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towing my lifted xj with my stock xj?????

9

91cherokee

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Easton, PA
i am planing on buying a 16 foot car trailer and i wanted to know if anyone is doing this already. i would be towing it with my stock 93 5 speed. is this going to work???
 
pulling it is nothing to worry about. it's stopping that might give you trouble. if the trailor has brakes of some sort you will be fine. I'm sure someone here will be able to explain the different types of trailor brakes.
 
My opinion is that it's not a good idea. The load will be over the factory rated tow capacity, especially with the 5 spd and 3.07 gears. The stock XJ brakes aren't very big, so if you decide to do it you definitely need trailer brakes.

I think the highest trailer tow rating for an XJ is 5000 lb, and that's with an auto and 3.55 gears. I think the 5 spd is rated at 3500 lb. With the equipment you have on your rig, if it's like most of us, it weighs from 4200 to 4600 lb. With a 1500 lb trailer that brings you into the 6000 lb range.

In a pinch it will get the job done, but it's over capacity.
 
I agree with Goatman. Not a good idea. Any trailer over 1000 pounds (2000 max) should have trailer brakes, but aside from that when you put a lifted, probably armored, loaded trail rig on a car trailer, the trailer outweighs the tow vehicle. That's bad enough. Then there's the relatively short wheelbase of the XJ. Short wheelbase vehicles get pushed around a lot more when the trailer gets hit with cross winds.

If this were a one-time tow, for a short distance in an emergency, I'd say go ahead. But it sounds like your thinking of doing this on a regular basis. If that's the case, I definitely don't recommend it.
 
Man I just told him this n JU a couple of hours ago...I guess if its not what you wnat ot hear go ask someone til you do....Ive tried it....in an emergency...very bad idea...too heavy....flat tow ok....car dolly ok....trailer tooo darn heavy! Yjou wont be able to climb hills on the highway and in town forget about it.

Listen to Goatman, and Eagle
 
I agree with them on the fact of having the 5sp...if it were auto I would say go for it have done it several times with my 01 and no problems...I have a 16 ft car hauler with brakes...Only thing I would do for sure would be get a load equalizeing hitch does wonders for towing....
 
Why are vehicles with manual trannies rated lower when towing? Getting moving might be a bit more taxing on the clutch, but when going downhill, you can downshift and not have to keep on braking and braking...
 
Hey man I tow with an 01 GMC 2500 HD and when your cruising down the hwy 70, 75 MPH and you hit good winds it still sucks! I couldnt imagin towing my XJ, with an XJ. mine is 4,456 LB's there is now way a 4.0L has enough power to pull large hills !!
 
Mikel said:
Why are vehicles with manual trannies rated lower when towing? Getting moving might be a bit more taxing on the clutch, but when going downhill, you can downshift and not have to keep on braking and braking...
Click to expand...

Not every vehicle with a stick trans has a tow rating less than one with an automatic. One ton diesel pickups are available with sticks, and most big rigs have maual trannies. They have clutches that are heavy enough to handle the big loads, and they are geared properly.

The XJ clutch, and most other clutches in light duty applications, are not what you'd call heavy duty. Most important in an XJ, the 3.07 gears are very inadequate to move heavy loads, and will put strain on the clutch and the motor. Automatics don't have a clutch to be concerned with, plus the torque converter multiplies the torque to do a better job of getting the load moving. Oh, and you can also downshift an automatic transmission. :)
 
While not a 5 speed I did tow one XJ with another. The trailer I used had inertia activated brakes though (U-Haul) and I really had no problems at all. Thats with 33" tires and 3.55 gears. The trailer alone weighed over 2000lbs. I did this for a few thousand miles in the rain and sleet up and down high elevation.

My bro towed his 75 Olds with an extra 455 block throw in the trunk with my 86 5-speed XJ for a few hundered miles using a U-haul tow dolly and he also had no probs..that was with stock wheels and 4.10 gears. Course, with that 2.8 everyone behind him when climbing was really disliking him :)

From experience I had no problems but YRMV.

XJguy
 
I also wouldn't suggest it. Like FLXN said, I also tow with a 02 ford F350 with a v10 and 3.73 gears. And in high winds and large hills, it taxes the truck and engine with the trailer. Too much weight.... Pick up a econo tow rig with a 460 and some size or something.
 
I too have trailered XJ with an XJ. It was rough on the 92 auto XJ to tow a uhaul with a trail 86 XJ on it. The brakes on the trailer worked great. Acceleration was slow, but once it got moving was ok. Up hills were taxing to say the least, and engine temp was on the close-to-I dont want to do this anymore side. The 92 has aux trans cooler and extra large cooling fan, but it wasnt enough. I did remove the grill guard and fog lights to get max air flow into the rad. It was unstable on cross winds and when an 18 wheeler would pass me, they did all the time. My max tow speed was 70 for my whole trip, gas mileage was out the window. I trailer-towed from S. Fla. to Murphy, and Ky and Ark. So I had my experiences with it. I too would recommend a larger tow vehicle.
 
The last trip towing was with my 2.5 4 cly 4 speed MJ towing an XJ back from Boulder CO to Flagstaff AZ, I used a tow dolly and made sure that I stayed in the power range my MJ has 4.10 gears...it went ok averaged around 55 mph but climbimg out of Albuquerque was trouble....this is the third XJ Ive towed with the4 cyl MJ and I gotta say it does 10 times better than my 4.0 XJ ever did.....the 4 cyl has much better low end grunt
 
BUMP

ok so im planning on building a 2 seater XJ tube buggy and i just bought a 1200lb car hauler and the buggy should be 3000lbs so 5000lbs with gear.

i have 8" of lift and 5.13 gears and the trailer is a dual axle and will have trailer brakes when i start towing. I also have an aw4 with the 4.0.

ive seen it done on here but is this relativly safe?i have 4wheel 1/2ton disc brakes on the XJ already and i will be putting bigger brakes on the trailer(im getting bigger brakes than recommended)
would this be a good set up?
 
Holy old thread batman!


No. With 8" of lift, your center of gravity is WAY TOO HIGH to put that kind of weight on the rear of the rig.

I have an offroad trailer that weighs about 500 pounds, and I load it with about 600 pounds of gear. Towing it with XJ's that have ~3.5" lift and 32's, I can forget its there. Towing it behind MY xj, with 6.5" lift and 35's, its 55 mph and takes all of my attention.
 
cal said:
Holy old thread batman!


No. With 8" of lift, your center of gravity is WAY TOO HIGH to put that kind of weight on the rear of the rig.

I have an offroad trailer that weighs about 500 pounds, and I load it with about 600 pounds of gear. Towing it with XJ's that have ~3.5" lift and 32's, I can forget its there. Towing it behind MY xj, with 6.5" lift and 35's, its 55 mph and takes all of my attention.
Click to expand...


well i already towed a totaled nissan Hardbody with it and the trailer had NO trailer brakes:explosion that was a one time thing. and at 60 it did fine and never knew it was there. even brakeing on a flat surface it did good.

but i know my COG is high but what would that cause? making turns im slow and going in a straight line the COG doesnt do much...I towed the truck 40 miles and stopping going down hill wasnt nice. then again i had no trailer brakes yet.

but my main question now is what would the COG do?
 
Try and make any kind of high speed evasive action, or have the trailer start fishtailing on you going down hill. You will see quickly that the trailer will push you around like a gradeschool bully.


It will not be safe, and it was foolish of you to try it once already.
 
cal said:
Try and make any kind of high speed evasive action, or have the trailer start fishtailing on you going down hill. You will see quickly that the trailer will push you around like a gradeschool bully.


It will not be safe, and it was foolish of you to try it once already.
Click to expand...


hmmm maybe lower the XJ and 35"s. lower COG and more pulling with the 5.13s
 
If you were to say like 4.5" and 35's, I probably wouldnt argue with you.

I still think a lifted xj is not the best tow rig, but it would be getting closer to the safe zone.
 
Okay, since this thread has been revived, I'll axe a question...:)

I have a 97 XJ Auto with 5.5" lift, 33's and 4:56 gears, banks header, 62mm TB, TB spacer, K&N Cold air intake and flowmaster exaust.

I will be towing a 17' hybrid travel trailer (Trail lite c17)

I have trailer brakes, and load distribution bars, and will be installing a tranny cooler this weekend.

I've towed it about 20 km's as a small test and it seemed fine...dropped to 80 km/h on a fairly big hill. Not too bad IMO.

Here's my question: I've read that you shouldn't tow in OD, but if I were to drop it into 3rd, it would scream like a little beotch. What's your opinions?

Smurf

Our%20new%20trailer.JPG
 
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