Towing with 2005 Jeep Liberty diesel

angler_2

Thanks so much for your very thorough answer, and for references back to the Forum

Per your advise, I'll be looking for a 2072 TM series during the summer to purchase by September. I havn't given up on the possibility of the 2'9" in extra length on the 3023 yet, but I'll run the magic ball-to-axle formula that rocky mntn ray or whomever else might have posted to see what the numbers say. Regardless, I'll need some really solid info to not heed your intuition on this.

Since I'm overwhelmed with work but want to be sure to grab the 0 percent financing incentive before the end of the month, I plan to purchase by this weekend, and therefore really have only two follow-up questions to your very thorough responses:

1. What should I tell my dealer about the electrical connectors for the brak controller? Is it a matter of asking them to lengthen the current wire? If so, by how much? Alternatively, since they have the wiring diagram, should I have them attach a harness so that I can later attach a wire of any length?

2. Aside from this issue, is there any reason not to wait to have the brake controller itself installed later on, perhaps at the same time that I get a WDH at an RV dealer? Or, should I take advantage of the dealership's knowledge and get it done now? (Obviously, this has to do with the particular dealership, etc., but I'm just asking if there is some special skill that any dealer can bring to this that an RV dealer cannot).

Thanks for the nice commentary on the utility of the diesel using compression. My biggest fear and trepidation in going to an automatic 4/AWD is being unable to "shift down" in a meaningful sense (it works wonders for stopping on rain and snow with my manual transmission Suburu). One more reason to get the CRD!

Don't worry about your rep. as a speed freak. I grew up in California where there used to be equally wide open spaces so I know the deal, and would tend to trust competent long haulers going 80MPH over the clueless cell phone holding urbanites going any speed. To be sure, we all need to be careful when pulling trailers, but I hope someday folks will read the Dept of Transportation reports that show how it's variation of vehicle speeds within traffic flows rather than speed itself that causes the most collisions out on the open road.

Many thanks again for sharing your experiences,

Todd

PS One last question: the '06 models are coming with lots of stability control gizmos that I can't say I entirely understand. Do you have anything beyond ABS on your '05, and if so, do they have any negative impact on being able to control things with a trailer?

Todd,
Concerning your brake controller and wiring of the jeep for it. ....I would recommend that you try to add it into your negotiation of either the jeep dealer or the rv dealer, which ever will do it free assuming they both have the appropriate knowledge. Not a big deal either way. Jeep does not make a wiring harness that will plug into a brake controller. Since your dealer will know which wires are which you'll just need to verify that they have at least a 14 gage brake wire going back to the 7 pin connector . If they have this then you should be OK. If not (and it's too small as you read someplace else which I don't know for sure if this is the case or not) then tell them that you want to buy the liberty to tow a trailer with electronic brakes so you'll need a 12 gage brake wire run from under your dash and back to your seven pin connector next to your hitch receiver. Then when you buy your TM you probably can negotiate with the rv dealer for them putting in the brake controller for you. One thing you'll find is that your rv dealer will probably want to put one of their off brand hitches and one of their brake controllers in as part of the deal. Depending upon the dealer they could be the cheap ones. For example the dealer from whom I just bought my used one from said they don't put in prodigy controllers because they are too complicated for their customers to understand (not the case). So I'd recommend buying the hitches and brake controller if they won't put in the ones you want and working the negotiation to your advantage on this. AS for the hitch there is a lot of stuff in this forum as to weather you need sway controll or just a WDH hitch. From what you have told me about where you plan on driving, I think you probably don't need to spend the extra $ for sway control. Many have it and love it yet many don't and don't report any problems with it and a short wheel base TV. Some started with sway control and then took it off. You need to do your own research and then make up your mind based upon your sitution. I got it because we have severe winds here in certain places in Wyoming that I was concerned with. I might find I don't need it later. Rockymntnray towed a 2720sl in Colorado with only a WDH hitch and points out that TM doesn't recommend sway control hitches as they can mask inappropriate trailer loading problems. Mmany people use the Reese WDH hitches in this forum and seem to like them (Bill, the moderator, for example).
One note concerning placement of the brake controller..... There is not much room between your leg and the dash and the center console to mount the controller (I'm 6'4" and have plenty of leg room to drive though). You want the brake controller where you can reach it quickly so it'll have to be to the right of your leg. It just so happens that the wiring harness for the diagnostic plug in is there. It's easy to just have them detach it (keeping it wired up of course) and then tuck it up under your dash.

Regarding the brakes..... Jeep does have a special ABS brake control system that I remember reading about somewhere. Not knowledgable about the details except that it supposedly helps minimize the potential for roll over by somehow compensating automatically in some manner. I suppose having a trailer pushing you around a turn could impact how the computer views the situation but this is way over my head. You might want to ask the dealer about this and do a search on the web about the liberty braking system. Possibly ask people in a jeep liberty forum to see if they know.

Good luck with your purchase and one other thing - you should be able to negotiate $100 under invoice with your Jeep dealer. Oh almost forgot...also make sure they have done all the TBs before you buy it (update the computer(s) with all the most recent fixes) When I bought mine they were just coming out with it and I read in many forums that people had problems with gas mileage and other acceleration issues and it was usually because the dealer hadn't applied all the TBs. I asked my dealer before I bought and they did research and found out that even though they checked when the car was delivered to the lot (I bought one in stock), over the month that it had sat on the lot they were surprised that some TBs had come out. I had no problems as a result and am getting the good gas mileage that others reported.

I have a couple questions. We are seriously considering a Diesel liberty.


1. How are you calculating the MPG? I heard that the console computer is not accurate.

2. We have a 3023 with a load stablizer/friction anti sway bar hitch. Do you think the load stablizer will would make a difference? Are you using a load stablizer?

Originally Posted by earthscience8

I have a couple questions. We are seriously considering a Diesel liberty.

1. How are you calculating the MPG? I heard that the console computer is not accurate.

2. We have a 3023 with a load stablizer/friction anti sway bar hitch. Do you think the load stablizer will would make a difference? Are you using a load stablizer?

1. I calculated MPG by recording mileage at going and coming and filling up up at destination and when return. Then I use the trip console computer as a relative gage to what I got from the calculaiton. I can tell how much lower or higher I get by increaseing speed or decreasing speed during different parts of the trip but don't know exactly until I fill up at the end. The console is about 1 MPG high on mine and most of the others liberty owners report about the same difference. So once you know about how it reads on yours you can just subtract the 1 MPH from the console is reading to get an estimate.

2. Yes I have an equil-i-zer hitch. Not sure whether the sway bar will or will not make a difference. Only have used it to pick up my TM. I am newbie. I won't know until I drive more with my hitch. There is many agruments as to whether you need it with a TM if it is loaded properly. TM does not recommend them as it could mask some improper trailer loading or tire pressure issues, etc. Do a search on sway bars on this forum and you'll get quite a difference of opinion. Some start with sway bars and then take them off because they find they don't need them. I got mine mainly because of the high winds we can get here in Wyoming. Sometimes even without a trailer I'm almost blown off the road when a semi passes me in high winds.

Maybe there are other in this forum who have towed with a short wheel base TV with and without sway bars that can share their experiences.

Clarke
My son tows a toy hauler with an Equa-Li-Zer hitch. His has the anti sway built right in. The torsion bars that do the weight distribution slide in a U-shaped track which provides the friction needed to reduce sway. So there are no add-on anti sway parts for that hitch. Perhaps you have another model -- I'm only familiar with that one.

Bob, Yes you are correct, I have the same set up as your son.