Severe problem towing 2014 Jeep Cherokee
I have a 2014 Latitude V6 with Active Drive II. While towing behind my motorhome on a 5000 mile trip last summer I experienced a severe side to side shaking in the front wheels of the Jeep about 7 tim...
Forum Discussion
I understand the "yellow card" part of your reply. It's this: I have no dog in this hunt. We tow an FWD Corolla or an RWD Frontier, both manual shift and OK to tow per the manual. I wasn't thinking of which model Cherokee and with which drive system is/isn't towable. Just the front end. Just the steering geometry.
Back to this Cherokee, let me try my thought another way:
When RWD (like the Frontier) is being driven, the FRONT wheels are being PUSHED down the road by the rear wheels. Same when it's being towed, but now the MH is providing the push through the tow bar. The steering geometry doesn't know the difference.
When FWD (like the Corolla) is being driven, the FRONT wheels are PULLING the car down the road. Not pushed like RWD. Not pushed, that is, till we TOW the Corolla. Now the geometry is seeing something it's never seen before and wasn't designed to anticipate. Corolla can stand that. CR-V can. Many can. I just wonder if somehow, one Cherokee (even most Cherokee's) can stand it but the change in geometry drives another Cherokee (or just a few Cherokee's) Death Wobble Crazy, just now and then.
Death Wobble is real. I drove a Ford Van that had it and the experience is NAS-TEE. Modified Wranglers get it. A couple pickup models have it too, right from the factory.
And finally, my Pontiac. Had been in a wreck and fixed to look like new but apparently the frame got tweaked. It wanted to make all my right turns for me. The franchised tire shops couldn't align it. "We set it to spec, here's the report." Then somebody said "Take it to the old man at OK Tire" and he got it driving like new. "Son, the specs are just the start. Sometimes you have to go outside the specs to make it right."
I'm empathetic. Been agonizing over this thread all these months since it appeared. No idea if my thoughts will help in any way. Or if what OK Man said can be applied here. Just wondering...
Back to this Cherokee, let me try my thought another way:
When RWD (like the Frontier) is being driven, the FRONT wheels are being PUSHED down the road by the rear wheels. Same when it's being towed, but now the MH is providing the push through the tow bar. The steering geometry doesn't know the difference.
When FWD (like the Corolla) is being driven, the FRONT wheels are PULLING the car down the road. Not pushed like RWD. Not pushed, that is, till we TOW the Corolla. Now the geometry is seeing something it's never seen before and wasn't designed to anticipate. Corolla can stand that. CR-V can. Many can. I just wonder if somehow, one Cherokee (even most Cherokee's) can stand it but the change in geometry drives another Cherokee (or just a few Cherokee's) Death Wobble Crazy, just now and then.
Death Wobble is real. I drove a Ford Van that had it and the experience is NAS-TEE. Modified Wranglers get it. A couple pickup models have it too, right from the factory.
And finally, my Pontiac. Had been in a wreck and fixed to look like new but apparently the frame got tweaked. It wanted to make all my right turns for me. The franchised tire shops couldn't align it. "We set it to spec, here's the report." Then somebody said "Take it to the old man at OK Tire" and he got it driving like new. "Son, the specs are just the start. Sometimes you have to go outside the specs to make it right."
I'm empathetic. Been agonizing over this thread all these months since it appeared. No idea if my thoughts will help in any way. Or if what OK Man said can be applied here. Just wondering...
