Flat towing an Xterra - question on speed limit

So the manual for my '05 OR 4x4 says it can be flat towed provided I don't go faster than 60 MPH and that I stop towing, start the Xterra up, and idle the engine every 500 miles.

My question is what if I go faster than 60 mph? What happens? Globalthermonuclear war or nothing? I am guessing it is just some conservative limit that isn't tied to anything besides lawyerly fear - but those are famous last words.

I'm interested on this one. do you mean towing so that all 4 wheels are turning? I thought this could cause damage to the clutch/transmission?

Yeah, flat towing meaning all four wheels on the xterra are on the ground - no two wheel or four wheel tow dolly.

The manual and other sources say it is OK for a MANUAL transmission Xterra - I left that important detail out of my previous post.

Automatic's would need a dolly.

So I take it you have a manual than? I cost all the time down big hills in neutral, so is this rule for manuals?

I think the 60 MPH is just a Nissan guideline. Recently, I rented a tow dolly (to tow an old car - not the X), and the signs on the fenders of the dolly said Max Speed 45 MPH. The tow dolly still worked well cruising at 80 MPH on the freeway.

See, I always heard that coasting in a manual transmission without pressing down on the clutch pedal would cause the clutch to fry.

is this the case?

See, I always heard that coasting in a manual transmission without pressing down on the clutch pedal would cause the clutch to fry.

If that was the case, then you could not flat pull a manny-tranny X

The transfer case in the X doesn't have a neutral setting. So you have to have it out of gear in 2wd to flat tow it. The 500 mile and 60 mile an hour limits are due to lubrication issues with the transmission. It is lubricated by the input shaft spinning. When you flat tow in neutral, the output is what spins. So not everything gets lubricated as designed. Thus the requirement to start it up and run the engine for a few minutes.

If you need to flat tow frequently for long distances and/or you have a automatic, there are rear drive shaft decouplers that allow you to flat tow without engaging the drive line. Of course the x-fer case front output shaft will contine to spin which may create it's own lubrication issues.

Another option is a supplemental transmission lube pump. This keeps the auto happy as you chug down the road.

-Old Army

flat tow my 07X, 500 miles is a long tow.