZJ?

Nuzzy · Aug 26, 2006

So my dad is looking at getting a '95 ZJ. My little brother is 15 now so he'll be driving soon. However, dad was also wondering about flat towing it behind his motorhome...

The one he's looking at getting has the All Wheel Drive tranny. Is there a safe way to flat tow this without disconnecting drivelines? Or would it run into problems??

Also, when dad looked at it, he thought he only saw 3 transfer case positions: Hi, Low, and Neutral. I'm pretty positve it that all wheel drive Xfer case should have 4 positions: Part time Hi, Full time Hi, Low, and Neutral. Could he possibly be right, or am I right and he just didn't look close enough?

Thanks y'all! :beer:

JPTHING · Aug 26, 2006

Actually I will answer the t-case question. My ZJ has 3 settings, 4hi, neutral, 4lo, it is basically fulltime 4wd. All I know about the flat towing, alot of T-cases have a pump that is connected to the shaft, and usually runs dry when flat towed, then burns up, when no fluid is pumped through. This is what I have been told, if someone knows more than I do(which isn't very difficult) they can correct me.

Nuzzy · Aug 27, 2006

JPTHING said:
Actually I will answer the t-case question. My ZJ has 3 settings, 4hi, neutral, 4lo, it is basically fulltime 4wd. All I know about the flat towing, alot of T-cases have a pump that is connected to the shaft, and usually runs dry when flat towed, then burns up, when no fluid is pumped through. This is what I have been told, if someone knows more than I do(which isn't very difficult) they can correct me.

Weird. It just amazes me that you would not be able to lock the thing in true 4X Hi. In my mom's '93 ZJ, it had Full Time 4 (all wheel drive), Part Time 4 (true 4 wheel drive with 50% going to f/r), and 4 Lo. With All Wheel drive, you can still get stuck with all the power going to just one wheel. I wonder if some of the ZJs just got a weird Xfer case option that didn't have a true 4 Hi... :wtf:

Bunk1 · Aug 27, 2006

Its a Jeep thing:haha: :haha: :haha: :flipoff:

JPTHING · Aug 27, 2006

Yeah actually, mine must have Trac-loc's, because all the tires have power. I have screwed around with it a little bit but nothing to serious, to know much about it.

83yota1 · Aug 27, 2006

Jeep had two t-cases in the grand cherokee. One had the "Selec-trac" which has 4 settings (2hi,4-part time,4 full-time and neutral). This is a non-full time t-case and would allow you to run 2wd. The difference between full and part time is I believe part time would lock up the t-case and split torque 50/50, and full time would slip and split torque as needed. The other t-case was the full time case, which has 4-hi, 4-lo and N. I've seen alot of grands being towed by motorhomes. Even with the selec-trac case, the front end turns all the time even in 2wd. I think flat towing should be ok.

Brent

Avanteone · Aug 28, 2006

The case /w 4 positions is a NP242, the other is a NP249. If you're dad is looking at getting one, try and find one /w a NP242. It is safe to flat tow with and has far less problems in general. The NP249's viscous coupler will get trashed in no time when flat towing, and it's like a $400+ part... OR, if he's got a '95 in mind and it's cheap enough, just find a NP242 to swap in.

J