Locking Differential

[merle&louise]

Loc,

Thanks for sharing your story. Those tow rings in front & rear of your bus are a great idea. I wish that I had those on mine. I am going to see if I can have some rings welded to my chassis in case this happens again.

That would have made a great Jeep commerical. Maybe I should start towing a jeep!

Loc has raised an interesting question: Could you damage a transmission on a pickup truck by trying to pull a bus out of the mud if the bus is helping out by having the engine in Drive and rear wheels pulling?

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Interesting question to which there could be more than one answer.

Often the difference between being stuck and moving is a slight amount of traction. When a coach gets buried by spinning the drive wheels deeper into mud it not only had to gain traction, but the drive wheels have to climb the sides of the hole they just dug.

On a flat slippery surface it often takes a little additional tow to start the coach moving again. In mud where you suffer not only the loss of traction, but must push or climb mud a lot more towing effort is required.

It sounds like Loc kept the Jeep stationary and the winch exerted the towing force. Some winches can exert many tons of pulling force.

If there is no winch, then the amount of force that can be applied is typically limited by the amount of traction the tow vehicle has. I doubt if a hard, steady application of power will ruin a transmission, torque converter or clutch unless it is applied continuously for an extended period of time. If I had to pull a bus with a four wheel drive I would definitely have someone driving the bus while the 4WD is simultaneously pulling. In a few seconds or less you will know if it is working. If it is not, but you continue the effort then something can get damaged, but my guess is you will lose traction on the 4WD before anything comes apart.

It is not impressive and takes time and effort, but in my opinion the most reliable way to get a stuck coach moving is to get traction under the drive wheel that is spinning by raising it and putting planking or some other means if supporting it under the wheels.

Tuga, in the rear you alread have an excellent tow point and that is the hitch. In the front you may have to add something, but the best thing to add is a little restraint to the driver.

[Loc]

Tuga,

I would agree with Jon that you would know if it was going to work before you destroyed anything.

The second time I got stuck I used the Jeep to pull the bus out. I have a 30 foot nylon webbed tow strap rated at 30K lbs of force that I hooked between the Jeep and Bus. I put the Jeep in 4WD Lo and locked both differentials. I had a friend drive the Jeep and I drove the bus. The great thing about the tow strap is that it provides a very smooth transition to the actual towing force - kinda like stretching a rubber band and then it snaps back into place. The bus was not badly stuck, just lost traction in soft mud but didnt sink. Just a little help was all that it took.

I have a 9,500 lb winch which with a snatch block can be doubled to 19,000 lbs. The first time, I just hooked the winch up to the back of the bus and had a friend work the winch while I drove the bus. I am certain that the winch probably would not have pulled the bus out without assitance from the bus.

On one other occasion, I have had to tow the bus for about 150 yards on pavement when the bus caught on fire and melted the chassis batteries (that's another story and everyone enjoys a good car-b-que). That time I used the same tow strap, put the Jeep in 4WD Lo and locked both differentials. I had no help from the bus as it would not run. While it was hard on the Jeep because it was an uphill climb, once I got the bus rolling it made it the 150 yards. The Jeep was straining, but it was a relatively short tow. I was more concerned that the Jeep would just spin the tires (35 inch off road tires) or break the strap than really hurt the Jeep. The Jeep is geared low (4.56 ratio) which probably made it possible.

This sounds like a Jeff Foxworthy joke. If you use your Jeep to tow your motorhome, you must be a redneck.

Loc

[rfoster]

Tuga: Be sure to isolate and protect the on board computers when welding to the chassis. You can smoke em if you don't disconnect.

Loc: JDub says you are a redneck. I heard him.

[merle&louise]

Thanks for the advice Roger, but I am going to let Newell do the welding. I have an appointment to have my muffler changed next week on the way to OSH and I will have it done then.

Good redneck joke Loc.