Towing Motorhome

We have been towed 4 times and the approved method by Prevost is to remove the drive axle only with no limit on the miles towed.

rhagfo wrote:


Having it towed, from the front , with drive line disconnected, not necessarily removed. Make sure the towing company is familiar with MH towing,
I said disconnect, as opposed to removed, the rear of the transmission will leak fluid if the drive line is removed for the transmission. The would remove the bolts from the universal joint at the differential, then secure the drive shaft to the frame.

On most motor homes. Heck on my Jeep. the drive shaft is sectional (Kind of surprised me on the jeep) and they only remove the rear most section. the section that goes into the tranny remains in place held by the carrier bearing 30' drive shafts are a pain to make very expensive way cheaper to make two 15 foot or 3 10 foot sections and add the extra bearings Spline joints and U-Joints.

LouLawrence wrote:
Yes, AXLE! They pull only the drivers side axle and put a cap on it. Thanks for the correction Wolfe10.

Need to pull BOTH axles (or driveshaft) or really abuse the spider gears in the rear axle if towing more than a few miles at slow speed.

I posted on this thread earlier about pulling axles, but it was deleted for some reason. On many, you remove the cap, rap on end of axle and it comes right out. There is on some two thread bolt holes to screw in puller.

Yes, AXLE! They pull only the drivers side axle and put a cap on it. Thanks for the correction Wolfe10. How are things over at FMCA?

LouLawrence wrote:
Yes, they will remove your driveshaft. They will put a cap where the driveshaft used to be to keep the oil in place.

I believe you are referring to pulling both AXLES and installing cover plates to keep the oil in place.

No oil on drive shaft/U joints.

Either (pulling axles or drive shaft) will serve exactly the same purpose-- transmission does not turn when rear wheels turn.

Yes, they will remove your driveshaft. They will put a cap where the driveshaft used to be to keep the oil in place. Depending upon the coach and the tow truck they will either lift with a setup around both tires or, in our case with very little ground clearance, they will side the lift under the front chassis and lift from frame/axle and chain it all securely in place. We have been towed 4 times in the last 26 years of fulltiming and all have gone without issue once the right tow truck showed up!

I skipped the replies
yes the tow service will normally disconnect the drive shaft. (Of course you pay an hour's labor) Make sure he is neat about it and does not drop a cap off the U-Joint or you will need a new U-Joint. I've seen that happen twice. once to me

Tow from the front...

If you can flat bed (low boy) that's even better but most RV's are 12 foot or so high and you park 'em on a lowboy you can easily go over 13'6" and that folks.. IS the legal maximum height.

Had to have our Tiffin Phaeton C7 CAT towed once. They disconnected the drive shaft and towed from the front.

In our case it was the serpentine belt.

Dale

Tom/Barb wrote:
We have had our couch towed three times, they removed the drive shaft each time. It is to protect the transmission.

Removing driveshaft protects transmission. Removing the axle protects differential, ring&pinion, and transmission. Plus, no need to get under vehicle. Can be done standing up.

rhagfo wrote:


Having it towed, from the front , with drive line disconnected, not necessarily removed. Make sure the towing company is familiar with MH towing,
I said disconnect, as opposed to removed, the rear of the transmission will leak fluid if the drive line is removed for the transmission. The would remove the bolts from the universal joint at the differential, then secure the drive shaft to the frame.

Not sure about MH, but on most heavy-duty transmissions I have seen are not made like a RWD car, where the yoke slides out of seal, makes mess on ground. Also, a long shaft is pretty EZ to secure where won't hit ground, or the spinning yoke. Have not been under MH, but expect the shaft is pretty short.