So would you flat tow w/brake buddy, or trailer?

Thanks for the information..

Many years ago we used to trail guide for jeep jamboree. We started out with a tent and driving the jeep. Then went to a camper and flat towing then finally camper with a car hauler behind it. I loved using the car hauler. We would go out for the weekend and would have to worry about getting the jeep back to camp instead of flat towing or driving it back. So much nicer. You can use the trailer for a deck off the camper as well and have extra storage for things like a full size bbq etc. I suggest buying a car hauler. You can get them pretty cheap down there. I have had a few and never paid more then 2800. You can use the enclosed as well but you would probably prefer a car hauler flat deck. Easy to clean the jeep as well.

Burningman, I think you make some valid points. If I had no concerns about where to park a trailer at the destination, I might be more interested in the trailer. Most of my towing is to non extreme uses of the Samurai. If I had a Jeep or Land Cruiser, I would be more inclined to use a trailer. I question the practically of carrying the same backup parts as I do with my Samurai.

Tongue weight depends where and how you park the Jeep on the trailer, but 800-ish is a good zone for a loaded car trailer.
I like trailers, I don't like flat towing. Flat towing is easier, but harder on the car/Jeep.
In the event of a truck breakdown, just hook the now-empty trailer to the Jeep and have the truck towed.
Loading and unloading from a trailer can be made easy when you have a specific vehicle you will be regularly hauling. You can make up a set of chains that are just the right size and set up some easy-to-reach tiedown hooks on the Jeep.

I tow a 10,000 trailer behind my 12,000 truck/11.5-foot camper combo with no issues, you just need a stout truck and it seems you have one.

Sure it's a little tougher to park at a campsite but how many guys are doing just that with 5th wheel and bumper-pull travel trailers?

dadwolf2 wrote:
What kind of tongue weight is on the trailer for those who trailer a 5,000lb vehicle? I would guess a SuperTruss hitch is required with weight distribution bars.

I have flat towed my Jeep and wheeled in areas like Reddog just posted.

My Jeep on a 7k trailer weighs 6400 lbs. Tongue weight is around 800 probably? I run a Superhitch with truss, no weight distribution hitch.

What kind of tongue weight is on the trailer for those who trailer a 5,000lb vehicle? I would guess a SuperTruss hitch is required with weight distribution bars.

I have flat towed my Jeep and wheeled in areas like Reddog just posted.

Although I have been flat towing over ten years with no problem, I have considered a trailer for the few time I go far from home. I drive my 3000 pound to and through the Rubicon. Only about a 45 minute drive. I do carry spare driveline, axles and a few other parts that could break preventing me from being mobile. I built and have highly modified my Samurai.

I picked up my tow bar used for about $100, and fabricated the mounts. I bought new safety cables and electrical cord. About two years ago I bought a NSA RV Products RB-4000 Receiver Style Ready Brake
and breakaway.

I list this stuff to show it is not cheap, even if you fabricate your own stuff. I have accumulated most of the material for my open flatbed trailer. It will cost about the same as my flat tow setup only because I do my own fabrication work. I do already have a 16 foot flatbed, but it is heavy.

Which do I prefer? It depends where I want to go, and what I want to do when I get there. Fact is, flat tow is my first choice.

Not that I need to beat this dead horse any further, but I flat tow a Geo Tracker (4" lift and 31' tires) behind my 1 ton and 8 1/2 foot Alpenlite camper with no brake buddy. Free wheeling hubs, and a tow bar is all I needed to make this work and I usually travel 200 - 400 miles at a time (its a hunting buggy). The tracker only weighs about 2200 lb.s so I have had no difficulty with a flat tow. For a 4500 lb. jeep, I would definitely go trailer.

jimh425 wrote:

dadwolf2 wrote:
You don't have much confidence in a Jeep Wrangler do you? There is a big range between gravel roads and hard core rock crawling.

I'm not sure why you are asking the question. You seem to be saying the same thing.

Not saying the same thing at all. If all you are going on is gravel roads, you might as well be towing/driving a Honda CRV. The Jeep Wrangler is quite capable of and surviving off-road trails and driving away. I'm a member of 3 different Jeep clubs and we do it all the time. Now, if I was regularly tackling serious rock crawling, a trailer is the way to go. In our three clubs the only people who trailer their Jeep are the heavily modified Jeeps that either aren't street legal or drive so badly on the freeway that they prefer to trailer to the trail head.

Try the easiest and cheapest solution first, which would be the brake buddy and flat tow. With my old (now gone) CJ-8 I tried to flat tow with no aux. brakes. After two near catastrophic experiences I had to find another way. The up armored Scrambler weighed at least 4500 pounds with heavy steel wheels and 37x13.50 tires. In this case the tail wagged the dog if there was nothing in the truck bed. Many of the 'Beater Boys', a quartet of buddies driving ancient iron beaters, used a small, no frills car trailer, so I went with that solution. This is the day (sob) last year when I towed the Jeep off to the new owner:

The trailer would drag bottom crossing some cross washes so i did an SOA. The ramps were very heavy so I left them at home; similar to leaving the TC jacks at home. I welded swing-away crank jacks to the rear to keep from breaking the back of the trailer and used the 130:1 low/low gear and ARB's/both ends to ooze off the back (actually 142:1 in reverse) and to get back up.


I searched a long time to find the lightest trailer. It weighed 1100 pounds, actually fairly light for a wood deck, 7K pound capy car trailer. Notice in the pic above, the trailer is the same length as the jeep: 14 feet, and the track width is a narrower version commensurate with the truck.For me, this was the best solution.
The worst solution was having to rent a U-Haul trailer when my rear Dana 60 axle self destructed on the freeway some years ago. Flat tow:

The U-haul weighed 2500 pounds and was a dog to tow. Bullet and idiot proof- yes.

jefe