Any Good After Market Tow Packages

sbohner · **Posted:** Thu May 25, 2006 1:49 am

Hi,

Just another newbie question... I wanted to get the tow package for my Liberty CRD, but the vehicle I found didn't have it. I asked the dealer how much to add the package, and he said $400+. I thought that this was a bit high given that the list price for the package when purchased with the vehicle was $285. Rather than haggle, I decided to get the Liberty without the tow package and purchase something afterwards.

I've looked at Hitches4Less, Uhaul, and the like online, but do not have a lot of experience here. Do any of you have recommendations or experiences that you could convey here that might help me in my decision? Thanks for any help you can offer!

Warm regards,
Shawn

Taz · **Posted:** Thu May 25, 2006 6:55 am

E-Trailer has pretty good prices on Hitches. Hidden Hitch and Draw-Tite are pretty good hitches.

http://www.etrailer.com/products.asp?mo ... ep&t1=&h=e

As for the wiring, I would go with the Factory harness it just plugs in inside the back under the side panel, makes for a nice install.

jinstall · **Posted:** Thu May 25, 2006 9:22 am

What /\/\ said. I just did the same thing but with a european trailer hitch and wiring harness.

BTW I noticed today that the E-spec KJ does not have a antenna, it is located in the right rear glass panel.

IndyCRD · **Posted:** Thu May 25, 2006 9:31 am

I agree with Taz, etrailer.com is a really good outfit. I have ordered hitches from them twice and they have good prices and both times have received the hitches within two days of ordering.

On my Liberty, though, I just went to Uhaul and got the one that they have. I liked the look of the round-tube receiver a little better than the square kind and it looked like it was made pretty well. I am pleased with it and it was just a little over $100.

As for lighting, I debated over getting the factory harness. To save some money, I got a regular 4-wire converter and hardwired it in myself. I did this because I don't have any use for a 7 wire plug, just a 4-flat for my little camper...and you can get a cheap 4-wire converter for about $15 or less. There is a big space/gap behind each taillight where you can put the converter on the outside of the car and do the wiring from the tailight harness. I put mine under the right taillight and ran just one wire into the car to splice in for the left turn signal....then the 4wire plug to the trailer just goes down behind the bumper to the hitch area. Easy. The plug-n-play light kits are way easier, but you pay for convenience.....I'm cheap.

Good luck and happy towing! This little thing pulls like a monster.

sbohner · **Posted:** Thu May 25, 2006 11:01 am

Hi Taz, jinstall, and IndyCRD,

I appreciate all of your good advice and will look into the etrailers.com option and the factory wiring.

I noticed that there are transmission coolers listed on the websites too. Are these a good idea?

Gratefully,
Shawn

PS: I like the idea of the antenna being in the window (I have that in my other car). It seems strange that they wouldn't include that in the US spec vehicles

.

dritchie · **Posted:** Thu May 25, 2006 4:16 pm

Here is a good link all about the Liberty and towing:
http://www.jeepkj.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1691

Take my advice and get the Drawtite hitch, it sticks out about 3-4" past the bumber...other wise your ball will be right under the spare tire DOH!!!!!! I didn't get the Drawtite at first, I have one now. I wasn't going to take my tire off everytime I wanted to tow, and I didn't want a hitch extender. It was $150 from Etrailer, with $.99 shipping. It came with the bolts, no cutting or drilling, just bolt it in, and torque to 68 ft lbs.

Dave

kabayne · **Posted:** Thu May 25, 2006 10:46 pm

I wouldn't worry about a trans cooler, the diesel already comes with all the coolers. All you need is hitch and wiring.

retmil46 · **Posted:** Fri May 26, 2006 12:42 am

dritchie wrote:

Here is a good link all about the Liberty and towing:
http://www.jeepkj.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1691

Take my advice and get the Drawtite hitch, it sticks out about 3-4" past the bumber...other wise your ball will be right under the spare tire DOH!!!!!! I didn't get the Drawtite at first, I have one now. I wasn't going to take my tire off everytime I wanted to tow, and I didn't want a hitch extender. It was $150 from Etrailer, with $.99 shipping. It came with the bolts, no cutting or drilling, just bolt it in, and torque to 68 ft lbs.

Dave

Looked at etrailer, and for the Drawtite it says that if you have tow hooks you might not be able to reinstall them with the hitch. Any problems in this area? Would hate to loose my tow hooks.

Ugg · **Posted:** Fri May 26, 2006 9:02 am

It is either a tow hook or a hitch. Don't worry. The rear hitch will work as a "tow hook" if need be.

sbohner · **Posted:** Mon May 29, 2006 11:19 pm

Hi,

Thanks again for the advice. I went ahead and ordered the Drawtite from eTraler.com with the extra extension. While this will be a knee bruiser when accessing the back with the door open, it will also have the best overall tongue capacity

.

I'm now looking for a good hitch cargo carrier, but even with the extra 3-4 inches with the drawtite, I will still have part of the carrier under the tire

. I've looked at the EverThere foldable, but I'm still not convinced. While the aluminium is good for weight, it is not clear how long the hitch extender is or if it will be under the wheel. I might just settle for the Hitch Hauler aluminium.

Anyway, just an update. Thanks again for the good advice.

Cheers,
Shawn

TxAshurst · **Posted:** Tue May 30, 2006 2:45 pm

eTrailer has a plug-in wiring kit that plugs into the same connectors as the OEM ones, but costs less than half what Chrysler wants for theirs. Mine should get here today or tommorrow.

The reason I bought it was that I hard wired a cheapo 4-pin and found that while it all works, the trailer's brake lights flash when the right turn signal does. I would just let it go except that I just acquired a "compact travel trailer", a 1972 Aristocrat Lo_Liner that should be perfect for towing behind my CRD. It has elect. brakes, so I need more than 4 wires. I'm getting one of those fancy new sockets that has both 4 and 7-pin connectors (also from eTrailer) and it connects via the 4-pin for the normal stuff, with extra wires for brakes and aux. power.

The Lo-Liner is lighter, shorter and narrower than standard travel trailers. It sleeps 6 (if everybody is friendly) and has compact stove and fridge, but has no shower. Mine has a closet for a porta-pot, which is fine for what I want. Some of them have toilets but without a holding tank, so you have to be hooked up to a drain to use it.

sbohner · **Posted:** Wed May 31, 2006 7:52 am

Hey TxAshurst,

You might want to take a look at the recent thread on Brake Controller connection off of the "Liberty CRD...Love that Torque" forum. The upshot is that you should be able to connect your controller under the dash and to the battery (two wires each) if you have the factory tow package. Otherwise, it might be more involved. Cowcatcher suggested the following sights:

Here is one "How To":
http://www.jeepkj.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1691

And another:
http://www.jeepkj.com/forums/viewtopic. ... t=tekonsha

Anyway, I hope that this helps.

Cheers,
Shawn

RTStabler51 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:58 pm

Does anyone know if we have a plug for the brake controller? ON RJay's speed shop they have a plug for it listed as "Jeep with tow option.' Its only ten bucks so I think I'm going to grab it just in case.

sbohner · **Posted:** Fri Jul 14, 2006 1:10 pm

After deciding to get the Drawtite hitch receiver ($140) and the OEM 7 pin wiring ($116), I put in the hitch receiver fine and had the Jeep dealer here in Blacksburg put in the wiring. As it turned out, after the dealer installed the wiring, everything worked accept the parking lights on the trailer. So I took it back... after some research, the dealer found that the documentation on the books was wrong. The wiring requires more than the norm wiring harness -- also required is another cable that goes up by the battery and all the way back. While the dealer did keep my Liberty for a few days to figure it out, to their credit, they didn't charge me for the extra labor or cable.

At the end of all this, I believe that this is the best configuration for my needs. I wanted something with a 500+lb. tongue weight, ability to pull 5600+ lb. trailer, and the ability to hook in a brake controller if I ever need it.

Anyway, I hope that this was helpful.

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Fri Jul 14, 2006 4:15 pm

RTStabler51 wrote:

Does anyone know if we have a plug for the brake controller? ON RJay's speed shop they have a plug for it listed as "Jeep with tow option.' Its only ten bucks so I think I'm going to grab it just in case.

The brake controller requires a power and ground back to the battery, a 30 amp braker or fuse, a patch into the brake wire on the brake pedal switch and a wire to the pin on the trailer connector. On the factory equipped hitch that wire is already there, may be on the non equipped to, and is in a long flat white plastic cover behind the drivers side kick panel up near the firewall. It is labeled "Trailer Brake".

RTStabler51 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 14, 2006 5:51 pm

Yeah, I had seen all that Cowcatcher in searching, just curious....

I was hoping this (scroll down for Dodge/Jeep) would make installation 100X easier!

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Sat Jul 15, 2006 12:33 pm

When I was looking I couldn't find anyone who had found a harness that would work for the Liberty. The one here will work only on other Jeeps I believe.

It really wasn't that hard RT. I struggled a little more in the beginning because I was afraid to muscle the knee bolster down on the dash. It comes down pretty easy and then you can get to stuff.

I need to say though that I am not happy with where I mounted my Prodigy and I wish I could find a better spot. I mounted mine on the right side of the bolster but it bumps my knee some. I think I would like to cut a hole in the bolster and mount it behind with just the front sticking out, or in the trim piece just above that but there seems not to be enough room. I had thought I would bump it less on the right than the left but it looks now like there is actually more space between my knee and the bolster on the left than on the right. Others have mounted to the console or the space beneath the radio next to the power socket but past experience makes me feel that those are too tough to reach in an emergency if you need to quickly apply a little braking to just the trailer, at least for me.

Any Good After Market Tow Packages

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