towing a m35

[martinsaunders06]

when the show season starts in a few months i will occasionally need to lift and tow my m35 with my 816, on reading the previous posts on this i take it the correct way is with the axle clamps and wiffle tree of which i have both.can anyone put picture of m35 correctly connected to 816 wrecker.also i know the us engineers know lots more than me but is the front axle/spring assembly really stong enough to take the pulling/jerking about
thanks martin

 

[beaubeau]

Hi Martinsaunders06!!It has been a few years since I have dane any towong and I 'm sure U may get 10 different opinionn on how to do it, but I have always towed from the axles unless the veh. was in an accident. In the last 15 years or so I have used Underlifts which also lifts from the axels even with Comm. trucks. I have pulled a complete TT loaded all hooked up and never had any problems! Also, some vehicles pull better hitched from the rear. This way don't have to disconnect the drive shaft. Good luck, Phil

 

[DDoyle]

What type of sprag do you have in the 2 1/2 ton?

 

[M1075]

The easiest may be a flat tow unless the M35 has axle, differential, or transfer problems.

 

[emr]

I belive a flat tow is always the best as long as there was no mechanical problem with the front end ,,,only lift tow when off road and then because the front wheels wont get traction and wont follow U,,, it makes sense and is what all the TM s say to always do first too, ...with an axle clamp U need to just make sure your brake lines are not in the way, if they are u must move em,and move em back again, alot to worry about if there is no mechanical need to lift tow, Randy

 

[DaveP]

Anyone ever flat tow a M37? every time i have done it it was an adventure. of course towing them with a 5 ton they have no choice but to follow but the poor tires---.

 

[M543A2]

I towed an M37 from Pennsylvania to Indiana with a one ton Dodge Cummins. We had a military type tow bar hooked to bumper shackles on the M37. It didn't want to turn well on sharp turns until we disconnected the drag link at the axle. That eliminated the turning problem. The steering gear box evidently had enough resistance to cause the problem. We pulled the drive shafts to save wear on the gear train and made sure the front tires were up to rated pressure. We had a stop/tail/turn/tail light bar on the M37 tail gate. We have towed both deuces and a 5 ton tractor with a deuce using a military type tow bar attached to the shackle mounts. We towed a 5 ton dump truck with my M543A2 5 ton wrecker with the same tow bar with no problems. We have had really good luck with it. Again, a light bar on the towed truck.
Regards Marti

 

[majortom]

i tow dueces with a m543 often. mil. towbar on front bumper works great.

 

[Rattlehead]

How many of you guys disconnect the drag link on a deuce when flat towing it? How about flat towing a 5 ton with power steering?

So far the only thing I have flat towed was a Chevy C60, using the 5 ton tractor. Had to pop the drag link, as the tires would NOT track.

 

[DaveP]

5 tons flat tow just fine. never had a problem.

 

[citizensoldier]

We will have to try the drag link thing next time we do a M37 Dave! I towed one 150 miles and the sucker faught me every step of the way. I had traffic stopped at one intersection... It was either that or roll the tires off the rim.. When they lock all the way over you have lost.. Deuces and 5 tons seem to track very well never had a issue with them..

 

[majortom]

Towing a deuce with a 5 ton is real easy. You don't know it's back there. Towing a 5 ton with a 5 ton works well, it's a little slow. I just towed a 5 ton dump with a deuce 200+ miles, target speed 50mph. The only concern I had was the dump weighed 20,000 pounds and it might try to push the rear of the deuce on tight corners. Solved that problem by putting a blazer in the bed of the deuce. The other issue with towing heavy loads with a deuce at speed, is the overdrive transmission will run hot and 5th gear is much weaker than 4th (direct drive).

 

[CGarbee]

Anyone ever flat tow a M37? every time i have done it it was an adventure. of course towing them with a 5 ton they have no choice but to follow but the poor tires---.

I've flat towed M37's a lot...

Only had a problem twice (and that was on the same trip) and that was towing one behind a Dodge one-ton pickup when we had to make a really sharp turn (u-turn in one case and exiting a gas station in the other) and it didn't want to come back to center. Otherwise, it tracked well.

The other times that I have towed M37's I have used either my M35A2C or my XM813. With each, the M37's towed like a dream. Never had any problems with tracking or stopping...

I think that when towing a M37 with a duece or larger that you can't turn the towing truck sharp enough to get the M37 steering to go far enough over to prevent it from returning to center.

With one exception (a short tow accross town with a truck that had really tight, rusted bolts) I've always dropped the front and rear driveshafts or dropped the rear and disengaged the front hubs (on trucks equiped with manual hubs on the front) to ensure that I was not spinning the trans and transfer cases. Pump up the tires (40psi) and check the diff levels before you run down the road (and bungee the towing light bar and vehicle in tow sign to the M37 if you happen to have them...). Never have disconnected the steering gear...

I've flat towed M37's across three states at a time (GA to NC, NC to MD, etc).

 

[Jimmy]

Towing

I couldn't find the M35 that I was looking for but I did find this.

 

[Jimmy]

RE: Towing

By the way, does anybody out there have a Whiffle tree for sale?

 

[CGarbee]

Re: Towing

I couldn't find the M35 that I was looking for but I did find this.

That picture looks oddly familiar...
Since this photo was taken, I have been informed by the owner of the M816 that my M37 is hooked up to that, according the TM, he has the hook attached to the wiffle tree incorrectly... I'll let him explain if he feels so inclined...

We would have flat towed the M37 on that occaision, but we had the M101 attached to the M37 still and had concerns about how everything would track...

 

[martinsaunders06]

thanks for all replies,Mr doyle asked about spag in m35= well its air shifter/lock type?,only reason i asked bout lift and towing was because before i got 816 i tried towing my m35 with me other m35 on "A" bar and it wasnt great= towed m35 had winch and all it wanted to do was lock wheels right round and stop other m35 dead! was this because it was on grass and since then didnt want to experiment at speed on road with no driver= guess i got to be brave.just seemed logical to lift now i got 816. do you boys pull any props when you flat bar tow(guess the m35 will have no option but to follow the 816).