Buddy stopped over tonight, we are taking his motorhome 275 miles on a hunting trip! He recieved a towbar with the motorhome, and wants me to fab up a mount on his 2001 Chevy Silverado 4X4 with an auto & electronic shift T.C.!!!!!!!!!! Is it as easy as hooking it up and shifting to neutral? Or DON'T tow?

:beer: :beer: :beer:

put the tcase in N...

Pulling the dlines is always good insurance. Give the local dealer a call, se what he says. Sounds like an expensive truck to ruin by taking the advice from guys off this BB.

ps....no offense Elfie......

ps....no offense Elfie......

lol, none taken - I was about to suggest pulling the rear driveshaft, but then read it was a 4x4. So, if Tcase is in N, then the tranny should not spin at all, right?

Put down the crack pipe Elf. No matter what the tcase is in, the dline will always spin some portion of it.

I dont think it will hurt any thing

keith, i know that the tcase output shaft will spin, but the concern is the tranny. he doesn't want the TC doing weird stuff while flat towing. Which honestly, because it's an ECM-controlled tranny, it won't do a damn thing unless the ignition is on.

Ah, I see what you were saying. But, he did not ask about hurting the tranny. He just stated that it had an auto with an electric shift tcase. I would pull the shaft. With the tcase in neutral, the rear output shaft/bearing will be spinning from the rear dline, and chances are, without the gears in the tcase moving, there will be no lubi-dubi to it.

ahh yes, like the infamous D300. I guess it depends on what case it is?? gotta find someone to ask about that, 'cause i dunno

pull the drivelines unless it has a slipyoke rear line. if it has a slipyoke line, pull the pinion end and hang it up under there very securely to keep the fluid in the t-case. pull the front one too, just to be on the safe side. chevy's have some kind of vacuum disconnect front diff right??!!??

Originally posted by spencurai
pull the drivelines unless it has a slipyoke rear line. if it has a slipyoke line, pull the pinion end and hang it up under there very securely to keep the fluid in the t-case. pull the front one too, just to be on the safe side. chevy's have some kind of vacuum disconnect front diff right??!!??

So, if it had a fixed yoke at the tcase, you would pull both ends? Who ever pulls the entire d-line out?

do not flat tow!

the only new model chevy 4x4 that the factory says can be flat towed is the tracker. when the rear driveshaft spins, so does the output shaft of the t case, but if thye case is i neutral the rest of the gears wich circulate oil to the output shaft bearing dont spin then the output bearing blows up

On my 99 tahoe with an auto & electronic shift T.C. the dealer said to put the T-case in N and it was safe to flat tow.
:usa:

Call a local motorhome seller and ask them. My bosses father-in-law just bought a new S-10 to pull behind their 40 ft motorhome and they installed some disconnect for the driveline for flat towing. I have not got to check it out yet but call and ask. Can't hurt.

Just unbolt the d-shaft from the rear pinion, hang it under the bed, and call it good, you have your ass covered and the only thing your wearing out is bearings, gear lube, and tires.

Originally posted by Blazerman1
On my 99 tahoe with an auto & electronic shift T.C. the dealer said to put the T-case in N and it was safe to flat tow.
:usa:

Sure he did....And I bet he keeps his service bays full of tcase repairs.

What does the Silverado owners manual say about towing?

Pull the rear shaft at the rear pinion. Also check the front shaft and make sure the front output on the t-case is going to get lubed w/o the case running. It may also need to be pulled for the tow.

IIRC, my 2500HD 4x4 manual says flat towing is ok with the case in neutral.

Originally posted by BadDog
IIRC, my 2500HD 4x4 manual says flat towing is ok with the case in neutral.

Even if you have the push-button t-case shifter (my 2500HD doesn't), it's not the same T-case as the push-button 1/2 tons. They get an AWD mode that the 2500HD's & 3500's don't.

TEX