sjptak
North in Summer, South in Winter
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Joined: 05/23/2004
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Mine is an automatic 3 speed.
Off to See the Lizard
'99 Four Winds 30' Class C
'97 GEO Tracker
'63 Honda 305 Dream
1947 Wife
1949 Me
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Coalminer UG
Grande Cache Alberta
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Joined: 09/21/2008
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sjptak wrote:Below is what the guys over on the Suzuki Forum sent me. I did all this, I think. Tomorrow, I'll verify the wheels being straight and make sure the key is in the acc position.
If you have a four-wheel-drive vehicle with manual
freewheeling hubs, it can be towed from the front with
all four wheels on the ground. Follow these steps:
1. Set the parking brake.
2. Turn the ignition key to ACC to unlock the
steering wheel.
3. Shift your automatic transmission into PARK (P), or
your manual transmission to SECOND (2).
4. Shift the transfer case to NEUTRAL (N).
5. Set the hubs to FREE. See “Four-Wheel-Drive” in
the Index.
6. Release the parking brake.
Stop towing every 200 miles (300 km) and start
the engine. Leave the transfer case shift lever in
NEUTRAL (N). Shift your automatic transmission
to DRIVE (D); leave a manual transmission in
SECOND (2) with the clutch engaged. Run the engine at
medium speed for one minute to circulate oil in the
transfer case. Turn the ignition key to ACC. Now you
can continue towing your Geo.
Your right. My book says same thing.
Ches
Served In Canadian Army 1PPCLI
Retired Underground Coal Miner (Gen Foreman)
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Coalminer UG
Grande Cache Alberta
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I set mine up last week and went for test drive. I drove about 2 miles with no problems.
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sjptak
North in Summer, South in Winter
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I'm sure that it was either the key or the wheels weren't straight. I'll figure it out tomorrow. Time for a cold one right now. C-ya tomorrow, hopefully with good news. Thanks all for the help. I know it was something stupid I did or didn't do.
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bdpreece
Woodburn Oregon
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Joined: 05/27/2004
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Coalminer UG wrote:sjptak wrote:Below is what the guys over on the Suzuki Forum sent me. I did all this, I think. Tomorrow, I'll verify the wheels being straight and make sure the key is in the acc position.
If you have a four-wheel-drive vehicle with manual
freewheeling hubs, it can be towed from the front with
all four wheels on the ground. Follow these steps:
1. Set the parking brake.
2. Turn the ignition key to ACC to unlock the
steering wheel.
3. Shift your automatic transmission into PARK (P), or
your manual transmission to SECOND (2).
4. Shift the transfer case to NEUTRAL (N).
5. Set the hubs to FREE. See “Four-Wheel-Drive” in
the Index.
6. Release the parking brake.
Stop towing every 200 miles (300 km) and start
the engine. Leave the transfer case shift lever in
NEUTRAL (N). Shift your automatic transmission
to DRIVE (D); leave a manual transmission in
SECOND (2) with the clutch engaged. Run the engine at
medium speed for one minute to circulate oil in the
transfer case. Turn the ignition key to ACC. Now you
can continue towing your Geo.
Your right. My book says same thing.
Which leads us back to verifying that the wheels need to be straight when you start out. Then they will turn the way you do but if they were turned wrong you will drag them.
Brian & Loretta
2008 Holiday Rambler Endeavor PDQ40
2008 Ford Explorer toad
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Healeyman
Carrollton, TX
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Joined: 09/08/2006
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sjptak wrote:The Tracker's front wheels were pitched to make a left turn, not a right turn. What could I have done wrong?
Maybe nothing... Your Trackers steering wheel may have indeed locked up. Others have talked extensively to that.
I'll adress how the wheels got to the left when you were making a right turn.
If one has a LOT of RV rear wheel-to-hitch overhang distance, one thing that you should always do is to make sure that you do not make sharp turns from a dead stop or with a short roll-to-turn distance.
The reason is because when you turn sharply RIGHT, the rear of the RV and hitch pivot on the RV's REAR tires and swing sharply LEFT.
If your turn is sharp and slow, two things might happen.
1) the front wheels of the towed may be dragged sideways because the caster built into the front wheels of the towed may not have enough time/distance to allow the towed front wheels to turn left before they turn right to follow the RV.
2) the front wheels of the towed will turn left to follow the rear of the RV before they turn right to continue to follow the RV.
Your Tracker's wheels might have been in the left turning mode when the steering wheel locked. If the steering wheel was not locked, you probably didn't have a problem. The Tracker was just following the rear end of the RV.
Just make sure that you do not make sharp turns from a stop or with a slow, short, roll.
Tim
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sjptak
North in Summer, South in Winter
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Tim, that makes sense and could very well be the problem. I was, in fact, making a sharp right turn from a dead stop. The C has a 10' overhang and add another 1 1/2 foot from the back of the moho to the actual pivot on the tow bar.... Maybe I went the wrong route. More research may have led me to a dolly.
After church, I'll hit the high school parking lot and hitch up there. I'll have plenty of room to play with this. I've towed trailers (boats and things) many, many times and it was a snap. But this, this is a whole 'nuther animal. Gotta learn it by Tuesday......
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dadd45
northeast NEBR USA
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Joined: 06/21/2004
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Man, after reading all this about wheels, locks, gears, and stopping every 200 miles to run toad I'll keep trailering mine.......IMHO, of course
DadD45
2004 Cross Country Coachmen
2001 Wrangler behind
JUST HAVIN' FUN!!!
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Bill S.
Indian River, Delaware
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Joined: 03/06/2001
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dadd45 wrote:Man, after reading all this about wheels, locks, gears, and stopping every 200 miles to run toad I'll keep trailering mine.......IMHO, of course
It's really not as bad as all that. Been towing my Jeep Cherokee Classic for 9 years without a problem; transmission in P; transfer case in N, key in accy, and go. No periodic stopping to run the engine with a Jeep. But laws of physics still apply, so never make a sharp turn from a dead stop. Be rolling some before starting the turn, and toad wheels will track.
Bill, (aka Capt.Bill)
Indian River, De
2002 Horizon 36LD, Cat 330
Practicing retirement! 
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KO
Tampa, FL
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Joined: 08/18/2002
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This is a minor setback. His trip will take take just a bit longer stopping every 30 yards to fix the wheels. It's the journey - not the destination!
Good luck on finding the problem - towing really is a non-event once you get it setup correctly.
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