Towing jeep 4 wheels down or on a trailer?

Tom/Barb wrote:

If you maintain the toad.
So far over the years I've lost a 2 differentials 4 universals, and a couple tires. had the bar come loose of the jeep, bent the frame of the jeep, and always ended putting the jeep on a trailer to get it home.

Maintenance on the trailer over 50k miles 1 tire. road hazard.
When we bought the trailer used, I upgraded the tires to load range E and installed bearing buddies, changed the lights to LEDs, never had a problem.

You loose a differential the first thing you will notice is the smoke from the two ruined front tires.

these jeeps today are not your grandpa's free wheeling hub jeeps.

here's another thought, when that jeep is up on the trailer you not have a stone chip or a broken windshield .

Why did you lose the front differential? Had you been in deep water and not drain/refilled them afterwards? I haven't had an issue with front diffs over the years, and the D30's aren't that much different than the earlier Dana's. If you feel that having lockouts extends their life you can add them on. I think there is even a kit for the newer D44's in the Rubicon. Towing it four-down, as far as the front differentials are concerned, is no different than driving it around. If you had water in the oil or low/no oil the same thing would have happened. As far as I've seen, the D30's in the YJ's and up are just as strong, or stronger than the D20's with free wheeling hubs found in the CJ's.

As far as the tow bar coming loose, did a pin fall out or a component fail? My connections seem pretty beefy, and I make sure that the hairpins are still good and tight. I carry spares in case any of them feel like they have lost their spring.