Flat Towing a Chev Pickup

Thanks GM Engineer, Been working today on getting all hooked up to tow the Chevy truck. All is working well with shifting the transfer case to neutral. Mine works just the same as yours. I have the Blue Ox towplate on and hooked up the Ready Brake towbar elite. Just haven't hooked up the brakes yet. Still trying to decide on the type of tow lights I want to have. My RV has the amber turn signals, but my truck has red turn signals, two on each side of the truck. Any suggestions? Mike

traveylin wrote:
Well....GM engineer . A drive shaft disconnect which I used to use on a 2wd RWD is an acceptable alteration to make it towable

True. My statment was with regards to a vehicle, as built by GM.

Well....GM engineer . A drive shaft disconnect which I used to use on a 2wd RWD is an acceptable alteration to make it towable

FIRE UP wrote:
Mike,
This may have already been answered but, in case it hasn't, here's what to look for. I too have a KNOB that electronically controls the shifting of the transfer case. It has 2, AUTO, 4HIGH, 4LOW. The high and low are represented by arrows. But, what's not seen is an "N" for neutral. It's all the way on the right. On my truck, the parking brake is set, your feet have to be on the brake pedal, the trans must be in neutral and the engine running. Then and only then, you rotate that KNOB all the way counter-clock wise to the end of it's travel and hold it there for about, 5 seconds or so.

At that time, the N will appear in RED. And, you'll see a message on the dash gauge that states: Stabilitrack is now off. From that point, you put the trans in park, release the parking brake and, shut off the engine and remove the key.

Now, like I stated in my first post to here on this thread, go to YOUR owners manual and find all the sections that have to do with flat towing behind a motor home. You may have to flip some pages to get all the complete info for setup to tow. The reason I emphasize this is because there might be some differences in procedure for your model and year, as opposed to mine.

Currently, no GM RWD transmission is dinghy towable. The ability to dinghy tow, is reliant on the transfer case. The transfer case needs to be a 2spd version, as outlined above. Thus, no 2wd RWD variant is dinghy towable.

I finally ordered all I think I'll need for my Chevrolet toad. A Blue Ox BX1674 baseplate, Ready Brute Elite tow bar, ReadyStop breakaway, Light Diode Kit, and a seven to four way lighting cable. I think I'm gonna be about three inches low on the toad. Will see before getting hitch.

Appreciate all the input. Mike

Moved from class A forum

mowermech wrote:
"The reason I say that about Ready Brake is this. MY system, the actuator in particular is worn out. I can literally push that actuator forward BY HAND! Needless to say, it's shot. Well, me being me, I tore that thing apart. Folks, there's noting scientific or miraculous about the inner guts of a Ready Brake.

All there is, is spring, about 1.25" in diameter by about a couple of inches long. It's a pretty stout little spring. There's also a small, again, about 1.25" in diameter, little piston. That little piston has some tiny holes in it. And, it's got about three or four O-rings around it. That piston sits in a small bore. Inside that bore with the piston is a ounce or two or three of oil.

So, as the actuator moves, due to your toad pushing on it, that spring and, the piston move forward. The piston is supposed to act as a shock. All that oil, is forced through the tiny holes, from one chamber to another. And, the spring, pushes it all back.

But, as stated, mine is worn out. That makes for un-necessary brake action in the toad. Well, in all reality, all I needed from Ready Brake was the four O-rings and, maybe their oil, if it was something special.

But, Noooooooooooo, they didn't want me doing this. THEY wanted me to package that 50 lb. actuator up and, send it all the way to them, so THEY could put the four O-rings in it and, replace the spring. Well, to say the least, that's ridiculous. I mean, I've got it apart, OBVIOUSLY I know how the system works, and, what's needed to bring it back to life. There's nothing complicated about this system. No adjustments, no settings, NOTHING that some high trained technician has to do that I can't do.

So, my decision to walk away is my own. While it's a pretty good braking system for the money and, for the most part, about 99.999% of folks that use it are happy, including me for quite some time, I'm not all that happy with that much "slop" in the tow system anyways. There's plenty of movement, in multiple directions that I've never really been fond of.

So, hence, I might be migrating over to the M&G system, especially since I've got an air braked coach which would make the that type of system work flawless. We'll see."

I don't understand your problem.
O-rings are readily available from many sources, and they are pretty much standard sized, and Buna-N is the most common material. go buy some to fit.
Oil: Same thing. If it is red, it is probably Dexron ATF. If it is clear, it can be almost anything. If it matches your o-ring material, and is approximately the same viscosity, no problem.
Spring: All kinds of compression springs are available from many sources. Grainger and McMaster-Carr come immediately to mind. Again, no problem.

So, save your self some money and get the parts to overhaul your unit.
If it doesn't work, you have nobody to blame but yourself.
Good luck.

Well Sir,
It's not a "Problem", Yes, I could have simply done a bit of research (as I've done on a zillion other projects) and most likely find the appropriate O-rings, oil and spring. I considered all that, way in advance. But, I thought I'd give them a shot at supplying me with THEIR components simply because of all the PRAISE I've read about how well they handle after-sales issues. Well, I suppose if I'd have driven a few thousand miles to end up in their parking lot, I might have gotten this unit rebuilt for next to, or nothing.

But, based on others opinion about "legality" of todays society, I most likely understand their reasoning for not wanting to send me simple rebuild components. And the oil, was not red, brown or any other color. It was BLACK due to the few zillion times of being compressed and shot through those tiny holes and, possibly contaminated by O-ring deterioration.

While I had it apart, I simply threw away the old oil and, installed some 80-90 wt Gear oil to see if that would help suppress the action. So far, it didn't. So, we'll see what comes in the future. One of the nice folks on here has offered a reasonably new one for a negotiated price and, is not that far from us so, we'll maybe take him up on it.
Scott

We tow a 2014 Silverado. Installed the baseplate, wiring, and lights. Took about half a day to install everything and it tows great! We installed a blue ox baseplate and had to remove the front bumper, but it was still very easy.

"The reason I say that about Ready Brake is this. MY system, the actuator in particular is worn out. I can literally push that actuator forward BY HAND! Needless to say, it's shot. Well, me being me, I tore that thing apart. Folks, there's noting scientific or miraculous about the inner guts of a Ready Brake.

All there is, is spring, about 1.25" in diameter by about a couple of inches long. It's a pretty stout little spring. There's also a small, again, about 1.25" in diameter, little piston. That little piston has some tiny holes in it. And, it's got about three or four O-rings around it. That piston sits in a small bore. Inside that bore with the piston is a ounce or two or three of oil.

So, as the actuator moves, due to your toad pushing on it, that spring and, the piston move forward. The piston is supposed to act as a shock. All that oil, is forced through the tiny holes, from one chamber to another. And, the spring, pushes it all back.

But, as stated, mine is worn out. That makes for un-necessary brake action in the toad. Well, in all reality, all I needed from Ready Brake was the four O-rings and, maybe their oil, if it was something special.

But, Noooooooooooo, they didn't want me doing this. THEY wanted me to package that 50 lb. actuator up and, send it all the way to them, so THEY could put the four O-rings in it and, replace the spring. Well, to say the least, that's ridiculous. I mean, I've got it apart, OBVIOUSLY I know how the system works, and, what's needed to bring it back to life. There's nothing complicated about this system. No adjustments, no settings, NOTHING that some high trained technician has to do that I can't do.

So, my decision to walk away is my own. While it's a pretty good braking system for the money and, for the most part, about 99.999% of folks that use it are happy, including me for quite some time, I'm not all that happy with that much "slop" in the tow system anyways. There's plenty of movement, in multiple directions that I've never really been fond of.

So, hence, I might be migrating over to the M&G system, especially since I've got an air braked coach which would make the that type of system work flawless. We'll see."

I don't understand your problem.
O-rings are readily available from many sources, and they are pretty much standard sized, and Buna-N is the most common material. go buy some to fit.
Oil: Same thing. If it is red, it is probably Dexron ATF. If it is clear, it can be almost anything. If it matches your o-ring material, and is approximately the same viscosity, no problem.
Spring: All kinds of compression springs are available from many sources. Grainger and McMaster-Carr come immediately to mind. Again, no problem.

So, save your self some money and get the parts to overhaul your unit.
If it doesn't work, you have nobody to blame but yourself.
Good luck.

FIRE UP wrote:
Vic,
The reason I say that about Ready Brake is this. MY system, the actuator in particular is worn out. I can literally push that actuator forward BY HAND! Needless to say, it's shot. Well, me being me, I tore that thing apart. Folks, there's noting scientific or miraculous about the inner guts of a Ready Brake.

All there is, is spring, about 1.25" in diameter by about a couple of inches long. It's a pretty stout little spring. There's also a small, again, about 1.25" in diameter, little piston. That little piston has some tiny holes in it. And, it's got about three or four O-rings around it. That piston sits in a small bore. Inside that bore with the piston is a ounce or two or three of oil.

So, as the actuator moves, due to your toad pushing on it, that spring and, the piston move forward. The piston is supposed to act as a shock. All that oil, is forced through the tiny holes, from one chamber to another. And, the spring, pushes it all back.

But, as stated, mine is worn out. That makes for un-necessary brake action in the toad. Well, in all reality, all I needed from Ready Brake was the four O-rings and, maybe their oil, if it was something special.

But, Noooooooooooo, they didn't want me doing this. THEY wanted me to package that 50 lb. actuator up and, send it all the way to them, so THEY could put the four O-rings in it and, replace the spring. Well, to say the least, that's ridiculous. I mean, I've got it apart, OBVIOUSLY I know how the system works, and, what's needed to bring it back to life. There's nothing complicated about this system. No adjustments, no settings, NOTHING that some high trained technician has to do that I can't do.

So, my decision to walk away is my own. While it's a pretty good braking system for the money and, for the most part, about 99.999% of folks that use it are happy, including me for quite some time, I'm not all that happy with that much "slop" in the tow system anyways. There's plenty of movement, in multiple directions that I've never really been fond of.

So, hence, I might be migrating over to the M&G system, especially since I've got an air braked coach which would make the that type of system work flawless. We'll see.

Mike,
This may have already been answered but, in case it hasn't, here's what to look for. I too have a KNOB that electronically controls the shifting of the transfer case. It has 2, AUTO, 4HIGH, 4LOW. The high and low are represented by arrows. But, what's not seen is an "N" for neutral. It's all the way on the right. On my truck, the parking brake is set, your feet have to be on the brake pedal, the trans must be in neutral and the engine running. Then and only then, you rotate that KNOB all the way counter-clock wise to the end of it's travel and hold it there for about, 5 seconds or so.

At that time, the N will appear in RED. And, you'll see a message on the dash gauge that states: Stabilitrack is now off. From that point, you put the trans in park, release the parking brake and, shut off the engine and remove the key.

Now, like I stated in my first post to here on this thread, go to YOUR owners manual and find all the sections that have to do with flat towing behind a motor home. You may have to flip some pages to get all the complete info for setup to tow. The reason I emphasize this is because there might be some differences in procedure for your model and year, as opposed to mine.

But, that's the way it's basically supposed to be done. Good luck.
Scott

And, thanks to all for the nice comments on my work. As stated, it was actually a pretty simple job. I did it on our previous toad, an '11 Honda CRV EX-L AWD and, I had to tear off the whole front of the car to do the same thing, what a pain in the A$$.
Scott

On edit: I see that Don had sent the basic same instructions for finding neutral on the transfer case knob, while I was typing mine. Oh well, no biggie.

Well I can honestly say that I understand your frustration with Ready Brake. However, I suspect their issue is their potential legal liability. In the event they support/condone your rebuilding/refurbishing their product by simply supplying the materials therefore, they are potentially/probably accepting any and all legal liability that may arise as a result of any damage(s) that occurs that is the result of an issue with the Ready Brake subsequent to the refurbishing thereof, not done by them. We live in what has become an extremely litigious society with the resultant extreme caution regarding the potential exposure to legal liability. It may be appropriate for you to rethink your position as you have expressed satisfaction historically with the product.