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My jeep has 4" of lift and 35's. I work out of town during the week and want to tow it where I stay during the week. I have an old u haul tow bar. It will be 93 miles one way. What do yall think? I'll be towing it with my full size Dodge truck. Shouldn't be no problem right?
I have towed this Jeep all over the Western US.............but I do pull the rear drive shaft and unlock the front hubs.
As far as brakes if you look at the tow bar in the picture I built & installed a Trailer Surge brake hitch into a Tow bar.
This hitch if your not familiar with them has its own master cylinder built into the hitch and upon a braking action it applies fluid pressure.
I used a standard high pressure flexible brake line that connects from the tow bar to the front bumper. Of course the tow bar remains on there all the time although there are now high pressure quick disconnects that would allow its removal without having to bleed the system again.
It gets plumbed directly into the rear brakes only by using a special check valve that also gives you the ability to bleed the secondary system................
This in effect gives you the advantage of having a trailer like braking effect on your towed vehicle.
Works like a charm and as far as braking you do not even know the vehicle is back there.
What I used is a pretty standard Trailer Surge Brake Actuator , can be purchased on line or at any trailer supply store. These units have a portion of the hitch that is built to move back & forth under deceleration. When the tow vehicle slows down , the surge brake coupler's internal master cylinder compresses against the coupler body , forcing brake fluid through the brake lines to your towed vehicle..............This only moves about 1/2" inch. If your rate of deceleration is minimal there is Minimal to no Brake action as the coupler is shock loaded in both directions.
Because these units are built for trailers only they cannot work alone with another system that has another Master Cylinder ( IE; your Jeep) without a special "Remote Actuator Valve"
I sourced this valve from Mico years ago part #02-460-041 This valve is normally used on off road equipment and some on road equipment whereby you have two master cylinders that are operating the same brake system but independent of each other. For simple terms lets say you have a crane truck whereby your out of the truck drivers seat and now in the crane cab and wish to move the vehicle remotely and then stop it via either a hand or foot brake from that remote location.
That's where this valve comes into play as you have one master cylinder at the Surge Coupler and of course one in the vehicle. The system allows you to tie into the vehicle's brake lines and apply independent brake pressure from another remote location , without the fear of backing up pressure in either system. As I mentioned it is just plumbed in to the rear brake line only.
Both Master Cylinders have check valves or in the case of the Vehicle MC the valving in the piston doesn't allow pressure to come back once the pedal is fully released.
The remote Actuator has a similar check valve that doesn't allow pressure to flow forward to your Tow Bar when your operating the Jeep.
This is not a commercially available system. In fact the only ones that I know that have ever been put together I personally did.
This system could even be restricted by the DOT which in there guidelines says that anything that has brakes on a towed vehicle shall have a control in the towing vehicle to actuate said brakes while being towed.
There has never been any enforcement since most non commercial officers just don't understand the complexities of a brake system anyway.
I put this system together years ago and there were of course several naysayer's including myself that thought perhaps it would not work, but that's not the case it works fine...............I have built several for my buddies and just never really pursued it's value or use commercially.
Keep in mind this system was used with Drum Brakes only that have a much lower pressure need than Disc's.................I am installing rear Disc's on my old Jeep right now and will be tackling that issue soon.
Any questions feel free to ask away!
I've been towing mine for the last 8 years behind my 1ton pu with a 9 1/2 ft camper on it with no problems. The camper probley wheighs more than the Jeep. I started with a CJ5 but now I have a 7 with a hardtop and doors. And I have had to stop fast and had no trouble. With just a Jeep behind you I wouldn't worry.
Don't they have away bars for trailers?? Can they be modified to work on a towed jeep? I mean if you can fix a 30 year old jeep and make it RUN then Anything is possible
Could be the length of your tow bar or even the angle between the two vehicles. Is that doing it while going up or down hill or just on level ground @ 60 mph? Sometimes its also the tires or tire pressure.
Of course I'm sure you have checked your steering alignment and have a good steering dampner on the axle?
I don't have a problem with 60 MPH it is more than likely the best max speed anyway. as far as toe in, this may be true but I had the front end aligned just before the trip so hopefully they got it right.
I flat tow my cj every 2 months 300 miles round trip. My steering wanders, likely the 36" tires and wide Dana 44 axles from a scout. I have to seatbelt my steering wheel , and with the auto locker in the rear it kinda pushes my diesel f250 through turns on wet or icy conditions.
I have towed this Jeep all over the Western US.............but I do pull the rear drive shaft and unlock the front hubs.
