Tow Capacity Confusion

Hey All,

I'm a little confused about the tow rating of the Cherokee (mine is a 2001 Sport, still stock, 4.0 w/ auto trans).

I've seen it listed as 2500lb with a stick, 5000lb with an auto. My trailer hitch (factory reese?) says 3500lb or 5000lb with load leveling hitch. Kinda wish I had a manual to the Jeep...

Anyway, what is the official tow rating on a 4.0/auto XJ?

I need to rent a car trailer from U-Haul. I'm towing a 4 door Sidekick to Fredericton from Ottawa (~1200km) and will be returning with a CJ3A.

Is the XJ up to this task? U-Haul says there double axle trailer is 2100 lbs unloaded. I figure the Sidekick and CJ3A are about 2500-2700lbs each.

Am I nuts to want to tow that much with a Cherokee? Should I get a class III hitch installed on my tired, old Chev C1500 pickup? It's got a fresh engine but...not much else.

Any help or experience appreciated.

r@m

5,000 lbs. Do you have the tow package? If not, you really should add a heavy duty transmission cooler. Personally, I'd tow it with the pickup if I had one, but the Jeep will manage if you add the tranny cooler.

My trailer hitch (factory reese?) says 3500lb or 5000lb with load leveling hitch.

That's the rating for the hitch, not the truck.

Careful what you tell u-haul you are going to tow it with they may not rent it to you.

jeepguy97 said:

Careful what you tell u-haul you are going to tow it with they may not rent it to you.

Click to expand...

They won't rent you anything without knowing what is involved - at least around here. If you have problems and have to make a claim you'd be SOL I'd guess if you didn't tell them what you were doing at the beginning.

r@m

5000lbs but the tranny cooler is a must unless you are towing across flatlands. I think the rating diff between the 5 speed and auto is because so many people can't drive a stick right let alone know how to work a clutch with a load in back of the vehicle, theyd be replacing clutches left and right...
Saw a silver XJ limited yesterday towing a 25 or 30ft Grady White on the PA turnpike, reminded me of one of those airplane tow trucks pulling an airbus... but he was doing 60 up the north east extension headed towards the tunnels under blue mountain. Was behind him for a couple of miles admiring those big twin Yamaha's and drooling, the boat seemed very steady, it was also a 3 axle trailer so that might help some.
You might want to put a load leveling air bag kit in there for that tow.

The issue isn't power to move the load, the issue is stopping it. Stock XJ brakes aren't up to stopping much more than the XJ. You must have brakes on the trailer if you intend to pull much of a load. I pulled a 3500 lb boat and trailer around in the mountains- I wouldn't want much more than that, the jeep is too light and gets pushed around. If you ever overcook a corner, even slightly, it can get tense real quick.
Towing package equipment for my year included synthetic lube in the rear axle (keeps temperature and wear down), two-core radiator, heavier alternator, and transmission cooler in addition to the hitch and wiring.

I have a stock '96 2wd 4.0L AW4 with the factory tow package, including the trans cooler. U-Haul would not rent me a trailer to tow a car. I use a flatbed trailer to tow my '68 Mustang. Trailer and car weigh about 4,600 or so. I haven't actually weighed it.

The Cherokee pulls it just fine, but then South Texas is pretty flat. I keep the trans in "3" not "D" when pulling. Key is a well balanced trailer with just a little more weight towards the front. Too much weight behind the trailer axle and it will fishtail on you.

The Cherokee with load leveling hitch, automatic transmission and auxiliary tranny cooler is rated to tow 5000 pounds.

That's not saying it's a good idea. However, I don't think it's a problem, because I don't think U-Haul is going to rent that trailer to you. The ones around here simply won't rent a car hauler trailer to anyone with an XJ.

Practical towing. Fairly constant rule of thumb, is to tow no more than the wieght of the towing vehicle (my XJ is around 3750 lbs.) with trailer brakes and half the wieght of the towing vehicle without brakes. I think 4000 lbs, gross trailer wieght, is pushing the envelope, IMHO.

uhaul would not rent me a trailer to tow with my 99 XJ.... even when i told them i was getting a british MG...... they did however give me a wheel dolly.. towed an XJ just fine 150 miles... DO NOT TOW IN O/D...

Root Moose said:

Hey All,

I need to rent a car trailer from U-Haul. I'm towing a 4 door Sidekick to Fredericton from Ottawa (~1200km) and will be returning with a CJ3A.

Is the XJ up to this task? U-Haul says there double axle trailer is 2100 lbs unloaded. I figure the Sidekick and CJ3A are about 2500-2700lbs each.

Am I nuts to want to tow that much with a Cherokee? Should I get a class III hitch installed on my tired, old Chev C1500 pickup? It's got a fresh engine but...not much else.

Any help or experience appreciated.

r@m

Click to expand...

Last time I checked U-Haul wouldn't rent me a 2-axle car trailer... and I don't blame them. I rented and towed a Toro Dingo utility loader with 2-axle trailer + brakes from Home Depot ... that damn thing was like trying to stop a freight train with the XJ.

It's risky IMO... I would play it safe and tow it with your truck.

Good luck.

Here is a similar thread from a few days ago...
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=35562

I thought this post was informative when it comes to towing near capacity:

original post:

XJRUGGER can i tow my modified cherokee on 35's while on a trialer with my stock 99

Click to expand...

Response by Buck Jackson:

No.
That is a very unsafe combination. Even with trailer brakes, it exceeds your towing capacity by too much to tow it safely. Maybe you could tow it down the street to your buddy's or something, but it better be a level street. In 1990 a good friend of mine was killed instantly when a gust of wind pushed a Silverado trailering a built Blazer on 44s across the highway median. The guy driving the silverado went to jail for 4 years for Manslaughter 1: reckless endangerment causing death. The trailer brakes didn't help him one bit.
Please don't tow your rig with a cherokee.
Buck :canada:

Click to expand...

If you're worried about it, can't you hire a towing dolly? That way you'd only have to worry about the weight of the car you're pulling, rather than the trailer as well. A dolly would be an OK compromise, although you'd lose the additional braking capacity a trailer would give you.

I've done it all with my 01 and yes it has a tow package.

I would tow with a dual axle trailer with brakes over those crappy tow dollies anyday they sucked even with my Dodge truck.

I have pulled my 86 XJ rig on my trailer on about 4 or 5 hours runs...I also have the load leveing hitch and recomemnd it to anyone who may want to tow It will keep the nose of the XJ down.

Root, First place to look for the towing information is your owner's manual, if you do not have one then go buy one from JEEP. The manual will list what equipment you need to tow up to X lbs. in 1988 ANY XJ that year could tow up to 2000 lbs. If you wanted to tow more there was engine, transmission, heavy duty cooling, aux trans cooler and other things required. All called out in the owner's manual.

You talk about your hitch rating, that is a seperate issue from the vehicle rating. You have to limit your towing to the "weakest link".

From the sound of it you are towing over 2000 lbs and for my 88 XJ they said I needed the Aux Transmission cooler. I purchased mine from the dealer since I knew it would fit with no hose cutting plus any XJ mechanic in the future will know what the aux cooler was.

The aux cooler on my 88 XJ has 48 sq in of finned area. it is 3 x 16 inches in size, looks small till you do the math. It is a "U-tube" configuration. I think Jeep went to a different cooler for your years, I believe it is more square. I'd still spend the extra money for the cooler from the dealer. It is engineered for your vehicle and will have all the right hardware. My Aux cooler has it's own brackets and it attached to the chassis, so no chance of rubbing the AC condensor.

You will also need the trailer light kit. You may want to find one of those inline "tee" connectors so you do not have to cut into the chassis harness. I installed a system that isolated the trailer from the vehicle so if the trailed messed up it would not kill my vehicle wiring. Check at the parts store and the dealer for this item.

If it is a large enough trailer you may want to install a brake controller. You wil have to run wire to make that happen.

Also take the advice and tow in 3rd gear not 4th gear on the automatic. Also with towing my owner's manual says to change fluids every 15,000 miles vs 30,000 miles for non-towing operations. I am talking trans, transfercase, axles.

Thanks all for the great information - much appreciated.

I think at this point it is fairly obvious that if I'm going to do this I need to use my pick-up.

I'd like to use a car dolly but then the Sidekick I am towing does not have any front suspension on it (torched off - not easily replaced). So, I need a trailer to get the whole works off the ground. Depending on what U-haul says I may ditch the trailer at my destination and flat tow the CJ back.

Thanks again.

r@m

Root Moose said:

Hey All,

I'm a little confused about the tow rating of the Cherokee (mine is a 2001 Sport, still stock, 4.0 w/ auto trans).

I've seen it listed as 2500lb with a stick, 5000lb with an auto. My trailer hitch (factory reese?) says 3500lb or 5000lb with load leveling hitch. Kinda wish I had a manual to the Jeep...

Anyway, what is the official tow rating on a 4.0/auto XJ?

I need to rent a car trailer from U-Haul. I'm towing a 4 door Sidekick to Fredericton from Ottawa (~1200km) and will be returning with a CJ3A.

Is the XJ up to this task? U-Haul says there double axle trailer is 2100 lbs unloaded. I figure the Sidekick and CJ3A are about 2500-2700lbs each.

Am I nuts to want to tow that much with a Cherokee? Should I get a class III hitch installed on my tired, old Chev C1500 pickup? It's got a fresh engine but...not much else.

Any help or experience appreciated.

r@m

Click to expand...

I regularly tow around 5500 lbs. gross with my 88 k1500, though most of my towing is on the flats. If you have the 700R4 tranny treat it well, it´s the weak link, sucker will overheat on you fast. Don´t really know why, but have overheated my rear brakes on the truck, in the mountains occasionally, fronts gave no problem. 500 lbs. between the rear wheel wells, really helps with stability, you may have to use a bit less, my 88 has 3/4 ton springs in it. Didn´t get the year of your Chev, but also keep in mind, the tendancy for the post 87, to push (understeer) pretty good, gets worse with a trailer, slow down well before that offramp.
Some guy ran into the side of my trailer (sideswiped), if I hadn´t had experience enough to gas it, instead of using the brakes, probably would have crashed. Became a believer in straping the body, instead of the axles, the truck on the trailer was swaying like crazy (with the axles strapped down). I now strap the body to the trailer (make sure the springs are really compressed, 4 ratchet straps if necessary, a cross or an X tie down works best) and wrap a chain around the rear axle, just in case.