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Grit_dog's avatar
Grit_dog
Navigator
Jul 29, 2020

CJ5 Flat Tow?

So the ole CJ5 has some new wheel bearings in her and some new tires.
Considering flat towing it. Im aware about towing w the Dana 20 t case.
My question is who has towed these before and how fast can ya drive?
I mean, the Jeep when being driven is wound out top gear at about 65mph. Mechanically it drives pretty tight, though.
Think I could rip off 65-70mph towing it, safely, or is that asking too much out of such a short narrow wheel base vehicle?
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Aug 27, 2020
    ^Thanks!
    It’s a 20 footer though. That’s original paint except hood and 1 fender were repaired and repainted at some point. (That’s why they look worse than the rest)
    I found a tow bar for $20. Picking up a couple bumper mounts and will see how she tows.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Aug 24, 2020
    The rvnet detectives might notice that those tires are from 1987! A bit newer than the ones that are on the original wheels, lol, but here's the new baloney skins!

  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Aug 24, 2020
    Y-Guy wrote:
    Grit dog wrote:
    Mainly looking for personal experience, if they’re ok, or a mess at highway speeds?
    And what speed? If I have to do 55 mph it’ll stay put in the garage, lol.

    Wish I could help on that, never owned a CJ5, all my experience comes from seeing them on flatbeds at the offroad campgrounds we stayed at.


    Thanks man. Hadn't seen that document yet but super helpful to see a recommendation that it won't seize up the case or burn a bearing. I feel it would run fine at 60-65mph. It does ok at those speeds under it's own power, but feels pretty fast for something with like a 4' long wheelbase, lol.



    Taking a trip out to the shore in Oct and something to bomb around on the beach besides the 4 wheeler would be cool!
  • Y-Guy's avatar
    Y-Guy
    Moderator
    Aug 03, 2020
    Grit dog wrote:
    Mainly looking for personal experience, if they’re ok, or a mess at highway speeds?
    And what speed? If I have to do 55 mph it’ll stay put in the garage, lol.

    Wish I could help on that, never owned a CJ5, all my experience comes from seeing them on flatbeds at the offroad campgrounds we stayed at.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Aug 02, 2020
    travisc wrote:
    you could consider full hubs on all 4 corners- where you could unlock all the wheels and only the wheel bearings spin. Not cheap but the best solution.


    Yeah the full float rear conversion with hubs is sweet. This at this time is not warranted for me. Too much work just to tow it a couple places.
    Thx for the suggestion though.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Aug 02, 2020
    Y-Guy wrote:
    This is nothing offcial, you may have seen it already but it does address the speed limit for some, usually no more then 50mph.
    Willys / Jeep Flat Towing
    (CJ2A, CJ3A, CJ3B, CJ5, CJ7 and newer)


    I hadn’t seen that particular synopsis. Thanks!
    I’ve seen warnings that long distance towing a Dana 20 “can” starve a bearing but under 150mi is ok. And then talked to a family that has flat towed 2 of them for years and years cross country even, with no issue.
    Mainly looking for personal experience, if they’re ok, or a mess at highway speeds?
    And what speed? If I have to do 55 mph it’ll stay put in the garage, lol.
  • mowermech's avatar
    mowermech
    Explorer
    Jul 30, 2020
    travisc wrote:
    you could consider full hubs on all 4 corners- where you could unlock all the wheels and only the wheel bearings spin. Not cheap but the best solution.


    I installed the Warn rear hub kit on a Tuxedo Park CJ many years ago. It worked great. Since then, I have read that Warn no longer makes the kit due to lack of sales. Is this true? If so, who else makes such a kit these days?
    I have also read that the non-towable transfer case can be made towable by welding vanes on a certain gear for splash lubrication. Has anybody done this? Did it work?
  • travisc's avatar
    travisc
    Explorer
    Jul 29, 2020
    you could consider full hubs on all 4 corners- where you could unlock all the wheels and only the wheel bearings spin. Not cheap but the best solution.

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