Jeep won’t start after towing

[Magua]

On my 2020 Gladiator, MOT installed 2 battery disconnects. One for each battery. That is the final step in my process when leaving and my first step upon arrival. Haven’t had a problem in 3 years.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

Another issue that you need to be aware of: if you have the OEM LED tail lights then every time the brake light, or turn signal, is activated it wakes up the Jeep's electronics. The LED lights have an extra circuit that detects when the lights are activated. The regular non-LED lamps don't have this circuit. CoolTech has a solution for the problem - otherwise every time a lamp is on back there it wakes up the Jeep and over a day's drive you'll drain your battery.

 

[Gizmo]

Another issue that you need to be aware of: if you have the OEM LED tail lights then every time the brake light, or turn signal, is activated it wakes up the Jeep's electronics. The LED lights have an extra circuit that detects when the lights are activated. The regular non-LED lamps don't have this circuit. CoolTech has a solution for the problem - otherwise every time a lamp is on back there it wakes up the Jeep and over a day's drive you'll drain your battery.

I ask both BlueOx and Roadmaster if that is a problem and they both said they sell the majority of harnesses that are in use on Jeeps both with and without OEM LED and they have not seen a problem. I have OEM LED on my 2020 Jeep Rubicon and I have towed this jeep for over 15,000 miles the only time I've had a problem is towing the second day without starting the Jeep. I use the brake that sits on the driver's floor and plug into the accessory plug which the manual says to start the Jeep at the end of each towing day and let the battery recharge or install a charging line.

 

[JRS]

Can't speak for the 2020 Jeeps but with our setup, never had a issue in over 29K miles with the battery going dead. Steering wheel doesn't lock, nothing plugged in and everything is off.

 

[LMHS]

You may need a slightly larger battery.

When I first got my '95 Jeep Grand Cherokee (1998), it came with the original battery that was specified. After the battery kept dying in the first 3 months of owning the Jeep, I got a new battery (assumed it was a problem with the battery since it left me stranded on the roadway of I-24 in Chattanooga traffic). I got my Jeep off the interstate and to the closest battery shop. I was told while that battery could just handle the load from the computer plus the lights being on IF the battery wasn't slightly low, there was another SPECIFIED slightly larger battery that would handle it just fine. Sure enough there were two batteries specified for my little Orvis Jeep. And I always have to tell the people where I get my replacement battery at to give me the larger of the two. Previously I had to turn the key on and wait for all the computer stuff to power up. THEN I could crank up the Jeep (well, not always) and turn on my lights. Never had the "die in the middle of the interstate" situation happen after the battery was replaced. Each subsequent battery was the same as my larger replacement. I still have that Jeep. It's still traveling 6 days a week, year round. And it's still picky about having a well charged battery to crank up on.

I wouldn't know about battery drainage while towing since I have a trailer light kit mounted to my hitch mounted cargo carrier and I string a very long light harness from whatever is towing my Jeep, over the roof and down to the cargo carrier to power the lights. My flakey Jeep does not tolerate intrusions into it's electrical system. I wasn't about to mess with it over a silly thing like towing lights. Too easy to make a work around that works on multiple vehicles.