Towing with a van, or...?

OK, I have got past the idea of towing a trail-rig XJ with either another XJ or MJ...just too unsafe IMHO for other than very short distances in an emergency.

How would a LWB 1-ton van with SB V8 do? (better or worse than similar GVW pickup?) seems vans have a lot lower resale than pickups...Also considering a cube-van (1-ton with DRW) and convert the box into a camper/shop. These sell faitly cheap too.

Another option would be a cab-over med-duty (like an Isuzu) with 4 cyl diesel...

The plus with cargo and cube-vans is that they often have pretty low gears and HD brakes, cooling, susp...

The trailer would be a 16' or 18', dual axles with brakes, toting the XJ and gear (maybe 6000# total weight incl trailer?)

I can't see why it would be bad in any way. I like the idea of a 1 ton box like a ryder or u-haul. I know the ryders that were ford e seires had 460s in them and had some good grunt for towing. Another cool optyion would be a 1 ton ambulance they cam with all the goodies such as great AC and heavy duty evrything. and all the compartments for parts and supplys.

Everything you mentioned sounds reasonable,except the Isuzu cab-over. Those things are monster turds! We had one at a stereo shop I worked at and the unloaded top speed was 65 MPH downhill with a good 1 mile straightaway to get going :looser: !! Plus,if the turbo goes out,you're cheaper to go out and buy a whole other used engine with turbo attached,and having the turbo taken off and installed on the old engine than buying a new turbo with installation labor tacked on. Ask me how I know

You might want to check on what's legal to tow in your state. Many states require brakes on anything towed that weighs over 2000 pounds.

I think you are underestimating the weight of the towed vehicle package. Curb weight for a 2000 XJ with auto was 3386 pounds. Add in the weight of armoring, bumpers, tools and equipment stowed in the Jeep and I'm sure you'll top 4000 pounds. Unless you get an aluminum chassis, I seriously doubt you'll find a 16' or 18' dual axle trailer that weighs under 2000 pounds. IIRC, when I looked into it the aluminum trailer I wanted weighed in at around 1800 -- but that was awhile ago, and the ol' memory ain't what it used to was.

Woody,

I have a 90 Ford Extended Van with a 460 and E40D Tranny. I used to tow a 28 ft Toybox that fit my jeep, close to 10K lbs full of jeep, water and stuff. I also have 4.11's, Banks Powerpack and Tranny box plus additional tranny coolers and a temp gauge.

With that out of the way, I would advise you not to buy any truck that runs an E40D from 90 or 91. I've had this tranny rebuilt after crapping out on a long uphill tow and the tranny rebuilders told me all about the E40D problems.

I've pulled cars on steel car trailers with and without trailer brakes and the van will stop either way. But get trailer brakes for the obvious reasons.

But in general a Van makes a great tow vehicle.

If you got the bucks, get one of those Class B motorhomes.

Good luck with you decision.

Ray

Woody, last time we went to Tellico, we rented a 10 passenger van and flat towed Red from here in Texas.
The van had a small block and towed fine. I could hardly notice the XJ back there. Nothing like flat towing the CJ with the XJ from VA to TX.
I think a van is a good idea, can also sleep/live in it when ya need to.

The thing I have a problem with flat-towing is if the Jeep were to get demolished... whaddya do then? Scrap it wherever and tote the salvage parts home?

A car-hauler trailer allows one to have a 'plan B' in case of calamity (or a plan C...swap the tow rig and the Jeep if the tow-rig dies LOL) or could tote a buddy's junk home in that case.

I saw a rig that piqued my interest the other day (actually see it every day, twice on my commute, just never connected the dots) it's a CUCV pickup with ambulance body...not a slide-in like the commo box CUCVs- this one had a full box body and DRW axle. The old GM 6.2 was a dawg, but I remember mine in a 1009 Blazer did OK.

Also saw where Chevy is selling 25 & 30 Express Vans with 4WD now...not that a tow-rig really needs 4WD, but neat nonetheless.

Well theres plenty of mods for the 6.2 to actualy make it run. I do like the iidea of a ambulance body i would work great. About 4wd most people don't need it for the towing they do but I can't count the number of times I've had to lock it down to get out of where i was . Last year at paragon when i was there if it hadn't been for my 4x4 dodge I would have had to use my jeep to pull the truck and trailer out of there.

Buy a school bus.

I've always thought a cube van would be cool, I like the ambulance idea tho.

I've flat towed (including trip to tellico behind ford exploder), dolley towed and now trailer tow.... I would not reccommend anything except for a trailer...with trailer brakes to tow with. Also if you tow with anything under a 3/4 chassis you need to use weight distribution, dont buy anything for the rear suspension on the tow rig, just get a 300 dollar weight distribution kit from drawtite or reese.

I will never flat tow or dolly tow again.

As far as trailers, my all metal low boy car trailer hits the scales at 2000 pounds. My jeep fully loaded for the trailer weighs in at 4600 pounds. That's a 6600 pound trailer, that's quite a bit of weight to haul around. Right now I tow with a 99 Dodge Dakota with a 5.2 v8, I put the biggest tranny cooler I could find on the truck, think the cooler is rated for up to 10,000 pounds and could be put on a motorhome. I dont want to overheat a tranny.

Now, my dakota does a very decent job in the midwest. The biggest thing that I run into is the wind as it goes down the back of the cab, gets caught in the bed and then tries to get past the jeep on the trailer. So I'm going to get a cap for mine when I tow and expect the wind problem/annoyance to be greatly dimminish.

Do I want a big block or diesel truck, hell yeah, is it practical for me to drive around town, hell no So I'll use the dakota to tote the jeep around and drive around town until I can justify the diesel.

I think a van would do great, but I want a 4x4 for a tow rig, more than once I've had buddies have to go out on the trail and get close to their Jeep to get it on the trailer to get it home cause the Jeep was just too torn up to even get it out. Plus I've had to put my dakota in 4x4 to get it and the trailer out of a bad spot in a staging or camping area.

mac 'trailer towing, the best plan A' gyvr