Lube pump kit for 4 down

[Georgia_Cracker]

It's time to replace my tow vehicle. The vehicle I want requires a lube pump. What are the pros and cons on using a lube pump, also what can I expect it to cost?

[wa8yxm]

The pro's are simple. It keeps the tranny lubricated and thus prevents it from becoming toast (Burning up and sizing up)

The cons: It eats electricity, IT can (in theory) Fail and it costs money.

I think mine ran around 1400 dollars installed, a six hour job.

One thing, the Remco Lube Pump does come with a light kit for towing so you do not need to go out and buy one..

The only problem I had was with the lights.. I needed to improve the ground connection AT THE MOTOR HOME END.. ask your installer to do that for you, Simply, Just run the ground wire to a lug and put it under a bolt will do it.

DO not use the "Scotch Lock" type connector to connect it to the flat four connector leads, that won't work properly.

[jerseyjim]

Buy a car that CAN be towed 4 down. Quite a few out there.

[willald]

We towed a Kia van using a lube pump for 'bout a year, before going to another vehicle (Ford Fusion hybrid) that doesn't need such.

As already said, you can expect the lube pump kit itself to cost around $1000. Unless you do the install yourself, you can figure on installation costing you another $500-1000 on top of that.

I will say that if you do plan on doing the install yourself, look over the installation instructions, and look everything over realll good under the hood of your vehicle. Make sure you're confident you can do it, complete all steps, before you start. Reason I say this is, this installation can get very, very challenging on some vehicles. On ours, I let the dealer do it, and am very glad I did! Technician had to take the motor and transmission mounts loose and raise them up briefly, to complete the install. There is no way in h*** I could have done that install! Took him literally all day to complete it, so I'd say he earned the 6 hours labor I paid for on that job. 🙂

Anyway, the lube pump itself, once installed and set up correctly, works great, and is a good solution to allow you to flat tow a vehicle you could not otherwise. Its a good choice if you want to tow a vehicle you already own, and want to avoid buying a new vehicle. Remco has come a long way with this product, and the monitor panel they use now pretty well eliminates many of the concerns there used to be with these pumps.

However, in your situation, where you're already buying a new vehicle anyway....JMO, but if I was in that situation, I think I would try to just buy a vehicle that is flat towable in the first place, from the factory, without having to mess with a lube pump. The lube pump will work, but it is just one more potential failure point, one more thing to worry about. Having towed vehicles both with and without said pump, I will tell you from experience, that not having to worry about a lube pump does make for more stress free camping. Its just one less thing to worry about.

Anyway, your $$, your decision obviously, but just want to throw that out there. Good luck and happy camping, whatever you decide. 🙂

[Lost_Motion]

I installed a Remco lube pump on my '96 Dodge Caravan. Takes longer than the estimated install time. A piece of cake!! It's time consuming, but us retirees usually have plenty of that. The most time consuming part is checking to make sure that the correct output from the tranny goes to the input of the cooler on your radiator (checked mine about 2K times). Also, there is a set of wires that have to be threaded inside split plastic tubing for the length of the MH. These wires go from a pressure switch on the pump to a indicator light on the dash of the MH. Switch on: Green light = pump running. Red light = pump not running. Total cost approx. $900.00 (Kit only). Key words....double, triple, quadruple check your work and plan ahead. Everything works great.
Ed

[Bea_PA]

We towed a van for 50,000 with a lube pump. No problems That was 10 years ago. Plugged it in the other day to see if it worked but I guess the seals were dried out. lol

[lostscout]

Just had a new Remco lube pump and base plate installed for $3,300 out the door. That was the lowest cost from 5 bidders.

[Carvin_Marvin]

Call Remco they will give you the cost. They are usually at the big tent in Quartzsite in January if you are here then.

[Dutch_12078]

Our Remco tranny lube pump has been in service for over 40,000 miles on two toads, and is still going strong. Figure on paying around $1,000 for the specific kit for your vehicle, plus installation costs if you're not mechanically inclined. The first vehicle that I installed the pump on (2002 RAV4) is still going strong as the car that gets left behind at our base cottage while we travel. Our 2011 RAV4 now wears the pump and follows us around the country.

[daytripper63]

I towed a Toyota Highlander with a lube pump for a couple years and still have it as a driver and no problems at all. I would definitely do a lube pump again if needed although now I am towing a jeep so no need