towing a jeep behind a camper?

[85xjwoody]

Hey everybody. My father in-law is looking to tow a jeep wrangler or jeep cherokee behing his class c camper. Has anyone done this or have any experience with this. I always see jeeps behind the bigger motorhomes and it doesn't seem to difficult to hook up. Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated. He is looking to use a tow bar setup, no car dollies. Thanks everybody.

Kim.

 

[CaptTrev]

I'n addition to a tow bar setup, you also need to look into a remote braking system for the towed jeep...

there are a few different types

PS- This isn't something you want to be cheap with....

 

[85xjwoody]

Couple more details. It is a class C, 1998 ford camper with the triton v10. It is a fairly large camper. He is looking at purchasing either a wrangler or cherokee for towing with a tow bar behind the camper.

Kim.

 

[85xjwoody]

I'n addition to a tow bar setup, you also need to look into a remote braking system for the towed jeep...

there are a few different types

PS- This isn't something you want to be cheap with....

He does not plan on going the cheap route with this. He wants to do it properly with the tow bar setup. He has talked with a couple of people about this and was told that jeeps and saturns are the easiest to tow. Some vehicle companies have special chips that can be put in the towed vehicle specially for just towing. I am not sure what they do but it has something to do with the tranny. I don't know much about this subject so he asked if I could ask here for some suggestions. Thanks CaptTrev.

Kim.

 

[lesslimited]

Check campingworld.com for info on towbars and braking systems. Most gas motorhomes are rated to tow 3500-5000lbs, but not recommended for anything more than 1000lbs over the GVW without a braking system. Jeeps are the easiest to hook up - just make your connections, put the t-case in neutral and trans in park, turn the key to unlock the steering wheel, and go. Most other vehicles turn accessories on when the key unlocks the steering wheel, so it's sometimes neccessary to pull fuses to avoid draining the battery on long trips.
I towed my heep back and forth and up and down across the country behind my 460 powered class A, never a problem.

HTH

 

[rockwerks]

I flat towed my ol xj over 10,000 miles behind a class C motor home without any problems, a good tow bar and lights, braking system is not needed to the xj is not enough weight to be of problem

 

[85xjwoody]

First of all, thanks for the info from everyone. I am sure that this info will be useful to my father in-law. I will let him know tomorrow. He will be happy about being able to tow a jeep behind the camper. He will probably go with the wrangler setup instead of the cherokee. I am trying to talk him in to the cherokee for the little extra leg room in the back and the extra cargo room. Lets hope he goes for the cherokee

Thanks.

Kim.

P.S. Can he go to a RV dealership or a ford dealership to get this tow setup done? My father in-law was asking if it was possible.

 

[lesslimited]

I flat towed my ol xj over 10,000 miles behind a class C motor home without any problems, a good tow bar and lights, braking system is not needed to the xj is not enough weight to be of problem

Once again, every time towing comes up, the issue of safety seems to be forgotten by some...

And the answer every time is that, yes it will tow it, yes it will stop it in most circumstances, but what happens in an emergency situation when you're towing 1,2, or 3,000 lbs more than the manufacturer rates the motorhome (or XJ, S-10, Dakota, .........) chassis for?

Not saying your set up may not be safe, but it would probably be the exception, rather than the rule, so the best bet is to go with the manufacturers guidelines. Stopping distance WILL be significantly increased without a braking system, but can be very close to the motorhome alone's distance with a proper brake sytem.

And I would go with the RV dealer, or a Camping World for the installation.

 

[rbarton]

I've done this. I towed my 1996 XJ behind a 1987 Tioga Arrow 24ft class C mini-motorhome. We used both a tow dolly as well as the tow bar setup. I have only one word to say about both.. BRAKES!!! Gotta have an alternate braking system. Something like the BrakeBuddy http://www.brakebuddy.com/ is a quick and pretty easy solution. You can find these and similar units on Ebay fairly reasonably. A new one is pricey, usually around $1000 unless you find a good sale.

I towed on a tow dolly, with no options for adding brakes and it really put a stress on the brakes of the motorhome. Plus, you add another 300-500 lbs of weight that is now also depending on the brakes of the tow rig.

Two summers ago, my club was meeting another club in Mountain City, TN to ride some trails. We were going to make a week of it and decided to flat tow the XJ to Myrtle Beach, SC for a few days then we'd go on to Mountain City. The drive to Myrtle Beach should have only been a few hours from Atlanta, but turned into 12 hours due to having to stop and start and not being able to get over 30 MPH because my Rusty's Track Bar broke right at the weld. It was a real mess, to say the least. He sent me one overnight so while my family was enjoying the beach, I was under the XJ replacing the Track Bar. Little did I know that my Rusty's Frame Track Bar Mount had also broken, or at least cracked. The entire trip to Mountain City and then home again, was plagued with a violently shaking XJ, anytime a bump in the road was hit. Pretty scary.

On the way back home to Georgia, we came through North Carolina. Every steep downgrade we went through left my wife and kids closing their eyes and gripping door handles because we were being pushed hard by the XJ. Too much for the brakes and even lower gear on the motorhome. My inexperience at towing caused us all a lot of fright! Had we come to one more steep downgrade, I would have had to unhook the XJ and had my wife drive it behind us on it's own power. We would have done that previously, but we had a caliper strip on us in Mountain City and I was worried about the stress on it using heavy brakes on the steep downgrades. It was funny that one autoshop was at the bottom of the largest mountain we came down and had a school bus sized sign out front that said simply "We do Brakes". No better location could they have found for this

Aside from not having an alternate braking system and having aftermarket parts break on us, flat towing was not a problem. A newer motor home with better brakes might not have such an issue. We also did about 5 MPH uphill with the pedal to the floor due to the weight of the XJ on the back end. That was with a 460 CI engine!

In Georgia, the law states that anything over 3,000 lbs being towed must have an alternate braking system. I am sure that other states have similar laws.

I just purchased a trailer, WITH BRAKES, to carry our XJ around. We'll use it for the first time this weekend as we travel to Tellico for the SFWDA Summer Convention. I am looking forward to having help keeping things slowed down from the rear.

Sorry for being so long with this. Just wanted to give an accurate account of our experience with the setup you were asking about.

 

[rbarton]

I flat towed my ol xj over 10,000 miles behind a class C motor home without any problems, a good tow bar and lights, braking system is not needed to the xj is not enough weight to be of problem

That might depend on WHERE you are towing. My XJ, setup as it is for trail riding, comes in at around 3900 lbs. I would never flat tow again in the mountains without a supplmental braking system due to a bad past experience. In the flatlands, it might never be an issue.

Also check the state laws where you are towing, especially your home state. If the law requires supplmental brakes over a certain weight, you don't comply, then God forbid something happens, that could open up a bad can of worms for ya. Just MHO

 

[85xjwoody]

Thank you all for your input. I will make sure that he does this the right way which is the way he would take. He is a smart driver and is always safe on the road. He drives a 20ft box truck with a ford triton V10 everyday about 180 miles. He is willing to pay the money for the right setup so it is completely safe on the road. Again thanks goes out to all who responded to this thread. My father in-law says thanks also. He is standing here with me reading all the posts. If anyone else has any input on this we could use all the help we can get so post up stories or comments. Thanks.

Kim.

 

[rockwerks]

That might depend on WHERE you are towing. My XJ, setup as it is for trail riding, comes in at around 3900 lbs. I would never flat tow again in the mountains without a supplmental braking system due to a bad past experience. In the flatlands, it might never be an issue.

Also check the state laws where you are towing, especially your home state. If the law requires supplmental brakes over a certain weight, you don't comply, then God forbid something happens, that could open up a bad can of worms for ya. Just MHO

arizona utah califorinia colorado....pretty much the biggest and steapest highways i nt he country and I flat towed my xj on 33's with all gear inside Im sure it was around 3500 or so. switchbacks and 7* or better grades. never a problem and checing with the local RV center they said there are no laws anywherein the us about brakes on a towed vehicle.

 

[DrMoab]

My father has a 35 foot class A moterhome and he is leary of pulling his XJ behind it without brakes. A word of warning though....Some of the aux. brake setups are junk. He has one from US Gear and it has failed twice.

That being said...I used to tow my YJ to Moab from here all the time with a 23 Foot Class C moterhome and never had a problem. I wouldn't want to do it though if I had any more mountains then what there is...and thats one good one with a 6% downhill grade for about 7 miles. If I slowed down and geared down I could come off without hitting the brakes. If I had to stop quick it would do that too. My biggest concern was if I had to repeatedly use the brakes then had someone pull out in front of me while they were hot...That could get ugly.

 

[rockwerks]

My father has a 35 foot class A moterhome and he is leary of pulling his XJ behind it without brakes. A word of warning though....Some of the aux. brake setups are junk. He has one from US Gear and it has failed twice.

That being said...I used to tow my YJ to Moab from here all the time with a 23 Foot Class C moterhome and never had a problem. I wouldn't want to do it though if I had any more mountains then what there is...and thats one good one with a 6% downhill grade for about 7 miles. If I slowed down and geared down I could come off without hitting the brakes. If I had to stop quick it would do that too. My biggest concern was if I had to repeatedly use the brakes then had someone pull out in front of me while they were hot...That could get ugly.

trust me you wont even know the xj is back there on a class A, I jsut this minute got back from dragging the red MJ back up teh hill from stanton where my mom was beind her class A about 200 miles of steep up and downhills and switchbacks....you dont even notice it is there

 

[rockwerks]

here is the ol setup I used. just so ya know Im actually talking from experience

 

[8Mud]

A good rule of thumb is, half the wieght of the towing vehicle, can be fairly safely towed without brakes. With trailer brakes ( or towed vehicle brakes) you can tow up to the GVW, of the towing vehicle, fairly safely. When in doubt, put it on a scale, it really doesn´t cost that much. Fudge the formula at your own risk, around here, the insurance won´t pay up, if you fudge.
I used to tow most anything, with anything, until I watching a rather large sedan (with four passengers) pulling a 17 foot boot, without brakes, roll over 4 times, in kind of a barrel roll, after swerving to avoid an idiot. I got religion. I´ve almost lost a couple of (unbraked) trailers on my own, but always, had the possibilty and the smarts, to hit the gas, instead of the brakes.
Was following a sedan pulling a trailer home, in a thunder storm, he was like 100 yards in front of me, a coast road, with many curves. Saw him almost miss a curve, brake too late and watched the trailer push him, his family, his car and his trailer into the ocean. Was a vacation that family will remember forever and kind of stuck in my mind also. Really thought I was gonna drown, I was really to tired to swim anymore, after the third rescue, but went in again and got lucky, pulled the fourth and last out.
As a side note, I love Gortex, with the pockets zipped up, Gortex jackets make pretty darned good life preservers
I want to thank Gortex and whatever powers there be, for finding that one out the hard way. Actually took me awhile to figure out why, I was floating instead of sinking.
Towing an unbraked trailer, is like many other things, you get away with it, until you don´t, then catastrophy strikes. It´s actually hairy enough, in a panic brake situation, with the trailer brakes, without them, it´s mostly just luck if you don´t crash.

 

[rockwerks]

Really thought I was gonna drown, I was really to tired to swim anymore, after the third rescue, but went in again and got lucky, pulled the fourth and last out.
As a side note, I love Gortex, with the pockets zipped up, Gortex jackets make pretty darned good life preservers
I want to thank Gortex and whatever powers there be, for finding that one out the hard way. Actually took me awhile to figure out why, I was floating instead of sinking.
Towing an unbraked trailer, is like many other things, you get away with it, until you don´t, then catastrophy strikes. It´s actually hairy enough, in a panic brake situation, with the trailer brakes, without them, it´s mostly just luck if you don´t crash.

Goretex was developed here in flagstaff AZ just downt he street..it was a fluke..it is actually microscopic artificial veins develpoved by W L Gore

 

[DrMoab]

here is the ol setup I used. just so ya know Im actually talking from experience

Wow...that looks almost like the set up I used...Except my moterhome was a Dodge. Even the jeeps the same color.

 

[DrMoab]

trust me you wont even know the xj is back there on a class A, I jsut this minute got back from dragging the red MJ back up teh hill from stanton where my mom was beind her class A about 200 miles of steep up and downhills and switchbacks....you dont even notice it is there

Actually....ya do. Like I said my dad doesn't like to pull his XJ behind it. He has a Suzuki Sidekick that he would much rather pull over the mountains.
I finaly bought a trailer with brakes on both axles so....its not an issue anymore.

 

[Lincoln]

I've never hesitated flat towing behind motorhomes. At least 25K flat towing and another 45K towing an enclosed trailer that tips in at #3600 loaded. All but a few thousand of that was behind a 24' class C and the rest was behind a 34' class A. Never felt out of control, scared, or wished I hadn't. You know it's there but drive it that way because I guarantee you that when three thousand pounds is tagged on the back it is not going to drive the same as it did before. Our 24' tipped the scales real close to #9000. The GVW was #15000. Well under max rating, but I never pay attention to those numbers anyway.

Don't be an idiot and drive like it's not there. People get into trouble because they drive it like a car. If you crest the top of a 6% downgrade at 60 mph your going to be pushed all the way down brakes or no brakes. Ever notice the signs at the tops of passes "Trucks gear down". They are there for a reason. Hit a 35 mph corner at 65 and expect to slow down like volvo, you get what you deserve. Use the motor to hold you back and the brakes to shave speed. An RV magazine printed last year that you shouldn't gear down and only use the breaks, maybe whoever wrote that will die and then they'll get the idea.

If your junk drives like junk it will flat tow like junk.

Keep the weight low in vehicle being towed. The heavier it is the worse it tows so there is no reason to load it down with the kitchen sink.

Brakes get hot and fade. If you're riding the brakes down a hill your running to fast. Shave the speed and shift down a gear. As the revs climb, shave the speed again and then get off the brakes.

With the reinvention of the slush box towing is starting to be a PITA again. I guess the manufactures are trying to make their autos drive like cars because on most of the new rigs I've driven there is way to much slipping going on. My friends '99 Ford (F-350 powerstroke) would almost freewheel when it hit 2400 rpms compression braking. I didn't believe him so off we went. With a 24' camp trailer behind it was like pushing in a clutch just for the ride. Banks provide a chip to correct that. And again he had no idea was he was doing and was told to use the brakes to control the speed not the motor. He didn't like my training style and was a little pissed, but hills don't bother him anymore. My dad's '04 has the tow/haul button which does about the same thing as the Banks chip did, but I don't think it goes quite far enough.

Oh well, I'm tired of typing.