RV Driver Completely Destroys Wrangler Engine By Flat-Towing It in 4-Low

This is your reminder to take the vehicle you’re towing out of gear.

Toby Tuten was surprised to see the brand-new 2021 Jeep Wrangler in his North Florida dealership for service with reportedly less than 10,000 miles on it. However, when he looked under the hood he quickly realized why.

He saw that the entire bottom of the engine had been blown out, exposing the cylinders and destroying the transmission bell housing, catalytic converter and other components. What would do that to a brand new vehicle? Flat-towing it without a trailer in the wrong gear.

Not only did the owner incorrectly flat-tow the Wrangler behind their RV, the transfer case had been left in its low range or “4-Low” and the transmission in first gear, which means the rotating wheels had caused the Jeep’s 3.6-liter V6 to spin to approximately 50,000 RPM on the highway. For reference, Jeep factory redline is 6,600 rpm and explicitly states not to exceed 25 mph with 4-Low engaged. Ouch.

This was an expensive mistake for the owner. Tuten talked to The Drive and said he estimates the parts alone (no labor) to fix the Jeep would cost $30,000. Guessing this one’s going to be a total loss.