Towing a B2 on a dolly?

[rusty ol ranger]

Im going to possibly look at and probably buy an 86 BII.

Its 2 hrs away so instead of taking my 10mpg 460 with my massive trailer i was going to spend 50 bucks and rent a Uhaul dolly to tow with the Jeep. U haul says theyll allow it.

Its got a manual Tcase, Manual Hubs, and a manual trans. If i put both the T case and trans in neutral i shouldnt have to pull the driveshaft correct?

 

[superj]

i would say no. its not going to turn the trans or anything in the tcase except the output bearing.

maybe someone can give a for sure on that output bearing being ok though. i am not sure if its splash oiled, which would make it ok, or if its got some type of spray set up which might not work if hte input side is not turning

 

[sgtsandman]

If it has a manual transfer case, that should be all you have to do.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Thats kinda what i figured.

Thanks fellas.

But i may take a wrench and my MAPP anyways. Are they 12mm 12 points? I think thsts whats on my ranger

 

[sgtsandman]

Thats kinda what i figured.

Thanks fellas.

But i may take a wrench and my MAPP anyways. Are they 12mm 12 points? I think thsts whats on my ranger

They should be the same size and I do believe they are 12mm 12 point on the Ranger.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

They should be the same size and I do believe they are 12mm 12 point on the Ranger.

One more question...ive never towed with a dolly before....should i lock the steering wheel? Or not? Any other tips?

Can you back one up?

 

[don4331]

You want the transmission in 4th and the transfer case in neutral.

The output shaft of the transfer case spins the pump and so lubricates the transfer case bearings & gears.​

The transmission in 4th prevents the transfer case input from even turning the transmission output shaft slowly (The viscosity of the oil would natural tend to turn it, 2 hours of slow turning without oil wouldn't be good for the transmission bearings. Tranmission oil is only thrown over bearings when the input and therefore the counter shaft are spinning. 4th gear is best - on the oft chance the transfer case slips into gear it turns the engine no faster than it might spin when driving).​

​

U-haul trailers have surge brakes with no lock out, so you they are very difficult to back up i.e. not recommended (The F250 with 7.5 could force the issue with just a BII loaded).

I don't lock the steering wheel as I don't like all the force on the little pin in the steering column - you can break it reefing on the wheel, so full force of truck.... That said, moving the steering back and forth without engine running with force oil out of the box (fills the pump). With post '98s with all the oil in the rack, it will overflow the pump. But it doesn't hurt anything other than getting it oily. When you start the engine at your destination, turn to full lock a couple times and oil will return to the box.

Dolly puts a lot of weight on the tongue; there is no way to set up load distribution hitch, so tow vehicle will be light on front tires (SuperCab Ranger - minus engine was to the point of being sketchy behind a RC Ranger - I just needed to get the SC Ranger to point where I could get the full size to connect, I wouldn't have wanted to travel any distance. It took a jack to lift the hitch off the Ranger).

Anymore questions?

 

[scotts90ranger]

I think dollys have some pivot so you don't have to leave the steering unlocked but not sure... The transfer case has a pump in it, put it in neutral and the transmission in any gear (transmission does not have a pump and will not lubricate in neutral so just needs something to stop the gears from turning). There is no reason to pull the rear shaft with a manual transfer case.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

You want the transmission in 4th and the transfer case in neutral.

The output shaft of the transfer case spins the pump and so lubricates the transfer case bearings & gears.​

The transmission in 4th prevents the transfer case input from even turning the transmission output shaft slowly (The viscosity of the oil would natural tend to turn it, 2 hours of slow turning without oil wouldn't be good for the transmission bearings. Tranmission oil is only thrown over bearings when the input and therefore the counter shaft are spinning. 4th gear is best - on the oft chance the transfer case slips into gear it turns the engine no faster than it might spin when driving).​

​

U-haul trailers have surge brakes with no lock out, so you they are very difficult to back up i.e. not recommended (The F250 with 7.5 could force the issue with just a BII loaded).

I don't lock the steering wheel as I don't like all the force on the little pin in the steering column - you can break it reefing on the wheel, so full force of truck.... That said, moving the steering back and forth without engine running with force oil out of the box (fills the pump). With post '98s with all the oil in the rack, it will overflow the pump. But it doesn't hurt anything other than getting it oily. When you start the engine at your destination, turn to full lock a couple times and oil will return to the box.

Dolly puts a lot of weight on the tongue; there is no way to set up load distribution hitch, so tow vehicle will be light on front tires (SuperCab Ranger - minus engine was to the point of being sketchy behind a RC Ranger - I just needed to get the SC Ranger to point where I could get the full size to connect, I wouldn't have wanted to travel any distance. It took a jack to lift the hitch off the Ranger).

Anymore questions?

Now im confused. Uhauls instructions say the wheel must be locked. Lol.

Im towing it with my Grand cherokee...its a 5000lb vehicle. BII and tow dolly probably in the 4200lb neighboorhood.

My F250 is broke at the minute....otherwise id throw my 18ft trailer on and put the BII on that and not think twice, plus the 50 bucks i spend on the dolly will save me 100 in fuel.

Wouldnt a tow dolly put very little tounge weight on?

 

[sgtsandman]

One more question...ive never towed with a dolly before....should i lock the steering wheel? Or not? Any other tips?

Can you back one up?

I'll have to defer to the others and @ericbphoto and @Jim Oaks since they've actually towed with a dolly. I only know what others have said from previous conversations.

The dolly platform does have some pivot but I don't know if the pivot is enough to ease the stress on the steering lock pin or not.

 

[snoranger]

As said already… transfer case in neutral, trans in gear.
Lock the steering. Dollys have their own pivot point and you don’t need a second one.

 

[ericbphoto]

Yeah. Go with what Sno said. TRS-2's steering dudntlock because his last alignment was done without centering the steering wheel. It might have been wise to strap it to a door handle or something. Because the wheels did turn and we had to adjust tie-down straps occasionally. We dolly'd it with the rear drive shaft disconnected from the axle and strapped up out of the way.

 

[don4331]

Now im confused. Uhauls instructions say the wheel must be locked. Lol.

Im towing it with my Grand cherokee...its a 5000lb vehicle. BII and tow dolly probably in the 4200lb neighboorhood.

My F250 is broke at the minute....otherwise id throw my 18ft trailer on and put the BII on that and not think twice, plus the 50 bucks i spend on the dolly will save me 100 in fuel.

Wouldnt a tow dolly put very little tounge weight on?

I'm just telling you how I've done; probably 1/2 of the 20 Rangers I've fixed up came home on a dolly, over 8,000 km.

I know it doesn't need the 2nd pivot point, I just don't want it to break the steering column pin.​

If nervous follow U-hauls instructions.​

The front wheels of the BII will be ahead of the wheel of the tow dolly...so 10% of the BII front axle weight (60% of the 3,400 lbs) + empty tow dolly tongue (~100lbs) will be on the ball (~300lbs).

BII driveshaft with its CV joints is bit of PIA to disconnect - tough to get socket in to break the bolts loose.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I'm just telling you how I've done; probably 1/2 of the 20 Rangers I've fixed up came home on a dolly, over 8,000 km.

I know it doesn't need the 2nd pivot point, I just don't want it to break the steering column pin.​

If nervous follow U-hauls instructions.​

The front wheels of the BII will be ahead of the wheel of the tow dolly...so 10% of the BII front axle weight (60% of the 3,400 lbs) + empty tow dolly tongue (~100lbs) will be on the ball (~300lbs).

BII driveshaft with its CV joints is bit of PIA to disconnect - tough to get socket in to break the bolts loose.

Probably not hard to slip a wrench on it is it?

Now yall got me paranoid about the tcase getting knocked out of neutral goin down the road lol. I know its highly unlikely to happen though...most manual cases i had too a bit of force to get them into gear...they dont just slide like butter.

Like everything else i overthink it. I know lots of people with alot less general experience with vehicles use those dollys everyday. Lol.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

As said already… transfer case in neutral, trans in gear.
Lock the steering. Dollys have their own pivot point and you don’t need a second one.

Alright. Thats what ill do then.