Towing 2002 Jeep - Steering wheel lock

[BeaverCamper]

We are towing a 2002 Jeep Wrangler behind our RV. I know the steering wheel has to be left unlocked. 2010 and newer jeeps do not have a steering wheel locks so please answer this only if you have a 2000 - 2009 Jeep.
The manual says to turn the key to the OFF position which leaves the steering wheel unlocked.
Do you tow with the key in the ignition and in the OFF position? Seems like that is asking for someone to steal your Jeep?

[bigskygrizzlybe]

I have a 2004 Jeep Liberty that I tow. I did not believe that I had a steering wheel lock.
I could not get the wheels to lock no matter how hard I tried. The first time I pulled out of my driveway, the wheels locked up on the Jeep. I had the key in the ignition, but not turned on. I turned the key on until the odometer light lit up. I then backed it off 1 position, and the light went out. Never had a problem after that. In my Liberty, the 12 volt outlet that runs my Brake Buddy, is hot, as long as the key is in the ignition.

[Sully2]

Do you tow with the key in the ignition and in the OFF position? Seems like that is asking for someone to steal your Jeep?


NOT when you open the ignition with a separate made key and lock the doors with the one on a key fob..!

[RoWest]

Kind of unrelated, but I put a battery disconnect on my new 2015 Wrangler for the light harness to attach from the MH for towing. It clears the 'smog test' memory every time and must be driven around a 100 miles to reset. Did not pass smog when registering in CA after purchase in AZ (50 state compliant)and it was a failed test @ $45 that made me change the harness to not have the disconnect.

[BeaverCamper]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Note that I had a Roadmaster tow bar installed with the US Gear braking system. I also thought ahead 🙂 and had the RV shop install a charging wire in the wire bundle from the RV to the Jeep that charges the Jeep battery. So now I do not need to remove a fuse, battery cable, etc.
As we are leaving in 2 days I think I will leave the spare key in the ignition in the OFF position and when I get back I will have the locking pin removed. I already need the rear main seal replaced so I will have them do it all at once.
Good idea to remove the rear seat and I will do that before we leave.
Thanks again for all your tips and Bill for your ideas.

[Tom_Barb]

After I hook up the jeep to the coach I disconnect the battery Negative post, close the hood, get in the jeep place the key in the ignition then turn it to the start position, (nothing happens) then allow it to return to the RUN position. This is the position where you would normally drive the jeep. then get out of the jeep and close the door. (yes it will be unlocked) If any one can steal my Jeep on the run, I'm not going to mess with them anyway.
Once the battery is disconnected you can't lock the electric door locks. I guess you could lock the doors prior to disconnecting the battery and leave the drivers door open until you are ready to pull away.

[Trackrig]

To Jim Shoe - No, on my 2002 I do not leave the key in it. It's not a matter of security, but rather I use being able to take the key out an indicator of where the ignition should be set at. I slowly turn the running Jeep off. At the first position where the Jeep shuts off and the key comes out, the steering wheel is unlocked and the ignition is off.

My key comes out easily in the off and unlocked position. Is the key supposed to be able to come out there? I assumed it was, but from reading your post, I can almost read into it that you leave your key in because it won't come out. Maybe this is because my ignition switch is sloppy after 155,000 miles?

The 2002 doesn't use a chipped key.

And Joe, another good thing about a Jeep is there's a lot of steel on the thing, go get one of those magnetic key boxes in case you lose the key instead of locking it inside.

My front end is tight, it was just gone through with also having a brake job and the steering stabilizer replaced about a thousand miles before loosing the second set of front tires.


For those so inclined to do their own work, when I was researching how to pull the pin myself (like I should of done before heading south) my research said I would need a Torex security bit to pull the pin. The security bits are the ones with the holes in the end of the bit. My research said you would need a size T10. Everyone should have a set of these anyway. Here's a set on Amazon for $5.59.

Bill

[MrLugs]

"I believe, the steering wheel locked and I scrubbed out the two front tires "
We never had any issues towing our old YJ but with our 2003 TJ the wheels lock sideways if turning too sharply in a parking lot. I've heard of people putting bungee straps to keep the wheel centered. I just jump out as my wife drives and run beside the jeep. These both aren't great solutions. It has to do with low caster angles, especially if the jeep is lifted, this reduces the caster. I would imagine a stock TJ should not have this issue.
I'm looking at installing a Tough Dog self centering steering stabilizer, similar to the safe-t-plus units sold for RV's.

[joe_b_]

We are currently towing a 2004 Jeep Unlimited, with 82,000 miles on it, behind our truck camper, when needed. About every other summer we tow it out to Western Colorado to run the Jeep trails so put about 5,000 miles per round trip on it. This one is the 14th Jeep I have owned but the first Unlimited (long wheelbase model) that I have towed. The longer wheel base seems to not have any problems with the steering wheels not wanting to straighten out after a turn. Some of the previous CJs and other models we towed did at time have some issues. I tended to use a bungy cord from the bottom of the steering wheel to the fastened seat belt to solve that problem if it occurred.

Real important to make sure the Jeep front end is tight. Before my next 3 month trip to Colorado I will have my mechanic check the tie rods, ball joints, steering stabilizer, front shocks etc. Loose parts up front will sure show up when towing it seem to me. Most trips after running the Jeep trails all summer, I have to replace all 4 tires, due to rock damage, etc.

Lot of good info in Bill's posts and others, above. I do the same as Jim Shoe with the key. I think my extra key cost me about $.75 at my local hardware store to have cut. For braking, I use a Ready Brake set up which used no electricity to operate, as it is a surge type brake between the tow and towed. For tail lights I bought a set of boat traier tail lights and used double sided 3M tape to attach them to the rear bumper, then ran the flat 4 wire bundle to the front bumper of the Jeep, going underneath it. Then I use a 4 ft. four wire extension to plug it into the 7 pin on the back of the tow vehicle, my truck in my case. The original Jeep lights are not used in any way when towing. The LED boat trailer lights only work when the tow vehicle is running, when the truck brake lights come on, then the ones on the back of the Jeep do as well, turn and running lights the same. The LED lights use so little electricity I didn't have to make any changes in the truck to handle the extra needed for the towed.

Now I keep my rear seat in place, as with the unlimited, there is an extra 16 inches of wheelbase, and most of that room is in front of the rear seat. (great for hauling my 2 preteen age grandsons at times. I use the Jeep as my daily driver when not towing it somewhere.

On edit: I have both a hard and a soft top for my Jeep. I tend to leave the key in the ignition with the hard top much more than the soft top. As most Jeep owners know, locking a soft top is just something to do. Have locked my keys in my Jeep here in Florida with the soft top on it and it is just a matter of unzipping the driver's side rear window and reach in to unlock the door. LOL Little or no security in a soft top rig.

[Jim_Shoe]

We are towing a 2002 Jeep Wrangler behind our RV. I know the steering wheel has to be left unlocked. 2010 and newer jeeps do not have a steering wheel locks so please answer this only if you have a 2000 - 2009 Jeep.
The manual says to turn the key to the OFF position which leaves the steering wheel unlocked.
Do you tow with the key in the ignition and in the OFF position? Seems like that is asking for someone to steal your Jeep?
*********************
I had the same problem. The simple solution is to have another key made. I turn that key to the first stop which unlocks the steering. Then I lock the doors as usual. I still have the original key on my key ring. I remove the spare key if I stop to go shopping or in a CG over night.

[Trackrig]

ddndoug wrote:
Trackrig - I'm having a hard time picturing the "flag". Do you have any pics of it?

Doug

You know, that's one thing I don't have a picture of in my large collection of pictures. But, I grabbed a lint roller and went out to the truck - close enough to the Jeep.

The first picture is standing in front of the truck looking thru the windshield at the flag. (The big red thing is my 100 gal fuel tank in the bed.)



The second picture is taken with the door of the truck open.



With your rear view camera you can see the steering wheel turn going around a corner, but you have to concentrate on it, but you have know way of knowing if the steering wheel is straight unless you have a "flag" to show you. As I know, it's very easy to tow the Jeep with a large MH without knowing the front wheel are locked off to the side. The white colored flag is visible at night.

Sorry that I don't have a picture of the better home made one.

Bill

[ddndoug]

Trackrig - I'm having a hard time picturing the "flag". Do you have any pics of it?

Doug

[Tom_Barb]

Trackrig wrote:

And one more suggestion - get rid of that lousy rear seat. It's nothing but in the way and no one except small kids can climb behind the front seats to get into it. We keep ours folded up and strapped up behind the rear seats with a ratchet strap to the roll over bar otherwise it likes to fall down and squish the groceries behind it.
Bill

Yeah That 🙂 we dumped our's too, we do carry it in the basement if we ever need it.
Shop at Quadratrac, get the rubber floor mats, specially the one for the rear area. saved many spills.

There are several wire kits to run the lights on the jeep. "Cool tech" is the best of the bunch IMHO. very easy to install and uses the jeep lights with out modifications.
Cool tech harness

Rubber mats a must have. 🙂

[Tom_Barb]

Towing a Towed, We watched many Coaches with a rear flap that goes all the way across the coach, these will actually cause stones to fly up and strike the front of the towed. The wind escaping from under the flap acts like a big fan blowing stuff around like crazy. We removed ours, and have not had a stone chip since.

[Trackrig]

We tow a 2002 Jeep Wrangler. When I bought it tow, I took it to the Jeep / Dodge dealer to be serviced. One of things I told them to do was take the pin out so the steering wheel wouldn't lock up. They told me the 2002 didn't have a pin even though I was sure it did. With everything else to do getting the MH ready to go south from Alaska, I didn't mess with it any further, I just planned on setting the key in the right spot.

Well, on the way south by Lake Minchumina I believe, the steering wheel locked and I scrubbed out the two front tires that were almost new. Fast forward to 2015, I scrubbed out two more front tires when the steering wheel locked up again. Both times it seems to have happened after making several sharp turns. It appears that somehow the sharp turn cause the steering wheel to lock up.

Yes, I have been towing with the key in the off position. What yo do is with the engine running, turn it off to the first click where the engine quits running and the key should come out.

My advice to you, which I'll follow myself when I get down to Washington where the MH & Jeep are currently parked, is to find a jeep shop that knows how to pull the pin. I'd look for a shop that is just a jeep shop that works on real off-road jeeps that are towed a lot, not just a Jeep dealer. In the end, when the work is done, have them give you the pin in your hand so you know it's been pulled.

Other than that issue, the Jeep has been very good to tow, no problems other than the tires. I've towed it about 15,000 miles.

If you haven't hooked up your lights for towing yet, there are two ways to do it. Roadmaster makes the standard kit to hook into the Jeep's lighting system with some diodes to keep from draining the Jeep battery. They also have a kit that doesn't use the Jeep's lights. If you're familiar with the old boxy style tail lights on your Jeep, there's a metal plate inside of them separating the brake bulb from back-up bulb. With this kit, you drill a hole in the plate and install a totally separate bulb. Then you run the wiring from the MH either inside or under the Jeep to the two new bulbs you installed. I have 3+ years on my install and it's working fine. I don't know that one kit is better than the other, but I didn't want to mess with diodes and cutting into the Jeep's wiring system.

And one more suggestion. What the DW saw and made for our jeep is a 4" x 6" flag for the steering wheel. The suggestion she was was someone wrapping a piece of the white "tape" that comes off of a large dog hair roller or lint roller around the steering wheel. When you're hooking up the Jeep your wheels are going to be almost perfectly straight. Wrap the lint roller tape around the top of the steering wheel. Then you can watch the tape in you're rear view mirror to see if the steering wheel straightens out correctly. I caught mine twice not straightening out - wish I'd caught it the other two times also. What she made was a 4"x6" flag out of some stiff reflective material with some Velcro tape. Wrap it once around the steering wheel so the Velcor catch and then turn the rest of it around so it sticks up above the steering wheel. You can see it at night usually reflecting from the MH tail lights in the rear view camera.

And one more suggestion - get rid of that lousy rear seat. It's nothing but in the way and no one except small kids can climb behind the front seats to get into it. We keep ours folded up and strapped up behind the rear seats with a ratchet strap to the roll over bar otherwise it likes to fall down and squish the groceries behind it.

And one more suggestion - have it completely serviced having all of the oils changed in the gear boxes, transmission, front and rear ends and transfer case. Also, I had them change one drive-line U-Joint and check the front axle U-Joints - they found one of them going bad.

And one more suggestion - change out the head lights. I replaced the glass ones with KC HiLites H4 which have lenses made of Lexan which is unbreakable, unless maybe you crash the Jeep. This way you don't have to worry about a rock taking out a headlight. And these lights use the H4 bulbs which are both easy to change out and easier to get brighter bulbs for. Amazon light clicky.

And one more suggestion - when you have it checked out, considering it's a 2002, have them check the steering stabilizer shock. New ones are cheap and easy to change.

Bill