Toy Hauler Anyone towing a Basestation with a Jeep Grand Cheerokee?

[Walks]

I wrote of my new work n play and car when we rolled on the Hume a couple of weeks back. We're all safe and insurance is being finalized.

Time for a new Van and I'm considering a base station this time.

So who's towing with a 13-14 model Jeep Grabd Cheerokee and how does it tow? Stability, fuel consumption etc.

 

[17triton]

I wrote of my new work n play and car when we rolled on the Hume a couple of weeks back. We're all safe and insurance is being finalized.

Time for a new Van and I'm considering a base station this time.

So who's towing with a 13-14 model Jeep Grabd Cheerokee and how does it tow? Stability, fuel consumption etc.

don't be rude mate I'm sorry to here about the new van. Glad to hear you are ok. How did it happen?

 

[Walks]

Driving down the Hume at 94kmh down a slight hill.

Truck came right up behind us going a lot faster and then pulled out at the last minute to overtake and buffeted us with a lot of force the van got into a big sway. Manual overide on the brake controller didn't work and it all good ugly really fast and before we knew it we were airborne as we jackknifed and the rolled both the car and van. Only some minor grazes and bruises on both of us so we're happy to have cheated death.

 

[17triton]

Can happen so quickly. So you're not scared of towing again? That would make me gun shy I recon.

 

[Walks]

Can happen so quickly. So you're not scared of towing again? That would make me gun shy I recon.

Na. If you fall off the horse you have to get back on it.

I'll Learn from the series of errors/mistakes that I made and their were exceptional circumstances that occurred all at the one time which combined and ended in the net result. I will take steps to eradicate this even being possible again.

 

[cruza driver]

@Walks glad to hear you safe mate it must have been terrifying.

Did the truck stop?

 

[Walks]

Of course he didn't stop. He was clearly in too much of a hurry.

It all happened so quickly, i wasn't terrified at all, all I could think about the whole time was getting out of that car and grabbing my fiance out. I was expecting the end result to us to be a lot worse while it was happening, it's funny time slows right down and what happened in seconds i porbably had more going through my brain than i would in an hour.

 

[17triton]

Just thinking about your crash @Walks did you have the bike in the back? Just curious as to what made it sway so bad maybe light ball weight? Were you running any swaybar /wdh as I had a issue with aprevious van with light ball weight that was scary when overtaken hence we got rid of it. You said a series of error/mistakes would you like to share with us for everyones benefit? And what steps you are going to do?

 

[Walks]

Just thinking about your crash @Walks did you have the bike in the back? Just curious as to what made it sway so bad maybe light ball weight? Were you running any swaybar /wdh as I had a issue with aprevious van with light ball weight that was scary when overtaken hence we got rid of it. You said a series of error/mistakes would you like to share with us for everyones benefit? And what steps you are going to do?

Here is a snippet from a thread from another forum where i have gone into a fair bit of detail.

We were coming down a small hill with a slight left hand bend and a truck went past at a fair pace. Nothing too out of the ordinary but the van started to sway a little bit she grabbed my attention and she went for the manual overide electric brakes on the van. It did nothing. It was no whipping violently and I screamed at her to accelerate
Then came the feeling of weightlessness an almost calm and soothing moment but I knew what was next. We rolled to the left side twice and skidded along the road for a long way. When we came to a hault I could hear her screaming and I jumped straight out of the car went around and she was already out of the car and running around to me.

We are both fine, grazes and a but sore but nothing else. We are counting our lucky stars. I have no idea exactly what went wrong and I'm racking my brains trying to figure out what went wrong but I am ultimately blaming it on myself. It turned the electric brakes down ever so slightly as they were grabbing whilst we were moving slowly in traffic. I didn't turn them back up... I also have anti sway bars in the garage that I was going to get fitted at our first service, wish I had them on there now.

But it still leaves me with the question if where did it all go so wrong? We had weight distribution bars fitted, the speed of 94kmh we believe was appropriate for the conditions.

I've been doing a lot of thinking and we have talked through what happened thoroughly and we have put it down to several different issues and circumstances influencing the end result.

We have talked about the level of our water tanks. They were both approximately half full. Upon further thought when cornering to the left like we were the water and weight of the water would shift to the right side of the van. So there is potentially 50-80kg of weight transfer right there. Add to this the tort which was almost full, almost 20kg there. The hot water service also holding 20kg worth of water and all of a sudden the weight difference starts to become very significant. Then add to this my 120kg motorbike was tied down towards the right hand side.

There was also slight undulations in the road causing the van to bounce albeit lightly that started split seconds before the truck started passing.

So we have arrived at what we could control and what we couldn't.

Controllable's
-Weight distribution
-Brake controller

Uncontrollable's
- Truck passing and the passing speed and technique.
- Road conditions, unexpected change in the smoothness of the road surface (some you can see, some you can't)

And now the future prevention measures.
Brake controller
ESC
Weight distribution professional set up and advice for our specific toy hauler requirements.
Friction sway bars

 

[Holden_man]

Thanks for the info @Walks certainly makes you stop and think, appreciate you sharing...:thumb:

 

[Walks]

I've been lucky enough to have the owner of a jayco dealer that gets around in a similar circle and dirt biking forum. He had read/heard my story and has offered me an extrmeley good deal which I am very pleased with and thankful for as the insured amount didn't cover the cost of a new van. Also if I was to order a new Van I would have to wait until mid June. I can get this Van before Easter.

He said he doesn't expect anything in return but I want to give him a plug if that's ok with the mods?

 

[Grano n play]

So what van are you going for... .

 

[17triton]

Looks like you have a good plan there mate. Good to hear the dealer helping out too! Might need @cruza driver to change the thread as I`ve dragged it away from your original question too if you want:sorry:.

 

[Walks]

So what van are you going for... .

Decided on the base station. They are actually supposed to tow better due to a longer wheel base. They are 320kg heavier so I was concerned that whilst it is well under the 3.5 towing capacity of the Jeep that maybe it would be a bit much for the Jeep to handle.

After talking to the Jayco dealer who is getting the new bigger 23 foot basestation for himself in a couple of weeks he assured me that it will do it well and that he is actually about to get a Jeep for himself for his 23 foot. He also said there are others with Jeeps and Basestations that work there and they are doing the job well.

He's not saying this just to sell me a base station I can still go for the work n play through him and I will still be getting almost as good a deal as on the basestation, he is easy either way. I do get the basestation before Easter where as I would have to wait until mid June for the WnP.

It is subject to a tow. When I get me car next week he is happy for me to come down and take the base station in his yard for a drive around town and on the freeway to make sure it is going to do the job that I need it too. If Im not happy, he's happy to order the work n play for me.

 

[Grano n play]

Good to see your being well looked after, restores your faith in the human race, after what you went thru. Regarding your lead footed truckie. Regarding getting straight back into towing, instead of it putting you of , it makes you wiser, I remember the first time I came of my quad , my first thought was get rid of it, to dangerous, lucky i never did , just a lot more cautious, know how far to push it .

 

[davemc]

Glad your well and walked away, fantastic someone is helping you out to get another Jayco. Upsizing as well
Can I ask who you where insured with I thought a few of them replaced new if under a few years old.

 

[Walks]

Glad your well and walked away, fantastic someone is helping you out to get another Jayco. Upsizing as well
Can I ask who you where insured with I thought a few of them replaced new if under a few years old.

RACV - I went for agreed value. There is additions to the caravan which I put on at my cost after getting insurance to cover the cost of a new one and they won't let me have it back. It had a tool box on the front and a reversing camera to name a couple of the things.

They won't give me the weight distribution hitch off the car, they said it is an accessory and it is attached to the vehicle. I argued that I take it off and on only while the caravan is connected other than that the standard insert is in there.

I then asked them if they want my iPhone as an accessory as that was plugged in and charging at the time and if they also take my etag... I got silence...

 

[Mtb rider]

Hi Walks,
I tow my Base station with a 2011 Grand Cherokee (5.7 L hemi) overland. Prior to this I had a 2002 Grand Cherokee (4.7 L hemi) which was well and truly powerful enough to tow the van (although only rated to 3 t) but I felt the car itself was to light and the van was pushing the car around.
The big factor with the new Grand was it was a lot heavier and with the bigger engine (or the diesel ) I don't even notice the Base Station behind me. That includes some horrific cross winds when travelling up the center of oz last year. I also live in the blue mountains so it has also traveled on some pretty steep and curvy roads.
The overland also has the towing stability control not sure about other models. In my opinion the Jeep and Base station are a match made in heaven.

Cheers

 

[davemc]

Hi Walks, that sucks big time. Touch wood have not had to deal with insurance companies for a while.
They never want to pay out. Happy to take your money.. not happy to payout

 

[BigSkiddy]

I tow my Discovery which is about 2100kgs loaded without a WDH and I find it pretty stable. All new GC's have trailer sway control. I averaged 14.2 when towing through the Snowy Mountains recently. Water temp gets high on climbs which numerous owners have reported but I don't think anyone has killed their cars yet. Go the CRD. Also I have the quadralift air suspension which keeps it level. Overall I'm really happy with mine.