Flat tow vehicle Diesel smell after being towed

[Jody]

I started flat towing my Jeep Cherokee behind my Nexus Wraith and when i drive the Jeep it smells of burnt electrical or diesel. Anyone else get this same smell in their towed vehicle through the A/C system?

 

[DennisT]

We tow a Cherokee behind our Newmar Superstar and have not noticed any smell after towing.

Our exhaust is in front of the rear wheels, not sure where the exhaust comes out of the Wraith.

 

[GreyGhost]

I started flat towing my Jeep Cherokee behind my Nexus Wraith and when i drive the Jeep it smells of burnt electrical or diesel. Anyone else get this same smell in their towed vehicle through the A/C system?

If flat towing is a first for you, it’s probably not diesel you are smelling. It’s more than likely the exhaust system of your Jeep burning off the road grime as it heats up. It scared the bajebbers out of me the first time we towed. Your Jeep and other vehicles burn this stuff off all the time but it doesn’t accumulate as it does when flat towing.

 

[Wemustrv]

We tow our F150 SuperCrew behind ours diesel pusher and have no smell.

 

[Rich W.]

If you think the smell could be burning electrical, you should inspect all the wiring installed for flat towing to ensure that there are no problems with it. It’s probably something else as noted above, but you don’t want to find out it’s burning electrical the hard way.

 

[CaptainGizmo]

We had a lengthy discussion on this topic on the Newell forum on fakebook. A friend discovered that using a ROCK TAMER mudflap was the solution. The cause is believed to be as mentioned above; road gunk and rubber bits getting flung into the TOAD’s engine and exhaust components waiting to be burned off.

This is what he used and is now being ordered by many others as a cure to the problem. I say “cure” because there’s really nothing wrong but it’s just the nature of the towing. It’s also not helpful that the exhaust on many coaches is aimed right at the front right tire of your TOAD.

ROCK TAMER comes in different receiver sizes, but getting it as far away from your coach would be best.

Amazon.com

 

[tim92122]

This is my first Super C (Nexus Wraith) . When we had the braking unit set up in the my Jeep for flat towing. The mechanic (>20 years experience installing flat tow setups) said while the jeep was running and in position to be hooked up to the tow bar press the button to recirculate the air inside the vehicle. If not the exhaust will inter the vehicle through the outside air intake while the Jeep it being towed. We have never had an exhaust smell in the Jeep after it has been towed.

 

[CaptainGizmo]

This is a VERY VERY common issue and I've seen other threads about...the last being on the Newell Facebook VIP group in which one owner ended up purchasing the Rock-Tamer flaps and it remedied the problem.

The problem is, confirmed by several owners of many different coaches, IT IS ROAD GRIME AND RUBBER that's being scrubbed off of the pavement by up to 8 gigantic pieces of rubber rolling a 60k pound rig down the highway. LOL

Even closed vents, hitting Recirc and turning off AC, doesn't help...as you are aware. But, yes, it is alarming because it smells like hot exhaust IMHO...which may also play into the stink.

Let me get the link to that flap my friend used and loves. Some think it's ugly, but he said who gives a rip if it cures the problem!

Rock Tamer 2.5" (be sure to select the correct hitch size)

Amazon.com