Setting up my 18 JLU for flat towing - Am I missing anything

[Valpo Jeep]

Not new to flat towing but I am new to flat towing the Wrangler. We used to flat tow our 2001 Grand Cherokee but this will be a first on the Wrangler/

Stuff coming in the mail:
e-trailer hidden base plate
Roadmaster diode kit RM 152-98146-7 to make the JLU brake lights functional
New break-away switch

Stuff already on hand:
Brake buddy
Blue Ox Tow bar
Safety chains
White rope for steering wheel so I can monitor the Jeep steering in my back up camera


Now I see there is a thread about the battery potentially dieing but I will be honest and say I hae only glanced at it and not read all 18+ pages. Is there a readers digest version or cliff notes for the thread?


Is there anything else I need?

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[Rhinebeck01]

Not new to flat towing but I am new to flat towing the Wrangler. We used to flat tow our 2001 Grand Cherokee but this will be a first on the Wrangler/

Stuff coming in the mail:
e-trailer hidden base plate
Roadmaster diode kit RM 152-98146-7 to make the JLU brake lights functional
New break-away switch

Stuff already on hand:
Brake buddy
Blue Ox Tow bar
Safety chains
White rope for steering wheel so I can monitor the Jeep steering in my back up camera


Now I see there is a thread about the battery potentially dieing but I will be honest and say I hae only glanced at it and not read all 18+ pages. Is there a readers digest version or cliff notes for the thread?


Is there anything else I need?

@Valpo Jeep

I have flat towed Jeeps behind Class A's for a tad over 18 years. With that said, the dead battery(s) of your TOAD upon arrival at your destination point will bite you and your (LED lights) JL, if you do not address the issue before hand. (proper set-up)

Do, do read at that thread you mention... I would read all that thread. At the very least, read the last 50 pages and take heed. Anyway, the issue talked about in that thread is very very real...

 

[GO_RV]

You need a hot 12 volt plug up front.
the one in the Jeep is dead when your Jeep is off.
I installed Two 12 volt hot plugs
they easily run thru the factory grommet on the driver's side of the firewall.
one for my Blueox Brake
one for my front Jeep dash cam I run when I tow
also, you will need a charge line, if you don’t have a cha line you will have a dead battery at your destination
I towed my 2022 Wrangler over 10,000 miles since February.
no problems with these addons.
oh, I also, added a remote TPMS from Tiremider.
i hot wired the remote. transmitter to the TPMS in the engine compartment of my Jeep and put a switch under my dashboard to turn the remote transmitter on and off. The TPMS will broadcast 50 + feet to the front of my 43 ft diesel motorhome
I would add a dashcam for the front and back of the Jeep
I did. The back 12 volt is hot, so it’s easy to install the rear.
the fron dash cam needs the second hot 12 volt.
1. Charge line
2. Hot 12 volt plug
3. Tireminder

why a dashcam
here is why, watch this video on Yutube
Jeep and motorhome get slammed

here we are

 

[Gaffer]

Read the whole thread if you have the LED light package.

 

[Valpo Jeep]

As I find time I will read through the tail lite thread. For 12V power, yeah you are right, the 12V in the cab goes dead but I did find that my rear plug stays hot so I will just get a 12V extension and just run it up.

Torn on the dash cam idea. I already have a back up cameral in the Class C which works great. I run it all the time even when not towing a car as it works great for a rear view mirror.

 

[Valpo Jeep]

Baseplate FINALLY got installed, running the towing wiring tonight along with the break away switch. Eventually I will add the battery tender line, probably going to attach into the coach battery but contemplating a knife switch setup to keep from always having a "hot" wire at the pig tail.

 

[Valpo Jeep]

UHG. . . . work and home life have been so busy. Can't believe we had to make another camping trip without flat towing. That said I carved out time yesterday to get the majority of the wiring done. Used my steel fish tape to get the wire through the frame rail and have the diodes cut into the tail lights now. Hopefully tonight I will be able to get the front plug wired. I have not bought a charge line kit but UI went ahead and picked up some 12 gauge wire to at least run the charge line up into the engine bay for when I install the front plug. (keeps me from having to take things apart later) The kits seem to all come with 14 gauge wire but I am going up 1 size to 12 so I will be fine. The only other wire I have on hand was 18 gauge which would not have been adequate.

 

[Valpo Jeep]

Hooking up to the motorhome soon. Already tested my wiring ahead of departure and all is hooked up correctly. Had an issue with the old tow bar pins and the new baseplate adapters in that they did not want to slide in. 5 minutes with a drill and file and the burrs are all gone and things slide easily.

 

[Valpo Jeep]

All went great on the first tow of the Jeep. On the motorhome we have a 2 inch drop adapter to raise the tow bar from when we were towing our old Grand Cherokee which gives the tow bar a funky angle with the Wrangler. We towed to the site like that but then flipped the adapter for the return trip so now the bar is almost completely flat.

 

[Rhinebeck01]

All went great on the first tow of the Jeep. On the motorhome we have a 2 inch drop adapter to raise the tow bar from when we were towing our old Grand Cherokee which gives the tow bar a funky angle with the Wrangler. We towed to the site like that but then flipped the adapter for the return trip so now the bar is almost completely flat.

@Valpo Jeep

Friendly suggestions from a guy that has flat towed Jeeps for 20+ years..

You need to address that "funky angle" as you call it. Not good...

If you think I am wrong, talk to Blue Ox, Tech support and they will explain why.

Also, consider criss crossing your safety cables.. The way you have them now, if you have a break away, the tow bar will drop straight to the ground. Again, no good. Criss crossed safety cables will keep the tow bar up, off the off until you can safely come to a stop.

 

[Valpo Jeep]

Thanks for the reply. The angle was fixed before the return trip so the tow bar is flat now. I had an old lock in the pin on the camper for the hitch riser and it was frozen and not working so I was not able to flip it at first. Shot it with PB Blaster and let it sit for 24 hours to get it working again. I knew about crossing chains but did not realize I need to cross cables as well, that will be fixed on the next towing trip.

 

[Valpo Jeep]

Well..... shit .........

Got to tow the Jeep for 1 camping trip so far this year and it might be the last camping trip for the Jeep. Wife was in an accident coming home from work Monday. She is fine just very sore still. The Jeep did not leave the scene under its own power, had to be towed away. From the pictures it does not look like a bad hit but something in the front drivetrain / suspension got damaged and they had a hell of a time just dragging it up onto the flatbed.

Now we have to see how the insurance blocks fall. Other guys fault so we shall see where things go from here. New to us 2018 JLU that we have only put maybe 3,500 mils on.

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