towing an xm211

Ok, This is actually my first US vehicle. Just bought an xm211, delivery date on dash is 8-53. It needs tranny work so I am going to have a friend with an m35 and tow bar tow it the 25 miles to home. Question being, and I am sure it isint going to be the last question, but first of MANY,,,,,Do I need to take both rear drive shafts and the front out to tow it? Do you tie the steering wheel straight ahead when towing with a tow bar or just leave it be?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I would take out the driveshafts from the transfer going to the rear and the front...you don't need to pull the one inbetween the rear axels....leave the steering whell loose so the truck can turn when you turn...when you towthem on a towbar the front wheels of said towed vehicle will turn when you turn except when backing up..then you will need someone in the truck to help guide it

according to tm9-8024 for towing,tranfer lever DOWN NEUTRAL position,thats the lever under the drivers seat,transmisiion shift control lever in neutral,thats the shifter at your right knee in cab,book says "donot tow vehicle over 15 mph,to tow over 10 miles,removefront axle drive hub flanges,transfer case to pillow block shaft assy,transfer case to forward rear axle shaft assy",on mine when i had it towed i just pulled front shaft assy,and the 2 shafts from the tansfer case,mine was running when i had it pulled so i could help with braking both trucks,towed at 25 30 mph,another time it wasnt runnigand had to keep speed way down,allow plenty of room for turns,IF YOU CANT HELP BRAKE ONE DEUCE WILL PUSH ANOTHER ONE THROUGH A TURN,A STOP SIGN OR A CAR,if you trust your friends driving you can help brake with emergency brake ,WHATEVER YOU DECIDE TO DO,KEEP THE SPEED DOWN,MAKE SURE ALL THE TIRES HAVE ENOUGH AIR IN THEM,AND GET SOME ONE TO RIDE BEHIND BOTH VEHICLES IN A SEPERATE VEHICLE WITH EMERGENCY FLASHERS ON ,be safe,buy the manuals for the vehicle,READ THE MANUALS,drive it by the book ,work on it by the book,good luck and keep posting

ok, Call me dumb, but I swear i saw two seprate driveshafts coming from the transfer case to each individual rear axle-one to the front axle and one more to the right going over the front axle to the rearward most axle, then the other one to the front axle in fornt of the truck. was I seeing this right? three seprate driveshafts going to the three seprate axles?

Is there an online manual for this truck? I know nothing about them. Only other mil-veh I have is a daimler ferret, now ask me about those and I can tell you most anything....lol

You did see 2 driveshafts to the rear, Need to pull them both if your pulling them at all.

There's one driveshaft from the t-case to each rear axle. You wouldn't have to pull the shaft from the pillowblock on top of the front rear axle to the rear. Take off the two on the rear of the t-case and the one on the front or the front flanges and you're good to go. I pulled one of my trucks with just putting the t-case in neutral and went slow and that worked ok. Butch Atkins' post covers it pretty much completely. Take your time and be safe! Let us know how it goes.

Almost forgot, there's no online manual that I know of. Portrayal Press has them all or sometimes you can find an original on ebay. Good luck!

tm9-8024 is basic operation and maint.this one is a MUST HAVE,tm9-1819ac is teardown and repair of basic components,only if you need to repair major components,you didnt say what was wrong with tranny,it is a gm hydramatic ,has hi,low built onto rear of trannythe first thing to do isto check the fluid,next,ifit will crank and runcheck the coolant fluid,if truck still wont move READ TM 9-8024,THE VERY NEXT STEPIS CRITICAL,ADJUST ALL LINKAGES PER THE MANUAL,DONT LET ANYONE ELSE TELL YOU DIFFERENT,HI ,LOW ,FRONT WHEEL DRIVE,REVERSE ARE ALL ON SAME SHIFTER,LINKAGE ADJUSTMENT FOR TRANNY AND TRANSFER CASE ALL NEED TO BE DONE AT SAME TIME,2 person job get help,tm9-8025-2 is for the tranny,unless you want to try to repair tranny yourself,NOT RECOMMENDED,you dont need to buy this one,everything you can do on your own is in tm9-8024,this tranny and motor was in m135 m211 trucks,m59 apc,m50 ontos tracked guns,the tranny was in50s era gm cars,just the tranny without the hi low,parts are stillout there and so are tranny repair shops,THE WEAK LINK ON THESE TRANNYS IS HI RANGE REVERSE,DONT USE IT ,ALWAYS USE LOW RANGE IN REVERSE,BEEN THERE AND DONE IT,good luck keep posting,BUY MANUAL AND READ IT