Towing with a lifted XJ

Ok I have a 98 XJ with the towing package (tranny cooler, hitch, bigger alt, and what not), 8.25" rear end, 242 T-case, and stock gears. I also tow a 8 foot Pop-Up camper that weighs about 1500-2000 lbs depending on how much stuff we put in it. I am going to be lifting the XJ to use off-road on family outings, the 71 CJ-5 just isn't car seat friendly. I haven't fully decided on 3" or 4.5" of lift. What I am wondering is, is there anything else that I need to consider before I lift the Cherokee. How about the sway bars? Will disconnects work? Can the rear sway bar be removed or should I get disconnects for it as well? Does anyone tow with this type of set up? What are your experiences?

i would leave the sway bars on when towing and i dont know of any company that makes disconnects for the rear sway bar.

the lift depends on what size tires you want to run. bigger tires will affect performance, especially when towing. may want to think about regearing when going with 31's and up.

braking also becomes an issue when towing.

If you leave the rear swaybar on, it will likely cause more problems offroad, than it solves onroad. An 8' camper is tiny, I doubt it'll cause you much problem back there. You might still want to consider a sway control system for it though. Our original camper used to wag like a dog's tail behind my XJ before we got the sway control kit on there. Never did cause any handling problems when it was doing it though -- I wouldn't even know it was doing it until I'd look up in the rear view and saw it acting like NASCAR guys on the track during a caution flag (weaving back and forth).



Gears were 4.56's, tires were 33x12.5" BFG MT's, lift was about 5-6". Trailer was about 17-18' long, weighed about 2600# with our basic camping gear inside and empty water tanks.

Sounds to me like you're already all setup, just make sure to regear properly for whatever sized tires you run. I'd probably get some Performance Friction Carbon Metallic pads for the front brakes, and maybe even look into discs for the rear (I'm still running drums). I can't remember if our popup had trailer brakes or not, I don't think it did...

edit: oh yeah, don't forget the drop hitch.

I towed with my 98XJ a 3Klbs+ trailer and had no problems. At that point I had about 5" of lift in the rear with no rear sway bar.
Your best bet is to go with a good lift (with full leaf packs and not AAL's), with good shocks (adjustable shocks might be a good idea), a trailer brake controler and anti sway setup for the trailer hitch. Of course you should be geared appropriately to the size of tires you're going to run.
HTH

I am going with full leaf packs. And I will get a drop hitch. The lift was actually my wife's idea. The rear springs were starting to sag a little bit so I told her I was going to start looking for some stock springs with maybe some helper springs in there. She said "How much would it cost to lift it?" I said "About the same." So she said "Why don't you lift it then. Then the whole family can go wheeling." I told her how much I love her and started looking at lift kits. I am about to order and just wanted to know if there was more I should look into.

bubba said:

I am going with full leaf packs. And I will get a drop hitch. The lift was actually my wife's idea. The rear springs were starting to sag a little bit so I told her I was going to start looking for some stock springs with maybe some helper springs in there. She said "How much would it cost to lift it?" I said "About the same." So she said "Why don't you lift it then. Then the whole family can go wheeling." I told her how much I love her and started looking at lift kits. I am about to order and just wanted to know if there was more I should look into.

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Ditch the rear sway bar, get (if you don't have it yet)
http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus/index.cfm?skunum=20535&src=SRQZ (if your trailer has brakes)
http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus/index.cfm?skunum=12701&src=SRQZ
http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus/index.cfm?skunum=21927&src=SRQZ
and keep your speed reasonable.

Sounds like you're on the right path. I did the same with mine. 91 Briarwood, ended up regearing to 4.10's with 31's and it does fine on the highway. Rusty's 4.5" leafs died after one trip towing and wheeling... went to the RE 4.5's and they've been on 4 trips now and little permanent sag. Rusty's (edelbrock) shocks. Have front disconnects, no rear bar. ARB in back, open front. I pull a 10' Rockwood pop-up which weighs 1486EW/2339GW. It pulls it ok... you know it's back there, but it's not whuppin' on you going down the road.
My junk: http://www.4play4wheelers.com/pages/11mccn504_jpg.htm

I am lifted on 32s with 4.10 gears and a stroker.

I have towed a 14' popup camper that fully loaded is 3800lbs give or take. It was only for a short distance and the bad brakes of the XJ really hit home. Trailer brakes are a must. Power wasnt really an issue but then again the stroker helps

A drop hitch will be needed otherwise you will drag the trailer going into driveways and such.

As for the rear sway bar, just get some cotter pins. Remove bolt that holds swaybar end link to the bracket on the leaf pack and replace with the cotter pin. Costs maybe $5 at a hardware store.

AARON

Will those air lift leaf spring helper bags restrict articulation too much or are they a good idea since they can be aired up for towing then almost deflated fully when not towing? I saw an article online about someone installing them in a TJ and he seemed to like it.

I tow my 3800# boat and trailer (about 22' total length) with my XJ w/no problems. I have an RE 4.5" lift with AAL rear, factory swaybars are still there (front's have JKS disconnects, but they're connected), etc. I do have surge brakes on the trailer which are a must for me. I did have to go to 4.56 gears to ease up the strain on the tranny and make accelleration bearable. I have rancho 9000x shocks, so I can stiffen them up to account for the extra tounge weight. It's a good combo, but since you're not that heavy or long, try the factory gearing first. I don't think you'll like it at all if you put 32" tires on it with factory gears. Even with 31's, you'll notice the difference in accelleration unloaded.

I tow a 3500 to 4000lb 17ft two axle camper w/breaks. 5" lift no rear sway bar Rancho 9000 turn up setting 3 and Load leveling hitch w/sway control. This set up handles better than my old 2500lb single axle pop-up. I'm running 4:10 and 31s to tow and my only complaint is a lack of power on the mountain passes.

bubba said:

Ok I have a 98 XJ with the towing package (tranny cooler, hitch, bigger alt, and what not), 8.25" rear end, 242 T-case, and stock gears. I also tow a 8 foot Pop-Up camper that weighs about 1500-2000 lbs depending on how much stuff we put in it. I am going to be lifting the XJ to use off-road on family outings, the 71 CJ-5 just isn't car seat friendly. I haven't fully decided on 3" or 4.5" of lift. What I am wondering is, is there anything else that I need to consider before I lift the Cherokee. How about the sway bars? Will disconnects work? Can the rear sway bar be removed or should I get disconnects for it as well? Does anyone tow with this type of set up? What are your experiences?

Click to expand...

I have a '99 with a 4.5" lift, 32s, and 4.56 gears that tows an eight foot pop-up camper. My camper has no brakes, and I have no rear sway bar on the Cherokee. My set-up tows like a dream - but I generally obey the posted speed limits when towing. With the way my trailer is set up, I have a lot of tongue weight (~275 lbs.). The Rusty's 3.5" HD springs handle it okay, but I am thinking about fabbing up an airbag system to keep level.
I never liked how low my trailer was or how much of a drop hitch I needed, so I did a spring-over conversion and beefed up the leafs for a 4" lift. With the taller trailer tires, it really looks good and I get a lot of compliments on it. I have drug it over some pretty hosed up logging "roads" during hunting season with no issues.
A sway control on most pop-ups is overkill (certain Colemans are the exception). Usually pop-ups sway because they have too little tongue weight. Load your camper so that the tongue weighs about 12% or more of the gross weight and I doubt you will experience sway at any speed.
My Jeep is regeared specifically to improve towing performance. When I had 3.55s and 31s, I would often run in third gear in the hills with the camper loaded for a hunting trip. With 32s and 4.56s, I just put it in drive and go - I can actually spin the tires at a stoplight with the camper back there!