Need toad stuff to pull my s10 behind skoolie

[JonCBrand]

I have a 1999 S10 that I would like to tow behind my skoolie.
I have no experiance with toads.
The hitch and wiring for bus, and wiring for s10 is no problem.
Just need to know where to get the brackets and "tow bar" for s10.
Any tips on toads?

 

[wmah]

First thing is is your s10 able to be pulled on all four with out messing up a transmission.
On my ford I have a manual transfer case that I can shift to neutral.

I have a Aventa II tow bar, and there are others. I bought the bar itself from ebay and bought the truck mounts from a local rv dealer.

 

[the_experience03]

I paid $62 including shipping for an el cheapo tow bar off eBay, but you could easily spend 20 times that if you wanted. I have no idea what I'm going to tow. Most likely it will be the $200 270,000 mile Civic I bought to drive while I (slowly) rebuild the motor in my truck. The bar is rated for 5000 lbs which would be ok for my truck and the truck has a perfect spot to weld the brackets on, but I would probably prefer to weld up my own heavy duty tow bar for the truck just because it tracks kinda funny thanks to the suspension mods I've made. Either vehicle I attach my tow bar to will require that I make a mount for the brackets. It comes with some quuick connect pins that fit into L-shaped brackets on the vehicle, but you have to make a crossmember for it to attach to.

Oh yeah...as for transfer cases....talk to the dealership. Some vehicles are just plain funny. Point and case is my Toyota pickup. Any toyota with an RF1A t-case (gear driven) lacks a true neutral. There is an interlock pin on the shifter rails so that in neutral, the transmission is not spun, but the front and rear drivelines are connected. My front driveline probably wouldn't do so hot spinning that fast for that long so to tow the truck I either leave the t-case in 2-high and put the tranny in neutral or if I'm feeling really ambitious, I pull the 4 bolts from the differential end of the rear dirveshaft and zip tie it up out of the way. Either way the front hubs are obviously unlocked. In the future I'd like to do a full floater conversion on my rear axle which will mean lock outs I can unlock in back too. The other option I'm waiting for is Marlin Crawler's t-case which is SUPPOSED to have true twin sticks, a true neutral, low gears, and 23 spline inputs and output. I'm drooling already.....

 

[JonCBrand]

toad

The s10 is an auto 2wd. I was just planning on pulling the driveshaft off the rearend when in tow. It takes 5 min to crawl under and remove 4 bolts and strap the shaft up to the frame. I dont intend on havign to do that more than twice a trip so it doesnt bother me.
I was looking at those cheap $50 tow bars on ebay and I think those will work good. I migh have my buddy who owns a machine shop fab up some beefy plates for the mount on the bumper for some added strength.
Now i just need to get a 12" drop ball mount for the hitch on the bus and i will be set.

 

[the_experience03]

MAke sure that driveshaft stays in place after you pull it off the differential. With a slip yoke on the back of the tranny, if the shaft falls out, so does your tranny fluid. I think a bungee cord holding it up to a crossmember would be more than sufficient. Either way I'm sure you'd notice if a lot of tranny fluid leaked out on the way. I could be wrong and you could have a bolt on yoke on the back of the tranny, but I haven't seen one in a 2wd in a LONG time.

 

[JonCBrand]

drive shaft

Im a tech at the local chevy dealer here so I should be able to position the driveshaft out of the way and not loose trans fluid, If I cant I should look for a new job .
Im planing on using a ratchet strap to ensure its retained in the trans.

 

[the_experience03]

Fair enough I just get worried about that stuff because I have a friend who pulled his rear shaft on a trail from his Blazer. He really had no choice with how mangled it was, but he made no attempt at preventing the fluid from leaking costing him his NP241.

 

[JonCBrand]

ouch

A dry transfer case can get quite expensive.
Do you do any trail driving?
Im working on a 77 silverado right now that im setting up for trail/mud

 

[wmah]

When I used to use the old chain and bolt on bumper mounted bar which paid for itself with the amount we used it.

I used to remove the ubolts at the rear end and then use tape around the caps on the ujoint to hold them on and then I just used a metal caot hanger to tie the shaft up. Never had one shaft slip out doing this.

 

[the_experience03]

Trail running is a passion of mine. Actually, Fall is my favorite season, but my motor is laying around in pieces right now.

The Specs:

Motor
(soon to be completed)
22re bored .040 over, .010 taken off the deck, new Nippon Racing head, oversize valves, EB 261C "Crawler" cam, RC Engineering balanced and blueprinted injectors, and a much needed complete cleaning inside and out.

Estimated power when all is said and done should be about 135 hp and 165 ft lbs.


Front End
solid axle swap using trussed rebuilt 1984 Toyota 8 inch front. V-6 truck 4 piston calipers clamping ventilated FJ-40 rotors, 3 inch 6061 wheel spacers (1.5 inches per side to even track width and clear brakes), Sky's Offroad histeer, modified Sky's Offroad 44044 spring hanger kit using the stock rear pack with the overload leaf removed and 3 full length leafs added, widebody boomerang shackles. Pro Comp 934000 14 inch travel shocks mounted to F-250 shock mounts

Rear End
Pretty basic here...wide track 8 inch suspended by 63 inch rear springs from a 2wd '88 chevy and some 3 inch blocks. I used unbraced 6 inch eye-to-eye shackles at a VERY lazy angle. End result is over 36 inches of combined wheel travel so far (I've never lifted a tire yet).

Everything else is stock...W56 5 speed tranny, RF1A t-case using stock gears, stock 4.10 open diffs.....

Basically I've been holding off on lockers, new axle gears, and a second t-case until the motor is done and I decide on a final tire size. My current 34x10.5 LTB's have been fantastic tires, but they're too small for me now so I'm looking at getting a set of Q78-15's. I like that they're basically a 36x10x15, but come with 27/32nds tread depth, the same as Boggers I need a striaght pitman arm too as my drag link sometimes pretend to be a bumpstop for the front....oops....

As with all things in life, it's a work in progress (AND a daily driver), but I love playing with it. My home park is the Iron Range Off Highway Recreation Area in Gilbert, Minnesota, but I've gone so far as Oregon (two days after the axle swap, actually) to mud race. It might not be fast, but it's fun.