Monday, Nov 08, 2004 at 19:57
G'day Brian
If by chance you do break 5th gear you can generally drive them home.
Check your cars handbook on towing and it should tell you if you can or cannot use 5th gear for towing.
A lot of these stories come from some gearbox reconditioners because they use inferior spare parts.
I own a 89 model 2.8D 4 runner and have towed my ct up the cape and half way round Aust. without a problem, 490,000kms on car, untill last year when the front oil seal started leaking.
So strapped for time I got
Newcastle Gearbox & Diff to rebearing the box for me, oh what a mistake that was.
1st time back under warranty, oil leaks, 1000kms.
2nd time back, smashed 5th gear roller bearing, 2000kms. Replaced original 5th gear with their cheap crap parts.
3rd time back, smashed 5th gear, told then I shouldn't tow in 5th gear.
No where in the cars hand book does it say not to tow in 5th gear, I think Toyota know a bit more than these clowns.
When I got back from my last trip I decided to buy a Pray Do 3.0l T.D. and nowhere in it's hand book does it say no towing in 5th because you'll break 5th gear. I think it says you can tow 2500kgs with a payload of 600kgs from memory.
As long as you keep your speed up and don't induce gear chatter you should be fine.
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