My 2008 Chevy HHR SS was $500 for the base plate,another $500 for the tow bar,$35 for the wiring kit and one day to install it all in my driveway. Phil.I was 70 years old when I did it myself.
Is a Navy guy qualified to drive something with an Air Force One braking system?? (Sorry, this Air Force Veteran had to ask...) And at 2:09 , we see that Phil can still cus like a sailor! (LOL)
golfnut hi I am thinking about getting a Ford Fiesta also !! May I ask your pros an cons on it an also do you flat tow it ? how is that going with what set up? Thanks from Texas !!
We just recently purchased a Chevy Equinox to pull 4 down. We used a tow dolly once, just once! The wife didn't know there were so many words to describe a dolly!
Wow to prepare my 2011 Xterra to tow is put the manual transmission in neutral, turn the ignition to ACC and pump the brake a few times via the brake controller and go. I know my day is coming when I’ll have to upgrade my tow and I’ll be where you are now. Enjoy.
I wanted to tow a 2016 Toyota Pickup 2WD Toyota said no no no Solution drive shaft disconnect device. Pull a cable and the car has no idea that it is being towed. 4 years later and it is still just great. Added advantage is that if I’m concerned about someone taking my truck at night. I pull the cable. Good luck trying to steel that truck. I believe the drive shaft disconnect is from “Superior Drive lines”. Easy to install
My husband bought me a Jeep Wrangler to eventually tow behind the motor home once we get to full-time but he was a U-Haul dealer for almost 20 years so he wants the dolly, because he is used to moving them around, I want to flat tow, much easier to hook up & tow and won't create issues with his back. Going to use the wear down tactics in reverse!! We have our experiment motor home now to make sure we can do this by taking small trips with "Abby" before we sell the house, truck, bike etc and buy the big rig like you have. 15 months and counting!!!
15 months is not very long! It will go by quickly....at least it did for us with all the prep we were doing. I the Jeep wrangler a 4 wheel drive? If so it cant be dolly towed only flat tow or all 4 wheels up on a trailer. (does that help?? I am trying to give you some ammo! lol) Also, when booking campsites there has to be enough room for them. Nothing is worse than it eating up the only spot you have for chairs. Dollys dont seem that big until you start moving them around a campsite. If you are going to stay at National parks, state parks or COE parks there isnt always room for them. Good luck wearing him down!
To use a dolly with a Wrangler you would need to disconnect the front driveshaft before putting front wheels on dolly. After removing from dolly you would then reinstall front driveshaft. Not sure if it's worth it. Unless you plan to permanently remove front driveshaft, which would mean you can operate Jeep in 2 wheel drive only
I have a 2021 Chevy Spark with a manual transmission which I really like. The only negative thing about the Spark is its maximum recommended speed is something like 110 KmPH and occasionally I like to go a little faster. I too had a tow dolly very similar to yours but after one trip to Arizona I decided I enjoyed it as much I could stand and sold it and also purchased a Blue Ox system. I also purchased a Patriot 3 brake system to keep in compliance with laws requiring a brake system. I had the Blue Ox system installed by the RV dealer and have yet to install the brake system but it’s pretty simple, mostly just plug in the proper places. My motorhome handles the towing with no problem but as I mentioned I have to keep in compliance with the state or provincial laws or pay the consequences. I also like the brake away features of the Patriot 3 but it is extremely unlikely with the Blue Ox system unless it has been sabotaged by some kind individuals. So, check for security before leaving every stop. I’m glad you purchased a Air Force one brake system. Go Air Force. Ha Ha
Woohoo! We decided on a Trailhawk as well. Such a great vehicle. One thing we did on our Trailhawk was change the battery to a higher Cold Cranking Amperage. My wife was having problems with Check Engine Light and also it wouldn't start sometimes even if showed a full charge on the battery. Haven't had a problem since changing the battery. Great car.
If you're looking for info/advice on where to go, what to do, what to avoid along the east coast, contact or watch Motorhome Experiment. They are the only channel I've seen who has gone there. From Florida to Maine and into Canada. Plus, they're wonderful fun to watch just like you guys are. Enjoy and have fun!
Thanks for this video. We too ended buying a 2019 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk and this video was very helpful in walking us through the steps required to get the car into neutral and ready for towing. We found another video online, but he kept getting the steps wrong, Phil did a perfect job, as we read the manual while following along with Phil. Thanks for the information, love following you guys.
Yay Jeep! I was so sad when I traded in my '97 Wrangler that I almost went back to rescue her. LOL! (289k miles and still ran great! Just too hard for me and my bad back to get in and out of anymore...) You two do the BEST "this is how it's done" videos. Thank you!
Holy mother mary of pearl. I had no idea how many things you've got to connect at the bumper then the 19 steps just inside the Jeep. Love the videos keep them coming.
Just bought a pusher and bought a used dolly. Had to modify it to fit our catlr, but does not seem to be that big of a deal. Only thing I don't like is it seems wider than the rv. Always on a white or yellow line.
We did the same thing, had two cars that couldn't be flat towed and didn't want to get a different vehicle, so we started out with a dolly. After one year of a lot of headaches and back aches we got a Jeep Wrangler and a Ready Brute Elite tow system and haven't looked back! We love it!
Best move you made, to un$##, the dolly. I missed two turns, while flat towing. stuck on the road, traffic backing up, and can unhook in three minutes, and clear the road. I am suspicious, retired AF here, why you got an AF tow bar, and your favorite place is AF Academy. Be safe, Todd
It is because of videos like this that allowed me to move directly to a flat tow system when we purchased our RV. You are right that they aren't cheap, we were just under $5k for ours. We had a little savings in that we packaged with our RV. Bought the Roadmaster All-Terrain and paired it with the Airforce One. It is a great combo. Really enjoy your channel, you guys sound like my wife and I. I too have spend time wearing her down.
Recently sold our MasterTow dolly and now have the RoadMaster Falocn system with Invistibtake on a 2918 Wrangler. All I need to do is put the transfer case in nuetral and put the Jeep in 5th gear (manual transmission)
Don’t you know that when most people encounter an RV they brain says ‘Do stupid and dangerous things’ to get ahead of the RV. That’s why I always have my dash cam running. Be safe. I love my flat four tow bar system.
I hated using a dolly until I got the right height on the hitch and made some wood ramps that the dolly ramps set on making the angle very minimal. My van now rolls up almost without hitting the gas. Before I did this, I pulled the front end off of two vehicles. But I got a new transit van connect that I haul my music gear in. Good for you for making the switch!
You cant tell in the pic but we did add that to our dolly and it did help with the front end. But the Acura was still so low the dolly wheel covers were digging into the car just under the doors every time we turned. Part of the time it took was trying to make sure the car was exactly centered to prevent as much damage as possible.
Y’all done good...We done the dolly towing for a couple years, then switched ourselves to a 2014 Jeep Wrangler. Using blue ox tow system, the only way to go. It was just too much to be moving the dolly around by hand. . Makes life so much easier and less tires to keep up with for a dolly.
Please get locks for the receiver on the coach and for the pins on the tow vehicle, we had friends who had parked in a truck stop for lunch, and not checking to his hook up took off down the road and looked in his mirror to see his Jeep beside his coach, someone had pulled the pin on the coach and after getting going the tow bar came out of the receiver, he had to get in front of the jeep and slowly slow down to let the jeep to stop and re-hook. So get the locks please and if you have great be safe.
A few recommendations for additional prevention: 1) Always double and triple check your AF1 air connections once plugged in. They can come disconnected, and then you lose your aux braking. 2) Spend the $15 and get spare connection fittings for the air connection. The airline is not standard part at most RV dealers, ( I drove from Fredricksburg to San Antonio and back and lost 1/2 day to be sure I had the brakes working.
Wow, that is quite a process to get the Jeep ready to tow. I have a chevy equinox and it's basically a two step process. Hookup then put it in neutral. There is a fuse you're supposed to pull, but I but a switch in so, it's a switch flip. I actually forget and most the time it is still set to tow mode;) I am super happy towing four down too and I'm sure a dolly is fine, but it is so nice just to pull up, hookup and go. (BTW, I use the M&G brake system, and wow, is that a slick setup, but it isn't available for all cars.)
It’s a 2012. It’s the cheap version with two wheel drive. If I was going to do it again, the 6 cylinder is better and I’d probably go all wheel drive, although, we don’t do any real off roaring to speak off.
I agree with your choice for a Toad. We had a 2 door Jeep Wrangler for our daily driver and flat towed behind our Class C. The ride in the Wrangler turned out to be too rough for our 68 & 63 year old bones so we traded for a Trailhawk and love it. The ride is great and it tows great too and you can put the back seats down if you need space for extra storage. Marc and Julie Bennett of RV Love have video's of when they switched to a Trailhawk that you might check out if you haven't already. Enjoy your new ride.
Yes I think I do. I also went with a Pressure Pro TPMS to monitor the pressure in the tires. It gives piece of mind knowing your tire pressure is good or if a tire is getting ready to go flat or blow from excessive heat. If you don't have one, please consider it. You don't want to be towing your new Jeep with a flat tire. Are you going to name your Jeep or have subscribers name it like the loofah?
It is about time you guys moved on up to flat towing. We will be looking at the same JEEP when the house sells and some extra$$$$ flood the immediate local market :). In the mean time we are flat towing with a blue ox set up and small sports car (Hyundai Veloster ), It take Pat (she does the main disconnect and we share the hook up process) under 5 min to do. Also DO NOT forget to check your lights (brake and signal) after each hook up when you are ready to travel.
I have the Trailhawk too and I am set up to flat tow. I actually had a welder add my Red Hooks to an extra set of the connectors to the base plate so when not towing, my car will still look like the Trailhawk with the 2 front Red hooks .
I posted this further up to Phil, but we also have a Trailhawk (2016). Apparently there is a concern about the active steering in it that doesn't allow the vehicle to track behind the RV. This could cause wobble as well as damage to the front tires and steering. I know Jeep has a part that enables the steering to free flow. Do you have this installed on yours? If not, have you discovered that the steering is too tight without it and causes problems? I also imagine that with the active steering enabled, it will need something to keep the batteries charged. Just looking for some feedback since we are going to put the part on ours.
I think you guys just saved me a huge hassle. I was going to buy a dolly, but I heard your interview on the RV show USA a few weeks ago and the one thing you said would change was the dolly, so I thought, hmmmm, found your channel and have watched your videos for clarification. Now I'm piecing my own blue ox system together. I already bought a new, never used, preowned "avail" bar, safety cables, with a bonus coiled cord, and a still in package tow bar cover from some guy who sold his mh for only 575. I still need a base plate and to wire up the toad. I'm just still trying to convince the wife to get an automatic awd 2014 honda crv first now before we buy the base plate for our 2006 manual honda civic.
TNX FOR PUTTING TOWING GUIDE ON VIDEO... JUST HAD OURS DONE AND NOW GOING TO PRACTICE DRIVING IT STRAIGHT AND AROUND CORNERS WITH OUR CLASS C. sorry about caps. can't wait for our trip to texas.
I'm with you, it didn't take us long to get tired of the dolly either. We went with a Jeep Rubicon, everything is installed waiting for weather to break so we can do a test run. Safe travels.
Good choice. This is the exact setup I want. We aren’t full time so it is a little difficult to convince my wife to spend the money to make life easier when towing behind our Motorhome. Good luck.
Just bought an older Motorhome and looking into towing my 2009Dodge Ram 1500 pickup and also looking into Flat towing so good Video, a lot to learn, Thank you for your service Safe travels
Good choice! That’s what my husband and I did and we’ve never regretted it. We toyed with the idea of a dolly to start with, but ultimately decided to bite the bullet and do it the way we felt would be best for us. It was definitely costly up front, especially since we also had to buy the Jeep, but it was worth every penny! Enjoy!
Great video. I had heard you guys discuss the switch before, but now that I have actually set mine up for flat tow it takes on new meaning. I have the same set up as you, but am towing a CRV. The steps are definitely a little simpler for me on the car side though. We haven't actually "traveled" with our set-up yet, but we already feel so much more freedom. Trying to see the country with9out a TOAD is a non-starter from my perspective. I've learned so much from you guys. Keep up the great work.
Hi Just recently discovered your videos while chilling at the Outdoor Resort near Gatlinburg, TN after a day at the Quiltfest at Leconte Center in Pigeon Forge. Really like you videos, as I can some what relate, as my wife and I enjoy our 2017 Thor Challenger 37TB Gas Class A. I am a 100%Disabled Veteran with Back , and Neck issues having served 10 years, 3 months in the Worlds Greatest NAVY ! I can relate to the back issues, as I have good days , and not so good days, but I'm not ready to give up, and hit the rocking chair just yet ! We to use a Tow Dolly and I to though that was the most practical solution for taking a vehicle along. I was surprised at how heavy the dolly is, and how difficult it is for me to maneuver it, as in my mind I still had the strength of 30 years ago ! I enjoyed you video on the pros and cons of Flat tow, and Dolly towing which pretty much confirmed my research, and like you folks we will eventually go to flat towing as well. Right now the dolly is still more practical for us as we only are able to RV for short 1-2 week stints, as as every third week we take out turn taking care of a Elderly family member. We just traded our 15 Ford Edge, for a 18 Explorer, and made sure it was flat towable, for the eventual crossover to the Flat Tow world ! We love being able to utilize the Military Famcamps, having traveled from our home in the foothills of Western North Carolina, to The Florida Keys and back staying in nothing but Famcamps along the way, including a stay at the US Cost Guard Station on Marathon Key, with its 4 full hookup sites, well except for the 7 day cruise in the middle. It was our "10th Anniversary Camp/Cruise ! Manatee Cove on Patrick Airforce Base, near Coco Beach was one of our favorites ! Onslow Beach, on Camp Lejune, in our home state of North Carolina is one of our favorites for a quick getaway to the Beach ! I'm rambling so I'll close by saying Thanks for Doing your part to keeping our Great Nation safe, and thanks for sharing your RVing experiences!
You have taken the trip we really want to make down to the Keys! It sounds like an amazing trip! Sounds like you and Phil have much in common. Can you dolly tow the explorer? We also love the FamCamps and stay in them often! Safe travels to you. PS Thank you for your service!
Thanks to you both for your service ! The Explorer fits our Acme Ez-Tow with about 1-1 1/2" to spare on each side ! My wife drives when loading, and we've got it down to a science. I just watch the left front tire, and know if it's good the right side is ok ! We use hand signals ( no hand gestures) only, seems to work better, I guess it's less confusing. The Challenger pulls the Explorer with ease , and I cant really tell much difference in mileage. We pulled Old Fort Mountian's 6% 7miles long grade at 50-55 mph which is plenty fast ! We loved the Keys, we went in August so you know it was hot ! It's alot less crowded in the Summer months, as all the "Snow Birds" head back north. There are two Famcamps in Key West, neither of which we've stayed at, and the 4 full hook up Famcamp on Marathon Key at the Coast Guard STATION. I highly recommend Manatee Cove, on Patrick Airforce Base near Coco Beach, Pelican Roost, On Naval STATION Mayport, FL. Hope to see ya some time ! We want to go back to the Keys in our Motorhome, as we were in our 5th Wheel, and F-350 King Ranch ! The view will be much better from the Motorhome!
@@maxjr758 I have read about the coast guard station but I wonder how hard it is to get into. We are going to try to get into the keys and will start calling at the 6 month window so we will see. Thanks for sharing Manatee cove. I will check it out! Safe travels to you. We will see ya out there.
It was a fudiciary responsibility! LOL. Just wondering if you compared to the Roadmaster, and why you chose the blue ox system. Also the supplemental brake system in the car. I don't recall you talking much about that. Also I've heard about people maliciously pulling the safety cotter keys from the pins. You might want to get locking pins for the base plate connectors.
Thanks for all that information about the pros and cons of each towing solution. I've always leaned toward the tow bar and am glad your confirmed my thinking. Best wishes for more happy times on the road!
Congrats on the new Jeep. Much better than the dolly. Don't like Jeep? Really? Tell that to gen. Patton. Jeep is a legend. Now you're Jeep owners you must go to Moab UT. The Jeep capital of the world. Oh and check out the awesome Jeep channel Lite Brite. I have F150 towing a HR travel trailer. No dolly needed. Hope you fall in love with the Jeep.
I have a 2019 Subaru Forester (which I love). Been researching, can't dolly, or flat tow, so trailer would be the option....If I keep the car. I went from a 2007 Chevy Uplander to my Subaru. It was like upgrading to an smartphone, from a dial phone. First time I went through a car wash, I had problems. You need to shut off all the safety features! Thank Goodness for UA-cam, someone posted "how to".
Unfortunately the price of a flat tow used vehicle (for us) makes flat towing not fiscally sound! Then again we can tow our Prius on a dolly and get 57 mpg while we’re camping!😊
@@todayissomeday Looking at a used Ford Fiesta. Can be 2 down or 4 down towed. Honestly, even after watching your videos, I'm leaning dolly. Requires no vehicle modification and comes with disc brakes and lights. Still thinking..........
Where is your bike rack? It was removed during your flat tow hook-up demonstration making the connection appear easier. Please do a video on your bikes including the reason you chose the bikes ( no E-bikes?), the rack ,the cover and how you load and secure them.
The bikes are a good idea for a video but now that our tow has changed we will need to change our bike rack. Our current setup wont work so it is a work in progress. And no they are not E-bikes they are Treks
I was happy to learn that my 2005 Jeep Liberty is flat towable. It may be old but it’s paid for and still runs great (knock on wood) so I’m planning to just start with it. Being a single traveler, I’d hate to mess with a dolly.
Nice setup, but with the tow bar, safety cables, and breakaway cable all hooked to the hitch you are depending on the hitch to never fail and come off the RV. It is rare, but it has happened unless it is part of the RV frame itself. At least connect the breakaway cable to something else, but preferably the cables as well.
Key up the orchestra.... Well goodbye Dolly, well goodbye Dolly It's so nice to have you go back where you belong You're looking better gone , Dolly, we can tell, Dolly You're still gonna be throwing backs out but it won’t be Phil’s, as he will still be going 💪 strong Y’all are now slicker than snot on a door screen as we say down here in ten r see..... glad you got the car of your dreams and Don’t let Phil get all flabby since he doesn’t have to do his tow-dolly workouts any more I once threw my back out picking up my socks 🧦 also and was nearly fully disable when I had to pick up all my clothes I Took Off one day..... I said right then and that my sweet short little pot of a wife being so much shorter than I was definitely closer to the floor thereby declaring it was only right to let her pickup after me .... I sure do miss her and her shortcomings.... as I reflect back they really were helpful .... oh well that’s divorce court money under the bridge ... lol .... y’all keep up the great and entertaining videos and be safe and we’ll look forward to seeing you down the road .... good bye dolly .... good bye dolly
Your doing it right flat tow and you bought the best supplement breaking system. If you have a Wrangler you can't use a dolly. How can you not be a Wrangler fan ?? It's the number 1 tow vehicle.
This is our first time watching you guys - You do a nice video and we look forward to seeing more - I would like to voice an opinion that the tow dolly is a better option - I don't care for the flat tow option because of the added wear on the moving parts in the drive train - bearings, tires and who knows what is in play in the drive train and the expense to fix it when the expensive drive train parts eventually need service - Pulling a front wheel drive vehicle on a tow dolly is minimal wear on the freewheeling rear wheels of a front wheel drive vehicle - A Ford Edge in my case - May I point out that there were a number of things I do differently to prepare my toad for a trip on the tow dolly - I load it by myself - I can lean out the window and see my front left wheel as it comes up the ramp and against the stop making loading / positioning EASY - Not scary, not a pain, not any damage to my car, not ever - And my Ford Edge is as wide as you can get on a dolly - My Demco Kar Kaddy is a much better tow dolly as it steers with wheels that actually steer / turn making corners more natural - my Kar Kaddy has surge brakes making stopping less stressful on the RV - When I buy a new car I don't have a substantial expense of transferring all the hookup gear to the new car - Each has its advantages and disadvantages but I wanted to point out the advantages of my little tow dolly - A good dolly and a few tricks in the prep and I stand with your poor rejected "Fiscal Decision" - LOL - But I appreciate your presentation and some folks may well prefer the flat tow depending on personal strengths / preferences / toad vehicle - Thanks
Looks Good. We are taking our Trail hawk in on Monday to do the same thing. We went with the Roadmaster night hawk and the RVI3 braking system. Phil's comments steered us away from a dolly. I to have a bad back and hooking up that Acura made my back hurt just watching. Great video's guys, look forward to many more.
My advice is don't leave your pins in your tow bar. They can grow legs. Also I have a spare break away pin for the Air Force one system on our grand Cherokee just in case someone decides to walk off with it as well, locking up the brakes permanently. Although, if that does happen, you can pull the fuse off the (vehicle side) of the system to release the brakes. Hopefully they showed you how to do that at the shop that did your install.
Great advice. I do have the locking pins in my Amazon cart already and now will add the spare break away pin for the AF1 system. I was looking at it the other day thinking of ways to secure it better.....but a spare is the answer. The shop showed me the fuses.......but didn't tell me how to get around the safety pin being removed. Thanks a ton!!!!
Well after using a tow dolly for a couple of years, we also decided to switch over to flat tow. We have a 2021 2 door Rubicon on order that should arrive soon. We already have the Roadmaster tow bar, so we're having the dealer add the taillight cable kit, the Roadmaster base plates, RVi braking system and the AMP Research swing down steps. So we too will have a tow dolly for sale soon.
My insurance agent told me that people will intentionally try to wreck you in your Rv. They make a living on wrecking into others. A dash cam on front and rear Windows helps to avoid that. I only had one dash cam on front windshield and had a car from behind pass me and throw on her brakes to try to make me plow into her. It didn't work, cause I was freaking out anyway and hyper aware. So I got another dash cam and put on the back window, no more problems. Even the truckers started behaving!!! Lol. !!!
if you are looking for suggestions in Delaware check out Massy's Landing campground. right on the Indian River bay and great restaurants and night life close by. wont disappoint
Wish I would have known you were coming to Ft Sam Houston. I would have stopped by and visited. Congratulations on your Jeep purchase. I know as a person that deals with back problems that Phil is very happy.
Not a Jeep? Know some folks that dont consider the Wrangler a real Jeep. AC, power steering/brakes, cruise control, DOORS!!!! What next heated leather seats!!! LOL! Thx!
@@todayissomeday ....I like doors. Was referring to the Wranglers are the only REAL Jeep folks!! They wont even give The Jeep Wave to non Wranglers!! LOL! Thx!
@@MililaniJag What! I just heard about this wave and now you are telling me they wont even wave back! So now there is segregation in the Jeep world? When will it end! Hahaha
The new Newmar diesel RVs come with the Air Force One installed on the RVs with an air connection to the air brakes. Works with a stacker trailer with air brakes also. So you tow your Jeep with the parking brake set? Seem strange to me. I still prefer my car trailer because it doesn't restrict the vehicle I can haul.
The parking break is not set. The steps have you set the break to double check the tow bar and then release. I think I missed recording the release so you may have missed it.
Congrats on your upgraded towing system. I will go ahead and put the Roadmaster Nighthawk tow bar and all accessories on the market place since you won't be needing that system. Have fun traveling East and take care!!
Glad you're done with the dolly. I too have a bad back and that dolly hookup looked like trouble in the making. all it takes is a wrong twist and down to the ground, ya go. That's a good looking jeep. But man that's a lot of steps to freewheel the transmission. but a small price to pay for your health. Have fun and enjoy.
Hey folks, great video. We had a 14" Cherokee which had the infamous "death wobble" I'm sure you heard about it - I believe it could effect 14 through 17 MY Cherokees. The solution in short was to power the steering system during towing. It required a special harness (free of charge) from Chrysler-Fiat which installed a switch in the center console to couple battery power to the steering system. This allowed the steering to better follow the RV when being towed - eliminating the "death wobble". Since power was applied, the battery could lose charge which meant a supplemental harness from your RV battery to the towed battery was required (your tab and time to install), otherwise the towed battery would require intermittent starting every few hours or you could have a dead battery if driving over four +/- hours. Again, that was due to the battery power applied to the towed steering system. Anyway, if you have a later MY Cherokee (maybe 18 MY and up) this issue may have been resolved, but not sure. Great to hear that you dumped your dolly, but just wanted to let you know about the Cherokee flat-tow issue. We spent way to much time on this with Chrysler corporate. Have fun with your Jeep.
Those 19 steps, ugh. We're planning to full-time RV soon. After looking at the choices for flat towing (not many if you want an automatic transmission...especially if you aren't willing to go through all those steps) we recently purchased a 2019 Jeep Wrangler JL Sport S. It rides very smoothly, shifts even smoother with its 8-speed automatic, and we're getting 19-21 combined mpg on 87 octane. Some choices were even more troublesome than simply going through all the steps: disconnecting the battery, reconnecting and starting the engine to let it run for several minutes after every 500 miles of being towed, removing fuses, etc. I wasn't going to mess with that process every time. With the Wrangler, it's just a matter of putting the transmission in Park and the transfer case in Neutral.
It actually takes me less than 5 minutes to get it tow ready once connected and the same when we disconnect. I wanted a plug and play and it SO much better than that dolly!
we also had a dolly a few RV back and my husband damaged our Acura once and we never used it again. We currently have a fifth wheel but our last camper was a c class and we flat towed with a blue ox on my xl7 which we bought for that purpose. We live in the north east and if we have not left on our full time adventure I would love to meet up, so if you near the Philadelphia area let us know.
That Dolly can be a real pain if you dont have the right car! A meet up would be great. We are heading east in a few weeks. Will let you know if we hit Philli. Not sure of our schedule quite yet.
You, Me & the RV say in touch we met up with Bob and Pearl From Next Exit and gave them a tour of downtown Philly was a fun day if you were interested. Also we have a large driveway feel free to come by
@@christinahowell9660 That sounds awesome! We would love a tour with people who know the city! We will let you know when we come through....it is only a matter of when since it is on the bucket list.
Ok...I thought you were wrong, but after watching the clip about 15 times...you're right....she did blow right through the (what did you call it??) stop sign. :-)
From the blog Wheeling It they had an issue with perhaps someone pulling a cotter pin on their tow bar during a stop, causing damage to both tow vehicle and RV. Story here wheelingit.us/2016/10/28/our-first-rv-accident-tow-comes-loose-in-nc/
Phil, I would love to see a video on the Air Force one breaking system. Also curious how much the shop charged to install. Thanks guys. Love the videos.
It's always good to have a spare tire along, but with it mounted on the dolly tongue it added a lot of weight making moving the dolly around by hand more difficult than it need to be....
Did not realize you were now pulling 4 down until I watched this video. I know you'll be happier. Oh, Phil? In your travels have you heard about Sailors Corn? No?? It's a buck an ear! Happy trails! - Scorpio
Great video, but I didn't see the part where you move either the RV or the car to lock in the bars. We just converted our Wrangler to flat tow, and the price was as advertised, a bit over 5K. But we hope to sell the Honda Fit (faithful companion for 6 RV years) and the dolly trailer. Might even break even, and also cancel the insurance on the Fit, so it should be a win win.
Hello from Cabot Arkansas looks like a nice set-up not back-breaking Stacy I bet you are glad Phil won't be throwing his little fits in the floor anymore he got what he wants lol you guys are my two favorite rvers have a blessed day
Most likely that would’ve been the Great Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion which takes place every yr in late August in gatlinburg TN, it’s a good time and you have a good looking setup there.. enjoy the new jeep, flat towing is the only way to go!
another great video and congrats on the win phil lol... i hope you all do a meet in greet in Massachusetts, England area maybe we can meet for an awesome kayaking in Maine , i know of a lot of great places in Maine and Massachusetts you can visit and have a place in Maine your class A will fit let me know when you get here and i can fill you in, i will be watching looking forward to your north east journey safe travels Nancy
My 2008 Chevy HHR SS was $500 for the base plate,another $500 for the tow bar,$35 for the wiring kit and one day to install it all in my driveway. Phil.I was 70 years old when I did it myself.
That is awesome Robert! Great price as well!
Is a Navy guy qualified to drive something with an Air Force One braking system?? (Sorry, this Air Force Veteran had to ask...) And at 2:09 , we see that Phil can still cus like a sailor! (LOL)
I'm surprised, being an AF guy myself, that a Navy guy would even own anything called Air Force! lol
Everything's gone purple suit these days...is nothing sacred? :D (yeah, another USAF Vet).
That was probably my sister, Sally, blowing the !@#$##^$% stop sign. She ignores stop signs and stops at green lights. [sorta] ;)
Well it could have been a Marine something then he'd have to give him a ride somewhere.
me.me/i/if-this-were-easy-wed-let-the-air-force-do-3183983
we tow an automatic ford fiesta only 3 steps to set it up to tow, we love it
golfnut hi I am thinking about getting a Ford Fiesta also !! May I ask your pros an cons on it an also do you flat tow it ? how is that going with what set up? Thanks from Texas !!
We also tow a Jeep behind our Class C. Texas RV in San Antonio set ours up as well. They are great folks! Thank you for your service Phil.
Thank you!
longhornz30 I don’t think so since I have a 2006 two door. My F-450 Ford doesn’t have any problems pulling it.
longhornz30 Not at all.
We just recently purchased a Chevy Equinox to pull 4 down. We used a tow dolly once, just once! The wife didn't know there were so many words to describe a dolly!
I think we can totally relate to that! hahaha
Wow to prepare my 2011 Xterra to tow is put the manual transmission in neutral, turn the ignition to ACC and pump the brake a few times via the brake controller and go. I know my day is coming when I’ll have to upgrade my tow and I’ll be where you are now. Enjoy.
I wanted to tow a 2016 Toyota Pickup 2WD
Toyota said no no no
Solution drive shaft disconnect device.
Pull a cable and the car has no idea that it is being towed.
4 years later and it is still just great.
Added advantage is that if I’m concerned about someone taking my truck at night.
I pull the cable. Good luck trying to steel that truck.
I believe the drive shaft disconnect is from “Superior Drive lines”. Easy to install
My husband bought me a Jeep Wrangler to eventually tow behind the motor home once we get to full-time but he was a U-Haul dealer for almost 20 years so he wants the dolly, because he is used to moving them around, I want to flat tow, much easier to hook up & tow and won't create issues with his back. Going to use the wear down tactics in reverse!! We have our experiment motor home now to make sure we can do this by taking small trips with "Abby" before we sell the house, truck, bike etc and buy the big rig like you have. 15 months and counting!!!
15 months is not very long! It will go by quickly....at least it did for us with all the prep we were doing. I the Jeep wrangler a 4 wheel drive? If so it cant be dolly towed only flat tow or all 4 wheels up on a trailer. (does that help?? I am trying to give you some ammo! lol) Also, when booking campsites there has to be enough room for them. Nothing is worse than it eating up the only spot you have for chairs. Dollys dont seem that big until you start moving them around a campsite. If you are going to stay at National parks, state parks or COE parks there isnt always room for them. Good luck wearing him down!
To use a dolly with a Wrangler you would need to disconnect the front driveshaft before putting front wheels on dolly. After removing from dolly you would then reinstall front driveshaft. Not sure if it's worth it. Unless you plan to permanently remove front driveshaft, which would mean you can operate Jeep in 2 wheel drive only
I have a 2021 Chevy Spark with a manual transmission which I really like. The only negative thing about the Spark is its maximum recommended speed is something like 110 KmPH and occasionally I like to go a little faster. I too had a tow dolly very similar to yours but after one trip to Arizona I decided I enjoyed it as much I could stand and sold it and also purchased a Blue Ox system. I also purchased a Patriot 3 brake system to keep in compliance with laws requiring a brake system. I had the Blue Ox system installed by the RV dealer and have yet to install the brake system but it’s pretty simple, mostly just plug in the proper places. My motorhome handles the towing with no problem but as I mentioned I have to keep in compliance with the state or provincial laws or pay the consequences. I also like the brake away features of the Patriot 3 but it is extremely unlikely with the Blue Ox system unless it has been sabotaged by some kind individuals. So, check for security before leaving every stop. I’m glad you purchased a Air Force one brake system. Go Air Force. Ha Ha
That preready procedure is wild 19 steps! Holly cow
great video. One step omitted in video is pulling motorhome forward until both bars on blue ox lock in place.
Happy trails.
Woohoo! We decided on a Trailhawk as well. Such a great vehicle. One thing we did on our Trailhawk was change the battery to a higher Cold Cranking Amperage. My wife was having problems with Check Engine Light and also it wouldn't start sometimes even if showed a full charge on the battery. Haven't had a problem since changing the battery. Great car.
Thanks for the info. We will keep an eye on the battery.
If you're looking for info/advice on where to go, what to do, what to avoid along the east coast, contact or watch Motorhome Experiment. They are the only channel I've seen who has gone there. From Florida to Maine and into Canada. Plus, they're wonderful fun to watch just like you guys are. Enjoy and have fun!
We watch them too! They are really cool people.
I installed my Blue Ox base plate on our Jeep Wrangler. I only use TX RV supply for state inspections. Iron Horse RV for repairs is my choice.
Thanks for this video. We too ended buying a 2019 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk and this video was very helpful in walking us through the steps required to get the car into neutral and ready for towing. We found another video online, but he kept getting the steps wrong, Phil did a perfect job, as we read the manual while following along with Phil. Thanks for the information, love following you guys.
We are so glad it was helpful! That is always our goal!
Yay Jeep! I was so sad when I traded in my '97 Wrangler that I almost went back to rescue her. LOL! (289k miles and still ran great! Just too hard for me and my bad back to get in and out of anymore...) You two do the BEST "this is how it's done" videos. Thank you!
I used a U-Haul truck to pull a 1976 Camaro on a dolly across the country. I don't remember having any problems with it.
It towed fine once on.....just damaged the car a few times and it was a pain to move by hand once at a campsite.
As a 22-year veteran of the USMC and USAF, I enjoyed the Navy reference and the inter-service back n forth...thanks for the videos...Happy Trails!
Holy mother mary of pearl. I had no idea how many things you've got to connect at the bumper then the 19 steps just inside the Jeep. Love the videos keep them coming.
Even with all the cables it was easier than the dolly so Ill take it!
I was flabbergasted when I saw/heard that 19-point checklist! OMFG!!!! =8-O
Just bought a pusher and bought a used dolly. Had to modify it to fit our catlr, but does not seem to be that big of a deal. Only thing I don't like is it seems wider than the rv. Always on a white or yellow line.
We have a Jeep Wrangler and we love that little car, it can and has gone where no other car can go.
Thanks cool! That was Phils first choice but the Trailhawk was our compromise.
We did the same thing, had two cars that couldn't be flat towed and didn't want to get a different vehicle, so we started out with a dolly. After one year of a lot of headaches and back aches we got a Jeep Wrangler and a Ready Brute Elite tow system and haven't looked back! We love it!
Sounds like you had the same opinion of Miss Dolly as we did. Good riddance!
Former RV technician here, you can pretty much flat tow anything some vehicles have to be modified more extensively than others
Best move you made, to un$##, the dolly. I missed two turns, while flat towing. stuck on the road, traffic backing up, and can unhook in three minutes, and clear the road.
I am suspicious, retired AF here, why you got an AF tow bar, and your favorite place is AF Academy.
Be safe,
Todd
I see you have noticed! A few other AF peeps are chiming in on this one! lol
Todd Anderson Fellow Air Force Veteran Thank You for Your Service . Aim High ! Go Air Force ! Go Blue !
It is because of videos like this that allowed me to move directly to a flat tow system when we purchased our RV. You are right that they aren't cheap, we were just under $5k for ours. We had a little savings in that we packaged with our RV. Bought the Roadmaster All-Terrain and paired it with the Airforce One. It is a great combo. Really enjoy your channel, you guys sound like my wife and I. I too have spend time wearing her down.
Well I guess Phil isnt the only one! lol
Recently sold our MasterTow dolly and now have the RoadMaster Falocn system with Invistibtake on a 2918 Wrangler. All I need to do is put the transfer case in nuetral and put the Jeep in 5th gear (manual transmission)
Awesome!! You wont be sorry. We are so glad that dolly is gone.
Don’t you know that when most people encounter an RV they brain says ‘Do stupid and dangerous things’ to get ahead of the RV. That’s why I always have my dash cam running. Be safe. I love my flat four tow bar system.
I hated using a dolly until I got the right height on the hitch and made some wood ramps that the dolly ramps set on making the angle very minimal. My van now rolls up almost without hitting the gas. Before I did this, I pulled the front end off of two vehicles. But I got a new transit van connect that I haul my music gear in. Good for you for making the switch!
You cant tell in the pic but we did add that to our dolly and it did help with the front end. But the Acura was still so low the dolly wheel covers were digging into the car just under the doors every time we turned. Part of the time it took was trying to make sure the car was exactly centered to prevent as much damage as possible.
Thanks!
Thank you as well!!
Y’all done good...We done the dolly towing for a couple years, then switched ourselves to a 2014 Jeep Wrangler. Using blue ox tow system, the only way to go. It was just too much to be moving the dolly around by hand. . Makes life so much easier and less tires to keep up with for a dolly.
We are so glad we wont have to worry about that dang dolly any more!! You are so right it is just to much to move around at every campsite!
I am in the process of setting up my Jeep JK Wrangler as a toad. Super simple way to tow. Nice video.
Thanks for joining us! We are so glad we did it.
Please get locks for the receiver on the coach and for the pins on the tow vehicle, we had friends who had parked in a truck stop for lunch, and not checking to his hook up took off down the road and looked in his mirror to see his Jeep beside his coach, someone had pulled the pin on the coach and after getting going the tow bar came out of the receiver, he had to get in front of the jeep and slowly slow down to let the jeep to stop and re-hook. So get the locks please and if you have great be safe.
Yikes!! I do not understand people! We do have them thanks to people like you who warned us. Safe travels
A few recommendations for additional prevention:
1) Always double and triple check your AF1 air connections once plugged in. They can come disconnected, and then you lose your aux braking.
2) Spend the $15 and get spare connection fittings for the air connection. The airline is not standard part at most RV dealers, ( I drove from Fredricksburg to San Antonio and back and lost 1/2 day to be sure I had the brakes working.
Thanks so much for that. I wouldnt have thought about extra fittings. It is now on the list.
Wow, that is quite a process to get the Jeep ready to tow. I have a chevy equinox and it's basically a two step process. Hookup then put it in neutral. There is a fuse you're supposed to pull, but I but a switch in so, it's a switch flip. I actually forget and most the time it is still set to tow mode;) I am super happy towing four down too and I'm sure a dolly is fine, but it is so nice just to pull up, hookup and go. (BTW, I use the M&G brake system, and wow, is that a slick setup, but it isn't available for all cars.)
Thats cool. It sounds really easy! It is going to be really nice to hook up and go. The dolly was not ideal for us for sure!
Great to hear about the Chev Equinox! What year is yours? Thx!
We are looking at the Equinox also... Question... Does the Equinox register mileage when you tow it? Someone told me that it would...
It’s a 2012. It’s the cheap version with two wheel drive. If I was going to do it again, the 6 cylinder is better and I’d probably go all wheel drive, although, we don’t do any real off roaring to speak off.
Ron Hendrix I don’t think it does, but to tell you the truth, I’ve never looked. I’ll check when we move in about a week.
I agree with your choice for a Toad. We had a 2 door Jeep Wrangler for our daily driver and flat towed behind our Class C. The ride in the Wrangler turned out to be too rough for our 68 & 63 year old bones so we traded for a Trailhawk and love it. The ride is great and it tows great too and you can put the back seats down if you need space for extra storage. Marc and Julie Bennett of RV Love have video's of when they switched to a Trailhawk that you might check out if you haven't already. Enjoy your new ride.
That is exactly why we went with the Trailhawk! So glad someone gets me!
Yes I think I do. I also went with a Pressure Pro TPMS to monitor the pressure in the tires. It gives piece of mind knowing your tire pressure is good or if a tire is getting ready to go flat or blow from excessive heat. If you don't have one, please consider it. You don't want to be towing your new Jeep with a flat tire. Are you going to name your Jeep or have subscribers name it like the loofah?
Great video with good explanations and camera work. Thank you. What is the air connection for on the flat-tow setup? The Jeep doesn't have air brakes.
It is the air braking system we installed to flat tow. The compressor is on the RV
I've never felt comfortable using a dolly. I'd our rig was a motorhome I'd for sure make your same choice. All 4 on the floor. Happy RVing guys.
We are so excited to be 4 down!!
It is about time you guys moved on up to flat towing. We will be looking at the same JEEP when the house sells and some extra$$$$ flood the immediate local market :). In the mean time we are flat towing with a blue ox set up and small sports car (Hyundai Veloster ), It take Pat (she does the main disconnect and we share the hook up process) under 5 min to do. Also DO NOT forget to check your lights (brake and signal) after each hook up when you are ready to travel.
We are so excited about this change! You have no idea!! Light checks are the last thing we do before pulling out.
Sure hope that Jeep front end holds up. A retired mechanic and I sure don’t want another front end to have to rebuild. Can pack bearings all day long
So far so good.
I have the Trailhawk too and I am set up to flat tow. I actually had a welder add my Red Hooks to an extra set of the connectors to the base plate so when not towing, my car will still look like the Trailhawk with the 2 front Red hooks .
Great choice for a flat tow!!!
I posted this further up to Phil, but we also have a Trailhawk (2016). Apparently there is a concern about the active steering in it that doesn't allow the vehicle to track behind the RV. This could cause wobble as well as damage to the front tires and steering. I know Jeep has a part that enables the steering to free flow. Do you have this installed on yours? If not, have you discovered that the steering is too tight without it and causes problems? I also imagine that with the active steering enabled, it will need something to keep the batteries charged. Just looking for some feedback since we are going to put the part on ours.
The 2019 Trailhawk corrected this problem without the need for an additional part.
I think you guys just saved me a huge hassle. I was going to buy a dolly, but I heard your interview on the RV show USA a few weeks ago and the one thing you said would change was the dolly, so I thought, hmmmm, found your channel and have watched your videos for clarification. Now I'm piecing my own blue ox system together. I already bought a new, never used, preowned "avail" bar, safety cables, with a bonus coiled cord, and a still in package tow bar cover from some guy who sold his mh for only 575. I still need a base plate and to wire up the toad. I'm just still trying to convince the wife to get an automatic awd 2014 honda crv first now before we buy the base plate for our 2006 manual honda civic.
Glad we could help. Having our flat tow setup has been a game changer for us. Good luck convincing the wife on the CRV.
TNX FOR PUTTING TOWING GUIDE ON VIDEO... JUST HAD OURS DONE AND NOW GOING TO PRACTICE DRIVING IT STRAIGHT AND AROUND CORNERS WITH OUR CLASS C. sorry about caps. can't wait for our trip to texas.
Don't you just love it! So much easier.
@@todayissomeday so much easier agreed
I'm with you, it didn't take us long to get tired of the dolly either. We went with a Jeep Rubicon, everything is installed waiting for weather to break so we can do a test run. Safe travels.
Awesome! Looks like we arent the only ones who didn't care for that girl! Good-bye dolly!
Good choice. This is the exact setup I want. We aren’t full time so it is a little difficult to convince my wife to spend the money to make life easier when towing behind our Motorhome. Good luck.
It is worth it! If we were part-time, sometime or anytime we would still divorce Dolly!
Just bought an older Motorhome and looking into towing my 2009Dodge Ram 1500 pickup and also looking into Flat towing so good Video, a lot to learn, Thank you for your service Safe travels
Good luck!
Good choice! That’s what my husband and I did and we’ve never regretted it. We toyed with the idea of a dolly to start with, but ultimately decided to bite the bullet and do it the way we felt would be best for us. It was definitely costly up front, especially since we also had to buy the Jeep, but it was worth every penny! Enjoy!
I think you are right! If we had to do it over we would do it before hitting the road as well even with the extra cost.
Great video. I had heard you guys discuss the switch before, but now that I have actually set mine up for flat tow it takes on new meaning. I have the same set up as you, but am towing a CRV. The steps are definitely a little simpler for me on the car side though. We haven't actually "traveled" with our set-up yet, but we already feel so much more freedom. Trying to see the country with9out a TOAD is a non-starter from my perspective. I've learned so much from you guys. Keep up the great work.
Glad it helped!
Hi
Just recently discovered your videos while chilling at the Outdoor Resort near Gatlinburg, TN after a day at the Quiltfest at Leconte Center in Pigeon Forge.
Really like you videos, as I can some what relate, as my wife and I enjoy our 2017 Thor Challenger 37TB Gas Class A.
I am a 100%Disabled Veteran with Back , and Neck issues having served 10 years, 3 months in the Worlds Greatest NAVY ! I can relate to the back issues, as I have good days , and not so good days, but I'm not ready to give up, and hit the rocking chair just yet ! We to use a Tow Dolly and I to though that was the most practical solution for taking a vehicle along. I was surprised at how heavy the dolly is, and how difficult it is for me to maneuver it, as in my mind I
still had the strength of 30 years ago !
I enjoyed you video on the pros and cons of Flat tow, and Dolly towing which pretty much confirmed my research, and like you folks we will eventually go to flat towing as well. Right now the dolly is still more practical for us as we only are able to RV for short 1-2 week stints, as as every third week we take out turn taking care of a Elderly family member.
We just traded our 15 Ford Edge, for a 18 Explorer, and made sure it was flat towable, for the eventual crossover to the Flat Tow world !
We love being able to utilize the Military Famcamps, having traveled from our home in the foothills of Western North Carolina, to The Florida Keys and back staying in nothing but Famcamps along the way, including a stay at the US Cost Guard Station on Marathon Key, with its 4 full hookup sites, well except for the 7 day cruise in the middle. It was our "10th Anniversary Camp/Cruise ! Manatee Cove on Patrick Airforce Base, near Coco Beach was one of our favorites !
Onslow Beach, on Camp Lejune, in our home state of North Carolina is one of our favorites for a quick getaway to the Beach !
I'm rambling so I'll close by saying Thanks for Doing your part to keeping our Great Nation safe, and thanks for sharing your RVing experiences!
You have taken the trip we really want to make down to the Keys! It sounds like an amazing trip! Sounds like you and Phil have much in common. Can you dolly tow the explorer? We also love the FamCamps and stay in them often! Safe travels to you. PS Thank you for your service!
Thanks to you both for your service ! The Explorer fits our Acme Ez-Tow with about 1-1 1/2" to spare on each side ! My wife drives when loading, and we've got it down to a science. I just watch the left front tire, and know if it's good the right side is ok ! We use hand signals ( no hand gestures) only, seems to work better, I guess it's less confusing.
The Challenger pulls the Explorer with ease , and I cant really tell much difference in mileage. We pulled Old Fort Mountian's 6% 7miles long grade at 50-55 mph which is plenty fast !
We loved the Keys, we went in August so you know it was hot ! It's alot less crowded in the Summer months, as all the "Snow Birds" head back north. There are two Famcamps in Key West, neither of which we've stayed at, and the 4 full hook up Famcamp on Marathon Key at the Coast Guard STATION. I highly recommend Manatee Cove, on Patrick Airforce Base near Coco Beach, Pelican Roost, On Naval STATION Mayport, FL.
Hope to see ya some time ! We want to go back to the Keys in our Motorhome, as we were in our 5th Wheel, and F-350 King Ranch ! The view will be much better from the Motorhome!
@@maxjr758 I have read about the coast guard station but I wonder how hard it is to get into. We are going to try to get into the keys and will start calling at the 6 month window so we will see. Thanks for sharing Manatee cove. I will check it out! Safe travels to you. We will see ya out there.
It was a fudiciary responsibility! LOL. Just wondering if you compared to the Roadmaster, and why you chose the blue ox system. Also the supplemental brake system in the car. I don't recall you talking much about that. Also I've heard about people maliciously pulling the safety cotter keys from the pins. You might want to get locking pins for the base plate connectors.
Every time we stopped at a rest area or for the night somewhere, it was mandatory that I do a walk around and check everything, including the tires!
Thanks for all that information about the pros and cons of each towing solution. I've always leaned toward the tow bar and am glad your confirmed my thinking. Best wishes for more happy times on the road!
Glad to help!
Congrats on the new Jeep. Much better than the dolly. Don't like Jeep? Really? Tell that to gen. Patton. Jeep is a legend. Now you're Jeep owners you must go to Moab UT. The Jeep capital of the world. Oh and check out the awesome Jeep channel Lite Brite. I have F150 towing a HR travel trailer. No dolly needed. Hope you fall in love with the Jeep.
I will take the Jeep over the dolly any day of the week! Moab is on the list for sure!
Maybe your wife will warm up to the Jeep when you take it off road discover new places and make some memories.
I have a 2019 Subaru Forester (which I love). Been researching, can't dolly, or flat tow, so trailer would be the option....If I keep the car. I went from a 2007 Chevy Uplander to my Subaru. It was like upgrading to an smartphone, from a dial phone. First time I went through a car wash, I had problems. You need to shut off all the safety features! Thank Goodness for UA-cam, someone posted "how to".
Unfortunately the price of a flat tow used vehicle (for us) makes flat towing not fiscally sound! Then again we can tow our Prius on a dolly and get 57 mpg while we’re camping!😊
Retired Navy Chief here. Getting ready to buy a 3rd vehicle for TOAD only duty. Great videos. Thanks!
Thank you Chief for your service. What vehicle are you leaning toward?
@@todayissomeday Looking at a used Ford Fiesta. Can be 2 down or 4 down towed. Honestly, even after watching your videos, I'm leaning dolly. Requires no vehicle modification and comes with disc brakes and lights. Still thinking..........
@@todayissomeday and thank you for your service as well!
@@todayissomeday we have an Audi and Grand Cherokee, but both are AWD and not towable, minus a trailer.
@@brentnelson1270 Got ya! Good luck with your search.
Where is your bike rack? It was removed during your flat tow hook-up demonstration making the connection appear easier. Please do a video on your bikes including the reason you chose the bikes ( no E-bikes?), the rack ,the cover and how you load and secure them.
The bikes are a good idea for a video but now that our tow has changed we will need to change our bike rack. Our current setup wont work so it is a work in progress. And no they are not E-bikes they are Treks
Awsome congrats on your Jeep now ur a member of another adventure family.
Thanks!
I was happy to learn that my 2005 Jeep Liberty is flat towable. It may be old but it’s paid for and still runs great (knock on wood) so I’m planning to just start with it. Being a single traveler, I’d hate to mess with a dolly.
Nothing better than Paid in Full!! I dont blame you I can't imagine having to deal with the dolly without Phil. It would be a total pain!
This is super helpful as we search for our first motorhome and toad. We just looked at a Trailhawk yesterday
Sweet! Good luck with your toad search
@@todayissomeday thanks
Three words Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. 🤗
That's One Word "Geep"
Nice setup, but with the tow bar, safety cables, and breakaway cable all hooked to the hitch you are depending on the hitch to never fail and come off the RV. It is rare, but it has happened unless it is part of the RV frame itself. At least connect the breakaway cable to something else, but preferably the cables as well.
Congrats! We tow a Jeep Wrangler. You will soon forget all about Dolly.
I am good with that! I wont miss her at all.
Key up the orchestra.... Well goodbye Dolly, well goodbye Dolly
It's so nice to have you go back where you belong
You're looking better gone , Dolly, we can tell, Dolly
You're still gonna be throwing backs out but it won’t be Phil’s, as he will still be going 💪 strong
Y’all are now slicker than snot on a door screen as we say down here in ten r see..... glad you got the car of your dreams and Don’t let Phil get all flabby since he doesn’t have to do his tow-dolly workouts any more
I once threw my back out picking up my socks 🧦 also and was nearly fully disable when I had to pick up all my clothes I Took Off one day..... I said right then and that my sweet short little pot of a wife being so much shorter than I was definitely closer to the floor thereby declaring it was only right to let her pickup after me .... I sure do miss her and her shortcomings.... as I reflect back they really were helpful .... oh well that’s divorce court money under the bridge ... lol .... y’all keep up the great and entertaining videos and be safe and we’ll look forward to seeing you down the road .... good bye dolly .... good bye dolly
I have been singing that song all day! We already sold the dolly so its out of here!
Your doing it right flat tow and you bought the best supplement breaking system. If you have a Wrangler you can't use a dolly. How can you not be a Wrangler fan ?? It's the number 1 tow vehicle.
I guess I like to go against the grain! hahaha
This is our first time watching you guys - You do a nice video and we look forward to seeing more - I would like to voice an opinion that the tow dolly is a better option - I don't care for the flat tow option because of the added wear on the moving parts in the drive train - bearings, tires and who knows what is in play in the drive train and the expense to fix it when the expensive drive train parts eventually need service - Pulling a front wheel drive vehicle on a tow dolly is minimal wear on the freewheeling rear wheels of a front wheel drive vehicle - A Ford Edge in my case - May I point out that there were a number of things I do differently to prepare my toad for a trip on the tow dolly - I load it by myself - I can lean out the window and see my front left wheel as it comes up the ramp and against the stop making loading / positioning EASY - Not scary, not a pain, not any damage to my car, not ever - And my Ford Edge is as wide as you can get on a dolly - My Demco Kar Kaddy is a much better tow dolly as it steers with wheels that actually steer / turn making corners more natural - my Kar Kaddy has surge brakes making stopping less stressful on the RV - When I buy a new car I don't have a substantial expense of transferring all the hookup gear to the new car - Each has its advantages and disadvantages but I wanted to point out the advantages of my little tow dolly - A good dolly and a few tricks in the prep and I stand with your poor rejected "Fiscal Decision" - LOL - But I appreciate your presentation and some folks may well prefer the flat tow depending on personal strengths / preferences / toad vehicle - Thanks
Nice job! When we had an A class we had a dolly for the front tires only...but what a pain!
It was a pain and that is why she had to go!!
Looks Good. We are taking our Trail hawk in on Monday to do the same thing. We went with the Roadmaster night hawk and the RVI3 braking system. Phil's comments steered us away from a dolly. I to have a bad back and hooking up that Acura made my back hurt just watching. Great video's guys, look forward to many more.
Thanks! So glad we can help save your back!!
We use the Blue Ox with our 2 door Wrangler. Easy Peasy. Good luck!
We love our set up!!
My advice is don't leave your pins in your tow bar. They can grow legs. Also I have a spare break away pin for the Air Force one system on our grand Cherokee just in case someone decides to walk off with it as well, locking up the brakes permanently. Although, if that does happen, you can pull the fuse off the (vehicle side) of the system to release the brakes. Hopefully they showed you how to do that at the shop that did your install.
Great advice. I do have the locking pins in my Amazon cart already and now will add the spare break away pin for the AF1 system. I was looking at it the other day thinking of ways to secure it better.....but a spare is the answer. The shop showed me the fuses.......but didn't tell me how to get around the safety pin being removed. Thanks a ton!!!!
Well after using a tow dolly for a couple of years, we also decided to switch over to flat tow. We have a 2021 2 door Rubicon on order that should arrive soon. We already have the Roadmaster tow bar, so we're having the dealer add the taillight cable kit, the Roadmaster base plates, RVi braking system and the AMP Research swing down steps. So we too will have a tow dolly for sale soon.
My insurance agent told me that people will intentionally try to wreck you in your Rv. They make a living on wrecking into others. A dash cam on front and rear Windows helps to avoid that. I only had one dash cam on front windshield and had a car from behind pass me and throw on her brakes to try to make me plow into her. It didn't work, cause I was freaking out anyway and hyper aware. So I got another dash cam and put on the back window, no more problems. Even the truckers started behaving!!! Lol. !!!
if you are looking for suggestions in Delaware check out Massy's Landing campground. right on the Indian River bay and great restaurants and night life close by. wont disappoint
Thank you for the info!
@@todayissomeday No problem, let me know if you make it here ill come over and meet up with you guys!
Great Video! Thanks for taking the extra time to explain how to setup the flat towing for the vehicles.
Wish I would have known you were coming to Ft Sam Houston. I would have stopped by and visited. Congratulations on your Jeep purchase. I know as a person that deals with back problems that Phil is very happy.
Thanks so much! It is such a huge relief.
4down have a PT cruiser after my stroke in klamath I need to get it setup local setup is 150 HR
Will this try Medford can wait
Great upgrade. Although some people would say that’s not a Jeep.
Everyone has an opinion! lol It does the job so I am good with that!
Not a Jeep? Know some folks that dont consider the Wrangler a real Jeep. AC, power steering/brakes, cruise control, DOORS!!!! What next heated leather seats!!! LOL! Thx!
@@MililaniJag Is this the beginning of a Jeep debate?? This could be fun! PS: I like doors. Its one of my vehicle requirements! lol
@@todayissomeday ....I like doors. Was referring to the Wranglers are the only REAL Jeep folks!! They wont even give The Jeep Wave to non Wranglers!! LOL! Thx!
@@MililaniJag What! I just heard about this wave and now you are telling me they wont even wave back! So now there is segregation in the Jeep world? When will it end! Hahaha
The new Newmar diesel RVs come with the Air Force One installed on the RVs with an air connection to the air brakes. Works with a stacker trailer with air brakes also. So you tow your Jeep with the parking brake set? Seem strange to me. I still prefer my car trailer because it doesn't restrict the vehicle I can haul.
The parking break is not set. The steps have you set the break to double check the tow bar and then release. I think I missed recording the release so you may have missed it.
Awesome. Welcome to the Jeep family and congratulations on the new tow👏🏻🎉👏🏻🎉👏🏻
Thanks! We are super excited.
Awesome video. I am looking to purchase a Jeep Wrangler for this purpose.
We just got our RV setup to flat tow and we have a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk too.
Nice
Congrats on your upgraded towing system. I will go ahead and put the Roadmaster Nighthawk tow bar and all accessories on the market place since you won't be needing that system. Have fun traveling East and take care!!
Thanks Dino. Good luck with the sale. This opportunity just fell into our lap and we had to go for it. Thanks for thinking of us. We do appreciate it.
Of course...that what we military retired do for each other :)...hasta pasta!!!!!
@@DinoCarroll You rock! Thanks for making me smile today!
Glad you're done with the dolly. I too have a bad back and that dolly hookup looked like trouble in the making. all it takes is a wrong twist and down to the ground, ya go.
That's a good looking jeep. But man that's a lot of steps to freewheel the transmission. but a small price to pay for your health. Have fun and enjoy.
It is quite a few steps but at least the battery and fuses are not involved! But as you said it is a small price to pay to save the back!
Hey folks, great video. We had a 14" Cherokee which had the infamous "death wobble" I'm sure you heard about it - I believe it could effect 14 through 17 MY Cherokees. The solution in short was to power the steering system during towing. It required a special harness (free of charge) from Chrysler-Fiat which installed a switch in the center console to couple battery power to the steering system. This allowed the steering to better follow the RV when being towed - eliminating the "death wobble". Since power was applied, the battery could lose charge which meant a supplemental harness from your RV battery to the towed battery was required (your tab and time to install), otherwise the towed battery would require intermittent starting every few hours or you could have a dead battery if driving over four +/- hours. Again, that was due to the battery power applied to the towed steering system. Anyway, if you have a later MY Cherokee (maybe 18 MY and up) this issue may have been resolved, but not sure. Great to hear that you dumped your dolly, but just wanted to let you know about the Cherokee flat-tow issue. We spent way to much time on this with Chrysler corporate. Have fun with your Jeep.
Our is a used 2019 and thankfully it has been resolved.
Very good to hear. Thanks for the reply.
Those 19 steps, ugh. We're planning to full-time RV soon. After looking at the choices for flat towing (not many if you want an automatic transmission...especially if you aren't willing to go through all those steps) we recently purchased a 2019 Jeep Wrangler JL Sport S. It rides very smoothly, shifts even smoother with its 8-speed automatic, and we're getting 19-21 combined mpg on 87 octane.
Some choices were even more troublesome than simply going through all the steps: disconnecting the battery, reconnecting and starting the engine to let it run for several minutes after every 500 miles of being towed, removing fuses, etc. I wasn't going to mess with that process every time. With the Wrangler, it's just a matter of putting the transmission in Park and the transfer case in Neutral.
It actually takes me less than 5 minutes to get it tow ready once connected and the same when we disconnect. I wanted a plug and play and it SO much better than that dolly!
we also had a dolly a few RV back and my husband damaged our Acura once and we never used it again. We currently have a fifth wheel but our last camper was a c class and we flat towed with a blue ox on my xl7 which we bought for that purpose. We live in the north east and if we have not left on our full time adventure I would love to meet up, so if you near the Philadelphia area let us know.
That Dolly can be a real pain if you dont have the right car! A meet up would be great. We are heading east in a few weeks. Will let you know if we hit Philli. Not sure of our schedule quite yet.
You, Me & the RV say in touch we met up with Bob and Pearl From Next Exit and gave them a tour of downtown Philly was a fun day if you were interested. Also we have a large driveway feel free to come by
@@christinahowell9660 That sounds awesome! We would love a tour with people who know the city! We will let you know when we come through....it is only a matter of when since it is on the bucket list.
Ok...I thought you were wrong, but after watching the clip about 15 times...you're right....she did blow right through the (what did you call it??) stop sign. :-)
It might be hard to see on the video but she didnt even consider stopping!
Flat tow is the bomb! So is Blue Ox. I’m happy that y’all ditched the dolly. See you ON THE ROAD.
We are happy too!!
We sold our Jeep in part of our purge.. so we could purchase our tow vehicle.. I loved my Cherokee! Great Choice!
It has been game changing for us! 5 minutes to set up and also to break down. What did you buy to tow?
Good decision you guys! We also went with the blue ox tow set up and SMI Stay N Play braking system. I think it’s the best set up!
We installed all our flat two stuff our selves, was about 2,000 dollars but a lot of work.
You saved so much money!! Excellent!
From the blog Wheeling It they had an issue with perhaps someone pulling a cotter pin on their tow bar during a stop, causing damage to both tow vehicle and RV. Story here wheelingit.us/2016/10/28/our-first-rv-accident-tow-comes-loose-in-nc/
Phil, I would love to see a video on the Air Force one breaking system. Also curious how much the shop charged to install. Thanks guys. Love the videos.
You got it! We have had a couple of questions about our video. We are going to do a follow up this week.
It's always good to have a spare tire along, but with it mounted on the dolly tongue it added a lot of weight making moving the dolly around by hand more difficult than it need to be....
I carry the dolly spare in the trunk of the car I'm towing on it.
Did not realize you were now pulling 4 down until I watched this video. I know you'll be happier. Oh, Phil? In your travels have you heard about Sailors Corn? No?? It's a buck an ear! Happy trails! - Scorpio
OMG! Hahahahaha!
Congrats! So love our flat tow! Hated dolly too!
Thanks
Great video, but I didn't see the part where you move either the RV or the car to lock in the bars. We just converted our Wrangler to flat tow, and the price was as advertised, a bit over 5K. But we hope to sell the Honda Fit (faithful companion for 6 RV years) and the dolly trailer. Might even break even, and also cancel the insurance on the Fit, so it should be a win win.
That is because we didnt actually drive it. We were just demonstrating the hookup
Hello from Cabot Arkansas looks like a nice set-up not back-breaking Stacy I bet you are glad Phil won't be throwing his little fits in the floor anymore he got what he wants lol you guys are my two favorite rvers have a blessed day
Thanks! Thats funny!
Most likely that would’ve been the Great Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion which takes place every yr in late August in gatlinburg TN, it’s a good time and you have a good looking setup there.. enjoy the new jeep, flat towing is the only way to go!
That is exactly what it was!
Alright!!!! A win for Phil is a win for men everywhere.
Well, then you men win all the time! hahahaha
This is Phil.....don't let her fool you.....she LET's me win every now and then....LOL. She wins more than I can count!!!
You, Me & the RV Phil I’m married so I know exactly how it works. My wife says I won when I married her so that should be enough.
@@ericbenjamin6504 I know that feeling oh so well!!! LOL
@@ericbenjamin6504 Well that was Phil's only real lottery win! Bahahahaha
another great video and congrats on the win phil lol... i hope you all do a meet in greet in Massachusetts, England area maybe we can meet for an awesome kayaking in Maine , i know of a lot of great places in Maine and Massachusetts you can visit and have a place in Maine your class A will fit let me know when you get here and i can fill you in, i will be watching looking forward to your north east journey safe travels Nancy
Thank you so much Nancy! We are looking forward to exploring both places.
We are going to have future meet ups for sure just not sure where yet.
Hey guys I just bought a wrangler and installed the air force one brake system in our 33aa if your in PA we do this at our shop great video
Awesome!! Then you know how excited we are!