At 06:26 PM 2/16/97 -0800, Vince J. Pujalte wrote:
>Paul,
> I may be mistaken, but I believe that it IS necessary to disconnect and
>"tie up" the driveshaft in most manual transmissions when towing. This is
>because the tranny innards don't receive any splash lubrication
>when receiving input from the rear in Neutral.
> I would be happily disabused of this notion, should it prove incorrect.
>
>
To all the want to tow. If you are going to tow a car more than 50 miles,
always disconnect the drive shaft.
Some years ago I received a call from a lady who said she needed a rebuilt
gearbox for her TD. I quoted a price which included her exchange. She
called back to say her gearbox was not rebuildable, to which I responded
"any gearbox is rebuildable." (WRONG)
It seems that the car she has just bought, had been towed on the interstate
in a heavy rain storm. The owner told her that many of the passing cars
waved at him and blew their horns. The drive shaft had not been disconneted.
It seems that the main shaft of the gearbox was not being lubricated
because the laygear does not turn while being towed. The bearings in the
gearbox got hot, the mainshaft welded itself to the first motion shaft.
Second and third gear ground off all their teeth, the center bearing froze.
What happened next? The gearbox froze up, the bellhousing disintagrated
and the bearbox started the thrash around inside the car on the end of the
drive shaft.
Just picture this. You are driving down Interstate #? at a 65 mph and you
come up on a TD with sparks, smoke and big chunks of metal coming out from
underneath. No wonder the DPO was getting all the attention as he towed
his TD home.
Needless to say there was nothing left of the gearbox and the interior of
the TD was a mess.
I say never tow without disconnecting the driveshaft.
Press on regardless,
Blair Engle
50 TD
53 TD
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