Towing with a jk?

In reply to Tom s. Not really. I am definitely not willing to have a less safe tow rig than I have now and I have no intentions of taking the rig to any serious off road parks. I'd honestly be content with what I have except that the front end design on my current rig won't allow for a selectable locker (aluminum diff) or sway bar disconnects (bar bolted to lower a arm). Neither of these mods would disturb on street driving or towing (diff left unlocked and sway bar connected) but would drastically improve its ability to get out of trouble on mountain trails (diff locked and suspension free from sway bar restraint). I asked about the JK specifically because the rubicon seemed to possess a lot of the same characteristics my current tow rig has like power, brake size, and wheelbase but it had a drastically lower tow rating which didn't make so much sense to me.

Perhaps I should rephrase the question so people can quit worrying about their safety. What truck with a roughly 120 inch wheelbase, 250hp/ 300ftlb, 4 wheel drive with either a solid front axel or detachable sway bar IFS, 4500lb or 5000 lb tow rating, 32" tire capability minimum, good aftermarket, capable of parking on a 6'3" tall parking deck, seating for 4 and less than $28k for a GOOD running example is out there?

In reply to

Good to know. It seemed like they would be better given the rotor size. Definitely not 1 ton better.... But 1/2 ton better at least.

I've mourned for a long time that the JK doesn't have a higher tow rating. My DD is an F150 (Screw with 6.5' bed) because it can tow my trailer 4-5 times per year. It's a great truck but if a JK could do the same job, I'd love to have one. I'm a Jeep guy at heart (former XJ and CJ5 owner).

It gets even more tempting when the 3.0L Ecodiesel makes its way into the JK.

My 18' open trailer weighs roughly 2100 lbs, my Miata say 2300 lbs, plus maybe 300 lbs for tools. So that's 4700-5000 lbs. That's still significantly over the 3500 lb tow rating of the JK.

My drive to VIR is pretty easy. I'm overly cautious and don't speed. Yet, it's the other people you have to worry about. On my drive home from the track a few weeks ago, 3 different times people pulled out in front of me at the last second. Had to hammer on the brakes. F150 didn't flinch. Not sure I'd be as confident in a lesser tow vehicle. It's in that moment you appreciate a competent tow rig (and trailer brakes... and good tow straps).

I know its potentially a bad idea but its an awesome offroader, land/range rover? Decent models can be found well under your price range and they are v8 and happen to be one of the most capable offroad vehicles ever built. Be weary of the common problems ie headgaskets, dropped liners on certain models and other british quirks.

So I was searching to see what the curb weight is on a 4dr JK. It's 4,200 lbs fyi. (There's danger when the towed rig weighs more than the towing vehicle).

Interestingly though, the Jeep spec brochure shows a 4door JK towing an old CJ5 on an open trailer (see page 7 in link below). A little internet searching shows most of the early CJ5's having a curb weight of 2200-2500 lbs. (Miata territory). Food for thought.

https://www.jeep.com/assets/pdf/wrangler_specs.pdf

bigmackloud wrote: A little internet searching shows most of the early CJ5's having a curb weight of 2200-2500 lbs. (Miata territory). Food for thought. https://www.jeep.com/assets/pdf/wrangler_specs.pdf

Im pretty sure a cj5 is more like 3500lbs. Or more..

I'm probably in the 3700 pound range with my e30 and trailer. Car weighs in around 2700. Never weighed the trailer so it's a guess. But It is way lighter than a uhaul unit so I'm guessing about 800? Current truck is about 4400 lbs according to the scrap steel yard scales.

The CJ5's gained weight as the years went by, so it does vary. But most reports of the early CJ5's show in the 2500# range.

http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/showthread.php?35969-JEEP-Weight

itsarebuild wrote: Never weighed the trailer so it's a guess. But It is way lighter than a uhaul unit so I'm guessing about 800?

What kind of trailer do you have? You might be surprised at what it weighs. He's a link to your typical 16' dual axle steel trailer with wood floors... 2200 lbs.

http://www.southag.com/Trailers/7000%20GVWR%20Utility.htm

In addition to all of the already really good reasons mentioned on why not to tow a real load with a JK, I'll add in roll steer. Those berkeleyers roll steer like nothing else I've ever driven. Bad enough unloaded, but add in a trailer and an off road suspension and it's a jack-knife waiting to happen.

Of course, you already mentioned towing with a Durango and I also think that's a bad idea. Not as bad as a JK, but bad.

My tolerance for pushing the limits of tow vehicles went way down about the time I was facing the wrong way in the middle of 5 lanes of I85 looking at the 18 wheeler lock all 18 down trying not to turn me into a spot on his windshield after a car trailer turned me and the Explorer I was driving.

I think I'm way under 2200. Like I said the difference between mine and a uhaul is like halvesies. But I'm possibly much more than 800 too. I would be curious to know. Maybe I need to use that trailer next time I haul off a load of scrap.

In reply to chiodos:

Seems like they fall into 2 categories. The ones that are under $28k have shorter wheelbases than 120 inches. Seemingly by a bit. The longer ones are much newer and meet most of the criteria but start at $82k.

Info isn't as easy to find on these so if I missed something please tell me.

In reply to DILYSI Dave: I can certainly understand that.

Man, this thread blew up. Saying something is rated for a low weight and saying it actually tows poorly are very different things, thus my earlier post.

The JK doesnt have a short wheelbase, doesn't have almost no weight on the rear end, and isn't super light, unlike some other things people around here think are perfectly good tow vehicles. It also has a fairly short distance between the rear axle and the tow ball, which is nice. Aside from issues of wanting to go fast, it's probably a way better tow vehicle than most of the ones i've ever used. I'd certainly take a new JK over a 1979 ANYTHING. I'd probably take it over the current 01 360 Ram just by dint of it having ABS and stability control.

My experience has told me that I myself could almost certainly tow a small car on a trailer with a JK with absolutely no issues. But i also do all sorts of things right that other driver's cant seem to get straight, so maybe i am just the driving equivalent of a very effective turd polisher and the jk is an absolute death trap in the hands of normals.

Buy a Jk and set it up for off road. When you need a tow rig for the six weekends just rent a dually truck to tow your trailer. You can still use the jk for light towing.

DatsunS130 wrote: Buy a Jk and set it up for off road. When you need a tow rig for the six weekends just rent a dually truck to tow your trailer. You can still use the jk for light towing.

i think you might be one of the very few who read every part of the post...... i don't know if i can afford that solution, but it does check off all the boxes!

In reply to itsarebuild: Aussiemg rented a dually as his tow rig for the $2013 challenge. He had it fully insured and I'm sure had worry free towing. Between registration, insurance and maintenance you'll end up paying more for a dedicated tow rig.

who did he go with. looking at enterprise they won't allow towing on a non business rental and hertz was almost $300 a day with no equipment for trailer brakes.

I'm not sure. I want to say enterprise.

What about lowes/home depot? Some have trucks and vans of all sizes

In reply to chides:

don't they rent by the hour? The HD and lowes where i shop charge about $19 for each of those hours and they don't allow reservations. i know they have hitches for rental equipment but i don't know if those trailers have brakes or 7 way plugs.

Rupert wrote: How many hours are you spending off road? How much towing are you planning on doing? How important is your life or that of those you love? How much do you want to keep your home and/or garage and vehicles? Maybe a good Tow vehicle that can occasionally go off road? Or a off-road motorcycle and a good tow vehicle? It seems either one would be a better real world compromise. And no you won't get liability insurance coverage or at least claim payment for any over gross rated trailer related accident. Yes there's a very good chance you'll need it.

Very dramatic, I never realized if you tow with a JK that you are almost guaranteed to die, your family will die, you will lose your home, and have a high probability that your insurance company won't cover you in an accident. Sorry if it makes me a shiny happy person, but I don't think the drama is necessary to answer the OP question.

I wasn't keeping track, but it seems like there are a lot of opinions but only a few that cite real world experience.

I haven't used a JK to tow, but would suggest a couple things that don't require me to have any experience with them.

Spend $20 and get the trailer and car weighed at a truck scale so you know what the load you need to tow is rather than guessing. If you can, go to one that provides axle weights and not just gross.

Investigate the options for sway control and weight distribution hitches.

If your trailer doesn't have brakes, look into the cost to add them, or convert to electric if you currently have surge brakes.

If you get through that and still want to tow with a JK, find one to try with your trailer. Or push hard to make test driving one with the max tow package and your trailer hooked up to it part of the deal. It may be the last thing you do before taking delivery, but if someone want to close the deal they will find a way to make it happen.

FJ Cruiser is rated at 4700 lbs. I haven't towed with my (because it's my wife's and I have a truck) but I really really like it as a vehicle.
Might be an option.

Look at the ratings for the same spec overseas. My experience is that ratings are very conservative in the states (lawyers).

IIRC same jeep down under is rated 5k

You will not be denied insurance coverage for towing more than capacity, in fact, the thing insurance is for is to pay when you are negligent and bad things happen. We in the business often say that we pay for stupidity.