Towing Question

So I have a 1994 Cherokee Country 4x4. I live in the Bay Area (CA) and need to tow a trailer up to my moms house near the Or border. My mom wants to rent a trailer (6x12 ( http://uhual.com/guide/?equipment=trailer6x12 )) but I don't know if I'd be able to tow it for a few reasons:

First off the thing says it requires: Must weigh at least 3,500 lbs. (curb weight)
I thought these weighed right around 3,000lbs or so, so that right there makes me wonder if it could or not.


Secondly it's pretty heavy:
# Max load: 2,600 lbs.
# Gross vehicle weight: 4,400 lbs. max
# Empty weight: 1,800 lbs.

How much can we tow to begin with? I rather not use my vehicle for this but my dad wont let us borrow his F350 T/D, and then my other vehicle (the most powerful of the bunch isn't a towing vehicle... damn sports cars!) so then the cherokee is the next in line for most powerful.

Has anyone had any experince towing these? How much does it work the jeep? Apparently there isn't much HEAVY stuff going in it, just a lot of bulky items that wont fit anywhere else (kitchen table / chairs etc).

I recently hauled a UHaul 6x12 around 450 miles iwth my 2001 XJ 4x4 4.0l auto. I had no problems hauling it, besides a few issues with it swaying side to side at around 60 MPH, but that was probably my fault. The trailer has Surge brakes, and stopping it isnt really as bad as you would think. I had the trailer COMPLETLEY full of stuff exactly like you're going to load it with. I was moving into college, so it had 2 beds, 4 dressers, blah blah blah. Plus, the inside of my jeep had many heavy things as well, 3 TV's computers, blah blah.

In short, you can tow it without much trouble. Keep in mind that when I towed it, i was on flat level ground the entire way (almost). I also did a general tune up, transmission fluid change, the works.

PS: You have a Class III hitch, auto tranny, and Transmission cooler...right? If so, then I'd say don't worry too much about towing the trailer, otherwise, get another vehicle

Yes I have a Class III Hitch, Autotransmission, with the stock transmission cooler and B&M SuperTransmission cooler. I also have a new radiator, thermostat / thermostat housing, and waterpump.

I will be traveling mostly on flat ground, but not completely.

The only U-Haul stuff I've ever towed was one of their open trailers for motorcycles, I had my trike and a fridge on it with some other stuff and it towed great, I've also towed a good sized travel trailer and an S10 Blazer and it tows great for the size truck it is. Mine's a 90 with a 4.0 & a 5spd and class IV hitch, the previous owner of mine added a 3" lift in the rear to help with sag while towing so it sits level.

If you've got an automatic I suggest while towing that you drive w/o overdrive and in 3 (I think it is) on the shifter and not regular 'D'

Hope this helps

The XJ with automatic, external tranny cooler, and class 3 hitch is rated to tow 5,000 pounds ... IF also equipped with trailer brakes and a load-equalizing hitch.

Zoro is correct -- tow with the tranny in 3 and don't push the speed.

I pulled a 5x10 from Fort Collins to Los Angeles fully loaded. I don't know how much it weighed but it was full with my crap. I have 5sp and didn't have any problems. Also, I have the pukenjoe tranny. :gag:

I tow my 3200# boat, hunting gear, and buddies with my XJ no problem (also in the Bay Area). As a side note, I towed all that stuff in 96* weather from San Mateo to Lake Almanor last year without incident. Trailer surge brakes should be required if you're going to load that trailer up.

if your XJ is set up with the proper equipment you shouldnt have a problem towing that weight. however, you may run into some problems with the Uhaul store itself. last time i rented a trailer i needed a wheel-dolly to tow another XJ home. the guy behind the counter gave me a hard time regarding my XJs GVWR and was telling me his "books" said i can only tow 2000# with my 99 4.0L, aw4 even though i had a tranny cooler. there was even a place on the rental form regarding what vehicle i would be towing. so i did the right thing and told him it was a toyota tercel. :gag:

he was a prick about it and was palying the know-it-all game with me. i guess it depends on the person filling in the paperwork on how throughly they read the forms and how they interpret it.

sidriptide said:

if your XJ is set up with the proper equipment you shouldnt have a problem towing that weight. however, you may run into some problems with the Uhaul store itself. last time i rented a trailer i needed a wheel-dolly to tow another XJ home. the guy behind the counter gave me a hard time regarding my XJs GVWR and was telling me his "books" said i can only tow 2000# with my 99 4.0L, aw4 even though i had a tranny cooler. there was even a place on the rental form regarding what vehicle i would be towing. so i did the right thing and told him it was a toyota tercel. :gag:

he was a prick about it and was palying the know-it-all game with me. i guess it depends on the person filling in the paperwork on how throughly they read the forms and how they interpret it.

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With Uhaul it REALLY depends on who's behind the counter, when I rented a bike trailer from them they asked no questions but when I brought it back(to a different one) the guy wouldn't take it so I went to yet another one where they really coulda cared less.

The only problem I had with the trailer of that size is they wouldn't let me have it with an XJ. They would with a ZJ. That's what I told them it was when I picked the trailer up. They didn't know the difference. Towed with no problems. JIM.

I pulled the 8x10 i think from uhaul not th ebiggest one but the next smalles dual axle and had no probs.

The trailer was stuffed full and so was the interior of the jeep.

Everything went very smoothly, I just made sure that there was plenty of stopping dist on the hwy.

6cylinder, manual trans '91