towing a car behind a Super C: hitch rating, supplemental brakes, and what came with the repo
Started by towing_the_jeep_next on Dec 10, 2025 in Buying and auctions, 6 posts
towing_the_jeep_nextOPMile markerSpringfield, IL
drives2020 Entegra Accolade 37K on a Freightliner M2 106, plus a 2016 Wrangler Unlimited that wants to come along
new here and new to all of it. we bought our first motorhome in October, a 2020 Entegra Accolade 37K on the M2, a bank repo through conaway's, and it showed up in Springfield the first week of November. i have read the Seneca thread three times, which is partly why we did it.
now the problem. my wife will not go to Florida in late January without her Jeep, a 2016 Wrangler Unlimited Sahara, automatic. i have never towed anything behind anything.
what came with the coach: a receiver hitch on the back and a 7 way plug. the conaway's listing photos showed both, so no surprise there. no tow bar, no base plate on anything, no brake box. whatever the last owner towed, his gear left with it. the receiver has a sticker that i think says 10,000 lbs but it is half peeled.
so, in order of what i do not know: what do i need to buy, does the Jeep need its own brakes when it is behind a 30,000 lb coach, and is there anything about this coach having air brakes that changes the answer?
retired_lineman_rvWeekenderMedford, OR
drives2020 Nexus Ghost 36DS on a Freightliner M2 106, towing a 2010 Ranger 4x4
welcome. you need four things: a base plate bolted to the Jeep's frame, a tow bar, safety cables, and wiring so the Jeep's tail lights work off the coach. then a supplemental brake system on top of that, which i will get to.
we tow a 2010 Ranger 4x4 behind the Ghost. Blue Ox base plate, an Avail tow bar and a Patriot brake box that sits on the driver's floor. installed it ran us about $2,800 a few years back, more now. the wiring is the part people skimp on. diodes or a separate set of bulbs, either works. do not splice into the Jeep's harness and hope.
and yes, brakes. a Wrangler Unlimited is around two tons. most states want brakes on a towed vehicle over some weight and you are over it in almost all of them. even where you are not, you want them. a coach stopping 4,000 extra pounds with its own brakes is how you cook brakes on a long grade.
freightliner_m2_techFull timerGaffney, SC
drivesother people's M2 106s all week, a 2015 Dynamax DX3 37RB on weekends
the air brakes do change the answer, in a good way. on an air brake coach you can run a system that uses coach air to work the Jeep's brake pedal, the SMI Air Force One being the one i see most on M2 coaches in our shop. it brakes proportionally with the coach and it stays mounted in the Jeep, so there is no box to lug in and out every time. it costs more to install, but owners who have both kinds tend to keep the air one.
two other things. find the stamped rating on the receiver itself, not the sticker, and if it is 10,000 you are fine for a Jeep. and measure the height of the receiver against the height of the Jeep's base plate. you want the tow bar close to level, so you may need a drop or rise adapter. coach receivers sit high on these.
mike
mod_bev_tModeratorCoeur d'Alene, ID
drives2017 Dynamax Isata 5 35DBD on a Ford F-550, 6.7 Power Stroke
adding a pointer for people who find this later before they bid on something. the conaways people photograph every lot, so on any repo listing go look at the back bumper shots. you can usually see whether a receiver and plug are there, and whether there is a brake controller or a tow bar hanging in a compartment. towing_the_jeep_next did it right, he knew what he was getting.
the Seneca owner answered a pile of questions about buying blind in the ask me anything thread, if you have not been through it.
snowbird_since_2016Long haulerMesa, AZ
drives2016 Dynamax DX3 37BH on a Freightliner M2 106, towing a 2014 CR-V
the Jeep part. Wranglers are one of the easiest flat tows there is, but you have to do the manual's procedure step by step each time you hook up. on the JK automatics that means the transfer case goes in neutral and the transmission goes in park, and the manual walks you through the key position. look under recreational towing in yours, do not take my word for the details.
battery: some setups drain the Jeep battery over a long day. a charge line from the coach fixes it. we learned that on the CR-V outside Las Cruces, so ask me how i know.
and walk around it at every stop. every one. look at the pins, the cables and the tires on the Jeep.
towing_the_jeep_nextOPMile markerSpringfield, IL
drives2020 Entegra Accolade 37K on a Freightliner M2 106, plus a 2016 Wrangler Unlimited that wants to come along
back and alive, and the Jeep is too.
what we ended up with: Blue Ox base plate for the JK, an Avail tow bar, the Air Force One that mike talked about, and diode wiring. a shop in Decatur did all of it for $4,350, which is more than i wanted, but it got done in two days and i watched them test it. the receiver stamp says 10,000 lbs, and we needed a 4 inch drop to get the bar level.
we left January 22, went down through Nashville and Atlanta to Ocala and back. 2,300 miles towing. nothing fell off. the only drama was the Jeep battery, which was too weak to start it at a Love's in Valdosta, exactly like snowbird warned. jumped it off the coach and bought a charge line kit in Ocala for about $90. i should have listened the first time.
looking back at buying it through conaway's, the one thing i would tell a first timer is the same thing i would tell myself in October: price out the tow setup before you bid. it was $4,350 i had not planned for, and that money does not care how good of a deal you got on the coach. we made it work. somebody on a tighter budget might not have.
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