Do I need a charge line to my Toad?

lacofdfireman wrote:
I'm batting 1000 here trying to jimmy rig my toad in a hurry to leave on a trip tomorrow night. But it's now looking like we may not leave until Wednesday because we can't even get our Motorhome back from the dealer that is installing a new generator for us. They did say Tuesday evening or early Wednesday so we are keeping our fingers crossed. So now here is my next issue.
So I could have sworn that my 03 jeep Grand Chetokee did not have a steering lock. But wouldn't ya know I hooked up my Ready brake and my Blue ox to my pickup to pull the jeep around the block and soon as I turn out of the driveway my dang steering locks and my front tires are skidding down the road sideways. I stopped quickly and put the key in and turned to aux and it pulled and tracked great. I had it in my head that my Grand Cherokee didn't have steering lock because the other day I was in some gravel and with the key off I turned the wheel and never felt it lock. So now it looks like I will have to tow with my Cherokees key in the aux position. So I'm curious. How fast is this going to run my battery down? Do I need to run a charge cord? Trying to get this all figured out so I can hit the road. The other issue is I cheated out and used an existing 4 pole outlet on the front of my Jeep that I had laying around instead of buying a 6 pole. And I bought. 7way to 4pole Blue ox power cord. Not sure where to go from here. Just wondering if I'm towing and the battery dies my steering will lock up won't it? Is there any quick fixes I can do to get me on the road soon? I don't have access to diodes etc without mail order and I don't have time for that.

Well Dave,
When you and I had the long conversation on the phone about much of this stuff, I explained the need to CONFIRM that you do, or DO NOT, have your steering lock in your Grand. I said you really need TO MAKE SURE that it does, or doesn't lock. And, I also said that if there is NO LOCK, then your key does not even have to be in the car. And if that is/was the case, then there's no need for any additional wiring for toad battery charging because there's no draw on the battery.

But, apparently you've found out different. Well, I'll ask this. Now that you KNOW you have a steering lock, and, that you need to turn the key to the first position to un-lock that steering, DOES THAT IN FACT, ENGERGIZE ANY ELECTRICS in that key position? In other words, does that first key position turn on anything on or in the dash, to indicate something's on, i.e. Radio, dash lighting, icons in the dash, ding-ding-ding, "the key is on" or, buzzers or anything?

If it does, then yes, you'll need a charge line from the coach to the toads positive battery terminal. In our TJ Jeeps that we towed in the past, the key needed one click forward to unlock the steering but, in that position, it energized NOTHING. So, no battery charge line was needed. It was simply an "unlock" for the steering.

So, CONFIRM if anything is energized or, TURNED ON, with that first click of the key, that unlocks the steering.

Now, as to the last part of your statement concerning the "battery dying and steering lock-up", well, neither has anything to do with the other. Your steering lock-unlock is purely mechanical in the steering column. When you turn the key one click forward, you rotate the control pin that moves another pin out of any one of the many "loops" that are used to lock the steering, in any position the steering wheel is left in, when shutting down the last time you drove it.

If the battery dies, due to being left in the "on" position of the key, the only thing you'll experience because of that is, A DEAD BATTERY and a no-start engine. A dead battery has no effect on steering, unlocked or locked.

If you purchased a 7-pin to 4-pin cord and find out you really need the 7-pin to 6-pin cord and, have not used the first one, then simply TAKE IT BACK and exchange it for the 6-pin one. That way, you'll now have the extra wire in the pig tail to be used for the charge line to the toads positive battery post.
Scott