Free-Wheeling Spindle Adaptor

[Gaetan Lavoie]

Some years ago, a manufacturer had marketed an adaptor to allow vehicles equipped with an automatic transmission to be towed on all four without any damage to the transmission. This adaptor was mounted to the drive hubs of a vehicle to allow the vehicle to roll freely without rotation of the drive hubs or drive train. The adaptor included an adaptor spindle which was directly mounted to the drive hub using the wheel studs. A free-wheeling hub was mounted onto the adaptor spindle and included a stud flange and studs providing an identical attachment pattern to that of the drive hub. The wheel of the vehicle could be mounted on the free-wheeling hub such that the vehicle may be towed without injury to the drive line. The adaptor has two accessible settings one for free wheeling and the other for locking the adaptor to the vehicle spindle so that the vehicle can be moved on its own power (an important point that I had unfortunately left out in the inital message).

This is the adaptor that I would like to install on a new front wheel drive toad with automatic transmission. I have searched the internet but came up with nothing really. Can anyone remember who this manufacturer is?

[Gaetan Lavoie]

Some years ago, a manufacturer had marketed an adaptor to allow vehicles equipped with an automatic transmission to be towed on all four without any damage to the transmission. This adaptor was mounted to the drive hubs of a vehicle to allow the vehicle to roll freely without rotation of the drive hubs or drive train. The adaptor included an adaptor spindle which was directly mounted to the drive hub using the wheel studs. A free-wheeling hub was mounted onto the adaptor spindle and included a stud flange and studs providing an identical attachment pattern to that of the drive hub. The wheel of the vehicle could be mounted on the free-wheeling hub such that the vehicle may be towed without injury to the drive line. The adaptor has two accessible settings one for free wheeling and the other for locking the adaptor to the vehicle spindle so that the vehicle can be moved on its own power (an important point that I had unfortunately left out in the inital message).

This is the adaptor that I would like to install on a new front wheel drive toad with automatic transmission. I have searched the internet but came up with nothing really. Can anyone remember who this manufacturer is?

[zooom]

Hi Gaetan,
During the mid-to-late 1970's I & many other racers used to tow our race cars to the track with simple steel tow bars & free-wheeling hubs that bolted to the rear axle drums & then you bolted some suitable tires [for street use] to these hubs. This way one didn't have to disconnect the driveshaft to prevent the rear differential from churning [& cooking the axle lubricant!] during long tows.

The free-wheeling hubs I used were manufactured by NMW - an offshoot of Lakewood Industries - which was eventually "gobbled" up by the W.R. Grace Co, who went bankrupt after several asbestos-related lawsuits.

I don't know if anyone else makes these hubs today. I would try the major race/automotive aftermarket distributors, i.e., Summit Racing & Jegs Performance, and see if they could help.

You must realize that the "workers" at these places today will probably think you're crazy for suggesting such a device, although they were very common & available back then.

Good luck!

[Hoverbug]

Gaetan, check this link. I think Remco is the company you are looking for. I had a friend that used the hub disconnect with good results.Personally I used the driveshaft disconnect on a Ford Aerostar and it worked as advertised.

http://www.remcotowing.com/

[Gary RVRoamer]

Remco doesn't make the sort of device Gaeton is looking for, but does have driveline disconnects for both front drive and rear drive vehicles.