towing M818 backwards

[sandcobra164]

Will I damage the axles on a M818 by towing the truck 20 miles in reverse? The reason I ask, the towing connection on the driver's side front is broken. If need be, I can pull one of the hooks off of the rear and attach it to the front bumper but I'm trying to get the truck down the road after work tomorrow and don't see the harm in it backing it's way to the house. Let me know.

Joseph

 

[wreckerman893]

If you drop the front drive shaft you should be fine.

 

[papabear]

What WM said

 

[Recovry4x4]

Might be just as easy to remove both front drive flanges too. Lets examine this a little closer though. You say one of the towing connections is broken off? What part exactly? Are you towing with a military tow truck and a whiffletree? That connection won't matter with a commercial tow truck. No problem in towing backwards, just asking to be curious.

 

[Stan Leschert]

Replace the front tow point and save yourself a whole bunch of hastle. It's going to have to be done sooner or later, so why not do it right the first time. It's not like the truck has to be recovered for battle, right now!

 

[sandcobra164]

Well, It's not being recovered for battle but it does need to leave a GL lot. I'm going to try and get it running and let it tow the Deuce behind it but if that's a no go, I've got to get it off of the base this afternoon. Swapping the tow hook would probably be about as easy as dropping the front shaft though.

 

[cornrichard]

Pull a drive flange on the front axle. Pull out one axle shaft on each rear end. Stuff a coffee cup in where the axles were to keep most of the gear oil in. You might want to strap the steering wheel to keep the wheels from turning too much. Good luck. This is if you are flat towing.

 

[fasttruck]

Don"t forget to put the transfer case in neutral !

 

[papercu]

Don"t forget to put the transfer case in neutral !

You might be a little late with that hint! Wayne

 

[sandcobra164]

Nah, He's not too late. I tried to start it yesterday to no luck. I think it's got trash in the fuel lines or tank selector valve though. I opened the petcock's on both the fuel filter and the petcock just behind the fuel filter and pressurized the tank and still could not get fuel to flow. It's got about 20 gallons in the tank. I checked the tank select valve in both positions just incase the lines were switched at one time. I pulled a tow eye off of a 5 ton I towed Tuesday and plan on bolting that to the front bumper to replace the broken one and tow home forward. I really don't need to take a chance on breaking the sprag in the transfer on this truck and I appreciate you guy's for pointing that out. I honestly did not think of it being that I'm mostly familiar with Deuce's with air shifted transfers.

 

[Curtis25]

was mine in neutral?

 

[sandcobra164]

Yes sir it was. I know to check and ensure the transfer is in neutral prior to towing.

 

[Curtis25]

i figured you did but had to ask. I'm going to check that turbo for you this weekend as soon as i get my hands on it i will let you know

 

[emr]

a set of axle clamps in an emergency work well on a bumper, put a 4by 4 cut to height of bumper ID behind the chain so the bumper will not curl and it is good for a long haul....

 

[Blood_of_Tyrants]

It is not the axle you have to worry about but the Sprague transfer case. You will have to either drop the front drive shaft or replace the front tow mount or get an axle clamp tow rig.

 

[Recovry4x4]

I'm still confused here. Were you going to tow it backwards with a tow bar? Commercial wrecker? What?

 

[sandcobra164]

I posted pics in the Conversations section. I replaced the tow hook and towed it behind my Deuce. It was a pain to replace as the rear bolt hole of the original tow hook had let go and the bumper got bent in the process. Took about 50 hits from the BFH (Big Fixing Hammer) and a push from a forklift's forks to get the bumper re aligned so that I could install a tow hook. I just didn't trust all that weight to 1 bolt through the frame and preferred all three be installed and figured the bumper could help add some strength to the connection.

Recovery 4X4,

I did consider hooking to the rear shackle points with my towbar and pulling the truck home backwards. Thanks to some people on here, I remembered that 5 tons have sprag transfer's and that I might break something on the owner's truck so I scrapped that idea pretty early on. It was a tough job replacing that tow hook but it worked for the best in the end. I've now got to rob a hook off of the back of that truck to replace the one I pulled from Curtis25's truck.

 

[wbrianiii]

Towing backwards.

Having spent my whole life since getting out of the Navy in the towing business, I have observed that most vehicles, including military, are not made to go backwards. Things that have no problem going 100MPH forwards, will come off at 20MPH backwards. With military vehicles, and most other open vehicles, this includes the windshield glass. It just isn't worth the problems if it is possible to tow it forwards.

 

[sandcobra164]

I got the truck home and now it runs. It wouldn't prime at the base to save it's life. I learned that somewhere along the way, someone tried to use heater hose on the input line from the passenger side tank to the tank select valve and it was cracked / oversized and would not seal up. I replaced that section off hose with the correct size fuel hose, primed and drove it around the block last night. It runs pretty strong through the gears, now on to the task of doing a good PM and getting this truck ready to make a 200 or so mile trip. Any specifics on special stuff to check for that may not be covered in the TM that other's have learned through experience on these 800 series 5 tons?

Thanks,

Joseph

 

[jwaller]

get yourself the axle clamps and tow it from the front.