Why Choose a Jeep Wrangler as a Tow Car

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On today’s Mini Pod, I am discussing why I chose a Jeep Wrangler as my next vehicle to tow behind our RV. Of course, a big part of my decision-making was mainly because I have always wanted to own a Wrangler, but there are many advantages to having a Wrangler or other four-wheel drive vehicles as your toad. Toad is a term used to describe pulling a vehicle behind your motorhome.

Pros of having a tow car

Before jumping into the reasons for my Jeep purchase, I wanted to quickly review the advantages of towing a secondary vehicle behind your motorhome.

Safety

If we had an issue on the road with our RV, we could use the tow vehicle to get help or run to a fuel station if we ran out of gas.

Safety for our dog. I can recall one time Belle swallowed a bee and had a bad allergic reaction. We rushed her to the vet in our tow car, where she was able to get care. If we did not have our tow car, we would have lost precious time quickly packing our Class A to drive her to the vet.

Convenience

We enjoy the convivence of being able to park our RV at a campsite and using the tow vehicle for sightseeing and running errands rather than packing up our RV every time we wanted to leave the campsite.

Our tow car is also much smaller than our Class A RV, making it easy to find parking spaces and maneuver around busy cities, especially in rush-hour situations.

Tow Car Cons

The cons to having a tow car are extra maintenance, insurance, and possibly additional inspections. Extra equipment, such as a tow bar, base plate, wiring, or a tow dolly, is also needed. Of course, these things depend on how you plan on towing your vehicle, either all four wheels down or two wheels up.

Why the Jeep Wrangler

First, the ride height, our 2001 Jeep Wrangler with no lift, has plenty of ground clearance, meaning we will not scrape the tow bar while entering and exiting parking lots as we do now while towing our Ford Cmax.

Off-Road Fun

Also, the Jeep will allow us to get off the beaten path and explore areas that our RV and original tow car could not do. Our new to us Wrangler not only has the ground clearance to go off-road, but it is also 4-wheel drive allowing us to escape some messy situations while exploring new areas.

Flat Tow Capable

We have already taken the Wrangler out to explore camp ruins that our Cmax would have never been able to get to (Here is a photo of those ruins)
We also wanted the Wrangler because it is flat towable, or, in other words, all 4 wheels down. This is the simplest way to tow a vehicle behind our RV; we can connect the Jeep to our RV in under five minutes. In fact, Sabrina has timed me to where we can connect, disconnect and connect again in under ten minutes. The only downside is that we cannot back up while towing four down. This usually is not an issue, but if you were to ever pull into somewhere that you could not turn around, you need to disconnect, turn around both vehicles, then connect again. In 115,000 miles of towing our Ford Cmax, this has only happened three times.

Weight

Weight plays a part in why the wrangler works excellently for us since it is only slightly over 3,000 lbs. It is perfect for our Vista, which has a 5,000 lb tow capacity. We like to have some wiggle room while towing and the wrangler gives us plenty of room to work with.

Tow Vehicle Considerations

How easy is the vehicle setup you want to tow, including what is involved in getting it tow-ready? Is there a series of steps, or can you simply put it in neutral and pull the key? Each vehicle is different. Some need more steps than others when in tow mode.

How will you use the tow vehicle while traveling? Where will you winter with the RV? Will you need a 4-wheel drive?
Is the vehicle within your RV’s tow capacity? This is an important one that most people overlook.
What will it cost to add a tow vehicle to your setup, including parts, insurance, and maintenance, and do these things outweigh the benefits of having the tow vehicle?

Whichever you choose, I wish you all safe travels, and if you enjoyed this episode, I hope you take the time to leave us a rating on your favorite podcast platform.

Take care, and safe travels!