[Archived]

Have been towing a 2014 Grand Cherokee Summit edition 4 x 4 with the Hemi – all summer…… Has /Air Force One brake set up using a Blue Ox tow bar set up….

Not sure on mileage but doesn’t appear to burn much more fuel than the 2011 Grand Cherokee with a 6 cylinder.. Haven’t had the opportunity to check fuel mileage just yet….

Never was a Dodge person until I bought the 2011 (don’t tow) but have been impressed with both on quality and servicability as neither one has had any issues….

[Corey]

Thanks, Brady. I’ll bet the Hemi with the 8 speed trans is way more fuel efficient than mine with the 5 speed. Even though mine has cylinder deactivation, I average about 13mpg in combined city/highway. The best mileage I ever got was 16.8 on a 600 mile trip.

Did you have any issues attaching the base plate? What about lights. On my ’06 I ran separate wires to the rear and installed an additional set of bulbs in the taillights so I did not need to tap into the Jeep wiring. The taillights on the 2014 will not allow that extra bulb set up.

[Archived]

Bryan:

Looks like fuel mileage is 18.5 combined highway / city and about 22 on the highway during trips, according to the wife… My neighbor runs the dealership so price and service have been great not to mention the Jeep product has been a great change for us….. (my wife surrendered a Mercedez sports car to get back into a Jeep, so go figure.) Gave my daughter the 2011 Jeep and she has missed it since…

I used a friend that owns a local RV service business to install all…. We used a BX 1128 bracket that is almost hidden on the Jeep when you remove the detachable pins that attaches to the Jeep’s tow bracket, We used a #7445 Adventa Blue Ox bar. Since the Jeep lower grill area is black and same color as tow bracket, all you can see is the quick connect port for the air hose (but it is covered with a rubber plug) and the light plug – as used a 7 to 6 LX coiled connection from coach to Jeep.

He changed the bulbs / sockets on the Jeep as part of a (4) diode kit that included new special sockets and bulbs to work with the Jeep’s exisitng lighting system.

send me your email address and i will shoot some pictures…. I already had a bracket for my 98 Jeep Wrangler TJ / 2 door that i pull occasionally, hence going with the Blue OX set up.

My first rodeo here, so used someone that has installed many and took his recommendations on a system that would be durable and last but not necessarily the cheapest option available…

Hope this helps!!

[Archived]

Thank you Brady. This is really helpful. I sent you an email.

I have an aged Roadmaster now and expect I will get a new tow bar when I replace the Jeep.

[Archived]

I installed Roadmaster brackets on my 2011 JGC. Straight forward easy install. I liked the looks and the ride. I didn’t like the 15 mpg the hemi gave me. It didn’t really matter as I ended up getting rid of it. It had what felt like a miss going up slight grades or when pulling something. The regional service manager acknowledged the issue. After we took two more off the new car lot for a ride, we discovered they all did it. After 3 software updates it wasn’t resolved so it was replaced by a 2012 Ford Explorer. 22mpg with the same driving, tows easy, and is much more comfortable.

[Archived]

Gil, I have the same symptom, which I can avoid by a manual downshift. I believe it is related to the cylinder deactivation that is meant to save fuel. That gimmick did not work in the late 70s when they tried it on Cadillacs and IMHO it still does not work today. I drove the 6 cylinder Grand Cherokee with 8 speed transmission this weekend and it has none of the transmission jerkiness of the Hemi with 5 speed. In fact, it was very, very nice.

[Doug]

This doesn’t relate to the Jeep, but may be symptomatic of all the gyrations manufacturers need to go through to meet certification standard.

I bought a 2012 Dodge Ram 2500 with the Cummins diesel and 6 speed manual transmission.

Under certain temperatures and engine load conditions at 1400 RPM there is a “bucking” or what the dealer calls a driveability issue.

I am within the recommended gear for the speed based on the diesel engine supplement. The service writers are no help because one even told me the engine needs to be in a gear that keeps the revs around 3000 RPM. He attributed the problem to my upshifting too early. He obviously hasn’t read the book. He checked with Detroit and they told him a software change would fix it. Nope.

So we will continue with the dance. They keep focussing on shifting, saying it needs high constant revs to regenerate the thingamajingy. So while I sat reading old magazines their service guru burned up 1/4 tank of diesel and pronounced it fixed. He claimed he could feel it clean itself up. The next morning it bucked like a bronco. Tom and Nancy were with us when it stalled once.

I will keep returning for service, they will keep telling me I am not driving it right or some other BS, but bottom line I think the standards have outpaced the engineer’s ability to keep up and all of our vehicles have the potential to have issues.

[granvil]

I think that the mandated emissions are too tough for the manufacturers and they are basicially concerned with meeting them so that they can sell vehicles.The manufacturers of Diesels are not concerned with fuel mileage or any other area of performance as long as they meet the regulations which allows them to manufacturer the engines.

[Davy]

VW seems to be thinking about mileage. They use a standard gear box that shifts automatically, called direct shift gearbox (dsg) which makes the shift in six milliseconds. Generically they’re called dual clutch transmissions. They also now have electronic power steering to eliminate the pump that the engine spins. Of course there is some offset with the alternator producing some extra amps. We see 37 city, 43 highway mpgs.

We are not scheduled to get it in the US, but Mercedes Benz is thinking about mileage. They are producing a hybrid diesel tested at 67 mpg. The electric motor is inside the torque converter. The one we will get is not a hybrid, but its is a 2.1 liter diesel in an E chassis that will get 45 highway. Since this is not the place, I’ll stop here.

[Alicia]

I could get all giddy about mileage except on a list of things I consider when making a decision it is nowhere near the top. Part of that is caused by the fact of our multiple vehicles the combined miles we drive is 12,000 miles. Not one vehicle, but of all the licensed vehicles (6) we only add a couple of thousand miles or less to each odometer.

We do the same amount of driving in the bus as we do all vehicles combined.

But even if we put a lot of miles on a vehicle per year, we would still drive it until it wore out, and with a lot of miles of driving per year fuel economy might rise up on the list, but it would never be the sole deciding factor.

But I am working hard to get 20 MPG on the bus.

[Archived]

Jon, we also have 6 vehicles. You could always do as I do, take the mileage driven and the fuel mileage from all 6 including the bus, add them together and divide by 6. The upside is that I am now getting 13.6 mpg in the bus, the downside is that I am getting the same mileage with my diesel Grand Cherokee 🙂

[Archived]

I like your thinking Jim. Unfortunately the bus must be bad at math because no matter how I run the numbers the bus still drinks fuel at a rate twice what I calculate.

[Archived]

Trade the Dodge for a Duramax, or the new Ford.

[Corey]

Hi Bryan. We have NO issues towing the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland. It gives more than twice the mpg of our H2 Hummer, and can be turned sharper too. BTW, anyone want a yellow, garaged, 2007 H2 Hummer w/36000 miles? Bruce

[Peter]

Bruce,

Put your Jeep in the Flea Market, lots of exposure..