davem

The Jeep Cherokee has always been a good value go-anywhere do-anything vehicle, especially for no restrictions for towing four on the ground. My ’97 was getting old and I had been looking for a replacement for some time and finally found it in the 2014 Cherokee Limited with Active Drive II and all options. What an outstanding value vehicle with adaptive cruise control, lane correction, collision avoidance, and blind spot detection. It exceeded all expectations and would rather drive it than my wife’s Aude Q5. Towed it for over a year then it happened. $3700 worth of damage to the front end when the towed vehicle shook violently (five months later a second incident for a total of $5100). It took about nine months but am very pleased with the response from both Chrysler and Blue Ox for discovering the basic problem and designing and installing their respective fixes. Very impressed with Blue Ox for reimbursing all cost. It turns out many of the new vehicles are being designed with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) rather than the old familiar mechanical means like a steering stabilizer. The ESC works great with power on but with power off when towing the vehicle acts like a shopping cart with a bad caster. Chrysler added a new switch in the center counsel (I added two 10 amp diodes to the 12 volts from the Motorhome to isolate the auxiliary Brakes from the ESC otherwise additional steps to tow.) and Blue Ox beefed up their baseplate. If you own a 2014-2016 Cherokee and had it shake violently while towing, I guarantee you, the welds on your Jeep’s Frame Extension Brackets are cracked and should be replaced. If you have not had Chrysler’s mod installed and not experienced the shaking, it’s just a matter of time. Dave Maass Scottsdale AZ

Please be advised that the 2014/2015 Jeep Cherokee is unsafe to tow with the Blue Ox tow bar adaptors!!! Traveling from Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef National Parks in Utah towing our 2014 Cherokee Latitude with Active Drive II the aluminum Jeep brackets that the tow bar adaptors are mounted to broke on one side and are cracked on the other. Attempted repairs in Moab Utah but will not be able to tow the car until major repairs are done at home in Phoenix. We are very fortunate to have unhooked the jeep at Capitol Reef and discovered the broken hitch before possibly losing the whole car !!!! Not looking forward to being caught in the middle between Blue Ox and Jeep for repairs. Seventeen years towing the 1997 Cherokee with first a gas MH and now a diesel pusher (including Alaska) with no problems and little over a year with the 2014 with major repairs.

I checked with the service rep at the dealer and was informed that jeep no longer uses the steering column lock starting somewhere around 2008. ps. This Jeep is great !!!

I have purchased a 2014 Jeep Limited and I knew it had to have the Active Drive II as it is the only Transfer Unit with a Neutral position. The parts for the tow bar hook-up and brakes are on order. I have gone thru the manual and am concerned that there is no mention about releasing the steering wheel lock. The only thing I found was a reference to a fuse for the Electric Steering Column Lock. The new May Motorhome magazine has a letter to "techsavy Coach & Powertrain" regarding front end damage to a jeep caused by the column lock. However, I suspect this is the manual key system versus the electronic remote key my system has. Any feedback regarding this issue would be appreciated.