Use Truck to test towed setup

I have towed my jeep with my trucks too many times to count. Heck I even towed my truck with my jeep when it needed to go to the shop, got a few well deserved stares.

For years it was my designated driver. Go to the party first, wife brings the truck and tows me and the jeep home.

When the wife has had to have a medical procedure that allows her to drive there but not home. Wife takes the jeep and then I come with the truck and take them both home.

Have also used the truck to tow the jeep to the trail head so I had the comfort of the truck for the highway miles and the off road ability of the jeep for the trails.

Just be sure you follow the manufacture's towing instructions. Probably stuff like; make sure the steering wheel is unlocked (usually with the key in the RUN position), emergency brake off, transfer case in neutral, transmission in neutral, don't attempt to back up, etc.

Make sure you use safety chains right when testing anything of this nature. Last thing you need is something to fail and you loose control of the towed. Parking lots are good places to test, making sharp turns, sudden stops, etc as you learn how the load is handling.

When a buddy and I set up our Suzuki Samurais for towing behind our pick up trucks w/campers, we started without the campers, staged one of us in the bed of the truck to observe the hitch action, a remote camera on the towed brake pedal to see it works with the remote braking system, etc. Having a buddy along is good for a second set of eyes. Don't use wife for a project like this. Ha!

skipro3 wrote:
I can't see why towing a Jeep would be any more difficult than towing any other light trailer. Your truck is capable of towing a fairly large RV trailer, a Jeep will be a piece of cake.

I see lots of trucks WITH campers towing Jeeps without incident. An empty truck, not to worry.

That's what I thought. My TT weights over 2000lbs more than my Jeep and I tow it all the time with my truck. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking something. I figured I would go through the motions of hooking it up a few times so when the motorhome comes in I will be comfortable with the setup.

I can't see why towing a Jeep would be any more difficult than towing any other light trailer. Your truck is capable of towing a fairly large RV trailer, a Jeep will be a piece of cake.

I see lots of trucks WITH campers towing Jeeps without incident. An empty truck, not to worry.

I mainly wanted to practice hooking up the Jeep and testing the lights. I would only be driving it around the block with the wife or friend following to make sure lights and the hitch are working correctly. I will just need to make sure the tow bars are +-3 inches for the horizontal tolerance. I don't have the motorhome yet so I'm not sure if I will need a drop hitch.

You can do it, but if you don't have a braking system installed (or even if you do) be very careful. I used to have a 2002 Ford Focus (lighter than your Jeep) and a few times I pulled it with my Chevy 2500HD. Even though the Focus weighed less than the Chevy's payload capacity, once or twice the slight upward angle of the tow bar combined with the Chevy's already light rear end to make stopping in the rain dicey.

I probably wouldn't do it just to test the towing setup. The only times I pulled a toad with my pickup was to bring a car in for service by myself and drop it off.