Moving to a class A, tow my jeep?

[3_dog_nights]

We are exploring the move from a 40' 5'ver to a Class A. Would like to tow a 03' Jeep Wrangler. Can I tow 4 down or do I need a Dolly?

[rk911]

the key words are “...if it stays there”. not sure what caused our steering wheel to lock on us. when this happened we had been successfully towing our TJ for several years when this happened. shortly after this happened we purchased a ‘10 Jeep Liberty JK and started using that as our toad. and as an aside our TJ’s key has the needed chip needed to start the engine so i had a couple of chipless dummy keys made to unlock the wheel when towing.

[Solo]

fred42 wrote:

Solo wrote:

3 dog nights wrote:
coming into Nashville one day the steering wheel locked up resulting in two damaged tires...one completely shredded and the other was serviceable for a few miles but had to be replaced. had that not been our last year towing the TJ I would've had the steering wheel lock completely removed. you might want to look into that.

Did the modification to the wheel lock on our 2005 TJ. Easy to do and certainly gives me peace of mind now knowing that I won't be having the tire dragging scenario. Several good write-ups out there but here's an easy one to follow on how to disable the wheel lock. The TJ makes a great toad.

Is unwanted lockup a hazard even if the key is in the proper position?

Short answer, No if you remember to put it the "unlock" position and it stays there. I didn't want to second guess my situation whether it was unlocked or not. Also, while stopped and away from our coach while on the road, I didn't want the temptation of a key left in the ignition of the Jeep for curious troublemakers. Peace-of-mind in my situation. The wheel lock removal on the TJ was a simple 30 minute task. Well worth it to us.

[rk911]

yes, it can lock up even with the key in the correct position...it happened to us. if it were me i’d have the lock removed

[fred42]

Solo wrote:

3 dog nights wrote:
coming into Nashville one day the steering wheel locked up resulting in two damaged tires...one completely shredded and the other was serviceable for a few miles but had to be replaced. had that not been our last year towing the TJ I would've had the steering wheel lock completely removed. you might want to look into that.

Did the modification to the wheel lock on our 2005 TJ. Easy to do and certainly gives me peace of mind now knowing that I won't be having the tire dragging scenario. Several good write-ups out there but here's an easy one to follow on how to disable the wheel lock. The TJ makes a great toad.

Is unwanted lockup a hazard even if the key is in the proper position?

[fred42]

I am setting up a 2001 TJ Wrangler as well. When I have the key in the tow recommended "first click" position to unlock the steering, the brake lights come on when the pedal is pressed. Before I bought a light wiring system, I called Hopkins support. They said in this situation using their plug and play diode system would cause the toad brake light to override the motorhome turn signal. I ordered a separate bulb and socket system instead.

I also discovered that with the key in the tow position, my dash 12V receptacle is dead. I ordered a battery connected 12V receptacle.

[jeeperdude10]

You can go to ETrailer and look for a plug and play system. I am very pleased with the set up and took maybe an hour to do. All lights remain the same. The longest time took was the routing of the wire to the front. It hooks up on the 4 pin, kinda like a boat trailer. Really an easy install however.

[dubdub07]

Lots o' info here.....

Simple, yes you should and yes you can. I use diodes in 3 of my TOADS and have no issues. You certainly won't have an issue with an '03. I use Blue Ox everything, and a brake buddy. Super simple on a TJ. I believe all TJ's can be towed with a transfer case.

WW

[Solo]

3 dog nights wrote:
coming into Nashville one day the steering wheel locked up resulting in two damaged tires...one completely shredded and the other was serviceable for a few miles but had to be replaced. had that not been our last year towing the TJ I would've had the steering wheel lock completely removed. you might want to look into that.

Did the modification to the wheel lock on our 2005 TJ. Easy to do and certainly gives me peace of mind now knowing that I won't be having the tire dragging scenario. Several good write-ups out there but here's an easy one to follow on how to disable the wheel lock. The TJ makes a great toad.

[FIRE_UP]

3 dog nights wrote:
We are exploring the move from a 40' 5'ver to a Class A. Would like to tow a 03' Jeep Wrangler. Can I tow 4 down or do I need a Dolly?

3 dog nights,
Well, a couple of things here. First, What class A are you thinking of? Gas or Diesel? Both will do the job, the diesel will just do it easier. And, a diesel will allow for easier setting up of auxiliary braking systems too. See "M & G" braking systems on the net. It's the best system out there that's associated with diesels and air brakes.

As for setup, as has been stated, if your '03 has an aftermarket off road bumper, it may have what's called "recovery tabs" on it. If you have those, you can use them for towing. All that's needed is tow bar adapter brackets to adapt your potential tow bar, to those tabs. That will negate the need for those ugly "base plates".

As for lighting, well, this has been discussed a few zillion times. Everyone has their choice. I've wired into the stock Jeep wiring now for oh, about 35 years and as of yet, not one of the Jeeps I've wired has GONE UP IN FLAMES. It's seriously easy to wire them using the stock tail lights as toad lights. The really good part about doing it that way is, your Jeeps tail lights will act and, be equally as bright when towing it, as they do when driving it, simply because YOU'RE USING THE SAME BULB, not an added one that's not in the correct position for maximum use of the rear of the reflective housing. The use of "diodes" is simply to stop the electrical signals from the coach, from going up stream to places where it's not supposed to go.

There are many that are deathly afraid of tying into the factory wiring. Well, that's up to them. I've used the cheap, Radio Shack diodes for all of the ones I've done and, as stated, they're all still working just fine. You only need TWO.

As for the 'O3 model Jeep Wrangler, and it's locking steering, well, as has been stated, the key needs to be turned ONE CLICK from completely off. That will unlock the steering but, it will NOT energize any part of the Jeeps electrical system. So, there's no need for any form of a "charge wire" to keep the Jeeps battery charged, since there's no drain on it.

You'll have no issues towing your '03 Jeep. Just follow the owners manual for prep for towing and, you're good to go. Good luck.
Scott

[Tom_Barb]

rk911 wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:

PopBeavers wrote:
You might need to add diodes to the wiring.

WHY

when wiring for the brakes i strongly suggest you avoid using diodes im the OEM wiring harness and instead install a completely independent wiring harness using separate bulbs in the taillight assemblies. we originally used diodes but they blew while on a trip leaving us with no tail lights or brake lightson the jeep. we made repairs but they blew again on the return trip home. we removed the diode and returned the wiring harness to its original condition and then installed an independent wiring harness and bulbs. that was 13-yrs ago and no problems since.

We went the same route. simple 4 wire harness. we used LEDs inside the regular lamp housings
7to 4 pin adaptor plug for the coach to jeep harness

[mowermech]

The Owners Manual gives instructions on towing the Jeep behind a motorhome.
It also flatly states it can NOT be towed on a dolly.
Well, actually, it can be dolly towed, IF the rear drive shaft is removed. The manual doesn't tell you that.

[rk911]

Tom/Barb wrote:

PopBeavers wrote:
You might need to add diodes to the wiring.

WHY

when wiring for the brakes i strongly suggest you avoid using diodes im the OEM wiring harness and instead install a completely independent wiring harness using separate bulbs in the taillight assemblies. we originally used diodes but they blew while on a trip leaving us with no tail lights or brake lightson the jeep. we made repairs but they blew again on the return trip home. we removed the diode and returned the wiring harness to its original condition and then installed an independent wiring harness and bulbs. that was 13-yrs ago and no problems since.

[Tom_Barb]

PopBeavers wrote:
You might need to add diodes to the wiring.

WHY

[rk911]

3 dog nights wrote:
We are exploring the move from a 40' 5'ver to a Class A. Would like to tow a 03' Jeep Wrangler. Can I tow 4 down or do I need a Dolly?

depends. if an automatic and the transfer case has a manually selectable neutral position then, yes. we towed our '03 Wrangler Sport for thousands of miles for 7-years with just one problem. our '03 required us to put the key in the ignition and turned to the UNLOCK/OFF position. coming into Nashville one day the steering wheel locked up resulting in two damaged tires...one completely shredded and the other was serviceable for a few miles but had to be replaced. had that not been our last year towing the TJ I would've had the steering wheel lock completely removed. you might want to look into that.