anyone towing with a Grand Cherokee Diesel?

[danimal53]

I'm considering a 2014 GC diesel as our new TV, wondering if anyone here has one as a TV. My current TV is a 2010 jeep liberty, which I love and has been sufficient, so the GC diesel is an upgrade of sorts. I don't want to get a bigger truck or SUV, as this will also be a daily driver as well. the family has grown, and it might be time for the TV to grow as well. any input would be great!

[wrenchbender]

Nephew HAD one got rid of it maintaining it got to costly

[avoidcrowds]

I got 18 mpg towing the TrailManor, and 12 mpg towing our 5,600 lb trailer. Not towing, mileage was 28 - 30 mpg.

You can find your payload rating on the door sticker. That is for the specific vehicle, not just a general number. Payload was the biggest factor for me, as I could live with the occasional steep, slow, climb. But, I could not live with only being able to take my wife and myself in the Jeep, with no gear or guest. But, my current trailer is 2,000 lbs heavier than yours, so your tongue wt should be less, allowing more cargo.

[chrispitude]

For bypass filtration in a spin-on form factor, I use these:

http://www.microgreenfilter.com/

I ran these filters on my Jeep Liberty CRD, and the oil was noticeably lighter in color (less particulates) than a regular spin-on. They have a Facebook page and they run promotional offers now and again.

[Theb2b]

danimal53 wrote:
wow I had no idea a 1500 gets that kind of mileage! seems from everything I've read towing with diesel is about 15mpg.

agreed on the jeep over pickup, can fit better in a lot of places. my parking spot for the TT is also a very tricky maneuver that I'm certain pickup would be too big to make.

this will also be my first diesel, what else should I know other than the obvious? is maintenance basically the same?

but the basic takeaway from this subject seems to be that I'm not making a huge mistake, thanks again good forum folks!

Change oil on schedule, with the correct type and weight and use a rated oil filter, I use EcoGuard brand. Don't skimp on the fuel filter, I use Mopar filter, and fuel up from high volume diesel stations. Last thing you want is a bad tank of fuel to fowl up the injectors($$$$$). Finally with a diesel you will find they use an exhaust fluid treatment called DEF, cleaver enough the long name is Diesel Exhaust Fluid. Again buy it high volume stations as it has a shelf life. You can get it at large box stores like Wally World and some auto parts stores, but remember it has a shelf life. With my truck I can get 7 to 10,000 miles from a 8 gallon tank. Finally three letters, GDE, Tune, check it out.

[danimal53]

wow I had no idea a 1500 gets that kind of mileage! seems from everything I've read towing with diesel is about 15mpg.

agreed on the jeep over pickup, can fit better in a lot of places. my parking spot for the TT is also a very tricky maneuver that I'm certain pickup would be too big to make.

this will also be my first diesel, what else should I know other than the obvious? is maintenance basically the same?

but the basic takeaway from this subject seems to be that I'm not making a huge mistake, thanks again good forum folks!

[tdcolby]

I tow a Passport Elite behind my JGC 3.0L CRD and the trailer reminds you that it's there every so often. The lowest mileage I've seen towing was about 15.5 MPG.
That Jeep will take me places the pickups are too big for, so I'm willing to accept any tradeoffs.

[johntinacamping]

We tow a 28 foot Heartland Mallard M28 with a 2011 Grand Cherokee HEMI v8. The trailer is 6,500 to 7,000 pounds loaded for camping (5,900 dry on the manufacturer's sticker). And we purchased the best hitch on the market, the ProPride 3p, which eliminates sway. We made a 1,000 mile round trip this summer down to the beach and back. And we make a lot of trips within 100 miles of home throughout the year. We're very satisfied with our setup.

[Theb2b]

danimal53 wrote:

avoidcrowds wrote:
I towed with a 2014 Jeep GC diesel for 3 years. Had a TrailManor 2417, which was 3,500 lbs, and the height of a popup. Towed like it wasn't back there.

Last spring, we got a full-size trailer, which weighs 5,600 lbs loaded for a week. I knew the trailer was back there. Going up grades over 6% (west side of the Johnson/Eisenhower tunnel on I-70 in Colorado) bogged me down considerably. And, even with WDH with sway control, I never felt stable if there was more than a 10mph wind.

Got rid of the GC, and replaced with an F-150. Works/tows so much better!

But, others are very happy towing their bigger trailers with the GC. I didn't like the way it had to work so hard to go slowly up a steep hill, as we camp in the mountains most of the time.

Also, be aware of your cargo capacity. With the 725 lbs of tongue wt/WDH weight, there was very little left for wife, me, and cargo. Could not take a third adult along without being over the rated capacity of the Jeep (1,060 lbs). Another advantage of the truck.

thanks for the info! our TT is 3500 loaded, but it is full height. The GC diesel will certainly be an upgrade from our Liberty gasser. I'm quite surprised by that payload number, can't seem to get a consistent number on the internet. Even my smaller liberty is rated 1150. But it looks like it depends on trim level as well. I was looking at the Limited, which some sites list as high as 1270. Luckily I'm already very payload conscience with our current smaller TV.

What kind of mileage were you getting? I don't want to get a bigger truck, as mentioned it will be a daily driver, and I'd like to still fit in my garage (older, door is kind of short)

Thanks again for the input!

While I can't quite speak to how your GC will do, I will speak to what my Ram 1500 gets in fuel mileage as it has the same motor, 3.0 liter diesel. Towing a 5600 lbs TT and I am getting ~14 on the flats and empty with just me I have seen 29+. Normally I figure 12 towing and 27 empty, your GC is smaller and less frontal area would think it would do better.

[danimal53]

avoidcrowds wrote:
I towed with a 2014 Jeep GC diesel for 3 years. Had a TrailManor 2417, which was 3,500 lbs, and the height of a popup. Towed like it wasn't back there.

Last spring, we got a full-size trailer, which weighs 5,600 lbs loaded for a week. I knew the trailer was back there. Going up grades over 6% (west side of the Johnson/Eisenhower tunnel on I-70 in Colorado) bogged me down considerably. And, even with WDH with sway control, I never felt stable if there was more than a 10mph wind.

Got rid of the GC, and replaced with an F-150. Works/tows so much better!

But, others are very happy towing their bigger trailers with the GC. I didn't like the way it had to work so hard to go slowly up a steep hill, as we camp in the mountains most of the time.

Also, be aware of your cargo capacity. With the 725 lbs of tongue wt/WDH weight, there was very little left for wife, me, and cargo. Could not take a third adult along without being over the rated capacity of the Jeep (1,060 lbs). Another advantage of the truck.

thanks for the info! our TT is 3500 loaded, but it is full height. The GC diesel will certainly be an upgrade from our Liberty gasser. I'm quite surprised by that payload number, can't seem to get a consistent number on the internet. Even my smaller liberty is rated 1150. But it looks like it depends on trim level as well. I was looking at the Limited, which some sites list as high as 1270. Luckily I'm already very payload conscience with our current smaller TV.

What kind of mileage were you getting? I don't want to get a bigger truck, as mentioned it will be a daily driver, and I'd like to still fit in my garage (older, door is kind of short)

Thanks again for the input!

[avoidcrowds]

I towed with a 2014 Jeep GC diesel for 3 years. Had a TrailManor 2417, which was 3,500 lbs, and the height of a popup. Towed like it wasn't back there.

Last spring, we got a full-size trailer, which weighs 5,600 lbs loaded for a week. I knew the trailer was back there. Going up grades over 6% (west side of the Johnson/Eisenhower tunnel on I-70 in Colorado) bogged me down considerably. And, even with WDH with sway control, I never felt stable if there was more than a 10mph wind.

Got rid of the GC, and replaced with an F-150. Works/tows so much better!

But, others are very happy towing their bigger trailers with the GC. I didn't like the way it had to work so hard to go slowly up a steep hill, as we camp in the mountains most of the time.

Also, be aware of your cargo capacity. With the 725 lbs of tongue wt/WDH weight, there was very little left for wife, me, and cargo. Could not take a third adult along without being over the rated capacity of the Jeep (1,060 lbs). Another advantage of the truck.

[Lwiddis]

What is the payload of the new TV and what are you towing? The Clipper? Not a fan of single axel TTs but you should be fine.