How many have a jeep Liberty as a toad?

[Mister G41]

I flat-four tow a 2007 Jeep Liberty (automatic, 4x4, Steering Wheel lock) behind a motor-home and on 3 occasions, the Liberty steering wheel has locked up after executing a sharp turn in the motor-home. I have prep'd the Liberty per the Owner's Manual - First, transmission in "Neutral". Next, Transfer Case in "N", then, transmission in "D" to make sure transfer case is disabled. Then, transmission in "Park" and Ignition is switched from "Lock" to "Off" position.

Vehicle tows great until I execute a sharp turn (like maneuvering around a gas station). Then, getting back on the road, motor-home must be counter-steered because Liberty's steering is locked and wheels are offset. This happens when we are least prepared and on a road that will not accommodate just jumping out to unlock the Liberty's steering wheel. In the meantime, the toad tires are turned, and being shredded on the road.

When I do get into the Liberty, the ignition key, transmission, and transfer case are in the same position as before. I have to turn the ignition key to the "On/Run" position and turn the steering wheel slightly which clears the lock.

My local Jeep dealer has not heard anything like this and put the vehicle on a rack, but could not get the steering to lock by following the same scenario and manually turning the tires.

I would really like to fully disable the Liberty's Steering Wheel lock and be done with this problem. My "gut feeling” is there is a problem with the transmission being placed in "Park" position, per the Owner's Manual. Can the Liberty transmission be towed in "Neutral". Any HELP would be appreciated.

[LEMO]

Have a 2002 Jeep Liberty, with 102 K on the clock and god knows how many miles as a toad, maybe 40 K or more. Others have said it all, great little off road vehicle, with good turning ratio.

To MG41, my steering wheel locked up on me also when I went through a town which required 3. 90 degree turns in 5 blocks, I might add that I had been towing over 50 miles prior to the problem. I now use a short bungee to hold the key in place. Since then, 15 K of more towing with no problem.

[Finhawk]

My GC Overland is great!

[FlyingDiver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mister G41 I would really like to fully disable the Liberty's Steering Wheel lock and be done with this problem. My "gut feeling” is there is a problem with the transmission being placed in "Park" position, per the Owner's Manual. Can the Liberty transmission be towed in "Neutral". Any HELP would be appreciated.

Actually disabling the steering wheel lock is your best bet. If you really think that having the transmission in Park is the problem, and want to try something else, put it in "D", but don't put it in Neutral. If it's in Neutral, the transmission can rotate but there's no lubrication for it, so that's a bad thing. Drive would be almost the same as Park, and is closest to the specified procedure for the manual transmission models. For those, you put them in top gear.

joe

[Mister G41]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LEMO Have a 2002 Jeep Liberty, with 102 K on the clock and god knows how many miles as a toad, maybe 40 K or more. Others have said it all, great little off road vehicle, with good turning ratio. To MG41, my steering wheel locked up on me also when I went through a town which required 3. 90 degree turns in 5 blocks, I might add that I had been towing over 50 miles prior to the problem. I now use a short bungee to hold the key in place. Since then, 15 K of more towing with no problem.

Thanks for the reply.
Was your key moving/changing the ignition position? Mine remains in the recommended position (Off) and has to be moved to the On/Run position to clear the Steering Lock. I'm going to hook up in the next couple of days and visit a shopping center, trying varous maneuvers and changing the transmission shifter. Another post suggests using "D" as opposed to "N" to keep the transmission from turning.

[Mister G41]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyingDiver Actually disabling the steering wheel lock is your best bet. If you really think that having the transmission in Park is the problem, and want to try something else, put it in "D", but don't put it in Neutral. If it's in Neutral, the transmission can rotate but there's no lubrication for it, so that's a bad thing. Drive would be almost the same as Park, and is closest to the specified procedure for the manual transmission models. For those, you put them in top gear. joe

Thanks for the reply. I would love to disable the steering wheel lock, but how? My local Jeep dealer says it cannot be done.

One other person here has experienced the locking problem, once. It seems to be triggered by very sharp turns in confined spaces. Perhaps others might take note to check that the wheels are not locked after tight turns, before getting back on a small road, where stopping and resetting everything is not easy.

I hope to hear more on this...
Doug

[Graniteman]

We tow a 2003 4wd Liberty that the DW uses as a daily driver. She loves how manuaverable it is. It only has 80k on it. We have had no major problems. I haven't noticed the steering issue even though I have made many very sharp turns. This is definitely something I will be watching out for though. I have a battery disconnect and turn the key to run while towing. Maybe this is why I haven't had the lock up. I ran another set of bulbs that are powered only by the MH. The Brake Buddy also has a hot cig lighter directly from the Jeep battery. The Liberty is a nice size for CG parking also.

I have a '95 Wrangler that I use as a daily beater. We have towed the Wrangler to the beach for a few years with our Escalade. This was before getting the MH. I would happily exchange the Liberty for a newer 4 door Wrangler...but that will have to wait for now.

[LEMO]

Sorry to take so long to reply, but am at the RV show in Quartzsite and have been off the computer for a while.

As far as the locking steering wheel incident I had: My 02, calls for key on to first click (which unlocks the steering wheel) transfer case in neutral and transmission in Park. Some time after the 3rd turn, when the wheels went back to straight the key somehow rotated to the off and the key pulled out of the lock. Problem was the wheels were 'just' off straight. I did tow for a short way before a trucker, behind me flagged me down. Cost me two new tires. The former owner, towed the Lib, in neutral so he never had the problem. As others have posted neutral is bad to tow in due to the tranny rotating while pulling. For insurance I use the short bungee to hold the key in position, and have towed many thousands of miles w/o any other problem.

[Mister G41]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LEMO Sorry to take so long to reply, but am at the RV show in Quartzsite and have been off the computer for a while. As far as the locking steering wheel incident I had: My 02, calls for key on to first click (which unlocks the steering wheel) transfer case in neutral and transmission in Park. Some time after the 3rd turn, when the wheels went back to straight the key somehow rotated to the off and the key pulled out of the lock. Problem was the wheels were 'just' off straight. I did tow for a short way before a trucker, behind me flagged me down. Cost me two new tires. The former owner, towed the Lib, in neutral so he never had the problem. As others have posted neutral is bad to tow in due to the tranny rotating while pulling. For insurance I use the short bungee to hold the key in position, and have towed many thousands of miles w/o any other problem.

Wow, you're problem sounds worse than mine... At least I know when the lock happens because we have to counter-steer the coach. Again, nothing changes in my setup/configuration so it's a real mystery. I'll be doing some experimenting soon to see if I can find the culprit. I'll let you know. Thanks again.
Doug

[wackodacko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGMarrs The diesel Libby is getting us about 35mpg

Seriously??? How are you getting 35mpg on the Diesel Liberty? We have a 2006 CRD Diesel Liberty and we get about 20 in mixed highway/local traffic and the best we ever did was about 29mph going 55mph on a flat highway. never got anywhere close to 30. Is there something wrong with mine?

[TAZ]

Wife and i both have wranglers and use as our daily drive. Both are set up as toads. Hers is a 4 door mine is a 2 door.

I have a second daily drive as a backup and have been driving it more often for better fuel economy. We love our jeeps.

[TGMarrs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wackodacko Seriously??? How are you getting 35mpg on the Diesel Liberty? We have a 2006 CRD Diesel Liberty and we get about 20 in mixed highway/local traffic and the best we ever did was about 29mph going 55mph on a flat highway. never got anywhere close to 30. Is there something wrong with mine?

We lived in Wyoming, so that was strictly highway miles with very little city driving, and we didn't keep anything it it so it was always empty of "stuff". Also, ours has 90k miles, so it is well broken in. If your Jeep has much less on the odometer, just wait - it gets better. I think they start out about 25-26 mpg highway when new, and as the diesel breaks in the mpg gets better.

Now that we are on the road, most of our driving is now city driving and we are getting around 20-22mpg, but we also have the back loaded with crap too, so it is heavier. We just added two kayaks on top so I expect that to hurt it too.

Ohhh, and my 35mpg was cruising at 65 mph... So, if your Jeep is at 75k plus miles and you don't keep a lot of stuff in it you really should be seeing 32-35mpg highway.