Towing 20' camper with Jeep Liberty

naturist wrote:
The OP especially asked for input from folks actually towing with a Libby. I am such a person. Until it dropped a valve at 200,000 miles, I towed a 21 foot overall, 5,000 lb gross weight, 3680 lb dry weight TT with a 2005 Liberty. Mine was the 2.8 liter 4 cylinder diesel, rather than a gas V6. It towed just fine.

I dragged that trailer from Virginia to Seattle, down to LA, then back to Virginia. A couple years later, I dragged that same trailer from Virginia through Denver to Las Vegas, then in a circle around the Grand Canyon back to Vegas, before returning to Virginia.

I can tell you that I found it very helpful to use a WDH and to tow in AWD (aka “full time 4 wheel drive). Those two made it very directionally stable. I understand the OP’s Libby is 2wd, so AWD isn’t an option. I can’t comment on the gas engine, but the diesel did have a tendency to overheat, crossing mountains in the summer, so that even though it had the pull to keep up with traffic, it definitely could have used a much better cooling system.

Most of the time I had a wife and 80 lb dog in the Jeep, too. It had the payload capacity, not a problem.

Like

You will absolutely want to have a WDH. Andersen would be a great fit.

I wouldn't touch that setup without a good weight distributing hitch and sway control. the best sway control you can afford given the short wheelbase of the liberty

I'm putting on an electric brake controller also. I keep hearing about WDH but I don't know if it's needed.

Thanks RollTide. I'll check it out.

mcadaman

Congrats to you on joining the RVing community!!

I remember enjoying this post I think you may as well :

Towing with our 2006 Jeep Liberty CRD (turbodiesel)

Such a difference between my 2015 Tahoe and my 2020 Silverado 1500...long wheelbase equals stability.

Thank you for all the useful knowledge. This small unit is just what we've been looking for. We didn't want a big trailer, just something that we can use for getaway weekends. We're getting older and want to get out of the tent.

950- weight of everyone and everything in the vehicle - weight of hitch.

950
-100 (hitch)
-500 (cargo in jeep, guessing very sorry if im wrong)
=350 lbs of tongue weight.

350/0.13 = 2692 lbs fully loaded.

if I guessed at numbers right id say you don't have enough payload. do the math with your numbers and remember even empty your trailer will be well above its magical dry weight.

Total carg should not exceed 950 lbs.