Just picked up a 2019 10th Anniversary Edition 179 at Keystone MegaRV Center, Greencastle, PA.  Towing with a 2017 Jeep Cherokee Overland and dealer installed a Prodigy RF Brake Controller.   First time buying at Keystone and I highly recommend and ask for Rebecca.  Junior at Keystone does a ton of user video's on YouTube which are both educational and funny.  

   This is our 5th RV and we've camped in a pop-up, travel trailer, 4th Wheel and 43' Diesel Pusher.  Getting older and decided to downsize.  

  Looking forward to camping our new Pod!  

Dave

It looks though like the Cherokee Overland only has a 2000 lb tow rating, is that really right? 

Hi Folks,

    I was also concerned about the towing capacity but we can tow 4,500 pounds.  By entering the VIN into the Mopar site, it provides a ton of information including the towing capacity which says 4,500 pounds.  We have the Jeep Cherokee Overland 4 x 4 and not the Jeep Grand Cherokee although if I had to do it over again, we would have bought the Grand Cherokee.  But we have a motorhome (which we still have and trying to sell), so I wasn't concerned about towing at the time when buying the Jeep.  I had (and sold) a 2017 Jeep Wrangler Sport which I towed behind the MH.  

    The site also states that our Jeep has both an auxiliary transmission oil cooler and engine oil cooler.  It lists the final drive ratio at 3.517 which from my research comes with the tow package.   Also, verified the owner's manual and had the Jeep Dealer install a Class III hitch and wiring.  The RV dealer installed a Equal-I-zer E2 weight distribution hitch and sway control although the Mopar site says that we have sway control on the Jeep but not sure what that means. 

    On the Jeep site here  http://www-5.jeep.com/en/jeep-capabilities/towing/#Cherokee4Tab - http://www-5.jeep.com/en/jeep-capabilities/towing/#Cherokee4Tab   we have the Pentastar 3.2L V6 24V VVT with ESS which was verified on the Mopar site for our specific Jeep.  The Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland has a little more horsepower and torque with a max towing of 6,200.  

  Having towed a travel trailer and 5th Wheel, the later with a 2008 Ford F450, I'm very sensitive to vehicle towing capacity although with the F450 I could tow a wide range of RV's.  The last thing that I want to do is to tow unsafely and put both my wife and I and others in a dangerous situation.  

Thanks!

Dave

Thanks Stephen!

   I reviewed all of your mod's and you are very talented!  Not sure I could tackle the ones you have done.  The only mod I'm going to do is to add a flexible solar panel and controller.  It's already wired for a solar panel with the connections on the roof and a place for the controller.  Checking the battery, there is two black and red wires, so I'm assuming one set is run up into the POD right where I can install the controller.  

   Thanks for the post!

   Dave

My 179 goes out at about 3900 lbs with about 570 tongue weight, with dual batteries, single propane, and a full fresh water tank. I have a Toyota Highlander with a 5000 lb tow rating and wd hitch.  I carry basically nothing but my wife and I in the tow vehicle and I'm comfortable towing but really wouldn't want to push it any further. 

If you haven't already, you should also check the gross combined vehicle weight and individual axle loads. You can use a commercial scale to get the actual weights the way you plan to load. Here is a nice calculator that takes into account the effects of the wd hitch.

In my case, I don't want to have a dedicated tow vehicle. Living on the OBX at 3 ft above sea level the less stuff that you own that can rust and that you have to find some high ground to park during storms the better off you are. 

So I wound up with the Highlander as about the lightest vehicle for towing a 179 that I felt comfortable with but the biggest car my wife felt comfortable with as a daily driver. I do have to watch the weights in the trailer and the Highlander but its not so maxed out that it makes me feel uncomfortable on the road.  If I had kids or other heavy gear I wanted to haul on trips then that would be a different story.

StephenH. 

   I was going through the pictures of tow vehicles and several years ago, you said that you were towing with a 2014 Ford Escape with Ecoboost.  Do you still have it and how does it tow?  I looked up the tow ratings and it's at 3,500.  

   As I've stated in my post, we are towing with a 2017 Jeep Cherokee Overland with a max towing of 4,500.  I'm a little concerned that after my wife and I get in the car and we load up the POD, we are getting close to about 3,700.  I do need to weight it and we do have a WD bar.

  Thanks!

   Dave

Actually, it was a 2016 Escape. We had an accident where we hit ice with a strong cross-wind in Wyoming. We had to purchase a replacement vehicle to get us and our R-Pod home. After the Escape was repaired, we sold it to CarMax (took a huge hit in depreciation loss, but since we were paying much more than needed, we got enough to pay off the loan). It performed well. The shorter distance between the center of the rear axle to the hitch ball meant that the trailer exerted less force on the Escape than we feel with the Frontier which has two more feet between the axle and tow ball than the Escape had. I'm not of the school that the tow vehicle has to be longer than the trailer. After all, look at tractor-trailer rigs going down the road. The trailers are much longer than the cabs on those. It is actually advantageous when backing to have a longer trailer than tow vehicle.

More towing capacity would be nice, but you should be okay with your Jeep Cherokee Overland. If it is front wheel drive, you will absolutely need a weight distribution hitch to make sure you have sufficient force on your front wheels. If it is rear wheel drive, you are okay. If it is 4 wheel drive, even better.

I did this and ended up leaving some gear out of the Highlander and then feeling fine towing knowing all is good with my tow vehicle. I found though that with my normal load and the wd hitch tensioned that the trailer axle (3500 lbs max) is pretty close to its limits. So I'm buying higher capacity tires and 15 inch wheels for it.  Some folks don't think the wd hitch increases the trailer axle load, but it for sure does. 

Offgrid - thanks for the post and instructions on how to weight.  To best honest, with the F450, I never worried about it for obvious reasons.  

Although I thought I did the research on the Cherokee, I think you are right in that actual weights are the only way to get a true picture. I also appreciate the link to the site to enter the weights.  That will really help!

But, if I'm able to buy the Nissan Titan XD Diesel, I'm certainly not going to worry about it! 

Dave

If you've already decided to get the Nissan then of course don't bother but if you're on the fence I think after doing the weight checks you will know what to do, either you'll be feeling more comfortable with the Cherokee or less. 

For the ladies there's this:

Re milk in the carton:  Please note I did not say bring a carton of milk; only the milk carton.    The newer plastic milk bottles don't work so well.  

After spending hours upon hours researching, reviewing, and test driving vehicles, we decided our new TV is a 2014 Tundra 2WD SR5 Crewmax 5.7L V8 DOHC 32V.  Max towing is 10,100 so we have plenty of truck.  Buying from a private seller and everything has checked out i.e. VIN check, Carfax, etc.  It's silver and will complement our 10th Anniversary grey-colored 179.  

Just wasn't feeling comfortable with the prospect of towing it on long trips with the DW's Jeep Cherokee even with the 4,500 pound towing capacity.  Was initially leaning towards a Nissan Titan XD Diesel but I feel comfortable with the Tundra and especially since it uses regular gas!  

Will post a picture when I get it.

Dave

Lots of folks buy diesels because they think they will be getting better fuel economy and then find out that because of the higher cost of diesel they're not. The newer diesel pollution controls have issues too. I think you'll be happy with your choice. 

Greetings:

I've found the 179 to be a very good floorplan for 1 or 2.  Being older, I made a box step to make it easier to get into the bathroom.  May you enjoy your pod as much as I enjoy mine.

Crankster78  R-179  2015

offgrid, first time I've owned a Toyota truck.  I've had two Fords (F-150 and F-450) and then a Chevy Silverado.  Thought that if I got a Diesel, it would last a long time.  But the way I go through vehicles, the gas engine works just as well and easier to take care of.  I was impressed with the 10,000 pound towing capacity for the $$ I'm paying.  Hopefully, I'll keep this truck longer than the others.    

Still have the DW's Jeep (now with a hitch) and my daily driver is a 2012 Caddy CTS.  I work in downtown Washington, DC and park in a garage, so the Caddy works just fine as a daily driver.   

Dave

Crankster, thanks and the DW really like the bigger kitchen in the 179 along with the storage.  Great idea on the box step as that's a big step into the bathroom.   Got a toilet light from Amazon  http://a.co/d/eXTd0Wj%20 - http://a.co/d/eXTd0Wj so I won't have to turn on the light and wake up the DW.  Haven't tried it yet and saw someone on the R-Pod Facebook group use one so I figured it was worth the try.