Large toad problems

[gmcbuffalo]

Those of you that tow large vehicles, have you had any problems with Ball Joints and Steering Gear box or such items? My Excursion's Steering Gear box has gone bad and I am wondering if this is a towing problem or poor quality box.
Greg

[Kevin Erion]

Greg, I tow a 07 GMC 3/4 ton 4 door pick-up, so far no issues that I am aware of. I think I have towed it about 10,000 miles to date.

[kenrobertson]

Greg - I have been towing my Tundra for 8 years, and with 160,000 registered miles, and unknown towed miles, it still drives like new. That said, towing a vehicle, large or small, puts the toad thru some very unnatural motions which are potentially hard on suspension and steering parts.

Ken

[Sid Tuls]

Greg, I have towed my 2007 Tahoe for well over 70,000 miles no problems other than the front end pitted from rocks from the bus. The nice thing about a Tahoe is it hooks up in less than 5 minutes. No pulling fuses nothing.

[gmcbuffalo]

Thanks guys, Ford Excursion have a wandering problem and I have narrowed mine down to a bad steering gear box. I want to check and see if this could be tow related and not the standard problems I have read about on some Ford forums.
Thanks again
Greg

[ajhaig]

We towed our 3/4 ton Suburban for about 15,000 miles. We had Road Master tow bars and the M&G brake system.

We had to replace our transfer case, the dealer was adamant that the wheels down towing caused the damaged. I think the transfer case failure had nothing at all to do with the towing.

Other than that we didn't have any issues.

[Roadpilot]

We've towed our '05 Chevy Silverado 20,000 miles and it needed a change of gears in the transfer case. When I tow it, I change gears in the transfer case in ways I never do otherwise. But I don't think towing caused the problem, I think I would have had an issue if I had used the transfer case that way anyway.

[Will Garner]

Greg,

Weighing in with a 2500 Ram 4x4 about 6,000 lbs. I have not had a vehicle related problem - so far. We have logged a conservative 25,000 miles on it including one trip around the USofA at 7,000 miles in one month.:eek:

You ought to ditch the Excursion and check into a 4x4 Durango!:D

[Larry W]

Had a 2000 Dodge Dakota 4 door we towed 70,000. Towed it with a plastic coach and the Prevost. When the odometer reached about 60,000 meaning a total of 130,00 the front end of the truck was really loose. Seemed to be a little wear in everything as no single item seemed beyond specs. I think that much towing took a toll. Now tow a TJ jeep wrangler. Both of these toads have the same transfer case.

[Loc]

We have put 70K plus miles towing on our 04 Tahoe. Other than wearing out the front tires a little quicker than normal we haven't had any issues so far.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I am not sure how any of us can properly evaluate whether towing exposes the toad to greater stresses and thus damage unless we have two identical vehicles and we tow one the same number of miles as the other is driven and compare service history.

But anecdotal evidence may help if enough people report their experiences.

The only vehicle we towed any substantial distance was a 94 Grand Cherokee with a manual transmission and 4 WD. We towed it about 200,000 miles and drove it another 60,000. I never had any repairs I could attribute to towing beyond a radiator replacement caused by constant exposure to the salt and sand spray kicked up by the bus when towing in the snow belt. I also had to replace the bus radiator for the same reason because the cooling fins disintegrated from the salt.

On the Cherokee I never replaced or repaired any rotating components including the front U-joints.

I just hope our Hummer or pickup truck serve us as well as the Jeep did.

[michaeldterry]

We had a problem with large toads when we lived in southwest Houston, next to the Brazos River. The huge suckers would be all over our patio and driveway in the mornings! :eek: Oops! My bad - wrong kind of "large toad!" :p

[LarryB]

So Michael, did you have to replace any parts on the Toad?

[Coloradobus]

We towed a 2004 Chevy Extended cab 4X4 short box truck that weighs in at 6440 lbs with no issues other than being overlength in California. We hve towed the pick-up for more miles than driven like Jon's jeep. Driven miles are 29,000, and towed miles is 38,000. I follow the driven mileage service intervals for fluid changes in "diffs' and tranfer case, and all is well. We have67,000 miles on the tires, which we are replacing this summer for towing airstreams.:D

[michaeldterry]

So Michael, did you have to replace any parts on the Toad?

No replaceable parts on those toads! They were either croaking or croaked! :eek::p

[rbeecher]

While on the subject of toads, I would like to hear from those in the group who have or are towing Mini Coopers. We are going to take our first trip with a 2010 Cooper S(manual trans) and are wondering the proper procedure other than putting the car in neutral. Anything regarding the steering or other info we need to know?

I spoke to Fast Roger about this a while back but don't remember all of the conversation.

Thanks in advance to any who can offer suggestions.

Richard and Barbara Beecher
02 Marathon XLII 45
10 Mini Cooper S

[jack14r]

Richard,Carl Jensen with SVRA tows a mini behind his Beaver from Elkhart Lake, WI. to Palm Beach,FL. and to all the SVRA-HSR races and he told me that he just puts it in neutral.

[rbeecher]

Hi Jack,

I recall Roger saying the same. There are a few in the POG who have or do tow a Mini, Steve Bennett at one time, EDMARTINE with an '09, and of course Roger. I don't know if there are others.

Thanks for the note, it's good to hear from you, hope all is well.

Richard