Trailer towing gears

I am going to buy our family a travel trailer. It has a weight of 4100lbs/23' hibrid. My XJ will be the mule to tow it with . I have a '96 XJ 2dr/4.0/5spd/ 31" BFG muds/3:07's. This should be a slug wothout changing gears eh? Any tow families out there? Thanks

By the time you add gear and your family it is going to be way to heavy for the XJ. I would find some thing about half that wieght if i were to pull it with the Jeep.
But if your determined to do it go to 3.73 or 4.11 gears and make sure the trailer has its own breaks. Also make sure you have a good clutch.

Hope this helps.

nonnie said:

I am going to buy our family a travel trailer. It has a weight of 4100lbs/23' hibrid. My XJ will be the mule to tow it with . I have a '96 XJ 2dr/4.0/5spd/ 31" BFG muds/3:07's. This should be a slug wothout changing gears eh? Any tow families out there? Thanks

Click to expand...

Your frikin crazy!Dont even try this.You are putting your family plus the rest of us in danger.Im worried about my trip Friday to Ouray,Co with my 2300# pop-up w/ electric brakes.Ive towed up to 10K# locally,plus 5k# 2 years ago(w/ brakes) it sucks!

i tow a 16 foot car trailer with either a car or a small truck on it about twice a week around 50 miles each trip, it sucks and going up hills is real slow but its doable. the tow vehicle is a stock 89 xj 4dr 4x4 4.0 auto, been doing it about 2 months now. that being said im sorry to burst your bubble but i wouldnt tow a 23 foot travel trailer unless i HAD to get it home, one good gust of wind and your gonna be either off the road or in the on coming lane. its not the weight thats gonna be the big problem(most xj's are rated at 5k) its gonna be the length and how much wind it catches. do yourself, your family, and everyone elses family on the road a favor and go buy a 2k$ used pick up truck to tow your trailer.

88rockxj said:

do yourself, your family, and everyone elses family on the road a favor and go buy a 2k$ used pick up truck to tow your trailer.

Click to expand...

Exactly!!!

Thanks for the insight. I've never had a travel trailer before. The pop ups seem too small for a family of three and a couple big dogs. Should I stay in the under 3000lbs hibrid around 17 to 20 feet then? Perhaps a 12' box pop up? hmmm :eyes:

pop up campers are not what they used to be, some newer ones are real nice, big, and even have slide outs lol. if i wanted to take my xj and a trailer for camping a pop up would be what i would be looking at.

heres just one example, there are tons out there google is your friend.

http://www.fleetwoodcampingtrailers.com/model.aspx?sid=5&sn=Highlander&mid=33&mn=Avalon

My pop up is rated at 2K GVRW--I'm sure it's more with all the camping stuff loaded. It is fine for three/four people and a dog. I'm running 4.56s w/33s and it pulls OK--I pull in 3rd at 55 on the interstate. On back roads/hills, I need 2nd gear at times.

Do be aware that the 5K tow rating is only for automatics--5 speed is much lower.

Stopping is probably more of an issue--with my marginal breaks, I plan FAR ahead and keep the speed down to 45 or less on back roads and 55 on the highway. I plan to fit some trailer brakes in the future to help.

If you're lifted, you'll need a drop hitch--you don't want a hitch-high situation as it will take weight off the hitch and increase the chance of trailer sway. Here's my setup:

Don't even think about 31s with 3.07s and a 5spd to begin with, let alone a 4k lb. trailer. And if it's a full height travel trailer, with the wind load, it'll behave more like a 5k trailer.

At a minimum, go 4.10 gears, maybe 4.56s.

You *WILL* absolutely, positively need brakes on that trailer.

No matter what you do, if you tow that much trailer with an XJ, it'll be marginal at best.

Really, I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to go over 3-3500 lbs if you have a 5-spd. Any more weight and Jeep recommends the AW4 (at least on my '98).

The 5spd is rated at less than 3k and the auto at 5k.
I do/have done some heavy towing in my 2k XJ and it's hard & stressful.
I sometimes need to treat my XJ as a 3/4 ton truck 3-6 times a year. Before the stroker (not installed for towing reasons) I installed a set of airlift airbags, fan cooled trans/oil cooler, brake controller and 4wd disc. I use/d a weight distribution hitch, well worth the money.
To my point. With a 5spd it's bad news. Your clutch is gone unless it only local that your going.
From what I noticed on vehicles I've owned, man. trans towing is half of the equal auto trans rating.
HTH