Towing my Jeep?

[nwoods]

Okay, I am wanting to be able to flat tow my Jeep behind our Nissan Armada. I know nothing about towing.

I have a Hansen heavy duty front bumper, and I've not seen any kind of towbar that will attach to it. With the thousands of towed Jeeps out there, surely there is a solution for this and I'm just not seeing it?

What else do I need?

Do I need a brake buddy gadet to pump the brakes in the Jeep on command?

My Jeep has a harness socket mounted on the front bumper for a connnection to the Armada's trailer harness socket, but I think that just controls brake lights, not the actual brakes, right?

What gear do you tow in in? Neutral T-case and neutral transmission?

About how much should I expect to pay to get this all set up?

Here is a picture of the front of the Jeep (the little brass d-rings are for the saftey chains when towing....

[Jerry Bransford]

So far as the tranny and t-case goes, the transmission must either be in Park or in gear if it's a manual. Do not tow with the transmission in neutral or you can burn up a bearing. The transfer case must be in Neutral. The ignition key lock must be unlocked so the steering wheel can turn.

Lighting-wise, just get some magnetic tow lights and plug them into your Armada's trailer light connector. You'll need an adapter cable to connect the magnetic light's 4-pin connector to the Armada. Such lights are real fast and simple, you just stick them on the back of your Jeep and you have legal lights.

The RV dealer should be able to rig a brake controller so you can use the TJ's brakes. You don't really want to flat-tow a TJ without brakes since it's pretty heavy. You might even look into just buying a flat-bed trailer which sell used for dirt-cheap. Carrying the Jeep on a flat-bed trailer is a WHOLE lot easier than flat-towing it. I still like that great pic!

[RAT]

Nwoods,
My shop is in Cerritos. If you want, I'll set up your tow rig for you. I flat tow all the time, no problem. PM me if you're interested.

Kurt

[Shadly1]

Typically, you're supposed to use a tow vehicle that is twice the weight of your Jeep. Your Armada is 5623lbs. A TJ is somewhere around 4000lbs+ depending on what you have added to it. You might want to do something to help slow that puppy down since Armada brakes are definitely not designed to stop nearly 10,000lbs on their own. At least a brake upgrade on the tow vehicle and drive slow on mountain descents if nothing else.

[nwoods]

Hmmm... the tow rating on the Armada is 10,500 pounds. But I think under state law I need a brake assist whenever towing something over 1,500 pounds, right?

So, what are people using to actuate the brakes in their Jeeps?

Typically, you're supposed to use a tow vehicle that is twice the weight of your Jeep. Your Armada is 5623lbs. A TJ is somewhere around 4000lbs+ depending on what you have added to it. You might want to do something to help slow that puppy down since Armada brakes are definitely not designed to stop nearly 10,000lbs on their own. At least a brake upgrade on the tow vehicle and drive slow on mountain descents if nothing else.

[Shadly1]

Hmmm... the tow rating on the Armada is 10,500 pounds. But I think under state law I need a brake assist whenever towing something over 1,500 pounds, right?

So, what are people using to actuate the brakes in their Jeeps?

The tow rating doesn't apply when you're talking about vehicles. That tow rating is for trailers, which is essentially a long, weighted bar with wheels at the end. Dead weight. When you're towing a vehicle, that vehicle has a tendency to want to crawl under the rear of the tow vehicle under hard braking. When you brake, the nose of the tow vehicle goes down and the rear goes up. The vehicle you are towing pushes the rear up farther and can actually lift it. That's why you want a heavy tow vehicle. No towing is risk free but there are things you can do to lessen that risk, like some sort of braking.

I tow vehicles on occasion and sometimes I do it improperly like that but I make sure I can do it slowly and cautiously, like in the middle of the night.

[peteyg]

An Armada will tow a TJ/LJ just fine. Plenty long, plenty of power. If you went with the 2-times the weight, we'd all need Kodiaks to tow our rigs....The real issue is length. Something short like a Bronco tows like crap. You want a good full size SUV to flat tow your rig.

I used to flat tow my TJ with a 1500 Suburban all the time. I did it for years with zero issues. The Armada is comparable.

The above advice on how to do it is right on, regarding how to set up the trans/t-case. You also want to make sure the tow bar is as close to horitzontal as possible, or it will feel really funky when you hit bumps and dips. THAT is what makes the rig want to dive or pull. If you have a big lifted Jeep, you need a big lifted hitch to compensate.

It's really not rocket science.

But...a trailer is definitely the way to go if you have the money and someplace to keep it. My tow bar hasn't come off the wall in over a year since I got my trailer. I will never sell it, though. It still comes in handy every now and then.