Jeep burnt rubber smell

[lp5151]

we have a 2009 Jeep Wrangler unlimited, that we tow. tow system is a road master system with roadmaster brake. the problem is that when we drive the jeep after towing, there is a burnt rubber smell that comes in through the venting system (A/C and/or defrost vents). it will last for a day or so then go away not to be "smelled" again until after it is towed again. we have ruled out tires, and have had it to the jeep dealer twice, but can't find out why we get that smell, only after towing.

anyone have this problem???

[ernieh]

I have had this happen after towing several different Jeep vehicles. It happened with my 97 Wrangler, 2000 Cherokee, and 2007 Wrangler. My best guess is that residue from either the road or diesel engine gets on the exhaust or belts.

However, the odor never has lasted longer than a few minutes after startup.

[Rich and Cork]

I have a 2008 Rubicon and sometimes the smell is there and some time it isn't. The smell does not last long. I assume it is just crud picked up on the road and burned off. Have seen other questions like this before.

[georgetown350]

My parents had that smell with their jeep liberty. Figured it was road tar on the exhaust.

[DriVer]

I have the same smell on my 2008 Saturn Vue right after towing however it is short in duration and normally burns off in a few hours.

[DeanLinAZ]

I have had the burnt rubber smell in a Miata, a PT Cruiser and now a Jeep Wrangler. Posts I have read in the past agree that the smell comes from rubber tire dust being thrown around and winding up on your toad's exhaust system. The smell never last more than a day after towing and is quite harmless except for the smell.

On thing I had to watch on the Miata was the Miata's air filter element. I had to change it fairly often as it sucked in the rubber residue which turned it black and ugly.

Happy towing--just roll down the windows for a few miles.

[BigRedLancer]

Same thing happened to me. My mechanic tells me it's the "stuff" I picked up while towing the car. As everyone has mentioned, the smell goes away shortly after you stop towing. He recommended that I have the engine compartment steam cleaned.

[gnm]

I had the same smell with my Libery and now have it with my Commander, mostly smell it on the outside not so much inside.

[DriVer]

We unhooked about an hour ago and I followed the DW who was driving the car home. I actually smelled the burning rubber from inside the motorhome since I was using my A/C in normal mode and it was drawing outside air.

[Stretch]

Having smelled this "stuff" for at least ten years of towing various "toads" I can tell all of you for sure that it is nothing to worry about. Towing the "toad" while the metal on the underside is cool allows water, dust, oil etc to stick to the muffler and tail pipes and any other parts that become hot when the toad is driven will cause this temporary smell and even smoke.,

[mfire1339]

Ours smells of rubber after a couple hundred miles of towing. Always has done this. I wondered if it was the big stone guard that drags on everything. It is 1" shorter than last year.

Mike