Jeep Garage  - Jeep Forum banner

The Towing thread

314K views 2K replies 156 participants last post by  SouthernComfort 
#1 ·
Please place your queries and comments regarding towing, towbars, wiring, Brake Controllers, and any other Aussie towing matters here.

This way the information will be contained, and others will not need to plough though other irrevelent threads to find info.
 
#650 ·
What's the breakaway system's input fuse rating? ie: what could it conceivably draw if the battery is depleted? Is it possible that a relay switched feed "direct" from the battery is more appropriate?

Just trying to make sure that I give you the best advice.

The quick answer is to tap into the boot accessory power socket feed, but I have reservations that this is adequate. It could, however, be used to switch off a battery feed when the car is shut down. This would eliminate your disconnect concerns.

Cheers,
Steve
 
#653 ·
I apologise ion advance if I have jumped in here. new to forums I previously owned a Santa Fe with a dual mass flywheel which was overheated and damaged while reversing my small boat uphill on a slope of about 10 degrees. Can anyone tell me if I risk doing the same damage using the low range on my 2014 jeep grand cherokee reversing a caravan of 2 tonne up the same slope with the ZF gearbox. Is there anyone out there that regularly reverses heavy loads uphil
 
#656 ·
I doubt very much we would or should suffer transfer case wind up for the very short distance we are reversing in low range
But just in case all you need to do to release any windup is allow one wheel to spin, by placing one wheel on loose dirt grass etc.
 
#657 · (Edited)
For those that are interested, this is my Treg hitch. It is fitted on the standard Mopar tongue. The tongue is reversed to get the correct height for the Kimberley Kamper. The dealer actually sold me a tongue with a deeper drop but the Mopar tongue works better at Aero height with Quadra-lift.

I painted the Treg black and stuck on a piece of red reflective tape. The Treg is retained with a bolt and nut just like a ball hitch. I ground off the bolt extension then encased the nut in Araldite using a toilet roll tube as a former just to make it a little harder for thieves. Welding would have been another option. The tongue is locked into the receiver with a Talon 4WD lock. What makes it a 4WD lock is that it has a plastic bar stool cap on the end to keep mud out :).
 

Attachments

#658 ·
You must have skinny fingers to get a shackle past that barstool cap Bob.
The designers have made the bumper cutout very neat on these things but not so good for practical.
I use a Treg with ours as well……but the yoke is bolted and welded to the top of a Hayman Reese Weight distribution head.
A new hole was drilled in the shank to move the head in towards the bumper, pretty much the same distance as the Mopar one achieves.
 
#666 · (Edited)
Tell me about it! The other side is worse with the 7-pins flat plug right next to it. Actually it's quite easy if the shackle bolt is screwed in from underneath but that just doesn't seem right to me.

Maybe run two D-shackles, one that is there permanently and only have to fiddle with once to fit, and then another that will provide easier use. Or is using two d-shackles a bad thing?
Not a bad idea :thumbsup:. I can't see that two shackles would be an issue provided both are rated and the fixed one has the pin tied (moused). The only reasonable document regarding shackles, that I can find is the Queensland Safe Towing Guide, see attached. It states among other things,
"the break load limit of the shackle is rated at least 1.5 times greater than the ATM of
the trailer.
"
and,
"Generally, the break load limit of a rated shackle will be six times greater than its
work load limit.
"
but nothing about using or not using two shackles so I might give it a try. My trailer's ATM is 1600kg so the BLL needs to be 2400kg which would give a WLL of 400kg. That seems reasonable. Since there are two chains, I could halve it but it would be all too difficult to explain to the boys in blue.
 

Attachments

#659 ·
I just had the Mopar tow hitch fitted by my dealer. Having a Summit I had to wait for a SRT style unit to come in. The first thing I noticed when I got home was the rating on the goose neck (see photo).
Thinking they'd put the wrong hitch on I emailed Mopar support and asked them if it was the correct part number for my car. The reply was surprisingly prompt.

"Please return to the dealer that installed the tow bar and have them fit the correct tow rating label.

The Summit and the SRT share the same tow bar.

The label you have is for the SRT."

I forwarded the email to my dealer who called me to say that they'd have to wait for the correct decals to come from Jeep. I thought Mopar would have provided both sets with the unit so the dealer could apply whichever was applicable.

The other thing I'm concerned about with this configuration is the safety chain attachment points (see photo). Unlike other installations I've seen they are located at the top of the receiver tube. There is very little clearance to get a shackle in, especially near the lighting connector.
Does anyone have any ideas about get around this? I thought maybe even alternate attach points.

The whole point of this setup appears to be that you can hide the hitch if you're not towing.
 

Attachments

#660 ·
Maybe run two D-shackles, one that is there permanently and only have to fiddle with once to fit, and then another that will provide easier use. Or is using two d-shackles a bad thing?
 
#664 ·
I was thinking that too Snuke, or maybe see if i can fit some gal or stainless eyebolts (with locknuts) and hook the shackles through them. I'll need to research their shear rating. I've got a bit of room to play with as long as I can get the cover panel back on.
 
#661 ·
I used two between my boat and my Prado, due to the size of the boat chain not fitting over the 4.5T bow shackles I left on the back of the car. I wouldn't consider it a risk, although pins can back out and it's nice to keep the pin inserted vertically, from the top. They never back out upwards!

I'm with what you suggest, but with some Loctite on the "fixed" shackle.

Cheers,
Steve
 
#663 ·
Looking at getting a HR tow bar fitted with P3 controller once my Jeep arrives.
Little worried the installer might not have experience with the new Jeep so looking for feedback from users on which businesses you might recommend to complete the work please.
If they are in the Hornsby area then great but can travel.

typing with fat fingers on a little keypad on my phone
 
#665 · (Edited)
The direct question of whether it is legal to fit 2 D shackles to a safety chain attachment is asked regularly over on the Caravaners Forum.
Member Ozjohn posted this some time back:
"It's been covered countless times.
Some States will allow the practice, some won't and a couple don't have a clue.
OH&S regulations in the construction, engineering industries however do not allow the practice."
and this…..
"Replies from various State regulators on this issue:
QLD TMR & VICROADS only quote VSB1.
NSW - 1 shackle only.
TAS - 1 shackle only.
ACT - 1 shackle only.
WA - More than 1 can be used but must be suitably rated to support 1.5 time the trailers ATM (Same as chain)
NT - More than 1 can be used but must be suitably rated to support 1.5 time the trailers ATM (Same as chain)
SA - More than one can be used but must be permantly marked with a rating at least 1.5 tomes the trailers ATM (Same as chain).

Cheers, Ozjohn."

ADR's also require that the shackle be rated and stamped.
John
 
#668 ·
Not sure if right place but is part of my intended usage-
Firstly have a van on order, due July BUT racking my brains how to fit an exytopper 50kg boat to jeep.Any suggestions appreciated-I am currently looking to bolt a frame ???? to the HR hitch receiver so that weight could be taken on the additional frame as to lessen load on original racks
I am learning heaps from this site-
Originally had Toyota but my jeep has been great

Regards
Strategy



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#672 ·
Mopar bar allows for what I believe to be the only available long range tank to be fitted.

Other than that just check any Hayman Reece adaptors you may have fit the Mopar bar... they might require the edges ground, which you may not be happy with.

Cheers,
Steve
 
#674 ·
Mopar bar allows for what I believe to be the only available long range tank to be fitted.

Cheers,
Steve
100% correct.
I have the HR bar and I took my car to Long Range Automotive for them to have a look at whether or not it was possible to fit one of their tanks with the HR bar. There is absolutely no way it will fit.

The LRA tank wasn't around when I got my bar fitted.
 
#677 ·
Hi, I've got myself a 12/13 towbar and wiring harness that I'm away the fit to my '14 GC. I was wondering what the differences between it and the 2014 version of the towbar and wiring harness is.
The 12/13 version has a flexible piece of trim that's fitted around the hole that's cut out in the bumper is the 2014 the same or does it have a hard plastic bezel similar to the US version?

The 12/13 wiring harness has a 7 pin plug at the towbar end and another plug at the car end. The instruction say it plugs in to a socket on the cars wiring loom but I've read posts saying that the towbar wiring harness had to be spliced in the the cars wiring loom?

Can the wiring harness be installed without removing the bumper?

Does any one have the installation instructions for both the 2014 towbar and the 2014 wiring harness that they could send.

Any help on the above would be great.
 
#678 ·
I believe that the bar is identical mate. The guts is it fits fine and the compliance is valid. The MY14 harness is an elusive beast, and as it has to be cut in I feel it's no biggie to miss out on. If it plugged in or had reverse sensor deactivation I'd have wanted it.

The MY14 bumper cutout is the same as MY13. I did it neat and left the pinchweld off, as to me that looks like a shit job covered up. It'd be nice if there was a cover plate commensurate with the vehicle's aesthetic... I guess you could order in the US part though it doesn't actually cover the unused receiver.

As mentioned, you need to cut in the harness. You don't need to remove the bumper to do this, however you do to fit the towbar itself. The cut out is easier to make neat when working on a pair of trestles too!

I can send you the MY13 towbar instructions if you PM me your email address. The harness instructions I threw out, essentially as they had no value relevant to the task. Maybe see if someone has a MY14 document... but I didn't find the job more difficult for not having it.

For what it's worth, I heard rumour that there may be a connection around the firewall (?) of the MY14... which accepts a special breakout box... which when programmed in by a dealer... and then cabled along the entire vehicle... offers trailer lighting circuits. If you dig deep you might find where I read this, but it seemed too hard to get the requisites so I just got the diags out :cool:

I hired a big and nasty trailer with a full complement of incandescent lighting including side marker and height marker lamps. There were no issues due to loading the vehicle circuits with the trailer lighting. I was quietly concerned about the tail signal as I started the car!

Cheers,
Steve
 
#679 ·
Did some research on the safety chain shackle thing. It's a dog's breakfast. All states and territories are similar but different. There are federal requirements and ADR but basically it comes down to Australian Standard AS 4177.4-2004 'Caravan and light trailer towing components Part 4: Safety chains up to 3500kg capacity'. Unfortunately it costs money even to look at it.

My trailer has two chains marked PWB 4177-25. So they are made by PWD, comply with AS 4177 and are rated for a trailer ATM of 2,500kg. Each chain has to be able to take the full ATM on its own. So what about the shackle? I asked PWD. They said the only issue is to get a rated shackle (Grade S) that fits both the chain and the towbar attachment point. The Mopar bar has attachment point holes of about 13mm dia. The largest Grade S shackle that fits this is PWD's size 10 which has a 12mm pin. The shackle loop is 10mm dia which easily goes through the 20mm hole in the chain link. According to PWD's table, this sixe 10 shackle has a working load limit (WLL) of 1,000kg. That's probably OK. If my trailer was hanging over the edge of a cliff, I think I would want the shackle to fail. However, the problem is that one might have a 2,000kg ATM trailer, a 2,500kg ATM rated chain and a shackle with WLL 1,00kg stamped on it. So how is the average vanner and the boys in blue supposed to know it all matches? At this point, I think the only reasonable thing we have to go on is PWD's advice to use the largest Grade S shackle that fits both the chain and the towbar fixing point.
 
#680 ·
Did some research on the safety chain shackle thing. It's a dog's breakfast.
(body of post deleted)
At this point, I think the only reasonable thing we have to go on is PWD's advice to use the largest Grade S shackle that fits both the chain and the towbar fixing point.
Thats about the guts of it Bob, and easier said than done with the difficult access provided to the tow bar fixing point on the Australian WK2 Jeep in particular.
I see scary connections on all sorts of vehicles at this point regularly, vans and trailers both. Tiny el cheapo unrated shackles used, snap clips, and even fencing wire.
Just another reason to require a towing endorsement that includes a towing course on our license - well my thoughts anyway. Likely wouldn't change the situation however….
John
 
#687 · (Edited)
I'm trying to find an answer to this question.

If trailer sway control [ Jeep Grand Cherokee WK2 - 2011 Grand Cherokee Trailer Sway Damping ] is activated do the brake lights come on? :confused:

I have tried Chrysler customer care who refer me back to the dealers, who don't know, I have tried other forums but know positive answer.

You can understand the question because if the brake lights come on then so will the caravan brakes. All adding to the safety of the rig pulling things straight much quicker.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top