03 5 speed trans fluid change

[svt4cam]

New member here with an 03 5 speed for toad use behind our 26" Leprechaun. It was a one owner car that went through auction and I picked it up from a guy that flips them. Great Carfax and 131,000 miles. Drives great, I didn't realize about the inherent trans weakness until after I bought it although there is no noise, it shifts great with no gear clash, and the clutch has plenty of wear left it seems. I ordered up a couple quarts of Redline 75-90 GL4 today and I'm going to change the gearbox fluid just because I don't know when that was last done. Does anyone know how catastrophic failure is with these trans? In other words if the car is being towed in neutral if something happens does it cause problems or does the car still roll easily, just have no propulsion? I also stumbled on a rebuild video on You tube and other then a gear puller or two that I don't have, it doesn't look that awful to replace the bearings. The guy that made these videos is kinda of entertaining in a making the video way to simple and repetitive sort of way. The thought occurred to me to pick up a spare trans and do the bearings at my leisure and keep it around as a spare. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9evxLVlsZLA

[Bookworm]

Is it an AWD? If so, then towing in neutral is the only way to do it.

If it's a base model, then it's a FWD car - tow it with the front in the air, and the rear wheels spin like normal.

[svt4cam]

It's fwd manual trans it will be 4 wheels down on a tow bar.

[zbyers]

Being a manual trans FWD, you should have no issues flat towing with the vehicle in neutral. We have towed several vehicles this way. We have also simply removed drive shafts on automatic RWD vehicles to flat tow and had no issue.

[svt4cam]

My question is more along the lines that if the trans had a problem, while towing, or if we were driving it somewhere away from home. Would it still be towable 4 wheels down?

[zbyers]

Depends what kind of issue you have. If the trans locked up and kept the axles from rotating, you wouldn't be able to tow on all 4 wheels. if say the clutch went, but you were still able to get it in neutral, you'd be fine. I wouldn't worry too much about the "what if." So long as you take care of it, the trans really shouldn't be an issue. Once you get into the higher miles of actual trans usage, it may become an issue. Your odometer should still count while flat towing, so actually miles would vary.