First Post. I have a 31 foot Jamboree Sport. It is on the Ford E450 chassis and has the 460 motor in it. I have towed a Wrangler X soft top with no issues. I now have a Jeep Unlimited Rubicon that I tow. Here is the issue. At higher speeds, it seems that I am Dragging the Rub around corners, especially longer corners. The coach has almost come to a complete stop with not enough power to tow. The tow seems to do quite well around the neighborhood with sharp turns at intersections. I have verified setup with leaving the key in the On position and moving the steering wheel back and forth and verify that the front wheels actually move when going around corners in the neighborhood. Can not verify if they are turning on the higher speed corners. It also seems that when it finally does start to catch up, I have to move the coach steering wheel opposite to the turn and catch up. Has anyone else experienced this. I have a Roadmaster Falcon 2 tow bar that I leave on the coach and the Rube has the Roadmaster hook up with an extension that supports the Blue Ox ends on the Falcon 2. That is a Long Story starting in San Diego. I can describe it further if needed. The Rube weighs in at 4650 with a full tank of gas. I don't put anything in it when towing.

mount a go pro camera under the hitch and watch what is going on.

I towed my Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited with our old Tioga 29H Class C (E350 460 V8), with no trouble.It tows even better with the F53 based Class A with the V10.Having never encountered the problem you describe, I don't know what is going on.Let us know when you figure it out.

I like the camera idea. Four-Down Towing is wonderful but there are issues. It's probably harder on the toad than a dolly and certainly harder than a trailer. Chipping, tire wear... But also, it's possible to get the toad's steering into a postion it can't get out of. This usually happens on tighter turns, but the scenario is this (based on a sharp right turn by the Coach):1. Coach driver steers Coach Hard Right2. Coach rear overhang swings Left3. Toad steers Left to follow Coach's rear overhang to the Left4. Coach driver straightens Coach out after turn by steerinng Coach Hard LEFT5. Coach rear overhang swings Right6. Toad (some Toads, some of the Time) remains steered Left7. Coach is going Straight8. Toad front wheels are trapped in a Hard Left9. Coach drags Toad front tires SidewaysWe had a Toyota Tercel that would do just that. Not all the time, and I could usually avoid it. But, I left it unlocked because a couple times I had to stop, run back, and horse the steering wheel back to center. We also had a Mitsubishi mini-truck. It newer did that.Why one Jeep model would and another wouldn't, don't know. Why on wider turns than tighter turns really baffles me.

Try putting a bungee cord at the bottom of the steering wheel to pull it back to center at each corner may help easy to try.

That shouldn't be happening at all. Try tying a white rag on the top of the steering wheel when you take off and monitor that rag when doing turns. It's easier to watch the white in your monitor rather than the black steering wheel. Never heard of anything like that. What is this condition doing to your tires? Wearing pattern? Does this happen on both right or left turns? Do you notice anything at high speed turns when you're driving the Jeep? Good luck!

Dragging a Jeep Unlimited around corners | Good Sam Community

40 Replies

GrampaR123
Explorer
Jul 05, 2013
We have towed five different cars over the years and have experienced the situation that you describe with only one of those cars, a 1989 Honda Accord 2-door. For people who have never experienced this, it is difficult to understand. It has to do with the steering geometry on the car being towed, and also with the distance from the front wheels on the car to the tow bar attachment. We finally were able to eliminate this problem with the bungee cord solution mentioned above. We hooked a strong bungee cord to the steering wheel on one side, around the back of the driver's seat to the other side of the steering wheel. This gives the car steering some additional incentive to return to center. If it still continues to happen, a tighter bungee cord may help. I feel your pain in trying to explain this phenomenon, people assume there's something wrong with the way you're doing things, and in reality, it's not your fault. Good luck and hope this solves your problem.
tropical36
Explorer
Jul 02, 2013
What year is the OP's Wrangler, again? Ours doesn't have a steering lock to begin with and tows fine, except for being a little heavy for our coach on long steep grades.
As has been suggested, tie a bright scarf on top of the steering wheel and watch it in the camera.
David_homen
Explorer
Jul 02, 2013
Lets see ......... New to the forum and how it mechanically works so will try to remember all the questions in order.

1. My son has a GoPro ........ neat idea. Just have to get him to send it up.

2. White rag on the steering wheel. Another Great Idea and something I can do right away. Well .......... after the temperature drops below a hundred and five again.

3. No unusual wear pattern on the tires. I keep looking for chipping or wear especially with the aggressive Rubicon Tire. But ........ I have only towed this jeep about 1600 miles. Twice to Lakeview Oregon via Gerlach Nevada and then back to Reno on 395 as well as the initial trip to Sierra RV to have the Jeep set up to tow.

4. I will endeavour to take a pic of the set up and post. Should be interesting to learn how to do that. I know I am missing something so will post this and then address the other one.

5. I do make long turns in the neighborhood and watch the wheels carefully to ensure they are tracking and following. Never a problem there. Well, if I get to darn close to a curb there is an issue with them turning right and jumping the curb. Hard Lesson Learned and only took once. Geesh!

With Regards

Dave
Tom_Barb
Explorer II
Jul 01, 2013
j-d wrote:
I like the camera idea.

Four-Down Towing is wonderful but there are issues. It's probably harder on the toad than a dolly and certainly harder than a trailer. Chipping, tire wear... But also, it's possible to get the toad's steering into a postion it can't get out of.

This usually happens on tighter turns, but the scenario is this (based on a sharp right turn by the Coach):
1. Coach driver steers Coach Hard Right
2. Coach rear overhang swings Left
3. Toad steers Left to follow Coach's rear overhang to the Left
4. Coach driver straightens Coach out after turn by steerinng Coach Hard LEFT
5. Coach rear overhang swings Right
6. Toad (some Toads, some of the Time) remains steered Left
7. Coach is going Straight
8. Toad front wheels are trapped in a Hard Left
9. Coach drags Toad front tires Sideways

We had a Toyota Tercel that would do just that. Not all the time, and I could usually avoid it. But, I left it unlocked because a couple times I had to stop, run back, and horse the steering wheel back to center. We also had a Mitsubishi mini-truck. It newer did that.

Why one Jeep model would and another wouldn't, don't know. Why on wider turns than tighter turns really baffles me.

Length of wheel base, primarily

You are spot on for the rest of your post, that is why we make wide turns and never allow the toad to go left before it gets dragged right, or the other way round.
Off_Pavement
Explorer II
Jul 01, 2013
Are you using a supplemental brake system that may be activating on the turn? Can you post a picture of your towing setup? Sure sounds odd!
2gypsies1
Explorer III
Jul 01, 2013
That shouldn't be happening at all. Try tying a white rag on the top of the steering wheel when you take off and monitor that rag when doing turns. It's easier to watch the white in your monitor rather than the black steering wheel. Never heard of anything like that.

What is this condition doing to your tires? Wearing pattern? Does this happen on both right or left turns? Do you notice anything at high speed turns when you're driving the Jeep? Good luck!
John_Wayne
Explorer II
Jul 01, 2013
Try putting a bungee cord at the bottom of the steering wheel to pull it back to center at each corner may help easy to try.
j-d
Explorer II
Jul 01, 2013
I like the camera idea.

Four-Down Towing is wonderful but there are issues. It's probably harder on the toad than a dolly and certainly harder than a trailer. Chipping, tire wear... But also, it's possible to get the toad's steering into a postion it can't get out of.

This usually happens on tighter turns, but the scenario is this (based on a sharp right turn by the Coach):
1. Coach driver steers Coach Hard Right
2. Coach rear overhang swings Left
3. Toad steers Left to follow Coach's rear overhang to the Left
4. Coach driver straightens Coach out after turn by steerinng Coach Hard LEFT
5. Coach rear overhang swings Right
6. Toad (some Toads, some of the Time) remains steered Left
7. Coach is going Straight
8. Toad front wheels are trapped in a Hard Left
9. Coach drags Toad front tires Sideways

We had a Toyota Tercel that would do just that. Not all the time, and I could usually avoid it. But, I left it unlocked because a couple times I had to stop, run back, and horse the steering wheel back to center. We also had a Mitsubishi mini-truck. It newer did that.

Why one Jeep model would and another wouldn't, don't know. Why on wider turns than tighter turns really baffles me.
mowermech
Explorer
Jul 01, 2013
I towed my Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited with our old Tioga 29H Class C (E350 460 V8), with no trouble.
It tows even better with the F53 based Class A with the V10.
Having never encountered the problem you describe, I don't know what is going on.
Let us know when you figure it out.
Tom_Barb
Explorer II
Jun 30, 2013
mount a go pro camera under the hitch and watch what is going on.

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Dragging a Jeep Unlimited around corners

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