Give Me Liberty!
I recently purchased a 2008 Jeep Liberty that I intend to tow flat behind my motorhome. Based on published data, I thought this would be a simple thing to do. I had a 1998 Jeep Cherokee that was very easy to tow. The new Liberty owners manual says that the battery must be disconnected during towing. There are two problems with that. First, all the settings to the clock and radio are lost, and, second, the Brake Buddy supplemental braking system will not work without power.
I purchased a battery disconnect with a 20-amp loop hoping that it would allow the Brake Buddy to operate and not run down my battery. But the 12-volt-DC auxiliary port that powers the Brake Buddy does not have power until the ignition is in the “start” position. The manual states that the key must be in the “unlock off” position. The dealer that I purchased the Jeep from told me to run a hot wire directly from the coach to the Brake Buddy. But if the coach and the towed vehicle were to become disconnected during travel the wire would break and there would be no power to apply the brakes. All this to say the 2008 Jeep Liberty is not towable using a Brake Buddy. Is there any other way to set this up to work?
Harold Ogg, F352410
Dwight, Illinois
We just purchased a 2008 Jeep Liberty, and the owners manual says that we need to disconnect the battery when towing four wheels down. However, if we do that, our Brake Buddy will not work. We have spoken with the dealer as well as the factory, and have researched and read as much as we can find on the Internet, but still no one can provide an answer as to the exact reason we should disconnect the battery. If it is absolutely necessary to disconnect the battery, is there an easy solution for getting power to run the Brake Buddy? We didn’t have to disconnect the battery in our 2004 Liberty and never had any problems throughout the 30,000-plus miles of towing it.
Jody Burtis, F298306
Morrison, Colorado
The reason your Jeep owners manual says to disconnect the battery is to keep it from going dead while you’re towing. Several years ago the ignition switch on Jeep and other Chrysler vehicles was changed. Part of that change eliminated the ignition switch position that unlocked the steering wheel without activating the dash lights and gauges. Since this position is now gone, the only way to unlock the steering wheel is to also activate the dash lights, gauges, radio, etc. And the only solution Chrysler could come up with to avoid having the battery drained by all these electrical devices during towing was to instruct owners to disconnect the battery.
For many motorhomers, particularly those who utilize a supplemental braking system that required power, the best solution was to keep the battery connected but start the vehicle at every fuel stop or break and allow it to run long enough for the battery to recharge. But recently Roadmaster Inc. came out with the Automatic Battery Disconnect, which connects to the towed vehicle’s battery. Once installed and hooked up to the motorhome connection, the Automatic Battery Disconnect charges the towed vehicle’s battery while providing power to any auxiliary systems that are designed to be powered by the battery. For more information, call (800) 669-9690 or visit www.roadmasterinc.com.
Long-Term Dry Camping
We have a question about using our motorhome without electric for a length of seven months. Is this a good idea, and do people do this? And how often would we have to run our generator in a day? Any other information would help us.
Dawn Frantz, F332784
Bensalem, Pennsylvania
This is very possible, although it will be necessary to run the generator a lot, and that means having a fuel source. How often you run the generator will depend on how often you run the air conditioner, watch TV, use the microwave oven, etc. It also will depend on how much battery power is available. To preserve battery life, the batteries should be recharged before they are below a 50 percent state of charge (about 12.2 volts). Please refer to the “RV Batteries” article that appeared in the January 2005 issue (page 76) for more information.