2010 Jeep Wrangler 4 door

[ajducote]

Anyone towing a jeep 4x4 4door wrangler? I have towed a bunch of jeeps over the years, but this one says to disconnect the negative battery cable to tow. So that means no power to the Brake Buddy. I am considering running a separate set of wires to the battery just for the Brake Buddy to get around this problem. Does anyone else have a better solution?

[tdelorme]

We tow an 08 Wrangler and, yes, you do have to install a battery disconnect. Pain in the butt and why they don't have the same set up as other Jeep models beats me.
As I have said before, I do not like this vehicle. Rides rough, no power and I just got mine out of the shop for the third time because of alignment problems. It has worn out the original tires in 24,000 miles. Our youngest son dirves this vehicle as a daily driver and loves it. I gave it to him after we had driven it about 5000 miles. I trade vehicles with him when we need a tow but I would never buy another Wrangler.
Sorry to rant, AJ, but the Wrangler is/was a huge disappointment.

[sawdust_128]

Knob style diconnect with built in bypass circuit builder. Choose between top and side mount as appropriate. About $20.00 with taps and $10.00 without. I found mine at WlaMart on sale for $3.00.

http://www.wirthco.com/battery-fuse-block-accessories-knob-style-battery-switches-c-7_33-l-en.html

Jegs and Summit sell solenoid based diconnect systems and you can remote mount an activation button. Most of those also have built in bypass circuits and run about $100.00

Wirthco also sells Tap/Gound kits for establishing either 2 or 3 circuits if the disconnect does not have a built in bypass circuit. I think they are about $5.00 a set.

http://www.wirthco.com/battery-fuse-block-accessories-battery-taps-frame-grounds-c-7_75-l-en.html

The wirthco stuff is avaiable at Northern Supply and I have seen the basic disconnects at WalMart and even seen them at Flea Markets with the tool venders. I suspect that Harbor Freight will have them as well.

Napa, Advanced Auto and Pep Boys did not have them. They seem to only have the old "watchman" turn-key type.

P.S. You might consider a three circuit tap and use one for the brake, one to maintain your clock and radio (prevents the constant reset) and the last to power your security system.

P.S.S. On my vehicle, even after the power is dosconnected, I have to have the ignition turned on to release the steering column lock. Another POGger (Paul Horner) provided the advice of having a flat metal ignition key copy made. That way you don't have to worry about leaving the coded key in the ignition. This copy might start the vehicle, but without the chip in the key, the vehicle shuts down after running about 5 seconds.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

AJ, you can shut off the battery, but run a dedicated circuit that is not shut off (fuse it at the closest point to the battery) when the Jeep power is disconnected. That takes car of the problem with power to the Brake Buddy.

As to the disconnecting of the battery, I use a knife type disconnect on one of the vehicles I tow. The only time I leave the key in that one is when we are moving. When we stop for the night, I remove the key and lock the door. As a practical matter however even if I left the key in place the would be bad guys are not going to waste much time screwing with the toad because when it would not start or even light lights they are unlikely to start trying to figure out why. But we still remove the key and lock it.

[James]

We've towed a 4 door Wrangler since 2007 without disconnecting the battery or doing anything other than putting the transfer case in neutral, the transmission in park and install the roadmaster air brake system.

The secret is to remove the steering wheel lock. Without it there is no need to leave the key in the ignition and therefore no need to disconnect the battery, and the best part, no possibility of needing new front tires when you forget to leave the key in to unlock the steering.

[Ray Davis]

I'm curious why the battery needs to be disconnected. I would assume that there's a danger of the battery being depleted while it's towed because you have to leave ignition in the on position.

I tow my Honda Pilot, same thing, but I turn off everything that might be an extra drain on battery (lights, radio, etc). And because I have to routinely run the cars through the gears, it's generally never more the 4-5 hours that I drive without stopping and re-starting the car.

Ray

[Steve Bennett]

Many vehicles power up either the ECU (engine control module) or the BCU (body control module) or both when the ignition is in the various accessory positions to unlock the steering interlock. These computers will have a constant drain, and will eventually cause the battery to loose charge. On some vehicles it is posable, as John stated to utilize the coach system to keep the battery up. On many import vehicles attempting to charge the tow vehicle battery from the coach will cause some faults to occur in the on board diagnostic systems.

[Ray Davis]

How fast does this drain a battery, even if the ECU is on. It certainly is on with my Honda, but since I generally restart the car engine at least every 4-5 hours, it's never been an issue draining the battery.

I'd be hard pressed to believe that many cars will drain a battery so quickly that by the time you stop you've got a dead car ....

[tdelorme]

How fast does this drain a battery, even if the ECU is on. It certainly is on with my Honda, but since I generally restart the car engine at least every 4-5 hours, it's never been an issue draining the battery.

I'd be hard pressed to believe that many cars will drain a battery so quickly that by the time you stop you've got a dead car ....

Ray if I'm going to tow more that two or three hours I use the disconnect. Since there is no need to start the vehicle during the tow, it's smarter to just disconnect rather than to forget the key is in the on position and run the battery down.
I greatly improved the ride and handling of my Wrangler today by putting on a set of Goodyear SR-A tires. These are the tries the Wrangler now comes with unless the offroad tires are special ordered. I am a much happier jeeper as a result of the switch to a highway firendly tire.

[Ray Davis]

Ted, makes sense. With the Honda, I must get out every 300 miles at most and start the engine and run it through the gears. Otherwise the transmission risks being damaged. As mentioned, I generally stop more often than that 4+ hours, so I don't have to worry much about batteries. I've got to be in the car starting it semi-regularly.

I would assume you could tow a 4-wheel jeep for about forever without that concern.

Ray

[ajducote]

On the 2010 Wrangler the Owners Manual states that the battery must be disconnected when towing. I have a 2007 Jeep Commander that DOES NOT require the battery disconnect. In the past, all my older jeeps DID NOT require the battery disconnect. So my guess is that something has changed and Jeep now thinks this is needed. There is no good explanation in the Owners Manual on why. I did find a note that if you are going to store the Jeep for more then 2 1/2 weeks to pull a 60 AMP fuse in the power distribution center" (fuse box under the hood). For now, I will install a battery disconnect and run a dedicated circuit for the brake buddy.

[Denny]

Just pull the 60 amp fuse and there is no need to disconnect the battery. The auto door locks will not work but the doors can be locked with the key. Also, when the fuse in popped back in place, you will have to reset the clock. The fuse is surrounded by an off white holder so it never completely comes out of the distribution box.

At least this is what I do on my 2008 Wrangler Rubicon.

[ajducote]

New information to chew on. I jacked both front tires off the ground and turned the wheel all the way right and left with the key out. There is no steering wheel lock! Even though the owners manual says there is. So if I do not need to turn the key to unlock the non existing steering wheel lock, the whole disconnect the battery thing may not be needed. This would be in line with the way I tow the Jeep Commander. The only thing I need to determine is if miles are accumulated with the battery connected and the key in the off position.

[Orren Zook]

You'll still have to put the transfer case in neutral , won't you?

[ajducote]

Yes, that is given. Just wont' have to leave the key in or disconnect the battery. Or at least that is what I am hoping for.


You'll still have to put the transfer case in neutral , won't you?

[Coloradobus]

oooooooooo

[ajducote]

I just noticed that I never finished this thread. To wrap it all up.
No battery disconnect was required
Put transfer case in neutral, transmission in Park
remove key
tow, no miles accumulated on Odometer.

Owners manual was not updated to reflect that this 2010 4 dr Wrangler had NO steering wheel lock.