2020 Jeep Cherokee Latitude Plus vs Trailhawk

Still looking for a toad. Built a new 2020 CHEROKEE LATITUDE PLUS 4X4 with neutral tow.  Savings was $5300 less than  Trailhawk Elite ($37300 vs $32000).  Plus there is a $4500 rebate.  We don’t go off road.  I would miss the better seats, memory seats and dual controls but could live without it.

Anyone have any experience with a CHEROKEE LATITUDE PLUS 4X4?  It would probably line up to hitch better as Trailhawk requires an offset hitch. 

Any comments welcome.

Ron S

Hi Ron S,

Sharing a bit what I learned with my offset hitch with my 2006 Liberty shown below.  It increased the distance between motor home and Liberty by one foot.  Initially this sounds like a negative, but in the case with our liberty, it was very good, reason as follows.

When making the sharpest possible turn (a "U" turn on a 4 lane highway with shoulders) the distance between bumpers of Liberty to PC is tight.  If I did not have that extra foot from the offset hitch, I wonder if they would make contact creating a jack-knife condition.

If the vehicle you are considering has a dramatically curved front bumper, then I think you will be fine without the extra distance.  But a squared-off front bumper might be ripe for trouble.

I imagine an extreme condition is when towing a Wrangler because they have a straight front bumper.  Hopefully someone towing a Wrangler will step in and share their experience with tight-turning conditions.

Maybe my concern is unwarranted, but I feel is worth mentioning......just in-case I am right.



Here is my tow setup with our 2006 Jeep Liberty and offset hitch.  Note the extra distance the offset hitch adds.  I had to get 1 foot longer blue safety cables to work with it.


The first year towing our Liberty, I was uneducated on the effects of an angled tow bar.  Our first trip towing this way was without the offset hitch, so our Liberty was one foot closer to our PC.  Either I never made a tight "U" turn, or I did and there was no contact made.  I really don't know the actual condition I had back then.  One thing certain, there is no damage to our PC.

Here is what I had which is a bad condition in-general.  This created lots of "bucking".


For reference concerning a curved front bumper, here was our first tow vehicle.  This standard hitch setup was fine with no jack-knife condition.....I remember checking for it back then.


Just be mindful when setting up whatever you buy for towing.  Worst case, you would have to add a hitch extension and get longer safety cables.

My experiences are the same as Ron described above about a riser.   Mind his comments carefully about the length of the safety cables.  If they are too short and you make a turn you may very well damage your towing device.  It will give and the cables will not.    I knoweth of which I speaketh from a sad experience when I first started towing.   

By the way, we love our Trailhawk.   I have driven Jeeps for almost thirty years now (mostly Grand Cherokees) and the Trailhawk is the best handling and performing Jeep we have ever owned. 

Anyone have any experience with a CHEROKEE LATITUDE PLUS 4X4?  It would probably line up to hitch better as Trailhawk requires an offset hitch. 

Any comments welcome.

Ron, although I can't be of any help on your base question (Cherokee Latitude), I'll chime in based on your "Any comments" opening.

You already know my background on the Trailhawk (mine is 2019)--and that, like Ron D., I used an offset hitch to level out the tow bar alignment.  Mine extended the distance exactly 13 inches, and I have found that I appreciate the extra distance although I don't know that I have ever needed the clearance in a tight turn.

For the record, let me echo Paul's (Doneworking) comments on his Trailhawk.  Mine is the first Jeep I've ever used for a daily driver (not counting an old '76 Wagoner that was "third car"), and I have been totally happy in both in-town and over-road driving.  My only complaint is fuel tank capacity--I wish the range between fill-ups (about 340 miles) was another hundred or so--but it's not a deal breaker.  The Trailhawk is a very refined driver, with all the conveniences, that is still absolutely capable of handling significant off-road demands if necessary.  It's not a Wrangler and probably won't go some places that a Wrangler will go, but I've had mine in some terrain that I would never have taken my previous vehicles, and it will go more places than I want to take it.  Mine came in at about $35K, spec'd with exactly the options I wanted--and none that I didn't (the dealer found it one state over and brought it in).

I wish I could be more help on the comparison with the Latitude.  It sounds like that combination may be all you would ever need/use in your application.  If you can maintain the $5K delta--that's nothing to sneeze at.  When debating on a tow vehicle, I decided early on--based largely on information from this forum--that I would go with the Cherokee Trailhawk.  I wanted a 4000 lb max tow that would also be a very comfortable daily driver; the fact that I could get off road without worry was a plus.  I spent a lot of time on dealer websites until I knew pretty much what actual selling prices would be for the options I wanted, then it was pretty simple to tell my dealer what I wanted and what I could pay.

I know you've been working on the toad issue for some time--keep grinding away and you'll nail it down.  Hope someone else can provide more experience with the Latitude.

All the best,          Mike

We debated the Cherokee latitude (not plus) versus Trail Hawk and ended up with the Latitude.  Our model is the "North" version with heated seats and some other goodies.

The Trailhawk is super cool but I'm not sure I see the extra money unless you are going to use the Trailhawk features.  The Cherokee Latitude has been very good so far, mine is a 2017 and its my daily driver as well as our toad.

Just make sure you get the correct transmission that can be put in neutral.

Ultimately "Trailhawk" is just a marketing trim level.  So if you are not going to use the features in the Trailhawk trim then its a waste of money.  But they really do look cool.

Test drove a 2019 Cherokee Trailhawk.  Only 5k miles! Passed on it.
* It is noticeably higher with the seating position tall and comfortable.
* Rattle in front end and passenger side blind side monitor did not work.  Drivers side worked.
* Had the V6 engine.  I thought it lacked good acceleration.  I think the 4 cylinder turbo would be better as it has a lot more torque.   Every time I tried to accelerate from stop or onto freeway it would kick down. It got us there but I didn’t like that it had to kick into lower gear to do it. I actually felt unsafe entering freeway with cars coming as I could not get it up to speed fast enough. I am so used to Ford 2.0 liter turbo and it’s acceleration this one it noticeably slower. The trail hawk is heavier which impacts acceleration.
* Inside smaller that expected.
* Looks awesome.
* Transmission shifted smoothly.  This has been an issue in earlier years.  That is good.
* Tires are off-road and they were noisy at slow speeds.  I hate that.
* Very impressive off road flexibility.  Could go anywhere.
* Some concern with weight to tow. 

Cherokee Trail Hawk probably more vehicle than we need. I can see the draw to this vehicle.  It is very nice.   Latitude Plus with regular tires and 4 cylinder turbo may be better option.  Might try to drive a 4 cylinder turbo next.  I am also looking at Chevy Sonic with 1.4 turbo.  Nice and light and can handle bike and kayak racks. 

Planning a trip soon after I get maintenance work done.  We will probably just rent at destination until we can get a toad.  I like driving the PC 2551 without a toad.  It handles really well for a large RV.

Ron S

I stayed clear of the newer Jeep wranglers because of the V6. I don’t know if the one you drove was the same engine. After reading the never ending pages on the forums of the 3.6 issues and failures I looked elsewhere. I’m not a Chrysler fan to begin with ( sorry not trying to offend those who are) but now that Fiats involved I’m even more reluctant. Fiat has always been a disaster in reliability. Hence why I decided if I’d get a Jeep it would only be with the 4.0 straight 6 known for reliability.  Oh I still have my concerns buying a Chrysler product but I’m sticking my neck out and giving a shot. Also, knowing there are so many jeepers out there I can easily sell it makes me breath a bit easier. I bought a wrangler unicorn as well with the rubicon LJ (2 door unlimited long wheel base) that was only made for 2 years.

I weighed mine at the CAT scale and it came in at 4170 lbs.  Of course I wish it weighed less but I have to say I’ve seen plenty of these being towed by class C’s that are bigger than my PC. I guess only time will tell.