How to tow the CRD

irunmiles · **Posted:** Wed Nov 13, 2013 6:48 pm

I need to tow my CRD for ~200 miles on a tow dolly behind a Ram 3500. I plan to rent a U-haul dolly that you drive the front wheels on to and secure them with straps. The rear wheels will be on the ground. What setting should the transmission and transfer case be in for towing with the front wheels off the ground?

mikekj_cda · **Posted:** Wed Nov 13, 2013 8:09 pm

From what I understand and when I towed my KJ a few years back, the two wheel u haul dolly cannot support the jeep plus given its rear wheel drive, you need to actually get the full car hauler/flat bed trailer that u haul offers. Uhauls site shouldn't even let you select the dolly trailer once you input you're hauling a Liberty flpj thier menu/reservation site. Alternatively you could flat tow it with tranny and transfer case both in neutral. You would obviously need a front receiver on the KJ as well. Hope this makes sense. Anybody else chime in if I'm left field with any of this.

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geordi · **Posted:** Wed Nov 13, 2013 9:08 pm

Left field calling in...

I wouldn't suggest the tow dolly, but not for mechanical reasons. I just personally dislike them because I wound up backwards at 50mph in a median with one.

As for the CRD, the transfer case is lubricated directly by the rear wheel driveshaft spinning. So if the rear wheels are turning, the transfer case will be OK. What you want to do is have the transmission in park and the transfer case in neutral. The problem with doing this is shifting the transfer case to neutral after putting it onto the dolly. If I remember correctly, the manual wants the vehicle rolling slowly (all 4 wheels) when shifting because the cable-driven-forks don't have a lot of pressure they can exert.

So my preference would be the 4-up trailer. Last time I checked, the difference in price was about $4 a day. For this small difference, you don't want to risk the transfer case NOT shifting properly (or somehow shifting back into gear) and destroying your transmission... Like it did to me when flat-towing behind a moving truck.

mikekj_cda · **Posted:** Wed Nov 13, 2013 9:20 pm

^^^ I knew one of the pros would shed some light. Sorry for any confusion.

I just checked the u haul site at I think the other issue with the dolly tailer is the weight limit. Uhauls site states the max load for that for a rwd being towed is 3950 lbs and the CRD is what? 4300 lbs approx? So that would be the next reason to go for the flat deck auto hauler which is rated close to 6k lbs.

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naturist · **Posted:** Wed Nov 13, 2013 9:59 pm

yes, the official dry weight of a CRD is 4300 lbs. With any fuel or personal stuff aboard, it's going to be even heavier. Figure 8 lbs per gallon for diesel, a full tank would make it 4500 lbs plus "stuff."

I agree that a dolly is a bad idea, both for the weight and for the need for all 4 wheels to be rolling when you shift the transfer case into neutral. Into the bargain, I'm not sure what state the center differential will be in when the shifter reaches neutral, it having been most recently in AWD/Full-Time 4WD.

I am not certain, but I think a CRD needs to be towed 4 down or on a trailer with all 4 up because of the center differential issue.

irunmiles · **Posted:** Wed Nov 13, 2013 10:42 pm

Thanks for all of the replies. I'll check to see if a trailer is available, so all four wheels will be off the ground. If I cannot get a trailer (tomorrow) and only have the reserved dolly as an option, will disconnection and tying up the driveshaft avoid the problems raised? I'm assuming that it is not too difficult to discconnect the driveshaft on this vehicle.

geordi · **Posted:** Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:13 pm

Popping the drive shaft isn't hard at all, and is always an option with RWD vehicles. Be certain to unbolt it from the rear diff and not the transfer case (just an FYI) because you will feel very silly if it spins the driveshaft off your tiedown.

Unbolting from both ends is pretty easy, then you can just throw the driveshaft into the back of the Jeep entirely.

irunmiles · **Posted:** Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:21 pm

I was able to reserve a trailer for tomorrow, and it was only $10 more than the dolly. Lesson learned. I initially reserved a dolly without considering a trailer. Thanks for the help and guidance! I'm adding to my diesel collection tomorrow - picking up a 2007 Ram 3500 dually with 124k miles. Plan to use it to tow a horse trailer.

mass-hole · **Posted:** Thu Nov 14, 2013 10:24 am

Ive got all the gear to flat tow a CRD in the for sale section :mrgreen:

Well not all of it.

ChooChooman74 · **Posted:** Fri Nov 15, 2013 5:46 am

Good choice in the trailer. Our CRDs should either be towed 4 down, or off the ground.

How to tow the CRD

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