User Manual

How to Recover a Vehicle
CAUTION
Remove the drive axle shafts or lift the
driving
wheels off the ground before
towing the vehicle. Towing the vehicle
with either the wheels on the ground or
the axle shafts in the axles will cause
damage to the axle gears.
CAUTION
If your vehicle has a Meritor axle with
a
driver-controlled main differential
lock, install the caging bolt before re-
moving the axles for towing, see How
to Manually Lock a Differential. Instal-
ling the caging bolt prevents damage
by locking internal axle components in
position.
CAUTION
Connect recovery rigging only to hitch-
es
intended for that purpose. DO NOT
attach to bumpers or brackets. Use
only
equipment designed for this pur-
pose. Failure to comply may result in
equipment damage.
WARNING
Before towing a vehicle, test your air
brakes to ensure that you have proper-
ly
connected and inspected the recov-
ery vehicle’s brake system. Failure to
do so could lead to a loss of vehicle
control which may result in an accident
involving death or personal injury.
All lubricating and clutch application oil
pressure is provided by an engine-driven
pump, which will not work when the engine
is stopped. Y
ou could seriously damage
your vehicle by towing it with the driveline
connected and the drive wheels on the
ground. Worse, when vehicles are towed,
either by wrecker or piggyback, the
lubricant in the top front of the drive axle
will drain to the rear. This will leave the top
components dry. The resulting friction may
damage them. Always remove the main
drive axle shafts before towing your
vehicle.
1. Review and understand all the
cautions and warnings of this
section.
2.
Disconnect the drive axle shafts
and cover the open hubs. This is
necessary because if the
transmission is driven by the
driveshaft (rear wheels on the
ground), no lubricant will reach the
gears and bearings, causing
damage to the transmission. .
See How to Prepare the Axles for Towing
on page 39
3. Connect the towing chain or cable
using best recovery practices .
See Best Practices for Recovery Rigging
on page 41
4. Make sure the recovered vehicle's
parking brakes are released. .
See Manually Release the Parking Brake
on page 37
5. If you desire to use the recovered
vehicle’s brakes, ensure that the
vehicle’s air system is connected to
that of the recovery vehicle. Ensure
that any air line that has been
removed from a driver-controlled
main differential lock is firmly
capped to prevent loss of air
pressure from the recovery vehicle
EMERGENCY - How to Recover a Vehicle
36 Y53-6113-1A1 (11/20)
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