Motorhome owner towing Jeep, DESTROYS it...

[Sun_Seeker]

...talk about having a bad day. I thought to post this, as a warning to check your towed vehicle, to make sure it is properly 'set up' for towing behind your R.V.

The Motorhome owner was FLAT TOWING it, no dolly etc, and had the tranny in 4 wheel LOW...which had the engine turning 8X's the REDLINE, and it blew apart. The 2021 Jeep Rubicon is probably going to cost the owner, at least $30,000 USF or more dollars to attempt to get a Jeep that can travel down the road once more! The owner's insurance will not cover one cent, due to owner gross negligence. Anybody want to buy a Jeep...er..cheap?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4szP5IyotFU

https://www.rvtravel.com/jeepdestroyed992/

Don't let this happen to you!

[FIRE UP]

Well,
Without knowing any other details, it's hard to condemn the driver of the coach for this. It doesn't matter what kind of coach one is driving, be it a 500HP diesel or your basic V-10 powered 35' gas coach, one CAN TELL if the toad is in or out of gear when taking off from a dead stop. Heck, I did it in an off road situation where we had our '99 Fleetwood Bounder 34V with the V-10 and we'd hooked up our Jeep YJ for a trip home after goofing around off road down in the Boreggo desert in So Cal.

We were still in the dirt area when we'd hooked up the Jeep and for some odd reason, most likely distraction of some type, I'd left it in 2WD. We took off and IMMEDIATELY I could feel the drag on the coach, not normally there when departing from any scenario like this. I stopped immediately after feeling that drag.

Behind us was about 10-15' of skid marks in the flat ground area from the Jeep. Needless to say, I hammered my own butt for being such an airhead. We'd towed Jeeps for thousands and thousands of miles without any form of incident. This was pure STUPIDITY on my part. No damage to anything other than 10-15' of wear on those rear tires, IN ONE SPOT!!!

So, pertaining to the OP's video he posted, again, without knowing each and every detail of the motorhome drivers frame of mind when hooking up, real tough to make a judgement on this scenario. Can one these Rocktrack 241OR transfer cases just JUMP INTO FOUR LOW, ALL ON ITS OWN? Well, in a few zillion miles of Jeep Rubicon towed miles, from owners all over the U.S., a potential self shift by one of these transfer cases would be so phenomenally rare that a statisic of some such manor would be impossible to build.
There has been, in the past, a few owners of Jeeps, some in Rubicons and some with Cherokees, incidences of *supposed* self shifting transfer cases where, the transfer case itself self destructs. I know personally of one Rubi owner and one Cherokee owner that have had the pleasure of self destructing transfer cases. Both of these people were seasoned vets of towing their Jeeps.

Both made darn sure they were in NEUTRAL prior to take off. Both had towed for several miles before the transfer case self-engaged and decided to go see the great transfer case in the sky for ever. The Rubi owner had towed for well over 200 miles begore a driver pulled along side him and motioned some crazy signals that caused the my buddy to pull over in his coach, on a freeway.

Upon exiting the coach and approaching the drivers car that motioned him to pull over, he notice a giant dent in the hood of that drivers car. Hmmmm. The driver said something came out from under the towed Jeep of my buddy and hit the hood. He ducked as this piece of material came at him at whatever speed. It hit his hood and bounced up and over the wind shield.

MY buddy kneeled down next to his Rubicon and, to his dismay, the rear section of that Rocktrack 241OR transfer case WAS GONE and, along with that, the rear drive shaft. Oil all over the place. Again, he was a seasoned vet at towing. He had ZERO explanation as to what happened. He and his wife had been the road for well over 200 miles when this incident happened. And, he'd towed this particular Jeep for several thousand miles between multiple states and had, up to this point, zero issues.

So, was the motorhome driver in the video NEGLIGENT? Well, we're not there to say one way or another. But again, if that Jeep in the video had been left in 4 LOW during initial take off from being hooked up, without a doubt, no matter what the coach was that was towing it, the driver could have felt the drag of all four wheels, and, based on the fact that if it was a stick tranny, they are supposed to be left in gear, preferably 2nd gear to keep from what's called sympathetic rotation of gears during towing.

If it was an AUTOMATIC transmission, those are supposed to be placed in PARK. So, you'd have a TREMEMDOUS DRAG against pulling that Jeep. Even a 500HP diesel would feel that so, don't say that "I can't tell it's back there", that's not an excuse.
Scott

[JBP]

i make a right and left turn to lock up blue ox. check to see if tires are turning. then before geting on road make one last walk around. this would not have help him tires were turning.
first trip new RVer forgot to put transfer case in N. drove about 150 yards. wife ask to stop at mail box. as i exited coach someone drove by and ask if tires should be sliding.
we all do stupid things. did not have enough experience to know i had unusual drag.

i am sure he will not make same mistake again.

[pobstlmo]

I have a Ruby, Jeep says to put transfer case in neutral and the transmission in first gear.

I let the clutch out Just To Make Sure.

I do this after it has been hitched to the Coach with the Smittybuilt tow bar.

Then I watch at a turn to see if I left the parking break on.

Although my rear Camera has Audio.

Check check Double check,
almost made it out of a park with the sat up.

So now I stop at the entrance and do a walk around.

As for hookups, get in, drive One foot, get out and do a walk around.

Forgot to unplug the Electric once.
Yes only once And I don’t make them twice!

Check check Double check, check some more.

[Nmdoug]

I have a 2014 Jeep Cherokee Trail Hawk. To flat tow you have to put it in N then shift it into Park. Then there is a separate switch that has to be flipped. The last step puts power to the power steering so it will not swing back and forth while being towed (a major potential for an accident). When I purchased the vehicle after doing some research, I had to explain to the dealership that it was not safe to be towed but that there was a fix available. They knew nothing about this! I also had to instal a charge line to the battery to make sure it didn’t completely drain while driving. I also learned the hard way that if you didn’t switch the pump off over night after stopping it would drain the car battery. The initial design was not completely thought out and I assume it has now been fixed by Jeep. Bottom line is if the transmission is not in neutral you have instant problems. I always have someone watch when I first drive the vehicle to see that the wheels are rolling freely as well as checking in mirror to see the wheels turn.......

[Joette]

I’m responsible for making sure our jeep is in the proper gear position while hubby hooks things up.

One thing I’ve learned is after I get all the gears where they should be, I put it in reverse (so as not to hit him if I’m not in correct gears) and try to move the jeep. If it just revs but doesn’t engage to move, I know I’ve got the gears correct. Then I turn it off and put it in park.

And as we pull out I stand and watch to make sure the wheels turn before getting in the coach.

[Dave-Oh]

Wow. expensive mistake. I can't imagine not feeling at least a tug if it really went into 4WD low spontaneously. My JL is automatic, so I hookup, back slightly to lock the tow bar, then put the transfer case in "N". Then put the transmission in reverse and give a little gas, put it in "D" and give it a little gas, then "P" and turn off.


Must have been a REALLY bad day. Can't see how it was done, but there must have been SOME indication....

[Ray,IN]

Our 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee was to us the perfect towed until one day I smelled hot oil. The transfer case that was in neutral when we left Perry, GA had somehow slipped partially into gear. That was a $700 repair bill.