Towing Jeep Trailhawk

[david1601]

We have a 34' Tiffin Gas. Looking at buying a 2018 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk to tow flat and have been assured in can be flat towed. Any thoughts or experience with this?

Also got an estimate for installing baseplate with charge wire and Invisabrake with brake light switch. I am just trying to pick anyone's brain about this setup and making sure I am not missing something. I already had a Demco towbar package I found used.

Thanks

[Bumpyroad]

since the vehicle has not been bought yet, it seems like a lot of issues/troubles to avoid.
bumpy

[fotodog]

I tow a 2015 Cherokee Trailhawk, and will state upfront that it is problably my favorite vehicle I have ever owned, and I’ve owned quite a few. But I had several bad experiences with Death Wobble before having the wiring harness installed. I towed for 2 years with no problems before the first incident. The first time occurred at only 35MPH when braking moderately hard for a stop light. I had no clue what caused the problem, and my mechanic and I could not replicate the problem. We thought it was a one time occurrence, and didn’t know if it was the Jeep, the tow hitch, or the motorhome.

The second, and worst incident happened while on the freeway at 65MPH. California has some awful road conditions, and I went over a pothole while a big rig was passing me. The shaking was severe, and a real safety hazard. I pulled over to the side, and the problem was gone as I slowly continued to my destination.

I was on the phone for several hours the next morning trying to determine the problem before one guy vaguely remembered hearing about this. There was not as much information on the subject a few years ago. I contacted Jeep and found out about the wiring harness, which keeps the power steering activated while towing. I had it installed and continued my trip without any problems.

There are 2 steps to activate the harness when the Jeep is being towed, and they must be done in the correct order to avoid problems with the electronics. First is flipping up a lever which is installed in the center console, and second is installing a 10 amp mini fuse in the harness under the hood. When you unhook the Jeep, these steps are done in reverse. It definitely pays to use a cheat sheet.

You must be careful installing the fuse, because the harness is flexible and it’s easy to not have the pins on the fuse properly aligned. This happened to me once, so the fuse was not engaged and I had another incidence of wobble. Now that I understand the problem, I’m confident that the problem is behind me. But just as a precaution, my final check when towing is to make sure the steering wheel of the Jeep rotates easily to indicate that the power steering is activated.

One last note to this rather long post: you should have the wiring installed to make sure your Jeep battery is being charged while towing, otherwise the battery might be dead after a day or 2.

[Irish2]

Our towed vehicle is a 2019 Cherokee Trailhawk and it performs that task excellent. We have a Demco Excalibar tow bar with 10,500 tow limit and the Demco base plates with removal tabs.

[Two_Jayhawks]

david1601 wrote:

dubdub07 wrote:
We tow 3 Jeeps. A 2012 Wrangler, 2015 GC, and 2016 Trailhawk Cherokee. BY FAR, the nicest to tow is the Cherokee. Weight is great, tracks well behind the coach, and is super nice to have a mixture of a little Jeep for off-road or a grocery hauler to get supplies. Why on earth do you need a charge line? And why not the Blue Ox baseplate? It/they are hidden (2 pieces) and very good performance and super easy to install.

WW

I wanted the charge line to keep the toad battery charged at all times even if I drive at night or do not unhook for a few days. We plan to go with a Demco baseplate because that is the tow bar I already have.

I've had Demco and Blue Ox base plates and both are great. I give Blue Ox a slight nod as I now prefer the removable tabs. You probably know this but you cam put Blue Ox connectors on your Demco tow bar also.

[david1601]

We have purchased the Cherokee and I plan to get with the guy installing the baseplate and wiring in a couple of days. He is well known throughout the county for being the best and most knowledgeable about making these installations. With so many options and opinions it is difficult to know exactly what to do. But, I am always open to different opinions.

[david1601]

dubdub07 wrote:
We tow 3 Jeeps. A 2012 Wrangler, 2015 GC, and 2016 Trailhawk Cherokee. BY FAR, the nicest to tow is the Cherokee. Weight is great, tracks well behind the coach, and is super nice to have a mixture of a little Jeep for off-road or a grocery hauler to get supplies. Why on earth do you need a charge line? And why not the Blue Ox baseplate? It/they are hidden (2 pieces) and very good performance and super easy to install.

WW

I wanted the charge line to keep the toad battery charged at all times even if I drive at night or do not unhook for a few days. We plan to go with a Demco baseplate because that is the tow bar I already have.

[dubdub07]

We tow 3 Jeeps. A 2012 Wrangler, 2015 GC, and 2016 Trailhawk Cherokee. BY FAR, the nicest to tow is the Cherokee. Weight is great, tracks well behind the coach, and is super nice to have a mixture of a little Jeep for off-road or a grocery hauler to get supplies. Why on earth do you need a charge line? And why not the Blue Ox baseplate? It/they are hidden (2 pieces) and very good performance and super easy to install.

WW

[richms]

We tow a 2019 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk and have not had any problems.

[tragusa3]

Check out the YouTube channel for RVLove. They tow a Trailhawk and have for some time.

[Tripalot]

We tow a 2016 Cherokee Trailhawk with no problems. We had to have a Mopar wiring harness installed at our expense ($800 in Canada). The other thing you have to be sure of is that your vehicle has Active Drive II. I don't know a lot about this, but we came close to buying a different model and by chance discovered it was Active Drive I and apparently it cannot be towed. Check carefully in the owner's manual - DO NOT trust the sales person - they are only trying to make a sale and often do not know anything about towing.

It cost us $3000 to set up our Jeep for towing. If we hadn't invested this money in it, we would have got rid of it. We do not particularly enjoy this vehicle but are stuck with it for now.

Do your homework!

[rdhetrick]

I just bought a Grand Cherokee, I was looking at newer ones but ended up getting a 2015 with low miles and in great condition. The reason I got the older one was due to the all electric power steering in the new ones. 2015 was the last year they made the power steering hydraulic. I'm not an alarmist, but there have been some reports of wobble when towing.

Apparently, the problem with the all electric power steering is that when the Jeep is being towed, the power is off to the steering, and it provides no dampening when an oscillation starts and it can quickly get out of hand. From what I read, the only way to stop the wobble is to come to a full stop. The hydraulic system does provide dampening, thus the oscillation doesn't progress.

Here's a video of a 2014 Cherokee with all electric showing the problem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwgUAJaeECI

Granted, the reports are few, and under specific conditions (low speed, rough roads, when making turns), but I figured I'd be happy with an older one just the same and avoid the potential problem all together.

On a related note, Jeep admitted to this problem a few years earlier with the Cherokee, and issued a fix (at the consumer's expense). If I remember correctly, it consisted of an extra wiring harness or something, that required the vehicle to be powered on when towing - it activated the power steering to dampen the oscillations. As of a few months ago when I was looking, Jeep had not acknowledged the problem with the Grand Cherokee, and the fix for the Cherokee was not usable on the Grand Cherokee.

[Bumpyroad]

Flute Man wrote:
If I were you, I would check the operators manual for that particular car and that should tell you about being towed. The owners manual should be your Bible.

Jerry Parr

truer words were never spoken. (or written)
the owners manual is the only meaningful source of this information. it matters not what various suppliers say, TL towing guides, etc.
bumpy

[Flute_Man]

If I were you, I would check the operators manual for that particular car and that should tell you about being towed. The owners manual should be your Bible.

Jerry Parr