Anyone towing an older Jeep YJ?

[way2roll]

We have our CRV set up to tow but I also own a 1987 Jeep YJ that I thought I would set up as well. It's a manual with a 3" lift and larger tires if that matters. Does anyone tow an older Jeep like this? Any issues? How is set up? Thinking this would be far easier to mount base plates on than the CRV was.

[Mike_W]

Same as some of these fellas. 93 YJ auto tranny. Easy, no issues. I'd go three hours and stop anyway and many times I'd start the jeep at idle for batteries. I had stock YJ front bumper and had smitty built drop down tow bar. cheap and was fine.

[way2roll]

Thanks for all the replies. If I can find a cheaper set of base plates I may give it a go.

[john_dw]

My old jeep is a 1993 yj wrangler with the 4.0 inline six with the 5-speed manual transmission. I have been towing for the last 15yrs with no problems without any modifications. Tow mode is TC in neutral and transmission in 1 gear. This is the way the service manual calls for it to be flat towed.

[Campinghoss]

I have a 1988 yj also. It is a 6 cylinder four speed. The only mod I have done is put a manual four wheel locking system on it instead of the oem one. I have pulled it behind a 40 foot dp motorhome. I sold my motorhome a few years back and went back to a fiver. But, I now pull it behind my F-350 to the outer banks when we are staying down there for 3 months or so.
All you have to do is put the transmission in neutral, put the transfer case in neutral, leave the key in it so the steering wheel will not lock and go.
For the tow bar, I purchased a hitch from Agri Supply and had a friend weld it to my bumper. I installed safety chains to make sure it never went anywhere in case. Simple set up. As far as stopping, I can not tell it is behind me in my truck or when I had the motorhome.

[way2roll]

Everything I have read on this topic seems to be that 50% say it can be towed without mods and 50% says it can't. Some claim to have towed theirs for thousands of miles, no mods, no problems, Others claim to have destroyed the tranny. Seems like it comes down to the specific tranny. One tranny has a true neutral in which case the shafts won't spin to lube the trans. Another trans does not have a true N and when the TC is put in neutral it actually locks the front and rear shafts together and allows them to spin and lube and these tow just fine. Some argue TC in N and gear in 1, others argue to put it in 5 in case it slips into gear and it won't spin at 20k rpms.

Funny thing, I don't know what trans is in my jeep. It has the 4.2 but a trans from a 4cyl for more torque.

In any event the base plates are super simple to install.

Base plates run about $500 so it's an expensive experiment. And could be more expensive if something breaks. As we already have the crv, wondering if it's even worth it.

[way2roll]

Tom/Barb wrote:
The front axels are no problem,, lock out hubs are great,, the rear are not so great. we found that removing the drive shaft was necessary for long trips, 3 sets of universals was enough to need the extra work. we liked the trailer option too. but there ya go, 4 tires, 2 axels to maintain.

interesting. I'm not interested in towing it a lot, maybe one/2 times a year for a day. But I'm not into doing a lot of work to make it happen since we have been towing the CRV for years and it's easy.

[Tom_Barb]

The front axels are no problem,, lock out hubs are great,, the rear are not so great. we found that removing the drive shaft was necessary for long trips, 3 sets of universals was enough to need the extra work. we liked the trailer option too. but there ya go, 4 tires, 2 axels to maintain.