Under 2000lbs

My Jeep Liberty is rated to tow 5000 pounds. I've only towed around 2500 lb with it, but it handled that very well.

Great advice, thanks Marquette! I actually quite like the commander but those are a little trickier to come by and the ones that are available are starting to get pretty old.

I can tell you my experience towing with Jeeps of which I have/owned 5 of them. Currently still have 2. A Cherokee and a Grand Cherokee. Both have the 4.0 and with considerably more torque than a Patriot. With the various Jeeps I have towed a 17 ft Crestliner, a 16 ft Lund Rebel, small tent trailer, open cargo trailer and a 6x12 v-front enclosed cargo trailer. All of which at some time taken them on 1000 mile plus trips, Since the Cherokee is boxy and most like a Patriot is shape I'll use it as an example. Towed either boat fairly easily at 60-65 mph and fully loaded with gear they weigh 14-1700 lbs. 8 ft open cargo trailer loaded to about 800 lbs from Minnesota to Colorado last fall and did Ok at 65mph on the freeway and climbed the mountains at 50-55 mph Ok. Our tent trailer had only 1 bed, a dinette and no other amenities and weighed about 700 lbs. Could pull it at 60 mph fairly easily. But then being tired of wet canvas we bought the 6 x 12 enclosed cargo trailer to make a camper out of it. Empty weight from factory 1250 lbs. Loaded about 1800 lbs. Because of the wind resistance 55 mph tops and the 4.0 is working its butt off to do it. Pull at 45 mph all day long no problem. The Cherokee I have has a 3500 lb tow rating. I fully appreciate your love of Jeeps boxy style and and my wife being from Colorado believes the right to own a Jeep is sandwiched somewhere in between the first and second amendments to the Constitution but a tow vehicle they are not. Maybe a V-8 Commander but not a Cherokee, Wrangler, Compass or Patriot. I looked at a 14 ft 1700 lb hard side trailer at the camper show 2 weeks ago that has a dinette, toilet and a counter with a electric hot plate on it. knowing what I know about pulling my 6 x12 trailer I could not pull that 14 ft trailer at 60 mph. Be very careful if you look at molded fiberglass trailers because the weights they list are for very stripped down models that will not have a bathroom or maybe even a refrigerator. Remember good or bad "It's a Jeep thing".

colliehauler wrote:
Another fact is short wheel base vehicles make poor tow vehicles, very unstable. Combine that with not very much power and it makes pulling a camper not much fun.

If your set on a jeep you might look at buying a used low cost truck to pull a family size camper.

A lot of people on the forum have years of experience pulling campers and sometimes come off sounding a little harsh.

I had a 17" Sidekick TT that weighed 1700# that I pulled with a S-10 Blazer. I could pull a Jet Ski no problem, a TT caught to much wind.

Weight is not the only issue when pulling a TT, the frontal area of the camper catches a lot of wind that takes horsepower to overcome.

Very good point, I hadn't really considered the short wheelbase. Thanks for the advice and for being so diplomatic!

manualman wrote:
Would the older Jeep Liberty model meet your looks requirement? If so, I believe that could tow a Casita/Scamp type TT.

If you must have the Patriot, don't buy more than an 8 foot popup camper (basically two double beds, a sink and a dinette). And even that will be a heavy load requiring careful driving.

I'm not one to say "y'all can tow nuthin' without RWD and a frame" but there does come a point at which the wagon needs a bigger horse. The Patriot has a small engine and a short wheelbase. It needs a really small trailer at most. A Coleman Taos popup would fit the bill (no built-in toilet though!).

Yea, Id consider it. I'm not getting anything this moment so I'll see what's available when I'm really looking to buy. A pop up does seem like the only real option with the patriot. Thanks!

Again, thanks for the help! It definstely looks like I'll need to reevaluate my vehicle choice or make some sacrifices on the trailer.

Another fact is short wheel base vehicles make poor tow vehicles, very unstable. Combine that with not very much power and it makes pulling a camper not much fun.

If your set on a jeep you might look at buying a used low cost truck to pull a family size camper.

A lot of people on the forum have years of experience pulling campers and sometimes come off sounding a little harsh.

I had a 17" Sidekick TT that weighed 1700# that I pulled with a S-10 Blazer. I could pull a Jet Ski no problem, a TT caught to much wind.

Weight is not the only issue when pulling a TT, the frontal area of the camper catches a lot of wind that takes horsepower to overcome.

Would the older Jeep Liberty model meet your looks requirement? If so, I believe that could tow a Casita/Scamp type TT.

If you must have the Patriot, don't buy more than an 8 foot popup camper (basically two double beds, a sink and a dinette). And even that will be a heavy load requiring careful driving.

I'm not one to say "y'all can tow nuthin' without RWD and a frame" but there does come a point at which the wagon needs a bigger horse. The Patriot has a small engine and a short wheelbase. It needs a really small trailer at most. A Coleman Taos popup would fit the bill (no built-in toilet though!).

Well I'm very impressed with all the advice, most of if being constructive and very helpful. I'm not rushing out to buy anything this moment, but I definstely have some things to think about! Now, if only jeep would put a better engine in the patriot! Thanks again for the help!

2012Coleman wrote:

old guy wrote:
if you buy a TT that meets your needs for your family, it will more than likely too large for the Jeep to handle.

Old Guy hits the nail on the head. You like a vechile that really is not suited to towing the TT you want/need.

Since you won't compormise on the TV then you will have to compormise on the TT. Look at a small popup on Craigslist or check out Trailmanor - which will most likely be over your budget.

Your posts make you sound like the type who is going to make pulling a large TT with a little Jeep work one way or another no matter what advice you get. Someone will come along and tell you it will be fine - their Grandpa did it for years or similar. so I guess just wait.

I'm glad I'm not going with you. Good luck.

Wow, thanks for that, it was so incredibly helpful. I could say that your post makes you sound like the type who is a bit of dick, but I don't want to judge a person based on a few posts on an RV forum.