Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Denman
We thought about going "four-down"; but were "intimidated" by the new an unfamiliar (to us!) hardware that it required...  |
Bob
We tow a Jeep Cherokee 4 down and other than the setup cost, its pretty simple... sort of. I find the set with a trailer to be more scary.
First thing is to get a shop to install the baseplates and wiring to your toad's lights. We also have a battery charger installed near the battery that is powered by the coach. Bring money.
Our procedure is
- Move Jeep to behind the coach and get close enough that the tow bar can reach. DW has her own mysterious method for figuring out when I'm close enough. Success rate about 50%
- Hook up the tow bar to the base plate with the big pins (we keep a couple spare - See #3)
- Install locks on the pins. Some folks use just the locking pins that come with the tow bar, but there are stories about not so helpful idiotsl deciding its funny to pull the pins while you are at lunch Worse yet, some only pull one pin.
- Hook up Safety Cables.
- Plug in the connecting cable - 7 pin at the coach, 6 pin at the toad
- Run through the 11 step proess to get the Jeep Power Transfer Unit (a fancy word for an electronically controlled transfer case) into Neutral. Complexity depends upon your toad. The Jeep is probably as complex as it gets.
- Verify one more time that the parking brake is not set
- Set up the RViBrake 3 braking unit and test. Goes on the floor and clamps to the brake pedal.
- DW watches me pull ahead about 20 feet and makes sure the Jeep wheels are turning (one more verifiation that the parking brake isn't set)
- Away we go - remember to let DW back into the coach before leaving.
Unhooking is about the reverse. Takes about half the time that hookup does.
Whole hookup process actually takes about 5-10 minutes (half hour the first time) You can get brake systems that are permanently installed so you don't have to set up each time.
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