Tow Advice - Will a 2000 Cherokee Survive?

Hello All -

So my Dad and I took the plunge and bought a Spec Miata a couple of weeks ago. We --well, he, since I live in New York-- are prepping the car, and so far so good. But I've kind of had an "oh, yeah, that" moment, namely:

We no longer have a "real" tow vehicle, other than a 100k mile 2000 Cherokee 4.0 with the auto that is my Mom's daily. For the time being we are using a borrowed small open trailer (small as in it won't fit any car larger than an SM), and in the short run, all of our time will be spent at Sebring (about 2 hrs trip), PBIR (1.5 hr trip ) and Homestead (45 min trip).

I've heard different things about how well the auto box stands up to highway towing, one of them being that heat buildup can be a problem, and that tranny coolers can be a big help here. Can anyone offer any insight? The idea would be to use the Cherokee for this season, and next year add a proper tow beater, but I don't want to use the Cherokee if doing so will result in the trans. pooping its pants.

Thanks for your wisdom/thoughts!

I'm not insanely familiar with the auto in the last Cherokees, but you can safely assume that, if you're going past the manufacturers towing limit (4500# IIRC), you will cook that slush box. It helps the FL is flat though...

More importantly, does your trailer have brakes? The older Cherokees I've driven are light in weight and don't have gobs of stopping power. Whatever you find out about the tranny make sure your brakes are sorted out.

The 2000 XJ "should " have the AW4 if it dose just change the fluid every 15K mile to keep it happy , IF you have the 42 trans I might rethink this as that trans is not that great.

And yes make sure the trailer brakes are working or you will torch the brakes.

Other than that the rest of the jeep is almost bullet proof.

Paul B

What gears in the Cherokee? You probably have 3:55 gears w/ auto trans, 3.73s w/ tow package or luckier w/ 4 series gears which would be rare. Higher numerical ratio will take strain off the trans.

Change the fluid and filter add a cooler and you should be good to go. Amsoil ATF works great.

In reply to NY535iManual:

You have the AW4 transmission, actually a pretty stout unit for what it is. Add a big tranny cooler up front, and a temp gauge if you really want to watch it.

You absolutely need trailer brakes on this, otherwise its only a matter of time till you fry your own brake system, or worse, loose control of the whole rig.

XJ brakes are marginal for a stock, unladen Jeep. The only thing you can do to the Jeep itself isn't cost effective. Trailer brakes are pretty much a requirement here.

With an AW4, you'll be fine, especially with a transmission cooler. Make sure your cooling system is up to par, though. The engine cooling system isn't the greatest on earth, either. It's not something that you need to spend a ton of money on, but it needs to be clean and in good working order.

On my '98 the rear brakes never really did much, They never seemed to wear through two sets of fronts.

A little searching revealed that there was one or two years of Cherokee, the first with ABS, that had one size larger rear wheel cylinders. I swapped them in when I did finally do the rear brakes and the result was excellent.

Aside from the brakes and tranny cooler I would also also suggest a weight distributing hitch if you can spring for it. The rear suspension is pretty soft on those and the stability added with the hitch makes those road trips much less white knuckle.

oldopelguy wrote: Aside from the brakes and tranny cooler I would also also suggest a weight distributing hitch if you can spring for it. The rear suspension is pretty soft on those and the stability added with the hitch makes those road trips much less white knuckle.

Very good advice about the WD hitch. Any cherokee I've ever experienced with a trailer has its headlights pointing to the sky, without one.

I did at least 30K towing miles with the E150 towing a 2800lb trailer and whatever I was collecting, including several Challenges and Mittys (a round trip of 2000 miles @ time) with no issues at all with a WD hitch, I swear by them.

Much as i dislike towing with cherokees, i will say this...

That AW4 trans is probably THE best trans ever put in a truck of that size.

I would put a cooler on it and then not worry about it.

yea, add a trans cooler and it ought to be pretty ok about it.

if you can budget it definitely get a weight distributing hitch. we towed an e30 from boston to gainesville with a cherokee using a tow dolly (never again) and when we got back the rear suspension had sagged quite a bit and didnt come back. with a WD hitch it wouldnt have loaded it so badly. just make sure you dont have too much tongue weight.

if you find you want/need springs i highly recommend the quadratec 'HD' stock pair. probably wouldve helped in our situation or if you find the jeep is the primary mover longer than expected.

That was my '99 Jeep XJ we towed the E30 with. We did a fluid flush and tranny cooler before we left as well as new front pads and rotors. I think if I had upgraded the rear leaf springs and installed a WD hitch it would have been much better.

Going with 3.73 or 4.10 gears would certainly make the towing more enjoyable too.

Even this is pushing it on an SUV that only weighs ~3,200lbs...but a SM is very light so you should be fine. Just make sure you have two axles of properly working electric brakes.

On my 2002 Liberty (KJ) I installed air Lifts. Worked great. Getting the hitch weight correct is the important part. I towed a 4000 lb trailer all over the northeast summer and winter with no problems.

Thanks everyone for your input - You've confirmed my thinking on this; Its always nice to have my opinion reinforced!!

NY535iManual wrote: Thanks everyone for your input - You've confirmed my thinking on this; Its always nice to have my opinion reinforced!!

That's good to hear. AW4 is nearly bomb proof, the brakes are garbage and the rear springs prone to sagging. Make sure you have trailer brakes and some sort of spring booster. Air shocks work pretty well and won't change your empty ride characteristics.

AW4 is nearly bomb proof, the brakes are garbage and the rear springs prone to sagging

LOL, im glad somebody agrees with me that cherokee brakes are crap. You NEED trailer brakes.

I really hate these threads.

Somebody always seems to ask, "Can I tow more than my car is rated for" to which the collective (not-so) wisdom always answers, "Sure, just use a trans cooler" (or other such item).

Trailer brakes are required in most states (including FL) for trailers over 3000 lbs (which yours will be). They are NOT designed to assist a vehicle's braking system which is inadequate for the load.

A 12' trailer is the smallest you could ever fit a Miata on. Most 12' open trailers are rated to handle a payload of about 2000 lbs, and weigh about 1000 lbs. They generally do not have brakes. This would not be a good trailer to borrow. You need brakes.

Spec Miata MINIMUM weight is 2365 lbs. Add to that the weight of the trailer, tools, tires, etc.

A trailer (with brakes) plus your Miata will weigh at least 3500 lbs.

A quick Google search showed your car may be be rated to tow 2000 lbs. (unless it has a tow package- then 5000 lbs.). If that's correct, you will be overloaded by over 75%.

If your car is rated to tow 2000 lbs, then you're proposing something dangerous. I really don't care whether your trans lasts, I'm more concerned with the capacities of the vehicle and public safety.

Towing capacities are not based on the transmission's capabilities. They are based on the WEAKEST LINK in the overall design. Brakes, motor, suspension, cooling, trans, gearing, wheelbase, suspension geometry, spring rates, etc. Unless you know who engineered the car, you have no idea what the weakest link is (and it is probably NOT the trans).

No amount of trans cooler or WD hitch is going to fix the problem if you are overloaded by 75%.

Your starting point should be a call to the Jeep dealer (or a trailer sales company) with your VIN to find out the rating of your vehicle. Then make sure you've got working trailer brakes and controller.

THEN go racing.

They are NOT designed to assist a vehicle's braking system which is inadequate for the load.

To be fair, ALL towing vehicle's brakes are inadequate for the load if you look at it a certain way. Take a giant f-350 vs a miata. A miata does 60-0 in ~115 feet with no extra weight behind it. An f-350 does 60-0 in ~170 feet with no extra weight behind it. The bigger the tow vehicle, generally the worse it will stop to BEGIN with, let alone putting a load on it. Adding load may have a smaller effect on a vehicle with bigger brakes, but then again, towing 2000 lbs with a cherokee and no trailer brakes may only make your stopping distance as bad as an unloaded f350.

I think we should just generally acknowledge that towing anything with anything makes you much more likely to run into things in a panic stop, no matter what kinda brakes you have. Bigger brakes and trailer brakes are just making the best of a bad situation, because i dont know of anything towing anything that honestly stops 'adequately'.

SVreX wrote: Trailer brakes are required in most states (including FL) for trailers over 3000 lbs (which yours will be). They are NOT designed to assist a vehicle's braking system which is inadequate for the load.

I'm confused. What are they designed for, then?

(I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm saying I don't understand.)

Let me word it a different way:

If the car is rated to tow 2000 lbs, it is safe to assume the brakes are designed for 2000 lbs. You can't put 4000 lbs. behind a tow vehicle designed for 2000 lbs. and expect the trailer brakes to stop the car.

Car is supposed to stop the trailer. Trailer brakes assist the stop for trailers over 3000 lbs, but car is still capable of performing a stop if trailer brakes fail (albeit in extended distances).

SVreX wrote: I really hate these threads. Somebody always seems to ask, "Can I tow more than my car is rated for" to which the collective (not-so) wisdom always answers, "Sure, just use a trans cooler" (or other such item).

Woah SVreX, relax

In most cases a "tow package" is JUST a trans cooler and slightly higher rear end gearing along with the actual hitch and factory wiring (which most vehicles have anyway).

And in this case, which we are responding directly to, the Jeep XJ's tow package was just a trans cooler and 3.73 vs 3.55 gears. As long as it has the 4.0L and AW4 (which 90% of the XJs on the road have) it can tow at least 3500 lbs. Later XJs (around 96) got a bigger master cylinder and braking was improved greatly. 96+ with the 4.0L and AW4 (with "JUST" a tranny cooler) is rated to tow 5000 lbs. Braking wasn't awesome in my '99 but it was more than safe considering it was a tow dolly...so no trailer brakes.

So no, this guy is NOT towing more than the XJ is rated for. All that said, I will say it again. A light unibody SUV is not a great tow vehicle...but he isn't going to kill himself or endanger SVreX. ;)

Miatame:

I make no claims to know Jeeps. I am sure you know them better than me.

However, there are 2 ratings for a 2000 Cherokee with a 4.0L. 2000 lbs and 5000 lbs. 3500 lbs isn't one of the listed options.

Giving safety advice based on what "90% of the XJ's have" is irresponsible. The OP actually never said what trans his car has. He did not offer enough information to give him good advice.

And while you may be right on the Jeeps (I already confessed my ignorance on them), you are very much mistaken on what a typical "tow package" is. The truth is that is varies according to vehicle, and it is designed to address those "weakest link" issues I previously addressed. The "trans cooler and higher rear end gears" was true on older vehicles. It is not anymore.

Modern vehicle "tow packages" almost always first include adjusting the shift points and firmness. That reduces heat. Without it, a trans cooler may not be sufficient on a modern vehicle. "Tow packages" frequently include increased cooling capacity, trans coolers, bigger alternator, adjusted spring rates, sway bars, or bigger brakes. But they are always designed to address the weakest link.

The OP already defined he expects to tow a trailer, not a dolly. The weight limit REQUIRES trailer brakes (and a controller, and break-away brakes) in almost every state. Since the OP never stated what the weight was of the trailer, nor if it has brakes, this could be significant. We don't know.

I respect that you may be correct that an XJ "tow package" only included a trans cooler and different gearing. But it concerns me when I see factory ratings of 2000 lbs vs 5000 lbs with the tow package- I doubt those 2 mods alone would offer that big a difference. But you may be correct.

I just don't think we should be offering life safety information on the internet without all the facts. It would never stand up in court, and it is irresponsible.

The tow package on my KJ was ,hitch, trailer lighting system with 7 plug connector. Extra cooling fan. Wire up front for the brake controller. No transmission cooler but it did have a temperature warning light. Which never came on.

BTW:

I may not know much about Jeeps, but I know A LOT about towing. I'm sure I've covered over a quarter of a million miles dragging something behind me (of all shapes and sizes).

I've also had 2 towing related incidents, both of which could have been avoided if proper towing guidelines had been observed.

You would be SHOCKED to realize how rapidly a scenario can change which can be disastrous while towing (gust of wind, getting cut off, kid runs in the street, load shifts, etc). Literally in a split second.

It is smart to set things up right in the first place.