?? XJ Towing maximum trailer loads??

[AJPulley]

The "safe" I'm asking about is the dynamic mechanical performance. Does a 5000 LB trailer have such a mechanical advantage over a short wheelbase 3000 LB car that even a skilled driver would have his hands full? My conclusion is that it may be marginal, but it's worth a try. I have ruled-out using any of the XJs that don't have ABS because of the lousy brakes on the older cars.



I was sure this was wrong, but it's true. I was blown away.

In my opinion, possibly. As a past cross country flatbed truck driver, I would tow 5,000 with my XJ the way I have it set up. However, I know the dynamics of a trailer in tow, how it handles, the potential problems, weight distribution, single vs. dual axles, etc. and can and do adjust my driving for it. If you are experienced with a trailer and can modify your driving practices while towing, and are capable, then by all means. I think so many start driving away and forget what's back there and the associated issues like stopping distance, following distance, looking much farther ahead, being aware of what's in the space all the way around you all the time, road conditions, vehicle and trailer drivability and limitations... you get the point. This is only my opinion though. It really is the totality of everything which I don't have on this side of the moniter.

But to be realistic, that's why I bought my 3/4 ton diesel. But, I realize not everyone can go right out and by another vehicle.

I know I'll catch flack for this, but if there was a ballot to enact requiring any vehicle, passenger included, or perhaps I should say requiring any driver driving of any vehicle, including passenger cars and light pickups, to obtain an endorsement on his or her license to pull anything in tow, I would vote for it.

In fact, I'm going to do a poll on that to see what results we get.

But, back to the issue, only you know your equipment, your driving abilities and experiences and what you are prepared to take responsibility for.

 

[Ray H]

I also have my CDL A and drive for a living. I dont drive OTR, only local, but I agree with you on every point. There actually are some states that require seperate licenses or endorsements for noncommercial drivers to operate combined vehicles over a certain weight, usually 10000lbs combined, which is basically an XJ with a car trailer. Two of them that jump out at me are CA and TX.

 

[JoBo]

The wife and I used to own a travel trailer and back in the late 60's I saw some reltively light travel trailers shake some pretty heavy Detroit Iron all over the interstates! Frontal area and overall size plays a lot into it with the wind. Our English "caravan", that's English for travel trailer, had surge brakes and weighted 1600 lbs and could wag a 65 Ford Fairlane under certain conditions. Slowing the car causing the surge brakes to activate would bring it back under control. Not overly dangerous but not a comfortable feeling! Later in life I pulled a tanden axel trailer I made with a 38 cast iron John Deer tractor on it and the total weight was around 6000 with a 85 Ford F150. It had elecric brakes and with a very small frontal area wind was not a problem. The electric brakes worked fantastic, With the trailer and tractor behind me the stopping distance was not increased at all. Infact if the brake controler was set too sensative it would yank the ford to a stop!

Use the Van!

JoBo

 

[Rusty from Cleveland]

Had to haul some gravel to my home for an additional parking area. I knew my single axle trailer would haul about 3500 lbs roughly. I wanted to haul less than that, but when they put the gravel on the trailer it ended up being more than wanted...1500 lbs more in fact! Sure was glad I aired those tires up to 50 psi before they dropped that gravel on there. The worker didn't put that much on there intentionally.....you know how some comes out then less and less and it's still not enough and you tilt it a bit more and BAM it all wants to come out at once...Well that's what happened....So I end up with 5000 lbs of gravel on a 1000 lb trailer with no trailer brakes. It made me sick. Anyway, I headed home very slowly on the back roads with hazzards lights on getting no faster than 30 mph. I got to the base of the hill where I lived and I put it in low range and crawled up the hill no problem. Fortunately this was a low traffic time of day and only about a 4 mile trip. I will still never do such a thing again. Fortunately no damage to XJ or trailer and not even any near close calls. Stopping even from 30mph by gearing down and brakes too is a challenge. Have hauled 2000 lbs in the trailer many times and it is not a challenge to pull or stop, but man the other was a bit scary......Good luck.....What can be done, what can be done safely, and what you can repeat regularly is usually different

 

[Ray H]

I had about the same thing happen to me once. I went to a landscaping place to get a pallet of creek stone with my XJ and a 4X8 1ton single axle trailer. The guy didnt tell me the pallet weighed 4000lbs until he put it on the trailer and the rear of the XJ came off the ground. I had him move it towards the front of the trailer and off I went on my 35 mile trip home. It didnt do as bad as I thought it would but I would never do it again (no purpose).

 

[keg0900]

I have only skimmed through this wandering thread, but has anyone checked with the original poster to make sure he's running an automatic, and not a stick?
Auto - max tow is 5,000 pounds
Stick - max to is 2,000 pounds

why so low with a stick i would think you could haul more or equall with a stick shift??

 

[crawldaddy]

I'm back from the trip, and the XJ exceeded my expectations...so did the catch.

Our trip took us from Santa Rosa, CA where the 5000 LB travel trailer was located to Jenner by the Sea via River road, then to Salt Point, Point Arena, and Mendocino along Route 1 (a very twisty road with plenty of grade challenges), then back to 101 via 128 and south to Oakland and Hayward.

Road conditions on this trip included dry to very wet roads and high winds.

The Jeep is a 2000 Limited without the towing package (no tranny cooler or rear sway bar) according to the VIN. Aftermarket equipment included a Draw-Tite Class III hitch with a Draw-Tite weight distributing bar set, and a Tekonsha 9030 brake control.

We moved the trailer without the equalizer springs just to go to level ground, and that was kinda comical. Without the equalizing springs (rickshaw bars), it was like driving a cartoon car with front wheels ready to drift skyward and a rear bumper dragging on the ground.

With the equalizer bars, the car was at normal ride height for the passenger and luggage load (trailer neutral) With 32psi in all tires, the handling was acceptable. With max pressure in all tires (44 in the XJ and 50 in the trailer), the handling was better.

The absence of a rear sway bar was evident on entry into almost every turn. The car had a slight feeling of oversteer, but this was easily overcome, and soon felt quite natural. Adjustment of the equalizer bars to provide more tail lift for the car is expected to further improve handling.

With a little time to acclimate to the handling qualities of this rig, we were able to carve those legendary Route 1 curves like that wicked little red BMW M6 in the driveway...well, almost. We really were able to keep-up with other traffic without making anyone too pissed-off (except for that truck driver on crack who passed us near Boonville.)

Performance uphill was better than expected, with the little six straining only rarely. Downhill performance on wet coastal roads with pine and redwood needles clustered near the centerline can be a bit of a cheek pincher if the brake control is not perfectly adjusted. Just the thought of 5000 Lbs of travel trailer tailgating a 3000 Lb Jeep going downhill in the rain at 55mph brings that little sphincter a few inches closer to my throat....but the stuff worked! The electric brakes really do keep the trailer from crashing through the rear window or twisting you sideways. We tried panic stops on wet pavement, and with the ABS screaming, we could still feel the trailer biting the road better than the car, and actually helping us stop the rig.

Freeway performance was duck soup. Cruise was easy at any speed from 55 to 70, and we had one stretch when the music was really rockin' where the needle crept up to over 80.

High wind performance was one place where we could feel the trailer pushing the Jeep around. One blast of wind on the coast pushed us more than a few inches and made conversation stop for a moment with a "that was weird" from everyone in unison. Passing big rigs in either direction caused only a slight wiggle that often needed no correction.

That said, this is not a toy. You can not tow a 5000 Lb trailer without driving - you can't let the car drive itself - you have to be there doing the work, but it's not an unacceptable task at all.

And finally, the camp host at Manchester said he had towed a bigger travel trailer with his XJ for many years, and just loved it. I believe my experience will be the same.

By the way, the fuel economy wasn't economical. I don't have the numbers yet, but it felt like 10.


Crawldaddy - over and out.
(if it doesn't say 4x4 it's not a Jeep)

 

[XJCasper]

I am going back to take a closer look at all of the info, but wanted to ask:

A Detours Slimline bumper with a 2" reciever welded in. Would it be safe to pull a 3500 lb tent trailer?

I know I would learn as it was mounted what extra reinforcement might be needed.

Thanks
Jason

 

[87manche]

why so low with a stick i would think you could haul more or equall with a stick shift??

I too wonder this. Can anyone confirm?

 

[meaded]

Worst expereince ever as a young man building a home. I went to a local Ucart concrete dealer. He willingly fastened a one cubic yard trailer to the 1 7/8 trailer ball on my 86 standard, 4 cyl. Comanche. I should have known better, and he should have refused to hook me up. The truck had no problem moving the trailer, but as I approached traffic lights on a slight down graded street, there was no stopping this vehicle from 25 mph, that concrete sloshed forward and just wanted to keep going. 30 years later I have learned alot, I agree with a lot of your reluctance to freely say yes you can do this. Too many variables, do you think I would pull that stunt again? I put thousands of miles a year on my XJ pulling a small 1000lb Go Kart race trailer, it is a great vehicle for towing if you stay within reasonable limits.

 

[crawldaddy]

Finally calculated the fuel economy pulling the 5000LB trailer. 9.17 mpg on 359.8 miles on a 2000 XJ 4.0L automatic in 2x4 half the way, and full-time on the way back. No difference in bite or roadability.

 

[Ridr]

I too wonder this. Can anyone confirm?

I can't confirm the actual numbers but I can confirm a newer auto has a higher pulling capacity than a standard shift. Went through this 7 months ago while shopping for a 3/4 ton truck. A standard shift can only hold so much load before the clutch begins to slip, at least that's what the dealer told me. I do know all the pamplets from ford/dodge/chevy showed the auto having the higher pulling capacity

 

[ChiXJeff]

I too wonder this. Can anyone confirm?

D/C doesn't want to replace clutches.

 

[filmxj]

Obviously you need to be cautious when trying anything new with your vehicle, and towing isn't something to taken lightly. I agree wholeheartedly with those who mentioned knowing the limitations of the rig that you have and adjusting your frame of mind and driving habits accordinly.

That said, I was in Ireland for 7 weeks during the summer of '05 and I couldn't believe what people were towing. VW Jettas and Ford Escorts were pulling tandem axle horse / cargo trailers. I saw a defender 90 moving an entire mobile home at normal speeds on the open road. Compact pickups were towing backhoes and other heavy equipment.

Admittedly, where I was there was no interstate within hours of me, so speeds were below 60, but no shortage of steep and nail biting roads - so narrow that people's mirrors would carve a groove in the roadside vegitation.

In short, it seemed like folks used their 4 door sedans like we use SUV's here.

I saw a number of diesel XJ's. Wish I could get one of those here. When I got home it made me feel a little silly for being worried (machanically) about pulling 4k pounds with my 3/4 ton diesel suburban.

I sold my sub, and have been towing my 6x16' tandem axle flatbed with my new '98 XJ. Not ideal on the interstate, but great for moving furniture or taking junk to the landfill.

 

[Wallymander]

Wow,.....didnt realize how many members were aspireing mechanical engineers.Or that this thread would get so much traffic.Good to see the grey matter is not going to waste!!!

 

[gjxj]

"I do know all the pamplets from ford/dodge/chevy showed the auto having the higher pulling capacity"

You do have to wonder if thats a real issue, or just to protect the warranty department from people who dont know how to drive a stick.
Besides wearing the clutch you "can" tend to lug the engine if you dont drive with an awareness of the extre load. Both avoidable issues though.

 

[Ridr]

I honestly don't know , I was just told the clutch on a stick would slip . I admit to being pretty ignorant on transmissions.

 

[rallyemore]

I got mine installed for only $40. *shrugs* But then again, I was real nice and invited him off-roading... haha.

Anyways, I towed 4800 pounds a couple weeks ago. It wasn't bad at all really. The powerslot brakes halped a bunch though.

 

[gjxj]

well if the clutch can't handle the engine peak torque then it will slip under normal acceleration too. In any case generally salesman are so cluless its a waste of time to even ask such a question.