Remco transmission lube pump

[bhildreth]

I am new to Class A's and toads. I travel with 4 pedal bikes that I wish to keep out of the elements. I am considering putting them in a pickup bed with a topper to tow. Pickups seem to tow well. Another idea is to tow a van which might make access to and loading the bikes even easier. Remco's website says a Chevy van AWD will tow flat with a trani lube pump. Sounds like $1500 to have one installed. But pickup bed toppers aren't cheap either. Anyone with experience with this problem or with lube pumps?
Thanks

[mfinnerty]

if you go the pickup bed topper route, be sure to measure the heigth needed with the bikes setting as if they were in the truck bed. Mine just barely would fit upright through the opening when I had a topper on my last pickup.

[bhildreth]

What kind of coach do you have?

Trucks can be pretty heavy to tow.

Do you know what your weight ratings are?
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I have a Tiffin Allegro that'll pull 5000#. So i'll be nearly maxed as you say.

Thanks for all your comments.

[Dutch_12078]

I've towed my two RAV4's over 40K miles with a Remco pump and no issues other than the cold weather one that Lug Nut mentioned. I did my own installations in about 2 hours, with no need to completely drain the fluid or drop the pan. The fluid pickup line connects to a supplied adapter that replaces the drain plug on my installation. I did loose almost a quart of fluid while installing the fitting and hose, but that was expected. We already owned our 2002 RAV4 when we bought a coach that could tow it, so adding the pump was cheaper than buying something different. When we wanted a newer toad, we were happy with the RAV4 we had, and since everything from the 2002 could be transferred to a new 2011 RAV4 except the base plate, there was little cost to make the switch, given that I do the work. My take would be if you currently have a vehicle that you like, and it can be modified for towing at a reasonable cost, then go for it. Otherwise, buy one that's towable without a pump that fits your needs and save the pump cost. The other tow gear costs will be about the same, regardless of make or model.

[wa8yxm]

Remco makes 3 products to make a non-towable towable, I have used 2 of them.

The Drive Shaft Disconnect (RWD)
The Axle Lock (FWD)
And the LP-1 Lube Pump (Many different vehicles).

The axle lock worked very well indeed.

However it won't help you and it's not usable on my current towed so I had to go with the LP-1.

I have heard stories of lube pump failures but, this is a guess, I think Remco has made some changes,, The unit I have now is as close to foolproof as it can be made.

Your estimate of the installed price is very close, I think mine was 16xx installed by the way.

NOTE: You must have tow lights on yoru towed as well.. The lube pump includes a tow-light and umbilical so you do not need to buy these.. In my case it was of the "Add-a-lamp" type but the instruction manual for the LP-1 indicates a universal diode kit.

Operation and installation.

They drain the transmission, remove the pan, drill a hole and install an outlet for the pump to suck up tranny fluid, re-assemble and re-fill.

They cut one of the transmission lines and splice in a "T" fitting (I suspect it contains a check valve as well). this gets the pump outlet, there is also a pressure switch in the line.

Inside the motor home is a box. It has a switch, a light and a sonalert (Noise maker)

Motor home engine switch off: Box is dead

Motor home engine running (Key on).
No car Box off, Silence. No light
NO Car, box on, ALARM: Red light
Car, box off, ALARM: Red light.
Car hooked up, Box on: Silence and green light.

Only problem.. The umbilical had a shorted connector on it, Dealer fixed at time of install.

[willald]

I tend to agree with Bumpyroad here - If you're buying a vehicle regardless for towing, buy one that is flat towable from the factory. If you know you're going to flat tow, don't buy one that requires expensive modifications to do it.

The pickup with a cap on it sounds perfect for carrying a bunch of bikes. A pickup can be very useful for lots of other things, too.

If you're comparing the cost of adding a cap to a pickup to the cost of a Remco lube pump addition to a van, don't forget to factor in the cost to install that lube pump. That will add another $1k or so to the cost of the pump (unless you're handy enough to do it yourself).

I think you'll find, you can get a cap for a pickup for less than what the lube pump would cost.

As to specific experience with a lube pump: We installed a lube pump on our Kia minivan and towed it the first year/season we owned a MH. Great product and great company that stands behind it pretty well. Worked OK for a while, but then had some leaking problems that pretty much destroyed our trust in the pump, didn't want to use it anymore. Something about watching the pump bust a leak and spew 6 quarts of tranny fluid like a huge geyser all over everything, that image is kinda burned in my head and I never could trust the pump after that, haha.

Dealer fixed it (at Remco's expense and theirs), and it has worked fine ever since that incident. However, I had/have issues trusting it since then, so we ended up trading our other vehicle in for one thats flat towable from the factory, a Ford Fusion Hybrid. Towing is a bit more stress free for us now, when we don't have to worry about that pump.

Sooo, thats why I say, if you are buying a vehicle anyway and can avoid dealing with a modification like a lube pump, you should. 🙂

[Bumpyroad]

if the only purpose is in towing the pedal bikes why not just buy a small UHaul type trailer? but if you want that truck/van to tow, it is foolish IMHO to buy something that needs a lube pump, drive shaft disconnect, etc. to tow. buy something that is approved to tow 4 down in the first place, in the owner's manual, not given third party blessing.
bumpy

[ArchHoagland]

What kind of coach do you have?

Trucks can be pretty heavy to tow.

Do you know what your weight ratings are?

[Lug_Nut]

Yes, I've run the Remco Transmission pump in my Escalade for 4 years and many miles. No real issues at all. The only hic up is when travelling in very cold weather at the day start out. The tranny oil is very cold and may stall the pump briefly. A few miles warms up the tranny and all is good. What I did from there on was to warm up the Escalade first thing in the morning and no issues.
It comes with a dash mounted alarm that will sound and light should the motor stop or becomes disconnected.