Flat towing a M817 for 600 miles

[bob130ab]

I have read an old post on this subject but I can't locate it.
Question ??? Is it necessary to disconnect the drive shafts to tow this distance? The TM states to place the transfer case and transmission in neutral before towing. My friend
thinks we should disconnect the drive shafts.

We will be going to Hattiesburg, MS to recover 3 each M817s. We plan to tow 2 of them using a Commerical tractor with a pintlel hitch for one and hopefully pull one with one of the 817s.

Second question. I have 2 tow bars with all of the hardware, one is adjustabe and the other is fixed length. The TM states to adjust tow bar to collapsed length. We made a 10 mile test run last week using PopPop's Military dump with the fixed length tow bar. It followered good. Do you think their is any advantage in shorting the tow bar?

I think that both of them are the medium tow bars.

 

[gimpyrobb]

For 600 miles, you'd be better off pulling the axles. That way nothing is spinning cept the bearings. The longer the tow bar the more torque you have to turn the towed truck. I would also inflate the tires to their max rating for the fronts.

 

[M1075]

I have successfully flat towed 5 tons for 300-400 miles without pulling the axles or drive shafts, although I agree pulling the axles would be the safest with the least risk of damage. Don't forget safety chains and air lines to tow each five ton. If you have difficulty towing a M817 with another M817 (you will be at close to 50,000# and sloooow up hills) you might consider daisy chaining two of the M817s behind your commercial tractor. I can't speak to legality of this, but I have done it and felt it was safer than being a slow moving, sitting duck on the highway.

 

[Stretch44875]

to elaborate, Gimpy's talking about the axle shafts, that go to each wheel. Front is just hubs, rear is shafts. Might want to make up a cover on the rears to prevent gear oil from leaking. Only thing turning is the wheel bearings. Then you don't have to worry about the extra drag of the gearbox's or diff's. Main reason I did this was I didn't know the condition of the gear oil or levels in the diffs. Once I had the truck home, and changed all the oils, then I didn't bother with pulling anything.

 

[bob130ab]

Thanks for the advice.

Bob Martin

 

[joec]

My experience with towing. I st to remove axels. Use caps that are made out of plastic. *** link below***

http://www.awdirect.com/two-4-in-1-axle-caps-4in1/towing-specialty-tools/

Why you ask 39 dollars. Well one is when you tow and remove the axle's the bearings don't get oil because the axle's are what pulls the oil up and when going 50 miles or more i would use what was mentioned. Unless there are slingers in side. Which there aren't any . So either over fill the difffs with oil. Or u can put bearing grease in the in them. I would over fill and put grease in. Plus the caps I listed. Best 40 bucks i ever spent. They fit the deuce, 5 ton and a whole lot of other vehicles. It's better then burning up the wheel bearings. Races and hubs....big money then..... just my

 

[rosco]

If your prone to pulling axles (and I am not!), the axle caps would be good to keep the housings clean inside. Besides, some of those axles are hard to get out - break/ding, a couple of studs, and by the time you replace them, you haven't saved anything. One ting is for sure though - it will be a long hot, slow 600 miles. 600 miles is not going to put any significant wear on the running gear. After you get started and drive a ways, stop and check everything, to see that nothing is running hot. Go around a feel all the hubs, for excessive heat. If you can hold your hand on it, its OK. Otherwise, maybe a break is dragging.

Lee in Alaska

 

[Recovry4x4]

Pulling the shafts of a 5 ton isn't bad. No studs and cone cups, just bolts so they come out easily. Those covers are a great idea and keep the mess down. I wouldn't worry about lubing the bearings though, like the deuce, they are packed with wheel bearing grease.

 

[rwelker]

Years ago I went to the midwest to haul home an antique farm tractor. Borrowed two axle trailer near/above it's rated capacity. About 1/4 the way home stopped to check everything and we had lost a trailer bearing cap. My then father-in-law (a trucker all his life) went in to the truckstop and bought a can of STP and a can of soda and a hose clamp. Came out said "drink the soda" I did and he cut the soda can in half; poured one half full of STP; stuck in on the axle with the missing cap; and secured it with the hose clamp. The rest of the way home (about 1000 miles on I80) we stopped numerous times to check bearings, chain, etc. and the axle with the soda can/stp fix ran stone cold. The other axles were "really warm" but within limits. Just a thought, but if you are removing axles, maybe an idea. It won't hurt the gear oil/grease either.

 

[bob130ab]

Pick up complete. We were lucky, the truck that I was counting on to run is in great condition. The other two had fuel problems and we quickly realized that they could not be used as a back up puller. We changed one tire using one of the spare tires, serviced all fluids, removed the drive shafts, connected the two towed units and departed. We had one wheel lose most of its rubber. We changed it using another spare and stopped for the night. We drove 350 miles on Saturday to complete the trip. The puller didn't use any oil or leak any fluids. After returning home I cleaning the junk out of the bed and I operated the dump. It worked great, no leaks on the Hyd. I'll be puting it to work cleaning out a pond on my farm by next week.

It pulled the hills towing the other dump just as Stretch said it would. On the interstate on flat ground 50 MPH, on the hills 35 -40 in 4th gear. Twice on the small back roads out of Hattiesburg, MS it got down to 10 MPH in 3 rd gear. We traveled 200 miles of back roads to dodge the DOT stations. We saw no mobile DOT units either day.

I'll post pictures in a couple of days.

Thanks again for the good advice.