Flat Towing Newbie Help!

[DPF140]

I fear I may have made a mistake. I have a 2007 E450 Superduty Gulfstream RV. My plan after a big trip down to Florida and back after seeing tons of people flat towing Wranglers and Gladiators was to go that route instead of a tow dolly and little car. A quick google search made me feel I was good to go… I completely pulled the trigger on the Gladiator thinking I’d be all good to go. Did I just buy a truck I can’t flat tow?

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[Josh00333]

You'll need the required town bar, a unit to do the breaks on the gladiator (I don't know what those are). Once hooked up. Put the transfer case in neutral, check that it's in neutral, checks lights etc.

Check that the transfer case is in Neutral.

And your good to go.

Did I mention checking that you are in neutral on the transfer case?

See page 168, 170 and 222 of the owners manual.

 

[AzRob]

Don't worry... the gladiator is flat towable for sure...... but can your RV tow it, that's the question?

First, what is the tow rating on your RV hitch? If its 5000 lbs... than what does your gladiator weigh? If you are under the RV's hitch limit.... you just need to spend around +$3000 to get all the stuff for the flat tow. Yeah you read that right...

I am currently on my 4th RV and have RV'ed all of the lower 48 and into Canada three times. all while towing jeeps. Click my picture and we currently tow the blue Wrangler.

Costs involved (approximate)
Tow bar - Blue Ox 10,000 lb Avail ... $1000
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Ox-BX7420-Tow-Bar/dp/B00PG2V14G/ref=sr_1_5?crid=35DATNOOZJDI7&dchild=1&keywords=blue+ox+avail+10,000+tow+bar&qid=1632532774&sprefix=blue+ox+avail,aps,207&sr=8-5

Brake system... RVI brake3 - $1350
https://rvibrake.com/products/rvibrake3-flat-towing-braking-system

Base plate... Blue Ox - $500
https://www.rvupgradestore.com/Blue...MI1fvUm_uY8wIVBhatBh1kiQgKEAQYAyABEgIF9_D_BwE

Miscellaneous wires for hookup and turn signals and brakes - $150

Installation.... (estimate) $500-700

Some other things to know... You can go and weigh your truck at any "Cat Scales" at a truck stop to get an exact weight for around $30 If you add a lift, larger tires, winch and bumper, or any other accessories later this will obviously make your truck weigh more.

Some will tell you to get a bumper to tow with instead of a Blue ox base plate... Two things, very few bumpers are rated to be used as tow points behind an RV. Most have it in writing that the should NOT be used for towing. There are differernt stresses applied when used for towing vs a recovery point. I use a base plate now but have used Smittybilt in the past. They have it in writing that all of their bumpers can be used to tow. Second if you decide you want to go with a bumper instead of a base plate you need adapters to connect to the bumper they cost $220 so add that to your costs.

Like stated above there is a series of steps to get the vehicle into neutral to tow. See your manual but the transfer case goes to "neutral" and the shifter goes to "Park" when your all done

Hope this helps!

 

[TJDave]

We have flat towed our Gladiator 2 camping seasons behind a V10 powered class A without any problems. We have also flat towed 2 other previous Wranglers. We started our flat towing adventures years ago with a 2006 E450 that looks very much like yours.
Supplemental braking is a must, IMO. I also use the RVi3 brake that I transferred over from the JK, Blue Ox Avail 10,000# towbar, Maximus-3 tow bar loops, and the Cooltech LLC tow harness.
We regularly camp with friends who also tow their Gladiators.

 

[DPF140]

Thank you so much guys!!! I was originally looking at a JLU which is under my #5000 lb hitch…. Then my wife said, well you have always wanted a gladiator. Online I was reading I could upgrade my hitch, but the more research I did, I think I’m in the 14,050 with 18,000 GVWR. Which would mean I need to go back to plan A which is a dolly and my wife’s VW Beetle Convertible. I really wanted to flat tow the Jeep, but I’ve got some more research to do! Everyone’s comments has been so helpful! Maybe we just need to upgrade our RV… we did get a pretty good deal on it!

 

[yoda13]

I’m going to be flat towing mine…have towed XJs, YJs, LJs, and JKs for years. I have a roadmaster bar, a brakebuddy, and cooltech harness coming. It also tows my hunting camper with zero issues

 

[sarguy1941]

As said its all about the hitch and tow rating on the camper. My 35' Winni is maxed at 5K per Ford so we just tow the JK. I have setup the JT to flat tow if needed, but we enjoy the JK anyway.

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