flat tow with a spool?

[2grand4u]

can you do it without being dangerous

[Bnine]

Flat towing period is just lame. Might as well drive. All the same wear and tear anyways.

At least if you drive it, you can hear and feel driveline issues before anything bad happens. Flat towing you cant tell until something blows apart or a wheel falls off.

[Mudhawg]

yup trust me i know from experience i would have much rather been driving my jeep would have prevented this

[4PLAYZJ]

Flat towing period is just lame. Might as well drive. All the same wear and tear anyways.

I agree, trailering a rig is always better, except when you flat tow you dont have to listen to the ridiculesly loud humming noise from my tires, Thats why I am going to give it a shot.  Also due to the fact that I have no space to store a trailer.

[cLAY]

We already went thru this with you back in Oct.

No you can't safely flat tow your TJ with your ZJ, with or with out a spool it doesn't matter the ZJ just doesn't weigh enough. Obviously you aren't interested in our opinion on the matter so why are bothering asking. We'll just keep telling you the same thing.   We could tell you the diff would blow up if flat towed with a spool and you would still do it.

Go back and read October's thread. This time think about it from a logical point of view and not from a cost point of view.

I swear if hear someone say they want to flat tow because they can't afford a trailer/tow dolly one more time I'll cyber slap them! Not having money to do it right doesn't justify doing it stupid.

[tubby]

C'mon Ryan! What the heck?
You had this problem of posting multiple questions in the past. People took the time to answer your questions. You stated that you sometimes don't read your old posts. Lots of folks got mad at you for this. The offroad community is trying to help you. Just let them. Please think before you post . Most of what you ask is on the net anyway.

[4Banger_madness]

he actually bought a 1/2 ton truck

[cLAY]

Better, but still not great. As I said I jack knifed my 3/4ton diesel 4X4 in the rainflat towing a CJ......

[w squared]

Ryan:

Flat towing a rig is like towing a heavy trailer with no trailer brakes. This is something that makes guys that have a decade of trailering experience think twice. Until you've been pushed all over the road by a heavy trailer that's got serious issues, it's hard to understand just how wild a ride it can be.

For you (someone that has only a couple of years driving experience, let alone trailering experience) to flat tow a rig is an idea that just plain stinks. If you won't recpect the danger to your rig(s) and yourself, please respect the danger that you would pose to everyone else on the road.

[JackstandJohnny]

just out of curiousity, what mods have you done to a TJ to justify towing it?

i agree it'd be much nicer tow a rig out than not, but if you don't have a reliable tow rig, a trailer, or a place to stow said gadgets, where are you going to put them?
nothing will irk the parents more than you keeping 4 vehicles at their place.  and renting space to keep them is costly too. unless you have access to way more money than i did at 18, why not just drive the TJ to the trail head, and park it and drive that next to new ZJ as a DD?  a cool tail rig and reliable DD is a wicked combo.  i'm still at that level; i'd LOVE TO buy a new truck and trailer. but no place to put it.......... and can't afford it. 

i'm saying this becuase flat towing is just scary, and a waste of time.   

just my .02

[2grand4u]

i bought a truck to tow and put about 600 pounds of shizz in the back, and i flat tow because i cant afford the gas the 2.5 slams back on very short drives, have it pined in 4 th on the highway just to stay 90. i towed it this weekend and it towed great didn't burn hardly any gas in the tow rig and still have 3/4 tank in the tj.

i also break tested it at 50, came to a skidding stop on a dirt road and the truck didn't even start to jack knife

i was wondering if it would tow just as nice as it dose with a spool so i could weld it up (poor mans locker  )

[w squared]

i bought a truck to tow and put about 600 pounds of shizz in the back, and i flat tow because i cant afford the gas the 2.5 slams back on very short drives, have it pined in 4 th on the highway just to stay 90. i towed it this weekend and it towed great didn't burn hardly any gas in the tow rig and still have 3/4 tank in the tj.

i also break tested it at 50, came to a skidding stop on a dirt road and the truck didn't even start to jack knife

i was wondering if it would tow just as nice as it dose with a spool so i could weld it up (poor mans locker  )

So if you're not going to listen to us anyways, why do you even bother to ask the questions?

[2grand4u]

So if you're not going to listen to us anyways, why do you even bother to ask the questions?

what the hell, i have never asked a spool Q?, and i took advice on flat towing, my last flat tow Q? was if the grand would handle it and as some of you commented it wouldn't so i took action and bought a truck and put wight over the axle.

[Jafar]

i flat towed my TJ with a dodge hemi for 3 summers with not one problem ever...it's nice getting in a clean warm reliable truck after a long day

but i'm finished doing that...ordered a spool, gears etc...and now looking around in vulcan and high river a a 16' flat deck.

[w squared]

what the hell, i have never asked a spool Q?, and i took advice on flat towing, my last flat tow Q? was if the grand would handle it and as some of you commented it wouldn't so i took action and bought a truck and put wight over the axle.

My point was not that you've asked spool questions before, but that you asked about flat towing a TJ. We told you that while it's possible, it's not really a good idea.

You essentailly responded by saying "well I put some shiz in my truck and tested the braking once on a dry surface from a moderate speed, so I'm not worried about what you guys say."

A 3500 pound TJ that develops a mind of it's own on a wet/snowy/icy road will put your half pound truck into the ditch faster than you can say "Whoops I hydrolocked my ZJ again."

A half ton will handle towing a TJ better than a ZJ would, but that still doesn't make it a good idea. Given the choice, I wouldn't tow a 3500 pound trailer behind a one ton if it didn't have brakes. I've spent a lot of time pulling a lot of trailers down a lot of crappy roads - I learned some of these things the hard way. If you dislike me and don't want to listen to me, then listen to Clay.

If you really want to tow a TJ, get a trailer with some brakes that work. That's what will make the difference between doing it safely and having a very expensive pile-up. Either that or borrow a Peterbilt. Then you can safely flat to a TJ.