Newbie Towing Question.

A trick way of doing it, and I imagine you can get these at larger trailer shops or RV accessory shops, is a box you wire into the YJ's harness that allows you to use the YJ's taillights when flat towing it. It has a 4-wire pigtail that coils up under the hood when not in use. I have one installed on my TJ but I can;'t remember the brand.

Towing 4 wheels down is very simple. I've towed my TJ thousands of miles without a problem.

1. Buy an "A" frame tow bar. They are available everywhere. I think I bought mine at Wal Mart. For a YJ there are tow bars that attach to special front shackles. You want to make the "A" as wide as possible at the base. This gives your tow vehicle more leverage to move your jeep around.

1. Buy some safety chains. I just bought some heavy chain from the home supply store. There are fancy coiled cables available as well.

2. Mount the tow bar on the Jeep. Then measure how far it is from the ground to the coupler when the tow bar is held parallel with the ground. Then measure from the ground to the tow vehicle's hitch. Subtract the two numbers and buy a hitch with that extension. For example if the tow bar is 30 inches from the ground and the hitch is 24 inches you need a hitch with a 6 inch extension. The idea is to have the tow bar as level with the ground as possible.

1. Figure out your lights. Magnetic lights are certainly the simplest. I choose to wire my lights to the tail lights on the Jeep. This was a lot more work, but well worth it IMHO. I was concerned about damaging the electronics in the Jeep or the tow vehicle so I put diodes in to stop any unwanted flow of electricity. There are kits available, but you can buy exactly the same thing at Radio Shack for about .00.

Ok so now the hard part is done. To tow the Jeep this is the procedure I use.

1. With a helper connect the Jeep to the tow vehicle.

1. Put the transmission in Park and the transfer case in neutral.

2. Stop the engine and put the key in the first unlocked position. The steering wheel should be unlocked and the power to the vehicle off.

1. Connect the safety chains and lights

2. Double check all of the connections and lights.

1. Have FUN!

Other Stuff:

Remember that your Jeep is back there. On my 40' diesel pusher I can't even feel the jeep. When I tow with my Ford Expedition I know it's there, but I did have a moments lapse once and pulled into a fast food drive through. Everything was fine until I had to make a sharp turn to get to the window. OOPs! Backing up isn't really an option when towing 4 down.

I keep a strap in the Jeep to hold the bar up while I'm getting ready to hitch up. When pulling into some camp grounds there isn't a lot of room for the motor home and the jeep so I'll disconnect before pulling in. It also works well for my wife to drive ahead in the Jeep and find a good spot before I drive the monster in.

Dean

It must be full of diodes, it doesn't require any input from me to work.

It's not called "extension". It's "rise" or "drop", depending on which way the ball mount is positioned. For example, a low rise mount might have a 2 inch drop or 3/4 inch rise.

You can also buy taller than standard balls if needed.

Extension is usually just called "length" and refers to how far back the ball mount extends from the receiver.

John

John Davies TLCA 14732

I use the magnetic trailer lights when flat towing my CJ.

I dug through my Jeep documents and found it, it's a Blue Ox Model BX8811 Tail Light Wiring Kit, made by Automatic Equipment Mfg Co.

Purchased at and installed by The Hitch House, New Hudson, MI.