Best Setup for RV Flat Tow

[lclewis49]

The feature that I liked with the jl CoolTechLLC kit is it elimated the need for the brake light relay if you use a suplental braking system that presses the jeeps brake pedal. . Also all the connections are inside the vehicle and minimal splicing. In addition CoolTechLLC provides a output wire that can be used to light up an led when the brake system pushes on the towed vehicles brake pedal. The downside is you have to remember to set the switch to the proper position, either tow or Jeep. With my prior jk I did have to install the Roadmaster brake relay to have the brake lights work properly with the smi Air Force brake system I was using. Although it always functioned properly I have heard of them failing and causing strange problems with the Jeep. With my new jl I plan on using the CoolTechLLC kit for now. If mopar ever comes up with a kit I may reconsider. And yes it would be nice if CoolTechLLC provided a nice install video.

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[jeepixel]

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I purchased the Blue Ox Avail BX 7420 10K pound rating tow bar. $724 free shipping.
Weight rating was in excess of what I required.
It is steel so it is a bit on the heavy side.
From what I can tell it extends just a bit more than equivalent units, making a bit more maneuverable.
I found it at a price I couldn't pass up.
Cover purchased.

We have a WGO Navion.
Required a 6 inch hitch drop to match up with our tow points. YMMV.

Maximus 3 JL Tow loops. $220
Maximus 3 adapters from Blue Ox to tow points. $194

Roadmaster Lighting System.
https://www.etrailer.com/Tow-Bar-Wiring/Jeep/JL+Wrangler/2018/RM-15267.html?vehicleid=201869126
Watch the video. It makes the installation foolproof.
CoolTech needs to do a step by step video.

Would have preferred Curt or Hopkins OEM harness connections, but they are not out yet for the JL yet. Supposed to be soon.
I considered CoolTech and read over their directions. I also watched the Roadtrek video on eTrailer.
I could be mistaken but I wanted all lights to be on simultaneously, RV and Jeep. Not sure that when you flip the switch on the CoolTech
you only get jeep lights and not both??

RVI Brake
RVI 12vdc battery charger
RVI Brake Carry Case

Let me know if you have further questions.

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Thank you for the quick response! It sounds like you got a great price on the tow bar. I may look at the lighter weight options, but that won't help the price! I see Maximus is running a sale, so I'll have to move on them soon. I'm going to use the RVI battery charger, too, but not sure yet if I'll use their additional hardwired 12v outlet or use Cooltech's offering that changes the existing outlet up front to always be hot and not require the Jeep to be on.

Lights on simultaneously. . . yes, my understanding of Cooltech's harness is that when you flip the switch to "tow" mode, the Jeep running, brake, and turn signal lights mirror the RV, which is what we want. I'm not a big fan of the diode solutions, but I realize that is a personal preference. Hopefully Cooltech reads the forums and considers doing an installation video, as I'm not sure if I'll take that on or have a local Jeep shop handle it.

Report back, please, when you get a chance to tow on a trip. As our RV's are almost identical, I'd like to hear your impressions.

 

[Hypalon Man]

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Thank you for the quick response! It sounds like you got a great price on the tow bar. I may look at the lighter weight options, but that won't help the price! I see Maximus is running a sale, so I'll have to move on them soon. I'm going to use the RVI battery charger, too, but not sure yet if I'll use their additional hardwired 12v outlet or use Cooltech's offering that changes the existing outlet up front to always be hot and not require the Jeep to be on.

Lights on simultaneously. . . yes, my understanding of Cooltech's harness is that when you flip the switch to "tow" mode, the Jeep running, brake, and turn signal lights mirror the RV, which is what we want. I'm not a big fan of the diode solutions, but I realize that is a personal preference. Hopefully Cooltech reads the forums and considers doing an installation video, as I'm not sure if I'll take that on or have a local Jeep shop handle it.

Report back, please, when you get a chance to tow on a trip. As our RV's are almost identical, I'd like to hear your impressions.

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Al from TX are you on any of the View/Navion Forums? Great information sharing body of knowledge from folks RVing longer than we have. We are starting year four. 50K miles thus far. Towing is going to be new to us. I know there will be upsides and down. We don't plan on towing all the time.
We are hopefully doing the Mother Of All Road Trips this Summer, Alaska, and I am not going to tow.
We are leaving for FL in a couple weeks for two months and will tow. I did a brief 25 miler the other day and a few connect, disconnect drills.
All went well.
When I started the towing venture evaluating equipment and install I wanted to turnkey the install out...that is until I got price quotes and lead times.
Decided to do it all DIY. Probably saved at least $1200. I also know everything inside out.
One of the things I looked at was replacing the Sport Bumper with something more robust, I liked the looks and features of the Warn full bumper.
I probably should have spent more time investigating this option especially after installing the Maximus tow points, bumper may have been just as easy if not easier, and I would have been ahead of the game if I ever wanted to do a winch or lights etc. I still save money going the way I did and I know I am never going to be a heavy duty rock crawler, hence the Sport S over a Rubicon.

For now I just put in a short extension cord from the rear which is always hot 12vdc to power the RVI. When I get a few minutes I'll probably put in a plug to accessory switch 1 on the Aux panel. Just a bit cleaner.

 

[jeepixel]

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Al from TX are you on any of the View/Navion Forums? Great information sharing body of knowledge from folks RVing longer than we have. We are starting year four. 50K miles thus far. Towing is going to be new to us. I know there will be upsides and down. We don't plan on towing all the time.
We are hopefully doing the Mother Of All Road Trips this Summer, Alaska, and I am not going to tow.
We are leaving for FL in a couple weeks for two months and will tow. I did a brief 25 miler the other day and a few connect, disconnect drills.
All went well.
When I started the towing venture evaluating equipment and install I wanted to turnkey the install out...that is until I got price quotes and lead times.
Decided to do it all DIY. Probably saved at least $1200. I also know everything inside out.
One of the things I looked at was replacing the Sport Bumper with something more robust, I liked the looks and features of the Warn full bumper.
I probably should have spent more time investigating this option especially after installing the Maximus tow points, bumper may have been just as easy if not easier, and I would have been ahead of the game if I ever wanted to do a winch or lights etc. I still save money going the way I did and I know I am never going to be a heavy duty rock crawler, hence the Sport S over a Rubicon.

For now I just put in a short extension cord from the rear which is always hot 12vdc to power the RVI. When I get a few minutes I'll probably put in a plug to accessory switch 1 on the Aux panel. Just a bit cleaner.

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Dennis, yes, I am on the View/Navion Yahoo groups and you're absolutely right, it is an amazing source of knowledge, much like this forum. Forums helped me get started with our RV (our first) and now hopefully with our first Jeep. Your trips sound great and the Alaska trip is a bucket list item. Bear spray is your friend when out and about! Well done on doing all the installation yourself and saving a ton of $; I'd like to do some of it myself, too, so seeing the installations like you've done are very helpful in planning. I opted for the Rubicon for many reasons, some of which were to "future proof" it as much as I can since I am not sure how far I'll go with off-roading, but we got the bug after renting Jeeps in several places to get off the beaten path and loved it.

 

[Midwest22]

Were the tow loops easy to install? I assume the bumper needs to come off and the steel skid plate cut?
How do you connect the Blue Ox Hitch to the Loops? Did you have to buy different attachments for the Hitch?
What did you do for a wiring kit for the lights?

If you're skilled with using a 1 1/2 hole saw and cutting into the bumper (and skid plate) with an angle grinder, then I would say its relatively easy. It took me the better part of a day to do it since I was a bit nervous and measured 100x's before I started slicing and dicing. I could probably do the install in about 2 hours now that I know what I'm doing (not including the wait time for the paint to dry which I highly suggest you do when you cut the steel).

To address your next question, yes, the bumper and skid plate need to come off. Its really simple though. That takes all of 5 minutes.

As for connecting to the tow bar to the loops, you can ONLY use the Maximus 3 Blue Ox Adapters (as of this time). I had a couple false starts using a Roadmaster tow bar along with their adapters. Long story short I sold my Roadmaster set up and got the 10,000lbs Blue Ox bar just so I could make all this happen.

Im not sure what you mean by "buy different attachments for the hitch".

Regarding the wiring harness, I'm using the Cooltech JL kit. It works perfectly...wasn't overly happy with their customer service (as was alluded to elseware in this post) but I can vouch for the fact that their stuff works well. One thing I was really happy about with the Cooltech is that they also included a 12volt indicator which Im using to send a wireless signal to my coach that lets me when when my brakes have been applied (since I have airbrakes on coach and Jeep).

 

[Hypalon Man]

If you're skilled with using a 1 1/2 hole saw and cutting into the bumper (and skid plate) with an angle grinder, then I would say its relatively easy. It took me the better part of a day to do it since I was a bit nervous and measured 100x's before I started slicing and dicing. I could probably do the install in about 2 hours now that I know what I'm doing (not including the wait time for the paint to dry which I highly suggest you do when you cut the steel).

To address your next question, yes, the bumper and skid plate need to come off. Its really simple though. That takes all of 5 minutes.

As for connecting to the tow bar to the loops, you can ONLY use the Maximus 3 Blue Ox Adapters (as of this time). I had a couple false starts using a Roadmaster tow bar along with their adapters. Long story short I sold my Roadmaster set up and got the 10,000lbs Blue Ox bar just so I could make all this happen.

Im not sure what you mean by "buy different attachments for the hitch".

Regarding the wiring harness, I'm using the Cooltech JL kit. It works perfectly...wasn't overly happy with their customer service (as was alluded to elseware in this post) but I can vouch for the fact that their stuff works well. One thing I was really happy about with the Cooltech is that they also included a 12volt indicator which Im using to send a wireless signal to my coach that lets me when when my brakes have been applied (since I have airbrakes on coach and Jeep).

I used the Roadmaster Light wiring harness. It uses blocking diodes and splices into the wiring harness near the tail lights. It works perfectly.
IMHO you need to review the technology and installation instructions for both CoolTech and watch ETrailers installation video to weigh the pros and cons.

Here are some photos of the Blue Ox Avail tow bar with the Maximus connectors that mate with the tow points. You remove the ones that come with Blue Ox, they are designed to mate with a Blue Ox base plate.

 

[Rhinebeck01]

No way would l install an offering that involved diodes.

Once / when you have diode issues and undoubtedly you will, you will understand my take on this.

Cool Tech, LLC is the way to go...

 

[lclewis49]

If you're skilled with using a 1 1/2 hole saw and cutting into the bumper (and skid plate) with an angle grinder, then I would say its relatively easy. It took me the better part of a day to do it since I was a bit nervous and measured 100x's before I started slicing and dicing. I could probably do the install in about 2 hours now that I know what I'm doing (not including the wait time for the paint to dry which I highly suggest you do when you cut the steel).

To address your next question, yes, the bumper and skid plate need to come off. Its really simple though. That takes all of 5 minutes.

As for connecting to the tow bar to the loops, you can ONLY use the Maximus 3 Blue Ox Adapters (as of this time). I had a couple false starts using a Roadmaster tow bar along with their adapters. Long story short I sold my Roadmaster set up and got the 10,000lbs Blue Ox bar just so I could make all this happen.

Im not sure what you mean by "buy different attachments for the hitch".

Regarding the wiring harness, I'm using the Cooltech JL kit. It works perfectly...wasn't overly happy with their customer service (as was alluded to elseware in this post) but I can vouch for the fact that their stuff works well. One thing I was really happy about with the Cooltech is that they also included a 12volt indicator which Im using to send a wireless signal to my coach that lets me when when my brakes have been applied (since I have airbrakes on coach and Jeep).

Are you using the smi Air Force for your braking system? If so where did you mount the control box?

 

[Ron_H]

I too am using the AFO aux brake system. I mounted the control box above and to the left of the fuse box. Mine is an older AFO, transplanted from my previous TOAD, so it is substantially thicker than the new design, and there is lots of clearance height. I simply bent some light aluminum flat stock to make a mounting bracket and bolted it to the existing bots above the firewall.

 

[Hypalon Man]

No way would l install an offering that involved diodes.

Once / when you have diode issues and undoubtedly you will, you will understand my take on this.

Cool Tech, LLC is the way to go...

Have you personally had issues using diodes?
How did the problem manifest itself?
After how many years/months?
Please expound on your personal experience with diodes and the vehicle and age that was associated with the problem.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jeepixel]

If you're skilled with using a 1 1/2 hole saw and cutting into the bumper (and skid plate) with an angle grinder, then I would say its relatively easy. It took me the better part of a day to do it since I was a bit nervous and measured 100x's before I started slicing and dicing. I could probably do the install in about 2 hours now that I know what I'm doing (not including the wait time for the paint to dry which I highly suggest you do when you cut the steel).

To address your next question, yes, the bumper and skid plate need to come off. Its really simple though. That takes all of 5 minutes.

As for connecting to the tow bar to the loops, you can ONLY use the Maximus 3 Blue Ox Adapters (as of this time). I had a couple false starts using a Roadmaster tow bar along with their adapters. Long story short I sold my Roadmaster set up and got the 10,000lbs Blue Ox bar just so I could make all this happen.

Im not sure what you mean by "buy different attachments for the hitch".

Regarding the wiring harness, I'm using the Cooltech JL kit. It works perfectly...wasn't overly happy with their customer service (as was alluded to elseware in this post) but I can vouch for the fact that their stuff works well. One thing I was really happy about with the Cooltech is that they also included a 12volt indicator which Im using to send a wireless signal to my coach that lets me when when my brakes have been applied (since I have airbrakes on coach and Jeep).

Scott, your installation looks great and as I have a 2-door Rubicon with steel bumpers on order, it's good to see a similar setup. I'm going the same route as you and Hypalon Man with the Maximus tow loops and Blue Ox tow bar., so of course I have questions. . . Do you have any pics of the assembly before reinstalling the bumper and skid plate? A pic of the cuts you had to make? And did you ever figure out the matching paint color? What cables (safety, umbilical, etc) did you use? Where did you mount the connections (other than the tow loops) in or near the Jeep bumper? Thank you in advance for any further insight you can share and your previous posts are helpful.

 

[Jondrew]

Have you personally had issues using diodes?
How did the problem manifest itself?
After how many years/months?
Please expound on your personal experience with diodes and the vehicle and age that was associated with the problem.

Thanks in advance.

A diode “should not” allow backfeed. In this case, your tow harness would be providing a turn signal blink, and (assuming you have a a brake pedal supplemental brake system such as RVI) , the vehicle is providing power to the same bulbs. Most installs I see by RV dealers put diode type systems in. I have no idea what failure mechanism would allow current to run backwards thru the isolating diodes to potentially damage your jeeps electrical system.

That said, when I set my Honda CRV up for flat tow, I went with a system that added an extra bulb to the Honda’s tail lights so the turn/brake light system from the RV was completely isolated from the towed cars system. That option does not seem to be available for Jeeps. I kinda like the “Air gap” solution cooltech has. But as I said, every towed Jeep I’ve seen are diode isolated systems.

 

[Freiberger]

I used the Roadmaster Light wiring harness. It uses blocking diodes and splices into the wiring harness near the tail lights. It works perfectly.
IMHO you need to review the technology and installation instructions for both CoolTech and watch ETrailers installation video to weigh the pros and cons.

Here are some photos of the Blue Ox Avail tow bar with the Maximus connectors that mate with the tow points. You remove the ones that come with Blue Ox, they are designed to mate with a Blue Ox base plate.

Thanks for the info Dennis. I ordered my Maximus-3 Hitch Loop set and also the Blue Ox to Maximus attach points. I am mechanically skilled but do not own the cutting tool to cut the bumper and skid plate. I did some calling around locally and found a truck accessory store who is going to remove the bumper and skid plate and do the cutting and installation for $150.00. I figure it is worth it to let them do the work.

I think I am going to stick with my Brake Buddy Braking system so I ordered the break away harness and still trying to figure out which light kit to buy. I was reading where the diode kit works fine except if the turn signal is on and the brakes are applied, the brake lights override the turn signal? Are you knowledgeable of this?

I have been trying to find installation instructions for the Cool Tech JL Tow Harness kit so I can see what is involved. I hate doing electrical!!

 

[Midwest22]

Scott, your installation looks great and as I have a 2-door Rubicon with steel bumpers on order, it's good to see a similar setup. I'm going the same route as you and Hypalon Man with the Maximus tow loops and Blue Ox tow bar., so of course I have questions. . . Do you have any pics of the assembly before reinstalling the bumper and skid plate? A pic of the cuts you had to make? And did you ever figure out the matching paint color? What cables (safety, umbilical, etc) did you use? Where did you mount the connections (other than the tow loops) in or near the Jeep bumper? Thank you in advance for any further insight you can share and your previous posts are helpful.

Thank you for the complement. I don't normally say this but I'm pretty proud of it as well. I just couldn't come to grips with installing a base plate and losing the option to have a winch so this was a much better option. Plus I really prefer the steel Rubicon bumper over any other aftermarket set up.

I've attached a few more photos of the install process.

As for matching paint color, no, I didn't figure it out. Therefore I just spent a bit more time masking off the area and hit it with some typical black spray paint.

Regarding safety cables, I used the ones that were supplied to me with the Blue Ox 7420 and attached them to D rings that are mounted in the second hole on the Maximus-3 Tow Loops.

The breakaway switch is located on the passenger side. It's mounted just above the skid plate brace and the coiled red cable fits perfectly through the cut out for the tow loop (then connects to the coach).

I also purchased the Maximus 3 Warn Zeon filler plates. I fabricated a bracket to reinforce the drivers side plate then drilled a hole through the filer plate and angle bracket. This is where I mounted the inbound airline that powers my supplemental brake system (M&G 2.0). Then right below that filler plate I installed the connector for the wiring harness. (pictures attached).

All in all I have to say I'm extremely pleased at how everything turned out. The whole goal was to have a tow vehicle that didn't look like one (and didn't sacrifice any ground clearance).

 

[Midwest22]

Are you using the smi Air Force for your braking system? If so where did you mount the control box?

No, Im using the M&G 2.0 braking system. It's very similar to the Air Force One with the main difference being that the air piston is not located on the brake pedal, its in a remote location (under the hood).

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