First Tow - Observations

MCTuomey · **Joined:** Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:15 am **Posts:** 13

Towed my 3500# fishing rig over to Lake St Clair this morning - first time with the Liberty. Several things noted:

1. Details: Had to flip the spare tire mount upside down to provide clearance for the hitch lock, otherwise the tire would have to ride some place else. Flipping the mount cants the tire out from the top a bit, but the rear window still opens without kissing the tire, so it's good to go.

2. Impressions: this was only a 50 mile trip, but I'm impressed with the tow capability of the little fella. Coming from an F-150, I thought I'd feel differently. Very comfortable from 60-70 mph in full OD. One long medium grade where traffic slowed under 60 mph required x'ing the OD, and then no problems at all.

I'm a lot less remorseful about letting my F-150 go last year after today's outing. I'll be towing the rig to Northern Michigan in about 5 weeks. It'll be great to do better than the 12 mpg from the F-150 ...

hokiecb · **Joined:** Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:23 pm **Posts:** 46

I purchased a longer hitch to get out past the tire.... that was a real pain and poorly thought out design. did not think about flipping the mount over... how about posting a picture of how that looks?

I regularly tow my bass boat on a 300 mile round trip.. usually get 21mpg btw... The CRD is ridiculously better than my old f-150 with a 4.6 V-8 when it comes to pulling the boat in the mountains. The torque is in the right spot to keep it from shifting going up the hills.. I was amazed the first time I towed with it.

MCTuomey · **Joined:** Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:15 am **Posts:** 13

hok, here you go:

i just removed the four 5/8 in nuts, flipped the bracket upside down, and replaced the nuts.

it looks like i can't get the image link to work. if you paste the link into your browser, you'll get to the smugmug gallery where the images are uploaded, hok. thanks for posting.

Jeger · **Posted:** Sat Jun 23, 2007 9:25 pm

MCTuomey wrote:

hok, here you go:

i just removed the four 5/8 in nuts, flipped the bracket upside down, and replaced the nuts.

it looks like i can't get the image link to work. if you paste the link into your browser, you'll get to the smugmug gallery where the images are uploaded, hok. thanks for posting.

MCTuomey · **Joined:** Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:15 am **Posts:** 13

jeger-mon,

how u do dat?

hokiecb · **Joined:** Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:23 pm **Posts:** 46

nice.. good idea.. very simple.

Threeweight · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:57 pm **Posts:** 679

How long is your boat?

I'm looking at an old 20' Wellcraft with the step-V hull. Figure about 3500-4k for boat and trailer. The Libby can handle the weight, a little concerned about the wheelbase.

KenJennings · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 6:35 am

MCTuomey wrote:

1. Details: Had to flip the spare tire mount upside down to provide clearance for the hitch lock, otherwise the tire would have to ride some place else. Flipping the mount cants the tire out from the top a bit, but the rear window still opens without kissing the tire, so it's good to go. ...

Clever idea. I wonder why the buttheads at Chrysler didn't think of that when it was obvious the tire intrudes on the tow bar space. Oh, that's right -- it's a clever idea.

chrispitude · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:18 am

Maybe they designed it to do that. It seems interesting that the wheel studs aren't vertically centered but the vehicle mounting points are symmetrical.

- Chris

widowmaker · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:19 am

Seems to me that you could just flip your ball mount over so that the tang is on the bottom and pick up a couple of inches that way. At least thats what I did and it tows fine

stevesmith7 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:30 am

Threeweight wrote:

How long is your boat?

I'm looking at an old 20' Wellcraft with the step-V hull. Figure about 3500-4k for boat and trailer. The Libby can handle the weight, a little concerned about the wheelbase.

Check out this thread:

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/vie ... da36ee1366

Steve

Jeger · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:29 am

MCTuomey wrote:

jeger-mon,

how u do dat?

I right clicked on the image, clicked on properties, and used the url of the image instead of the url of the page...which is what you used. The server you used was sorta hiding the real image url from you.

hokiecb · **Joined:** Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:23 pm **Posts:** 46

widowmaker wrote:

Seems to me that you could just flip your ball mount over so that the tang is on the bottom and pick up a couple of inches that way. At least thats what I did and it tows fine

I had to remove my tire with a 2" drop... all trailers aren't made the same.

chadhargis · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:36 pm

I'm using a 2" drop Reese draw bar and it works fine. Bought it for $20 at Wal-Mart.

My trailer is a 10'x5' utility trailer single axle. It works perfectly.

I don't think Jeep could win with the spare tire. If they would have put it under the vehicle, people would be upset that it compromised ground clearance and fuel capicity. It if were inside the cargo area, people would complain that it took up too much cargo space. So...they went with the traditional Jeep location...hung on the tailgate. So, folks are mad that some trailers and hitches don't work.

I guess they could have located the spare on the roof...but then people would probably complain about it effecting fuel mileage and someone would fabricate a kit to mount it on the back like a "real Jeep". :roll:

Of course...they could have just used a doughnut spare. Oh wait...those don't work well when you're off road...so that wouldn't work.

Personally, I'm happy with my full sized spare, on a NICE rim that matches the rest of the wheels. Some companies give you a stamped steel wheel and put a cover over it. In my opinion (and you know what they say about opinions), DCX did a good job with the spare.

MCTuomey · **Joined:** Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:15 am **Posts:** 13

widowmaker wrote:

Seems to me that you could just flip your ball mount over so that the tang is on the bottom and pick up a couple of inches that way. At least thats what I did and it tows fine

wid, that wouldn't work for me. the trailer needs to be level to avoid tongue-weight balance problems, at least with a fairly heavy rig like my trailer boat. if you're trailer is level with the ball in a lower position, yeah, you're good to go.

MCTuomey · **Joined:** Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:15 am **Posts:** 13

Threeweight wrote:

How long is your boat?

I'm looking at an old 20' Wellcraft with the step-V hull. Figure about 3500-4k for boat and trailer. The Libby can handle the weight, a little concerned about the wheelbase.

three, my boat's an 18 footer. no probs with the wheelbase, at least that i noticed on my short virgin tour. backing is a bit more sensitive, compared to my F-150 with its longer wheelbase. there will be a greater tendency for the "tail to wag the dog" when the ratio of the trailer length to the vehicle wheelbase is larger (you probly know this already), but i didn't notice anything troubling the other day. three's raising a good point, i think. anyone else towing long-ish trailers that could comment?

danoid · **Posted:** Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:35 am

Hooked it up. Drove. No problems with spare tire. Hensley Arrow hitch adds another 18" of tongue. I can even open the tailgate.

I did have to add AirLift rear springs because the combination of tongue weight and engine torque made the rear end all wiggly in 1st and 2nd gear. Picture shown here is before AirLifts.

Last big tug was Detroit to Gatlinburg. 14.7 mpg.

MCTuomey · **Joined:** Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:15 am **Posts:** 13

danoid, now THAT rig is impressive. who did the airlift installation for you and, if you don't mind, what'd it set you back?

danoid · **Posted:** Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:37 pm

MCTuomey wrote:

danoid, now THAT rig is impressive. who did the airlift installation for you and, if you don't mind, what'd it set you back?

The guy at the Goodyear store where I bought the MT/R's did it after hours. $400 installed. Don't know if I got taken or not, don't really care.

MCTuomey · **Joined:** Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:15 am **Posts:** 13

danoid wrote:

MCTuomey wrote:

danoid, now THAT rig is impressive. who did the airlift installation for you and, if you don't mind, what'd it set you back?

The guy at the Goodyear store where I bought the MT/R's did it after hours. $400 installed. Don't know if I got taken or not, don't really care.

i don't think that's a bad price from what i've heard. thanks, mike

First Tow - Observations

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