I want to flat tow a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee behind my motorhome. Not going to use a dolly. This is going to be a 4 wheels down toad. It is towable with the transfer case in neutral. Does not need any fuses pulled like most other modern vehicles. Any body have any suggestions pro or con on towbars, baseplates, brake units, wiring taillights?

Thanks

Martin

I believe they can be flat towed with transfer case in "N" w/o drive line damage (if it has "N"). Consult the owners manual for specifics.

For the rest, others will have to help.

Check local laws, brakes may be required.
I've had very good luck with the magnetic tow light kits, sometimes under $20 at hf.
The cheap tow bars work well, but are harder to hook up by yourself, well under $100.
Base plate will probably be the most expensive part.
If you see what it attaches to, you may be able to fabricate your own.
I've towed my brothers miata a bunch, the base plate for that was $120.
Good luck with this, some people have so much tied up in brake controls, transmission pumps,base plates, tow bars and auxiliary lights that I'm sure you could buy a nice open trailer.

I believe since you have a transfer case with a neutral that you can flat tow it.

I get Motorhome magazine and every year they have Dingy towing issue with all the latest equipment and list of towable dingys. Look it up, here is a link. LINK

I don't know what all is needed to do it but I have a customer that flat tows a 2016 Grand.

No help on towing other than to consult your owners manual (sounds like you have already).
One piece of advice if you go with magnetic tow lights (easiest if your motorhome is wired for a trailer). Place a thin rag on the Jeep before attaching the lights. Keeps it from scratching the paint. Paper will work also till it gets wet.


Tim

No all transfer cases lube properly when in neutral, and may damage the output shaft bearings. I 'think' Jeep still makes all their vehicles 'towable'. Owner manauls are not alwasy the final answer. like mentioned above, I'd look for a hive-mind answer from the RV community.

You can take the taillight housing out and add a second bulb to the brake light compartment. Then run that up front for a standard trailer 4-wire setup. Nice and clean, it lights up the factory housings and best of all it does not impact the Jeeps wiring at all. Last one I did I just went to a wrecking yard and found a pair of bulb holder/inserts that were nearly flush on the outside of the housing.

Depending on how you unlock the steering lock, you may need to tow with it in a 'acc' position or perhaps 'run'. Some vehicles have a spot just off of 'off-locked' that unlocks the steering, but does not engage any of the elctrics. If you're tow is discharging the battery.... add a charge wire to the trailer connector.

-Ben

With the newer vehicles, do your homework and make a check-list.

My parents got caught by a gotch on a 2014 Jeep Cherokee (the small on, not the Grand). According to the manual it was flat towable. According to the RV community, it should be towable. This was in 2014 when it was new.

First issue was with the ebrake. It's automatic. To diable it is a stupid long bit of steps. Now if you unlock the door, then re-lock the door, it's now enabled! NICE.

Getting it into neutral was also a multi-step process that was NOT intuitive.

And the steering damper was part of the electric power steering assist. There was no mechanical damper. So if you hit a pothole at 60 MPH the Jeep would start bouncing lock-to-lock behind the RV. Pretty exciting even in a 30k lb RV. Slow down to about 20 MPH and it'd settle out. Jeep's answer was to just tow it with the engine running. Damn thing is apparently so "smart" it won't run the power steering for long w/o the alternator working.

-Ben

There is a harness available to fix your parents steering problem. The Grand Cherokee did not get this type of steering until 2016. They don't have a fix yet for 2016+ G.C. That's the reason I bought a 2015.

It does not have auto parking brake or locking steering column.

Still undecided about the brake unit and lights. Too many choices lol.