Towing your truck behind an RV

Colossus · December 6, 2020

Just placing your truck in neutral isn't enough, folks. Well at least in most cases.

https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/caught-on-camera-brand-new-pickup-truck-destroyed-after-catching-fire-on-i-15-in-washington-co

davester · December 6, 2020

Yes, it's not clear exactly what the situation was, if the vehicle was 2wd vs 4wd, , but either way, just putting the transmission in N isn't the right thing to do...

lonestardiver · December 6, 2020

Not sure if the Raptor is available in 4wd...but being a high performance truck and brand new I am sure the insurance company may find a way to deny the claim being it was likely being towed in a manner inconsistent with the manufacturers recommendations.

gearheadesw · December 6, 2020

So what is the proper method of towing behind the RV?

lonestardiver · December 6, 2020

So what is the proper method of towing behind the RV?

If a 4wd you can put the transfer case in neutral. For a RWD pickup either remove the driveshaft or put it on a flatbed trailer.
If a FWD, you can use a tow dolly.

The owners Manuel for each vehicle should have the proper info and is the best place to look.

Flat towing or dolly towing a RWD vehicle with an automatic transmission in neutral does not good things to the transmission since your pump is not running to provide proper lubrication to the rotating parts. That is likely what happened in the case of the truck in the original post.

Manual transmissions are different in how lubrication occurs. Again the owners manual as a reference.

OnTheReel · December 7, 2020

Raptors are all 4WD. They have a dedicated a flat tow mode, you can even activate it from the driver’s information center. Doesn’t really get any simpler. Guessing this guy didn’t make use of it, the trans had a meltdown and caught the rest of that mess on fire.

Transient · December 7, 2020

My brother lives in Mesquite, NV and drives to St George, UT for work daily. He works on semi trucks. He was allegedly out at the scene when this happened, and sent me pics on Saturday. He said the driveshaft was still installed.

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