Towing a T-5?

Sam8950 · Jun 6, 2005

A question for any tranny experts out there. My '89 Mustang owners manual says not to tow on all fours for extended distances (i.e., like behind an RV) without disconnecting the drive shaft. Can anybody give some technical insight into this? It seems as though if in Neutral, everything except the final drive gearset would be disconnected.

Would a T-56 or T-45 have the same issues?

Thanks,
Sam

stang22 · Jun 6, 2005

If you are going to tow the vehicle more than 15-20 miles, I would disconnect the driveshaft. There is no way for the transmission to get lubrication with the driveshaft in place and the car in nuetral while being towed. Hope this helps.

Tim

Sam8950 · Jun 6, 2005

Yup, figured it was probably a lub thing.

Wknd_Warrior · Jun 6, 2005

Sam8950 said:
A question for any tranny experts out there. My '89 Mustang owners manual says not to tow on all fours for extended distances (i.e., like behind an RV) without disconnecting the drive shaft. Can anybody give some technical insight into this? It seems as though if in Neutral, everything except the final drive gearset would be disconnected.

It will ruin the transmission. I know first hand. ; ) Don't do it.

silverstripes · Jun 6, 2005

In tow everything in the trans is turning in neutral exept the input shaft and reverse idler. It doesn't hurt for a short period of time but it will be putting the load on the coast side of the gears in the trans and will wear them over a period of time. It should take a whole lot of towing to do any real damage but it would be best to remove the shaft. If it does damage the trans check out my web site.

89MustangGX · Jun 6, 2005

In an automatic, it's clear that it would hurt (no pump turning to pump the fluid).

In a T5 car, I'm not clear on what would hurt. The gears are spinning, fluid is getting to them, doesn't seem like any harm could come of it. ???

QBstang87 · Jun 6, 2005

dolly that bia bassackwards. lock the steering wheel up straight.

cjman15 · Jun 6, 2005

Make sure you don't just rely on the steering lock of the column... get a device that will HOLD it straight. The steering lock isn't strong enough to hold it going down the road at higher speeds and can do some harm.

stang22 · Jun 6, 2005

I thought when you tow something, you want as much tongue weight or forward weight as possible? Does this only apply when towing something on a trailer?

Tim

QBstang87 · Jun 6, 2005

yeah on a dolly theres not much tongue weight...with a trailer you set it up accordingly...i mean with bigger tow vehicles its not abig deal..but lighter tow vehicles tongue weight can become very important. i was told this, when i set up my jeep for towing...

weigh the tongue/hitch down with 300lbs, measure how high it is after its sagged with that 300lbs. then position your vechicle youre towing on the trailer to where the hitch/tongue drops that low, and strap it down there. thats what i use so far so good...i'm towing with a cherokee, that is basically evenly weighed to my car and trailer...if not outweighed...which isnt the best thing inthe world but it gets it done...

Sam8950 · Jun 7, 2005

QBstang87 said:
dolly that bia bassackwards. lock the steering wheel up straight.

Bought myself a tow dolly last night. Problem solved.

QBstang87 · Jun 7, 2005

Sam8950 said:
Bought myself a tow dolly last night. Problem solved.

for how much? i think a nice trailer aint much more money..but i never looked into it. got mine for 800 with new tires brakes on an axle all the straps i need andddd an electric winch! cant beat that, goes to show theres plenty of deals to be found.

Mean86GT · Jun 7, 2005

silverstripes said:
In tow everything in the trans is turning in neutral exept the input shaft and reverse idler. It doesn't hurt for a short period of time but it will be putting the load on the coast side of the gears in the trans and will wear them over a period of time. It should take a whole lot of towing to do any real damage but it would be best to remove the shaft. If it does damage the trans check out my web site.

no offense dude, but stfu about your ebay store, it sucks, no pictures for most of your stuff and misleading information.

Sam8950 · Jun 8, 2005

QBstang87 said:
for how much? i think a nice trailer aint much more money..but i never looked into it. got mine for 800 with new tires brakes on an axle all the straps i need andddd an electric winch! cant beat that, goes to show theres plenty of deals to be found.

$800 - seems to be the going price. This one is a Kar Kaddy 260, a few years old, but new tires, spare, new brakes, two sets of straps - both in good condition. I found one for $600, but it was gone before I could get to it and it didn't have the extras.

A good tandem car hauler trailer with brakes would probably be at least twice that much I think, and then there's the problem of storing that big hummer. We've just started the RV thing, but I've heard several times that it's had to find a place for the dolly in some campgrounds, let alone a big trailer.

TheUser · Jun 8, 2005

stang22 said:
If you are going to tow the vehicle more than 15-20 miles, I would disconnect the driveshaft. There is no way for the transmission to get lubrication with the driveshaft in place and the car in nuetral while being towed. Hope this helps.

Tim

If you pull the driveshaft, the fluid is all gonna leak out of the tranny (I guess unless you plug it real quick).

and to Sam: The driveshaft still turns along w/ the rear gear

Sam8950 · Jun 8, 2005

TheUser said:
and to Sam: The driveshaft still turns along w/ the rear gear

Though I didn't state it very clearly, I was originally talking about the tranny final drive gears, not the rear end. For towing all four down, I would think that the rear drive shaft connection would be the one to undo, otherwise, that sucker's going to be flopping everywhere! Talk about damage.

Daggar · Jun 8, 2005

I towed my 86 from Delaware to Wisconsin on a dolly with the car in neutral and the driveshaft connected with the rear wheels on the ground the whole way. Did not bother it in the least. Once I got to Cheese Ville, I pulled the car off the dolley, turned in the dolley to U-haul, and drove the car the rest of the way to Illinois. My only concern the whole way was about dragging my tail pipes on the ground (which didn't happen). Worked out well.

silverstripes · Jun 8, 2005

Mean86GT said:
no offense dude, but stfu about your ebay store, it sucks, no pictures for most of your stuff and misleading information.

There is NOTHING misleading in my eBay store. The statement was off topic, uncalled for and down right rude. We sell driveline parts just to help fellow Mustang enthusiasts. We are professional auto technicians and that's how we make our living. I'm not getting into a pissing contest with anyone that lacks the respect to not insult others in public.

Mustang5L5 · Jun 8, 2005

89MustangGX said:
In a T5 car, I'm not clear on what would hurt. The gears are spinning, fluid is getting to them, doesn't seem like any harm could come of it. ???

Well, it works like this. The counter gear is the only part of the T-5 that is soaked in the fluid. The input shaft spins the countergear when you let out the clutch and put power to the trans. The countergear then flings fluid everywhere in the trans giving all the gears a good soaking.

When you tow, you are driving the trans in reverse. The mainshaft spins....and that's all. It drives 5th gear which is also soaking in fluid but 5th gear is located in the tailhousing. The countergear and input shaft are not spinning therefor the fluid is NOT being thrown up onto the top gears. You are basically running it dry. After a few miles, the fluid that was soaked into the mainshaft bearings is flung outwards and you begint to score the mainshaft...which leads to trans noise.

Cliffs Notes: The t-5 is properly lubricated when driven by the input shaft. When driven by the driveshaft, the trans is not lubricated and can be damaged.

89MustangGX · Jun 8, 2005

Ok, following you so far -- but, what is spinning in there that's not getting lubricated that should be?

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