[Summersgal]

We have towed a 2002 Doge 1500 crew cab short bed automatic for the last 3 years. After researching the options. I choose to go with the option of disengaging the drive shaft. We hookup to the Newell via a Blue Ox and I disengage the drive shaft by putting the truck in forward and reverse while pulling a cable. This new drive shaft and decoupling device was put on at Drive Shafts of Tulsa, it works great and we have never had an issue with it. I put the transmission in park and turn the key to the first notch to keep the steering wheel from locking. I was told that the dodge does not have a steering wheel lock, (This is a Lie), the first time we towed the truck we drove four miles to fill up with diesel.

When I walked around the coach I could smell rubber burning, the front tires on the truck were not straight and were smoking. After buying two new tires and doing a little research on Google, I found out the the steering does indeed lock when one full revolution of the steering wheel has been made. You have to insert the key and barley turn it, you will feel it go into the first notch, I always check it by turning the wheel in both directions more then one full turn. We just purchased a new 2012 dodge 2500 4X4 diesel truck full crew cab with a long bed. It is a 6 speed automatic. We spent four days researching, calling the manufacturers and talking with different dealerships to find out if this truck was flat tow-able. It was not an easy question, 3 different dodge dealerships could not tell us, one said it wasn't and if we towed it behind a coach and something happened to the drive train the warranty would not cover it. The big issue and the reason no one could answer is because the newer trucks do not have a shifter on the floor to put the transfer case into neutral. They are all electric shift now with either a knob or push button. The only way a 4x4 can be flat tow-able is if the transfer case can go into neutral.

The Dodge is the only truck we could find with the feature of having a neutral position and can actually get the transfer case into neutral. It takes about 6 steps that you have to do to accomplish this but its not that bad. We could not find a comparable truck from Ford, GMC, or Chevrolet that had a neutral option. We tested the truck twice going through the procedure and was satisfied that the transfer case was indeed in neutral. We have not been able find any literature about the steering wheel lock on this new truck. The service manager told us it does not lock in any way, shape or fashion. There is no key that goes into the steering column on this truck, the plastic FOB goes into a slot on the dash.

We hooked it up to the Newell the other day and started down the drive way while I sat in the truck to see if the wheel turned or locked. (there is no way to turn the wheels with the engine off). No mater how hard I tried to turn the wheel at least part of a turn, I could not. My plan is to ride in the truck all the way to the diesel place and verify that the steering truly is unlocked. The reason we wanted a bigger truck was the RZR loaded in the 1500 was a full load and really squatted the truck, also even the RZR 800 would not fit in the bed, the rear wheels were sitting on the tailgate. With the new truck the entire RZR fits in the bed. We just came back from a trip and towed the dodge with the RZR in the back for 2600 miles. We will be towing the new truck to West Virgina in two weeks to meet up with Ron Skeen and others to do a lot of trail riding.

Jeff