IS MY JEEP SAFE TO TOW A CAMPER????

sam22 wrote:

sky_free wrote:
It's interesting to me that there is an engineer that actually worked on development of the vehicle in question who says it should be OK within certain parameters and everyone ignores what he is saying.

I agree with another poster that said you should rent first and try it out. It's a cheap way to validate your decision making process and avoid a costly mistake.

It's also interesting that, from what I read, basically nobody who said "no you can't" seems to own a Jeep GC or did 15 years ago which makes their experience irrelevant. So many people seem to think you can't tow anything unless you have a Ram 3500.

I've got a 2015 GC that is rated for 6200lbs. Last year we bought a 4500lb trailer and towed it for over 12 000km last year across the United States and Canada. A lot of the time towing was easy and great. Going up a huge hill/mountain slowed us down but we made it no problem. Driving into a strong wind sucked, but again we never felt like we wouldn't make it.

We never weighed the trailer when it was loaded up with food and clothes and all that, but I'm guessing it would be about 5500kbs or so. I wouldn't want to go over 6 000lbs but if you can shed a few pounds And ensure your under the max payload I think you'd have no issue towing with the GC.

Since you are the one with experience towing your rig, I would be the last to say that you are wrong, but there are considerations. My parents towed a 4000-5000 lb TT with a '61 Chevy Belair for 2 summers in Montana. That was back in the mid 60's when it was uncommon to see even a half ton PU pulling one. Everyone just used the family sedan or wagon. Not ideal, but if you were careful, you could get away with it. They may have gotten away with it back then, but knowing what I know now, I'd have been all over them about how unsafe that rig was.

My biggest concern with any Jeep is the short wheel base, which makes sway a much bigger potential problem. That is as much of a safety issue as power or payload. I tow a trailer about the same size as yours with an F-150 that's rated at nearly 11,000 lbs. I figure that gives me a significant safety margin. If I was nearing 80%, I'd be looking for a bigger vehicle. I don't like pushing the limits just because the number on paper says it's okay.