Mentioned In This Video
Blue Ox: Made in Pender, Nebraska! We've been using a Blue Ox towbar since we began pulling a vehicle behind our motorhome back in 2013. The Blue Ox system has never let us down! To be safe, tow bars have a life span and they do require some maintenance. We bought our current tow bar in 2021. We had it serviced by Blue Ox at the Florida RV SuperShow in January 2024.
Each time we have purchased a new tow vehicle, we install a Blue Ox baseplate on it. This baseplate is what gives us something to connect the towbar, electrical and braking connections to. Each model year of towable vehicles has a unique Blue Ox baseplate designed specifically to fit that vehicle. So, even though we've towed 3 Jeeps, our 1999 Wrangler had a different baseplate than our 2021 Gladiator, which also had a different baseplate from our 2024 Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited. It's important to be sure that you are getting the proper baseplate for your vehicle.
Another very important thing to consider is ride height. As we mentioned in the video, we used a drop receiver to connect to our stock Jeep Gladiator at the correct height. But our new Wrangler is slightly lifted, has larger tires and rides higher. It's a bit too high to connect directly into the motorhome's receiver, so we added the new Blue Ox Adjustable Rise/Drop Receiver to make sure that we could line up the tow bar perfectly with our Wrangler.
If you're ever in Pender, Nebraska, stop in and take a tour of their facility. Fascinating!
M&G Brake Systems: Made in Athens, Texas! We had our first M&G braking system installed in 2018 on our 1999 Jeep Wrangler. We learned about M&G from another motorhome owner. We had such a great experience with this system that we had an M&G braking system installed on our 2021 Jeep Gladiator as soon as we bought it. And we had such a good experience with the M&G system on that truck, that it was a no brainer to install yet another M&G braking system in the new Wrangler.
Monty, the owner of M&G, installed our first system at his factory in Athens, Texas. He is a great guy and does excellent work. If needed, we could have stayed in his parking lot over night, but the installation was quicker than we expected it to be and we were back out exploring the same day.
Over the years, Monty has built a network of dealers across America, so finding a location to have an M&G system installed is getting easier all the time.
We chose the M&G braking system originally because of its reputation for durability, ease of use and reliability. It has absolutely lived up to and exceeded all of our expectations over the years. It applies the brakes on the Wrangler when we apply pressure to the motorhome brakes. And all we have to do for it to work is what you see in the video. There are no other steps to take and nothing to set in the floorboard of the Jeep before we travel.
Welcome to the Family, Adventure!
As we mentioned in the video, we would have liked to have the Jeep set up with all of the equipment to tow at National Indoor RV Centers. We know they have installed a lot of tow car systems but we weren't near one of their locations when we purchased the new Wrangler. Luckily, we discovered Festerling's Auto Service right down the street from where we were staying in Petoskey, Michigan. Festerling's is a family-owned and operated business celebrating 50 years in business. They were great to work with!
And since we're talking about our new Jeep, we can't forget to mention our new friends at Brown Motors in Petoskey. We had an a great buying experience with them.
What About the Transmission and 4WD Settings?
There is a little bit more to prepping the Jeep to tow than what we showed in the video. So why didn't we show the rest of our process??
We never publicly post the process we go through inside the Jeep to prepare it to tow behind the motorhome... transmission/4-wheel drive/transfer case/ignition and all of that fun stuff. The steps you need to take to prepare your vehicle to tow may not be the same as the steps we need to take to prepare ours. And the last thing we want to do is confuse you or lead you down the wrong path for your vehicle. Our 1999 Wrangler set up completely differently than our Gladiator or 2024 Wrangler. Please refer to your owners manual or have your dealership walk you through the steps to ensure that the mechanical aspects of your vehicle are ready to tow.
And Don't Forget!
We'll be launching our all new Posse soon on a whole new platform! To be amongst the first folks to get all of the details and see what we're doing, be sure you're signed up to receive our Newsletter!
