cracks in jeep body from towing

[Navaho]

signwilson, you have to wonder if, any of the mounting bolts for the tow bar were loose or their was movement in the square tongue? (acting like a slide hammer).

[Cpage66]

Originally Posted by signwilson

That is a load of rubbish as my vehicle was set up by the jeep dealers in Mackay and I used a weight distribution hitch as recommended in the Jeep web site quote previously it is obvious that you are paid by Jeep to spruke this rubbish

Oh yeah! Didn't you know that DC Australia has a whole group of us going around "to spruke this rubbish"? I make a million a year!

It's obvious that you've got non conforming parts (Hayman Reece) on your set up and you never, ever tightened a bolt after it was put on. Your negligence is your down fall. Since I obviously work for Jeep, I think I'll recommend "we" don't pay a red cent for your negligence...

[Roachy]

Originally Posted by Navaho

signwilson, you have to wonder if, any of the mounting bolts for the tow bar were loose or their was movement in the square tongue? (acting like a slide hammer).

I reckon that that is pretty much what happened - some of the bolts were loose. I have regularly towed 2 to 2.5 ton and had no problems what so ever but I do check the mounting bolts etc regularly. Had a chat to a mechanic mate and he has seen the same thing happen to a couple of 4WDs (landcruisers and patrols) and reckons they are because of loose mounting bolts and dodgy installs.

[signwilson]

the bolts have never been loose and are still not loose as checked by the racq and the jeep dealerships every time they where supposed to have serviced it. Like the time the Geelong dealership lost my Navman computer and won't replace it and the same lot put the wrong oil in the 2.7crd which by the way is a great engine wonderful to tow with and caused it to use 5 litres of oil from Geelong to Toowoomba my dealer changed the oil to the correct stuff no more oil usage. As I said before the towbar etc was all fitted and installed by Jeep Mackay says a lot for them. When I first picked it up every time I hit reverse it blew fuses. Turns out they wired the trailer fittings wrong. You wonder why I am concerned.

[signwilson]

the bolts have never been loose and are still not loose as checked by the racq and the jeep dealerships every time they where supposed to have serviced it. Like the time the Geelong dealership lost my Navman computer and won't replace it and the same lot put the wrong oil in the 2.7crd which by the way is a great engine wonderful to tow with and caused it to use 5 litres of oil from Geelong to Toowoomba my dealer changed the oil to the correct stuff no more oil usage. As I said before the towbar etc was all fitted and installed by Jeep Mackay says a lot for them. When I first picked it up every time I hit reverse it blew fuses. Turns out they wired the trailer fittings wrong. You wonder why I am concerned. I am glad you admit that you work for Jeep.

[roscoea26]

It has been interesting to read signwilson's problem and the various comments. I had a wg and towed my jayco penguin off road camper for around 40,000k with it. I set it up with airbags, rancho shocks and stabilister bars. Put it over a heck of a lot of corrugated roads and some goddam rough bitumen too.

Never had a problem but I could have if I didn't play around with my set up in the initial stages.

In my view there are a number of critical issues when towing particularly over rough roads. But the most important issue is TOW BALL WEIGHT. The use of a weight distribution hitch will certainly level your van but if the vehicle has been lifted or in my case when I cranked the airbags up I achieved levelness BUT the suspension was hard which created a hard base for the trailer to be connected to. Like bungee jumping with a rope!!!

As part of setting up ready for my trips, I checked the weight at my towball and and even with the hitch it was way above what was recommended obviously creating a hell of a lot of stress on the towbar and the suspension. Hayman Reece sell a weighing device so you can check your towball weight and it's worth every penny. So I re-packed the camper and achieved a better weight distribution, deflated the airbags so there was better suspension movement to take the shocks of corrugation/rough roads and set the stabilisers so that the ball weight was perfect.

And finally as recommended by Cooper tyres aired down on corrugation. The vehicle benefited, the van benefited and I dare say the stresses on the towbar were way down on what they would have been when I initially set it up.

I also slowed down on corrugated/rough roads. I saw a guy on the Gibb River road blow 3 tyres simply because there was not sufficient flexing to take the pounding he was driving like there was no tomorrow. He had not aired down and had cranked his suspension up so there was very little give, the tyres couldn't take it.

What I'm saying is that I find it hard to believe that the weight distribution hitch significantly contributed to the stresses that made the towbar give way. I believe that there must have been considerable stress at the towball from other influences or simply that the towbar connecting nuts had loosened.

The weight distribution hitch, would have in my view, lessened any stress at the towball and towbar not created greater stress.

Obviously I don't work for jeep.

[ShadoZJ]

Originally Posted by roscoea26

It has been interesting to read signwilson's problem and the various comments. I had a wg and towed my jayco penguin off road camper for around 40,000k with it. I set it up with airbags, rancho shocks and stabilister bars. Put it over a heck of a lot of corrugated roads and some goddam rough bitumen too.

Never had a problem but I could have if I didn't play around with my set up in the initial stages.

In my view there are a number of critical issues when towing particularly over rough roads. But the most important issue is TOW BALL WEIGHT. The use of a weight distribution hitch will certainly level your van but if the vehicle has been lifted or in my case when I cranked the airbags up I achieved levelness BUT the suspension was hard which created a hard base for the trailer to be connected to. Like bungee jumping with a rope!!!

As part of setting up ready for my trips, I checked the weight at my towball and and even with the hitch it was way above what was recommended obviously creating a hell of a lot of stress on the towbar and the suspension. Hayman Reece sell a weighing device so you can check your towball weight and it's worth every penny. So I re-packed the camper and achieved a better weight distribution, deflated the airbags so there was better suspension movement to take the shocks of corrugation/rough roads and set the stabilisers so that the ball weight was perfect.

And finally as recommended by Cooper tyres aired down on corrugation. The vehicle benefited, the van benefited and I dare say the stresses on the towbar were way down on what they would have been when I initially set it up.

I also slowed down on corrugated/rough roads. I saw a guy on the Gibb River road blow 3 tyres simply because there was not sufficient flexing to take the pounding he was driving like there was no tomorrow. He had not aired down and had cranked his suspension up so there was very little give, the tyres couldn't take it.

What I'm saying is that I find it hard to believe that the weight distribution hitch significantly contributed to the stresses that made the towbar give way. I believe that there must have been considerable stress at the towball from other influences or simply that the towbar connecting nuts had loosened.

The weight distribution hitch, would have in my view, lessened any stress at the towball and towbar not created greater stress.

Obviously I don't work for jeep.

Yes, If used properly. I have seen people have the weight loaded too far forward and then use the load levelers to lift the rear of the car and the front of the van up. Thus increasing the ball weight.

I dont work for Jeep but my Jeep works for me