Safely towing an M35-How far?

[Bad-Karma]

I'm sure it's been covered before but,what is longest distance members feel is safe for one deuce towing another deuce using a medium towbar? Also what should be your top speed? Thanks.

 

[mangus580]

Well, I know recovry4x4 has towed them all over the east coast If that helps!

He even towed one from PA to florida behind his dually pickup talk about 'big ones'!!!

 

[Westech]

i dont know but im going to try 1800 miles in a couple weeks. (m35 towing a m35)

 

[mangus580]

I should note, one thing of benifit would be to plumb a brake line to activate the brakes like the 5 tons have.... i seem to recall seeing somewhere that it is possible, but not sure how you do it.

 

[Recovry4x4]

I've got over 3000 miles on the towbar. Besides what Mike pointed out, did 3 M35A2Cs from Baxley Ga to S Fla and one M35A2 sans engine from Columbus OH to S Fla. My towbar knows no bounds.

 

[Bad-Karma]

Recovery4x4,Any tips for towing?I've pulled M37's all over but have always had the weight ratio in my favor,never had this much weight evenly matched. Westech,sounds like you have your work cut out for you!(1800 miles!)Not going through the midwest by chance are you? BadKarma.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Collector Randy Emr tows deuces a lot with other deuces. He seems to do just fine. I'll share some of my experiences with you and you can take them at face value. Firstly I've been told that you can energize the brakes by supplying air to the J shaped line that goes from the control assy to the can on the booster. You would need to remove that J and make your own. Never tried it so who knows if the info is accurate. There are some different opinions on towbar length but I've always opted to keep the bar at it's shortest adjustment. I've made the mistake of towing a heavy vehicle with one that was lighter. The deuce can sure push you around hanging on the back. It's now my practice to move as much weight as I can to the towing vehicle. I do this my moving the batteries, spare tire, outside duals to the back of the towing vehicle. 5 tires and 2 batteris is right at 1000# and that makes a big difference. Plan your stops! It will take a while so do whatever is necessary to keep your reactionary gap large. The deuce will take over a mile to get up to highway speed so plan that as well. While on the interstate, I try to plan my stops at exits where the road crossing the interstate is an overpass. The off ramp is uphill and help to slow the truck and the entrance ramp is downhill which helps when merging. Bring help or plan on exiting the truck at least once in a hurry. While cruising down the road the deuce will track fine. When making gradual turns it wil do fine also. When making sharper turns, especially right turns, the towed deuce front wheels will sometimes turn the wrong direction stopping you in your tracks. Many many times I've had to bail out, crank the tires all the way in the correct direction and off I went. Some folks will advocate tying off the steering wheel but I prefer to deal with the turn issues rather than drag it around every corner. With an assistant they can ride in the towed vehicle while on surface roads to assist with turning. I also remove the 4 rear axle shafts and front drive flanges to prevent the differentials from turning. The front drive flanges will bolt on the rears o limit the grease drips but unless you have an extra pair, you will need to plug the hubs somehow. I find that removing the shafts is easier than crawming under the truck and taking out driveshafts. Lastly you will need to rig some type of lighting. I've rigger all sorts of different lighting. If you can score a trailer cable from an old trailer, you can use it to tap the lights on the towing truck and pile juice back to the lights on the other truck. Unplug the factory wiring and power them from the truck.
Be awake, aware and cognisant of whats going on and you will have no problems. If other questions or concerns pop up, just ask!

 

[Recovry4x4]

Oh, top speed! I think that will be controlled by your towing vehicle but I've done 60 for short bursts but thats really fast for a deuce with 900 tires. 50 is plenty acceptable.

 

[G744]

If you want to activate duece brakes remotely, remove the flared steel tubing between the control vavle and the end of the air cylinder on the air-pak booster unit. Buy a piece of tubing and nut to fit the socket. (or cull one from a parts widow and cut it in two. Put it in the end of the cylinder, and use a hose @ a couple clamps to hook it all the way up to your yellow (service) gladhand.

You will build air pressure in your new hose when braking, and that will in turn cause the hydraulic circuit to apply in your towed vehicle.

You can also unplug & tap into the 22-460 and 22-461 wires at the turn signal loom under the dash for stop & turn lights, and wire 21 for taillights.

dg

 

[Recovry4x4]

I've not had any problems cruising 55 while towing. Is there a problem with the transfer cases handling that speed? When I went to Lake City to get the wrecker, I was running way late. Drove the 340 miles home between 56 and 58 mph the whole way. No problems from anything and that wrecker weighed nearly 20,000# at the time. Almost forgot the 2568 mile ride to OH and back in 2003.

 

[Desert Rat]

The t-case is turning well over 3,000 rpm in overdrive. The tranny oil is being slung so hard it's hitting the side of the case instead of being vaulted over the top of the gears. This will dry out the shift fork and cause the fork to pop out of gear over time. This is what happened to me after 20K miles of hard and fast driving with 'Storm. The fork went bad and I couldn't keep her in the high end any more. I was fortunate to be able to get her in low and limp home after three loooooong days of driving. For short trips or to get around some one quickly it's fine to bring her up to 55 or so. But I did it for extended periods of time. It caught up with me on my last trip to Greenville. Right now I'm planning a trip from home to South Dakota, then Greenville and Atlanta and then return home. All of this at 45 mph. Yeah it bites, but it beats sitting on the side of the road with Gomer looking at you funny saying," Golly gee whiz Bud, I an't never seen one of these up close before. How do I git one?"

 

[Djfreema]

Use the transfer case to start out in low range, go to 5th then shift t case into high and start from 4th gear. On big hills, I use low range 5th gear, keeps the EGT's down versus high range 3rd gear. If you encounter dirt lots or loose road/slippery wet roads, sharp turns should be done very slow (5 mph or less) as the weight of the towed duece will push the back of the towing duece around into a jack knife situation, had almost happen to me twice, scary! My from experience. Its better to arrive safe and slow than not at all! Remember you have no roll over protection and if you have to do an emergency manuever at higher speeds, gravity is not on yuour side. Be safe and have fun!

 

[mangus580]

couldn't one make a really long hose, and activate the brakes by just connecting the trailer ports?

 

[Westech]

hmm now that would work. thats how the 5 tons do it .

 

[Katch1]

I don't think its about how far, but in how you go about it. a little bit of patience goes a long ways. Beeing prepared leads to success

 

[G744]

THe 5-ton has a automatic shuttle valve in the circuit full time to allow air into the cylinder from either the hydraulic control valve or the front gladhand. Wreckers and tractors have another one to allow the use of a Johnny bar in the cab.

Pumping air into the trailer output gladhand won't work as that port is normally ducted to atmosphere thru poppets. The control poppets are in the first hydraulic part of the circuit and won't know to operate via your air input.

Another item is the release time involved with such a long circuit back to the air-pak. Trailers with brakes any more complex than a single axle like the M-105 have a built-in quick release.

It would be wise to change out the service gladhand on any truck doing towing service with a quick-release model. Hanging brakes will lead to a lot of headaches, especially on slippery surfaces.

dg

 

[mangus580]

Makes sense...

so to do this, the only way would be to T into that line (or temporarily replace it?)

 

[Bad-Karma]

Just wanted to say thanks to all the members for the info! This brought up ALOT of things i did'nt realise about towing one of these beasts! Thanks again to all.

 

[m35a2cowner]

Shift-less

I have been told that all you need to tow an M35 is (so far as drive train is considered ) is to place the selector of the transfer case in neutral. I can see where turning might be improved by removing the shaft between 1 and 2 axle. Maybe even the front. But it doesn't damage the transmission if you do leave the drive shaft in, does it? Thanks

 

[G744]

Mangus: Yep, the only way to remotely activate G742 brakes is to tap into one end of the line on the air-pak as described.

If you're going to tow it a lot, mod it to the way 5-tons are done. Simple and reliable then.

dg