Tow a Jeep Wrangler

The owners manual flatly states that dolly towing or any other 2-wheel down towing (as in behind a wrecker) is forbidden. Presumably, having the rear drive shaft rotating while the front drive shaft is not rotating is not a good idea. However, as usual, they don't state WHY, they just say DON'T!
Personally, I think the folks who built the rig and wrote the book generally know more about it than I do, and I don't choose to argue with them.

The manual also says to leave the key on to keep the steering wheel unlocked, and yet this hasn't been an issue since '08. Logic would dictate that you would not need to remove the driveshaft to tow, period. Biggest issue I see is that the front wheels would not be locked in gear like a front drive and it may move around a bit on the dolly. But if you can tow it four down without removing the driveshaft, you can tow it on a dolly without removing the driveshaft.

dubdub07 wrote:

Y-Guy wrote:
If you just need to tow it once a dolly might make sense, if you disconnect the rear drive shaft. But if you plan on towing it frequently you'll probably want to get it set up to flat tow as I don't think you'll want to get under the Jeep to connect and disconnect often.

So, i am confused. If you can flat tow it with 4 wheels down and not remove the driveshaft, then why can't you tow it on a dolly without removing the drive shaft?

The OP stated that the owners manual does not recommend dolly towing.

Personally I would flat tow it. It is a lot easier than dolly towing. I flat tow my 78 CJ-5 and dolly tow my Corolla. JMO

Y-Guy wrote:
If you just need to tow it once a dolly might make sense, if you disconnect the rear drive shaft. But if you plan on towing it frequently you'll probably want to get it set up to flat tow as I don't think you'll want to get under the Jeep to connect and disconnect often.

So, i am confused. If you can flat tow it with 4 wheels down and not remove the driveshaft, then why can't you tow it on a dolly without removing the drive shaft?

If you just need to tow it once a dolly might make sense, if you disconnect the rear drive shaft. But if you plan on towing it frequently you'll probably want to get it set up to flat tow as I don't think you'll want to get under the Jeep to connect and disconnect often.

T
you should be fine with rear shaft pulled as no motion is going to transfer case.

Thanks for the replies.....yes it can be flat towed....the owners manual does not recommend dolly towing. That's why I ask about dolly towing removing the rear drive shaft. You are correct about the transfer issues.

Thanks again fir the input, Happy Camping, bye Dennis :)

lanerd wrote:
If you can flat tow it, you can put it on a dolly and tow it just like you would flat towing. Whatever you have to do to the Jeep to flat tow(transfer case in neutral, etc), just do the same thing to dolly tow.

Ron

Not all 4WD/AWD vehicles that can be flat towed can be dolly towed. All 4 wheels have to be on the ground and roll together because of differential action in the transfer case.
Not sure about the wrangler

READ YOUR OWNERS MANUAL ! Look for a section in the index "recreational towing"

I always read the owners manual before installing baseplates to be sure the particular model options are towable and frequently see driveline configurations that can flat tow, but cannot dolly tow.

If you can flat tow it, you can put it on a dolly and tow it just like you would flat towing. Whatever you have to do to the Jeep to flat tow(transfer case in neutral, etc), just do the same thing to dolly tow.

Ron

IF you remove the rear drive shaft, YES, you can dolly tow it, but I'm not sure why you would want to.
We tow our PT cruiser on a dolly, but the Jeep we flat tow. The tow bar we use is currently a little under $100 at Walmart.