14year2004

I just purchased a 2018 GC Trailhawk after doing extensive research. I found out from John Johnston (Associate Editor of FMCA) that there is a total of 22 flat tow wobble cases he is tracking with FCA from 2016 through 2018 with only 1 from 2018. This is my main bullets that I have found and conclusions. 1) EPS steering introduced in 2016 2) Few flat to wobble events immediately after (much less than the Cherokee) 3) Theories have been stated that the GC is heavier, bigger tires, possibly different EPS pump, steering properties etc. are maybe allowing for less frequent flat tow wobbles from the smaller Cherokee. 4) FMCA addressing issue with FCA for correction but so far no commitment made from FCA 5) John Johnston (FMCA) has emphasized with FCA that the flat tow wobbles for these 22 individuals are significant 6) Most occurrences happen after a driver comes to completes stop like a stop sign or traffic lights and then proceeds forward making a turn (less than 15 mph) 6) Some GC owners are now adopting very slow turns to mitigate flat tow wobble. After reading information from Rewilla on her unique set up of Hydralift it got me thinking why most occurrences are happening when doing a turn say from a stop light. If you notice on any toad when you initiate a sharp turn say to the left, the rear of the coach swings out initially to the opposite direction, in this example to the right. The larger the overhang from the center of rear wheels to end of the hitch, the more the tendency for the motorhome to swing out in the opposite direction. Shortly after the toad will then turn in the same direction as the motorhome as it completes the turn. So from the toad prospective you can see in any sharp turn the wheels are setup to wobble because that initial swing to the opposite direction of turn. In Rewilla case with extra distance of the Hydralift it would have a larger distance of swing and therefore maybe occurring more often in her case. Of course this is no fault of Rewilla and she has every right to setup her motorhome and flat tow the way she does. The root case is still FCA with the new EPS which simply isn’t dampened enough as compared to the old hydraulic system, or fixed like the Cherokee by going to a live EPS system, allowing for algorithms within that system to mitigate the flat tow wobble. In conclusion, even though we have a new GC we are continuing to flat tow with our 2012 Jeep Rubicon. We hope to one day setup our GC for flat towing after FCA fixes the problem or when the flat tow wobble proves to be infrequent. Slow turn, less aggressive turning technique may have to be adopted.