towing a s10 two wheel drive 4 speed 4 down

[uncle ned]

   Has any one had towed a s10 chev 4 down.  Wonder if the straight drive trans would oil the back bearing

ned

[bobofthenorth]

We towed '92 Nissan with a 5 spd about 4000 miles one winter.  I never unhooked it from the time we left Nipawin until we got to Havasu and its still running strong about 4 years later despite considerable additional abuse from my oldest son.  I found something that said I should start the engine and run it in neutral every 500 miles but I don't recall whether I did or not.

[luvrbus]

Ned, you can get info on any towed make or model vehicle from FMCA.com   good luck

[Songman]

I think as long as it is a manual transmission you are probably alright since they don't have any sort of external cooling anyway.

[orfunauto/Darrell]

  I would guess that I've covered about 2000 miles in the past ten months towing a 1989 s-10 with a 5 speed manual without any problems at all.

[HB of CJ]

What year S10 and what manufacture 4-speed?  Manual or auto?  If it is a T4, then probably no problem.  If it is a Tremec, early Isuzu, ZF or an early 700R4,  then I dunno fur sures, but probably not.  Good luck.  HB of CJ

[rgrauto]

Hellow Uncle Ned,  I  hope everyone is well. On the s-10 towing 4-down I have seen some ,and towed some myself with no problems but the rear-output shaft just turns inside the top gears and no lube. the motor turns the input shaft and counter  shaft (cluster  gear)and all the other gears to lube.

  I  towed a  Isuzu Trouper  4x4 that did not have neutral in t-case so I bolted a L-shaped piece of metal near the rear axle, drilled  2-holes so that a muffler clamp with wing-nuts would hold the driveshaft  up and out of the way. The only bad thing was you had to un-bolt  shaft from r-diff. Just a cheap way to not damage trans. on a long trip. hth. Glen R

[white-eagle]

we've been towing our two wheel drive automatic with the engine running?  slight waste of fuel, but we had 2 bad experiences with faulty gps (some call it driver error, but not me).  putting the drive shaft up was a slight pain and would have been worse had we gotten onto a dead end again, in the dark.

so far every check up has been good and we've been doing this about 2 years, 2 trips to florida and back.  we use about 6 gal a day.

[ArtGill]

I've been towing my 2002 S10, five speed for about 5000 miles with no problems.  When we check the transmission grease I make sure it is full up to the hole, and put the plug back in before it runs out.  We do start the S10 and let it run for a few minutes when we stop for fuel.

Art

[busing704]

We have been towing a 1995 S10 for 10 years  and 2 motor homes The one thing you do not want to do is leave it in gear We did that one time not good  !!! But a new engine later it will be in Fla for Jacks fun and games.

[trailblazer2]

Ned;
I have a 1998 2wd ,and after one trip towing,I found out from a GM dealership,that the transmission will not have proper lubrication. The tow rig came back off of that rascal!

[JohnEd]

Tom,

I towed a Olds Toranado 10's of thousands of miles with 4 down and the engine running.  GM said that the trans was fully lubed at idle soooooo.  I got 2,000 miles to a 20 gal tank full but a friend that towed a Fiat automatic while running got WAY better MPG.

My "stick" Ranger 4X4 CANNOT be towed....not till you get a new chip that lets you select a neutral position in the transfer case.  So far so good.

I would think that a standard that needs the input shaft turning to lube the gears could be left running in neutral just as well as a automatic.  Right? 

If any of you have any thoughts about installing one of those "drive shaft disconnects" yourself.....think again.  I have been party to 5 or 6 installs and let me tell you that is no task for the uninitiated.  There is so much of that job that has to be "adjusted" just so with a Single Jack hand sledge and it can only be done on a hoist.  And i don't care if you heard about some guy that did it in his cellar garage.

John

[bottomacher]

There really is one definitive word on this subject: OWNERSMANUAL.

[uncle ned]

It is a 87 s10 with the Iron duke 4 cyl and 4 speed.  Don't know which one.

Would love to have a owners manual.

I am planning on giving it a try  not to much to lose. Would'nt mind having a manual for my econoline also

ned

[Peabody]

Check your owners manual S-10's are all different ,my 2000 says do not tow more than 35 miles at 55.Peabody