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Best Setup for RV Flat Tow

Redbaron73

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Like a hide a spare, but inside I guess? Does it not adversely affect the battery drain being in the vehicle? I have heard that the car remains awake when key is around, but maybe there is a timeout feature.
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oceanblue2019

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In most cases, you are correct, but not in all cases. That is one of the problems with making general and ill-informed "All those" types of statements.

Rock Hard manufactures a number of models designed with flat towing in mind with the tow point bolted directly to the frame rails. There is at least one other brand that I am aware of, though I do not recall their name at the moment.

Many 3rd party bumper pull scenarios do not bolt directly to the frame rails and as a result to not satisfy the required safety regulation for flat towing.

When done right, these can offer a number of advantages, such as raising all tow connections to a greater height, eliminating all deep bending and kneeling on the rocky or wet ground to connect/disconnect. Our Rock Hard bumper solution works great and is faster and easier to connect than any alternate system I have seen. In addition, its easy-to-access tow connection bolts make period torque checking easy. This was a royal pain on our last flat tow using a BlueOx base plate.

+Jeep Hookup - 1.png
The other is LOD Off-road. They have frame-tie brackets and the appropriate adapters for BlueOx or Roadmaster tow bars.
 

oceanblue2019

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I have a year and 10k miles on my setup.

-LOD Destroyer shorty with the bracket reinforcement option
-cool tech JL wiring harness
-blue ox bx4720 10,000lb tow bar

absolutely perfect, the towbar is probably overkill but my first one on my jk was subject to bind, and this one seems to be a better design.
Any brake system?
 

gm920

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Like a hide a spare, but inside I guess? Does it not adversely affect the battery drain being in the vehicle? I have heard that the car remains awake when key is around, but maybe there is a timeout feature.
There is no battery drain, I leave my fob inside 24/7 when at home. Which is a lot lately. Everything goes to sleep in short order. You cannot even get a brake signal for an Aux Brake system or Tow Light Feedback after the computers have gone to sleep.
 

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sourdough

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Almost 2 years and I now have over 25K flat towing my JLR. RockHard, Blue Ox and Cooltech have all been flawless.
 

Jmonroe

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I leave my FOB in the jeep when flat towing. I am able to lock/unlock the jeep with the second FOB which I keep in the coach. Works great.
Do you keep the title in the glove compartment too? Just asking for a car theif friend.
 

IslandNomad

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I just came across this article about Jeeps that were stolen, possibly by electronic means.

Three Jeeps stolen in minutes from Pasco County neighborhood

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/...len-in-minutes-from-pasco-county-neighborhood

Quote:
The Pasco Sheriff’s Office says they are looking into whether thieves used electronic devices to hack into the Jeeps. The use of high-tech gadgets is nothing new.​
There are many cases around the world of thieves using receivers to steal key fob signals from inside homes. Then, they relay that signal to open and start cars that have push starters.​
...​
To protect yourself, experts say to keep the key fob as far away from the vehicle as possible when you are home.​
There are also protective pouches and boxes available that block the signal.​
 

zb39

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Off-Road Toad

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Are you on Elephant HillTr?
It sure is! Good eye!
Elephant hill rocks ! (haha get it?)

Actually though, the reason I posted the photo was to show the Rockhard aluminum bumper which I have been using to tow the jeep behind our motorhome. It works great with a Smittybilt towbar and simple magnetic tail-lights. The entire package cost less than $200 (not including the bumper, Which by the way looks awesome) and weighs less than 50 pounds.

I also maintain all my much-needed ground clearance without a bunch of unnecessary bulky stuff dragging from the bottom of my frame.

Highly recommend this system.
 

Dragline

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It sure is! Good eye!
Elephant hill rocks ! (haha get it?)

Actually though, the reason I posted the photo was to show the Rockhard aluminum bumper which I have been using to tow the jeep behind our motorhome. It works great with a Smittybilt towbar and simple magnetic tail-lights. The entire package cost less than $200 (not including the bumper, Which by the way looks awesome) and weighs less than 50 pounds.

I also maintain all my much-needed ground clearance without a bunch of unnecessary bulky stuff dragging from the bottom of my frame.

Highly recommend this system.
I'm going to PM you at some point in the near future if that's OK regarding picking your brain on your setup I have a 2dr Rubi on order
 

dapipp

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While we are on the pros of an aluminum Rock Hard 4x4 bumper I thought I would post a few pictures of mine. I added housings for the brake away cable and the tow umbilical cable. This is much cleaner looking and keeps me off my knees.

front.jpg


brake.jpg


lights.jpg
 

IslandNomad

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I did my first flat tow of my 2021 JLUR in Texas. It went pretty well.

I have updated my document Tow Checklist Jeep Wrangler 2021.docx (MS Word) with some changes from the experience.

The significant change was with how to set up and initialize the RVi Brake. I have a feeling that if the Start button is in anything other than OFF, the Wrangler may recharge its brake cylinder, and the first braking of the RVi Brake may be very strong and lead to wheel lockup and tire damage. This happened to me with my Honda CRV and I had to replace two tires because I ran the CRV engine after initializing the RVi Brake.

I also added an item on doing a short tow test, speeding up to 15 - 20 mph and then performing an Emergency Brake action to verify that the RVi Brake activates but does not lock up the wheels.
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