According to what I've heard, the main issue with towing a manual
transmission car is that the mainshaft in the transmission gets turned by
the driveshaft, but that's all - since it's in neutral, the synchros are all
free, which means the gears are spinning relative to the mainshaft, and the
countershaft is stationary. Since it's the countershaft that sits in the
transmission oil, there is no oil splashing around or circulating, and you
can overheat the needle bearings between the gears and the mainshaft and any
other place where the friction might be fractionally higher.
The story of 'turning the differential the wrong way' doesn't make much
sense to me. The diff gears get spun whether or not you have the driveshaft
connected, since they are driven by the wheels, and during daily driving you
put a much greater load on the 'other' side of the ring and pinion gears
every time you use engine braking to decelerate.
Best regards all,
Theo Smit
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