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Wildly unpopular thread about flat towing a 2012 Tacoma

Sandy Johnson

Sandy Johnson

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Spreckels, Ca
A while back I traded my tundra for a 2012 4 door tacoma. I had lots of reasons, but the main one is I wanted a 4 door truck that I could flat tow behind my motorhome.... well, that's not exactly true.. the MAIN main reason is because it was easy and available. Anyway, back to the point. 2012 V6, automatic, 4x4. I can remove 4 bolts from the driveshaft and tie it up every time I want to flat tow this thing, but I'd rather come up with a solution that lets me not have to crawl under the truck every time I unhook it in a campground.

Other things I was considering: Some sort of driveline disconnect-er type device.

Superior Driveline seems to make one that lots of RVer types use, but to me it seems janky and puts the entire mechanism down by the diff where my hack self will rip it off on the one single rock I find in the desert:
Drive Shaft Coupling - New Replacement Drive Shaft Building

1726248204180.png


Then I found trail tough made something that comes off the t-case so taco guys without an atlas can do a front dig...except it turns out not for MY specific toyota(I'm guessing because it's not setup for the right number of splines out of the tcase):
Rear Drive Disconnect, For Toyotas - Trail Tough
1726248282653.png


But those guys told me I should check with trail gear, so I got excited and went to their website aaaaand.

Sad trombone music
1726248387344.png


Last thought was maybe just find a flat-towable t-case and swap it in. Only one I could think of offhand is an atlas with the flat tow tail housing. Seems like a little bit of overkill for something that will be getting MAYBE a limited slip out back.


So I figured I'd come ask the irate4x4 toyota brain trust and see if they have any bright ideas. I read some things about people swapping in a manual FJ t-case, but I'm not sure you can flat tow those either. Anyone have any bad ideas?


Pic of toyota because everyone likes pics:
1726248607807.png


Currently sitting in a body shop because someone thought it was a good idea to run into the back of it while it was parked in front of my house
1726248666633.png
 
Sandy Johnson said:
A while back I traded my tundra for a 2012 4 door tacoma. I had lots of reasons, but the main one is I wanted a 4 door truck that I could flat tow behind my motorhome.... well, that's not exactly true.. the MAIN main reason is because it was easy and available. Anyway, back to the point. 2012 V6, automatic, 4x4. I can remove 4 bolts from the driveshaft and tie it up every time I want to flat tow this thing, but I'd rather come up with a solution that lets me not have to crawl under the truck every time I unhook it in a campground.

Other things I was considering: Some sort of driveline disconnect-er type device.

Superior Driveline seems to make one that lots of RVer types use, but to me it seems janky and puts the entire mechanism down by the diff where my hack self will rip it off on the one single rock I find in the desert:
Drive Shaft Coupling - New Replacement Drive Shaft Building

1726248204180.png
Click to expand...


Dude i bought my (now sold) 3rd gen 4runner from ran an RV place. He had one of these shafts on the 4Runner with the cable routed into the cab by the shifter. Said it worked well.


I sold it to a gent who was putting in on.... I think... a Tacoma. That was a few years ago....

That's all I got.
 
rockota said:
Dude i bought my (now sold) 3rd gen 4runner from ran an RV place. He had one of these shafts on the 4Runner with the cable routed into the cab by the shifter. Said it worked well.


I sold it to a gent who was putting in on.... I think... a Tacoma. That was a few years ago....

That's all I got.
Click to expand...
It's gonna see dirt, and I sort of drive like a hack, so I figure I probably shouldn't. If I could figure out a way to mount something like this on the t-case side of things, then maybe I'd be in business.

Sounds like sacrilege, but I kind of wish there was a way to slap something simple and cheap like an np231 into my tacoma. I don't need low low, just something that will oil itself in neutral while getting drug down the highway.
 
Ok, so I'm gonna let the dumb questions fly since my truck is somewhere in the shop, I know nothing about toyotas, and I've been staring at the internet too much.

It looks like my t-case has a 27t splined flange on it, yes?
1726251966863.png


It also looks like trail tough's solution is setup to replace a very similar flange with their solution (just have to modify the driveline length afterwards).

Someone tell my why this wouldn't work.
1726252064927.png
 
Lockout hubs if we talking bout normal Dana axles or just pull axle shafts and cap the hubs.

Just assuming this is a real truck with full floating axles.
 
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My Dad had a Superior drive shaft disconnect on his 1998 4Runner for 20 years. It had a intermittent driveline vibration he never figured out. I told him several times it was the disconnect, because it doesn't connect the shaft back together the way it was balanced, so sometimes its balanced, sometimes its not. After he died by brother took the 4Runner. He pulled the OEM driveshaft out of the shop and swapped them. No more vibration.

It used a push pull cable and it locked and unlocked easy. Worked as intended, except for the vibration.
 
PAE said:
Lockout hubs if we talking bout normal Dana axles or just pull axle shafts and cap the hubs.

Just assuming this is a real truck with full floating axles.
Click to expand...
This is a daily driver with whatever stock 8.4 rear end they have from the factory... But I would 100% consider converting to full float if there's a kit out there. That would make life easy.
 
Not sure if the trail gear one could handle continuous road use disconnected. Seems like there has to be a bearing or lubricated bushing somewhere.
More like a off road use only temporary kinda thing.
But then again what do I know
 
Sandy Johnson said:
Ok, so I'm gonna let the dumb questions fly since my truck is somewhere in the shop, I know nothing about toyotas, and I've been staring at the internet too much.

It looks like my t-case has a 27t splined flange on it, yes?
1726251966863.png


It also looks like trail tough's solution is setup to replace a very similar flange with their solution (just have to modify the driveline length afterwards).

Someone tell my why this wouldn't work.
1726252064927.png
Click to expand...
The description says it's intended for off-road use only. It appears to be designed for temporarily having front wheel drive only while on the trail.

The Superior disconnect uses a u-bolt to mount it to the third member. You have to grind down the casting to make a spot for the bolt. I never thought it would hold up to any real off-road abuse, but my Dad wheeled his mostly stock 4Runner all over the country and it never failed. He never bashed it on a rock though, which I think would make it inoperable.
 
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BDK said:
The description says it's intended for off-road use only. It appears to be designed for temporarily having front wheel drive only while on the trail.
Click to expand...
ah, the more I look at it, it's metal on metal when that splined ring slides forward huh? durn it.
 
email them and ask.

if you want to get crazy, you could always go the d60 route for increased strength.

went through this discussion with a buddy because hes considering fulltime RV life. there really isnt a simple solution

if it was ME id toss in an atlas with a small pump to circulate the fluid through a cooler and keep things happy.

grandma and her husband had an exploder with the disconnect at the diff and logged a ton of miles behind their rv in the first part of retirement life and i dont recall any conversions saying it was problematic.
 
I have a D60 rear you can have for the taking or a 3/4T 14 bolt same same no charge just pick it up.

D60 2 sets of hubs set of axle shafts and housing, same with 14 bolt but one set of hubs / drums.
 
mobil1syn said:
email them and ask.

if you want to get crazy, you could always go the d60 route for increased strength.

went through this discussion with a buddy because hes considering fulltime RV life. there really isnt a simple solution

if it was ME id toss in an atlas with a small pump to circulate the fluid through a cooler and keep things happy.
Click to expand...
Considered the atlas route. As of 2018 they actually make a tail housing made to recirculate fluid for flat towing:
6. Atlas T/C Tailhousing Options - Advance Adapters

Flat Tow Tailhousing

Introduced in 2018 the flat tow option was released for the Atlas transfer case. This new option uses a new rear output shaft that is connected to a gerotor pump assyembly. The Atlas pan has a pick up screen that pulls oil from the main case pulling it into the tailhousing and down the output shaft lubricating the bearings while driving and being flat towed. The length of the tailhousing is the same as the standard Atlas. It does not have the mechanical speedometer gear but offers an electronic pick up for a Jeep , GM, or STD which has no pick up.

P/N AFT-JP Flat Tow tailhousing with Jeep sensor

P/N AFT-GM Flat Tow tailhousing with GM sensor

P/N AFT-STD Flat Tow tailhousing witout a speed sensor
Click to expand...

They've got this adapter plate that should fit my gen 2 TOYOTA FJ CRUISER/TACOMA 05-14 AUTO/ATLAS

I think all said and done it'd be in it over $4k to have a DD that occasionally sees dirt with an atlas in it just for flat towing. I could put some pretty cool other things on that taco for $4k. It would take a lot of climbing under and bolting/unbolting the driveline to justify that in my mind.
 
Atlas seems like a very expensive solution to this problem, doesn't it?
 
I've been flat towing with my Atlas II for several years, and know people who have done it for a lot longer. I don't have the "flat tow output". According to AA, the only people who have issues flat towing with the standard output didn't put the miles on them to break in the bearings before towing. The only Atlas that you can't flat tow with is the 4 speed version. Just for info, NWF told me there's no issue flat towing with their integrated blackbox.
 
BDK said:
I've been flat towing with my Atlas II for several years, and know people who have done it for a lot longer. I don't have the "flat tow output". According to AA, the only people who have issues flat towing with the standard output didn't put the miles on them to break in the bearings before towing. The only Atlas that you can't flat tow with is the 4 speed version. Just for info, NWF told me there's no issue flat towing with their integrated blackbox.
Click to expand...
Ditching the tail housing for the standard one would save me about $500, but I'd still be in it for a good amount of money
 
Jeffh555 said:
Sell Tacoma and buy something that can be easily flat towed, Ranger or Maverick?
Click to expand...
Maverick is itty bitty inside and out. Ranger was on the list, but vehicle prices are silly these days and there doesn't seem to be a lot of rangers for sale around here.
 
Sandy Johnson said:
Maverick is itty bitty inside and out. Ranger was on the list, but vehicle prices are silly these days and there doesn't seem to be a lot of rangers for sale around here.
Click to expand...
Wasn't sure if they actually feel itty bitty, I have a buddy that's 6'4"+ and daily drives one 45 min each way, and generally likes it.

Mostly brought it up because I saw a bunch being towed behind motorhomes when I was "camping" Labor day weekend.
 
Pretty sure Ive got one of those disconnects in the used parts pile somewhere.

Kinda interesting, Looks like it'd be pretty easy to fuck up on a rock or something though
 
I think the only great solution is an extra flange welded to a cross member, a 20v 3/8 impact gun, and 2 minutes of your time to pull it off the third and up into your welded flange.

Then you can tow all day long with no adverse effects. There is no great solution and honestly it's not that hard to do. Probably takes longer to walk around your RV to make sure it's safe to drive.
 
Jeffh555 said:
Wasn't sure if they actually feel itty bitty, I have a buddy that's 6'4"+ and daily drives one 45 min each way, and generally likes it.

Mostly brought it up because I saw a bunch being towed behind motorhomes when I was "camping" Labor day weekend.
Click to expand...
Less bed space is mainly the issue. That and I like being able to take the taco out and do fun stuff in the dez. Plan is to go spring under out back and some long shocks, and maybe long arm up front depending on how it drives after the rear is done.
 
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