Forum Discussion
Grit_dog
May 03, 2017Navigator III
I'm not the weight cops on here. Far from it. But my reccomendation is that's a bit too much trailer for the Jeep, but for different reasons than most stated.
Would I tow it? Yes, have done as much or more with less. Would I want to do it for many miles/days/mountains/altitude? Nope. And here's why.
Tongue weight, e load tires, wdh, etc. that's all fine and good. Rear axle on the Jeep will handle the stress no problem as well. Hook n go across the flat lands and don't plan on getting anywhere fast with a head wind.
The biggest issue I see is the engine is missing 2 cylinders. Towing a sail shaped brick behind the 6 banger will result in wringing out every last pony that engine has more often than not. That 300hp engine with a less than ideal torque output could be getting close to 200hp and under 200ftlbs within a half days drive of home.
That condition will worsen by about 3 percent for every 1000ft above sea level you drive. You're in the southwest so presumably mountain camping in the summer when it's 100deg in the valley is on he short list for destinations. This will result in higher coolant temps and transmission temps as the torque converter will not lock up near as much as if you has sufficient power to pull and could hold gears longer.
6cyl may not have hd cooling and hd trans cooler, you'd have to look into that as well.
JGCs are big suvs for their classification but are still mid size, as such. Outfitted with the hemi, they'll pull as good as most any full size SUV or half ton truck, but the econo engine is not a towing dream.
Would I tow it? Yes, have done as much or more with less. Would I want to do it for many miles/days/mountains/altitude? Nope. And here's why.
Tongue weight, e load tires, wdh, etc. that's all fine and good. Rear axle on the Jeep will handle the stress no problem as well. Hook n go across the flat lands and don't plan on getting anywhere fast with a head wind.
The biggest issue I see is the engine is missing 2 cylinders. Towing a sail shaped brick behind the 6 banger will result in wringing out every last pony that engine has more often than not. That 300hp engine with a less than ideal torque output could be getting close to 200hp and under 200ftlbs within a half days drive of home.
That condition will worsen by about 3 percent for every 1000ft above sea level you drive. You're in the southwest so presumably mountain camping in the summer when it's 100deg in the valley is on he short list for destinations. This will result in higher coolant temps and transmission temps as the torque converter will not lock up near as much as if you has sufficient power to pull and could hold gears longer.
6cyl may not have hd cooling and hd trans cooler, you'd have to look into that as well.
JGCs are big suvs for their classification but are still mid size, as such. Outfitted with the hemi, they'll pull as good as most any full size SUV or half ton truck, but the econo engine is not a towing dream.
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