How NOT to flat tow your Rubicon

[Ovrlnd Rd]

Having worked in the auto insurance claims industry for too many years I'm sad to say that, depending on the company, this would probably be covered. We had a saying "there's is NO stupidity clause in the policy." I was forced to pay for an entire drive line from some idiot getting stuck and rocking the truck back and forth enough to burn up the motor and transmission.

RV Driver Annihilates Their New Jeep Wrangler by Flat-Towing It in 4-Low (thedrive.com)

 

[Ovrlnd Rd]

And it wasn't just in 4-low but also FIRST gear.

 

[WAStateOverlander]

So I’m guessing it was a 6-speed manual if it was left in first?

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Wow... Just wow....haha

 

[Kolockum]

Impressive.

 

[BritKLR]

It happens. I was in the state park in Galveston, Tx many years ago when a single lady driving a huge class A diesel pusher towing a new Jeep Liberty (that should date this post) pulled into the dump station while I was there. Got to talking and she had left San Diego, Ca and heading to New Orleans to meet her husband and she was a little upset because she thought her husband would be mad because she never took the Jeep out of park and flat towed from California to Galveston......That big old diesel didn't even know it was behind it in park.....ouch.

 

[gatorgrizz27]

Saw it on another site yesterday. Had a good laugh. Someone ran the math and that engine was turning over 22,000 rpm at 25 mph...

 

[billiebob]

Having worked in the auto insurance claims industry for too many years I'm sad to say that, depending on the company, this would probably be covered. We had a saying "there's is NO stupidity clause in the policy." I was forced to pay for an entire drive line from some idiot getting stuck and rocking the truck back and forth enough to burn up the motor and transmission.

RV Driver Annihilates Their New Jeep Wrangler by Flat-Towing It in 4-Low (thedrive.com)

I really want the same policy. Are you guys still in business?

 

[billiebob]

These are the learning experiences I never forget. Yes I can follow instructions but explosive demolition works waay better.

 

[Ovrlnd Rd]

I really want the same policy. Are you guys still in business?

It really comes down to the area manager making the call. I didn't fight that one very hard but I'm guessing if it went all the way up to Corporate Claims they would have denied it. I did fight to get one claim denied that the area manager said cover but pushed it and Corporate said my reason for denial was exactly what the policy said.

I don't want to leave the impression that all claims people do is look for reasons to deny something but when it's as blatant as "mechanical failure" which isn't covered by most policies, then it SHOULD be denied.

 

[GlennA]

It really comes down to the area manager making the call. I didn't fight that one very hard but I'm guessing if it went all the way up to Corporate Claims they would have denied it. I did fight to get one claim denied that the area manager said cover but pushed it and Corporate said my reason for denial was exactly what the policy said.

I don't want to leave the impression that all claims people do is look for reasons to deny something but when it's as blatant as "mechanical failure" which isn't covered by most policies, then it SHOULD be denied.

Mechanical failure......absolutely.
Root cause........operator error.

 

[NatersXJ6]

This is more evidence of why I believe Exploded Isometric Diagrams are bunk. I’ve NEVER seen something explode isometrically... much less look even close to a diagram afterwards.

The truly sad part is that this will probably be “fixed” then traded in and resold on the market. Did any of the articles include the VIN for warning purposes?

 

[86scotty]

My Dad had an old Honda Civic that he used to flat tow pop in to gear while he was rolling down the road once. It was a manual, to be clear, with an old worn out gearbox. By the time he noticed it in his mirror it was just a ball of fire. He had liability only on it since it was just a cheap little car he bought to have a dinghy behind his class A. He just had the carcass towed to a yard and left it with them.

 

[BritKLR]

My Dad had an old Honda Civic that he used to flat tow pop in to gear while he was rolling down the road once. It was a manual, to be clear, with an old worn out gearbox. By the time he noticed it in his mirror it was just a ball of fire. He had liability only on it since it was just a cheap little car he bought to have a dinghy behind his class A. He just had the carcass towed to a yard and left it with them.

Put enough miles on a rig and something is bound to happen. Smoked the Sammy's rear brakes somewhere in Florida 18, 19 years ago with this monster......The V-10 never broke a sweat and I didn't realize it till a gas stop and checked everything and found the handbrake on! Oops....time for new shoes....

 

[GlennA]

With the number of Jeep "Toads" on the road, I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.

We have a Gladiator. It is by far the most difficult to shift the transfer case into neutral of any 4x4 I've ever owned. It does have a light on the dash to indicate neutral however.

Also, for the non Jeepers in the crowd, Jeep instructions for flat towing say transfer case in neutral transmission in 1st for manual transmission. Transfer case in neutral, transmission in park for automatic.

It still sucks to arrive at your destination with less parts than you started with.