Does anyone else tow WITH their Jeep?

[Dropnaduece]

I think he was asking about a real Jeep not a small SUV. Maybe the longer Jeep would be ok you know the 4 door but those are ugly. I have seen plenty of them being towed but not towing.

[Chickeneye]

Figured I would update this now that I have my own personal experience.

This is my 2014 pulling my 2017 17RB Hummingbird.

My TV:
3.6 penstar motor
3.5" lift
35" General Grabber Red letters
Regeared with 3:83 gears
Manual trans
Airlift air bags in the back with 12lbs of air

Weight on TT 3084 lbs

Using Andersen WDH
Tekonsha P3 brake controller.

Pulled 200 miles from the dealership with interstate and canyons. I had no trouble maintaining 75 mph on the interstate here in west Texas. I did have to keep the Jeep in 5th RPM's were around 3k no problem other then 7mpg.

Once off the interstate I dropped it to 65mph put it in 6th gear and got about 10mpg.

The WDH did its jobs I never new the trailer was behind me. I hit some rough roads with minor wind. The TT never bucked, bounced or anything.

I would recommend 4:10 gears or higher with the size tires I have but nothing less then the 3:83's.

To everyone that says pulling a TT with a jeep is scary and dangerous they obviously have not owned a newer 4dr Jeep.

I believe the Jeep if very capable of pulling this size trailer. However I would not push the Weight of a TT past 4K then yes it could tax the Jeep.

Also the temp on the motor and trans never got past normal without a TT.

If you have and automatic transmission on your Jeep or any TV I would recommend a trans cooler anyways.

I have did have to adjust the WDH I had it too high for the front of the trailer at first.





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[Jagiven]

Looks good, I would agree in that picture the tt nose looks a bit high.

as for speed, the factory tires are only speed rated to 65 mph, you risk a shorter tire life pushing the speed.

[Chickeneye]

Originally Posted by Jagiven

Looks good, I would agree in that picture the tt nose looks a bit high.

as for speed, the factory tires are only speed rated to 65 mph, you risk a shorter tire life pushing the speed.

Yeah I more or less wanted to test the capabilities of Jeep pulling which I am impressed and truly believe the Jeep is under rated for its pulling capabilities. And the 75mph area of interstate I was on was only about 20 miles. Normal highway driving/pulling will be in the 60-65 range more for the mpg and 65 is safer then 75 with any rig


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[Camper_bob]

Good looking rig, glad it's working out for you!

As far as being a little nose-down, just out of curiosity, might you consider raising the trailer instead of adjusting the tongue down? It would be neat if you could make the 'bird a little more capable off-road so it would more closely reflect that awesome Jeep? For the record, I don't really know what all that would involve, but I think it would look way cool to have a lifted trailer with off-road tires on the back of that Jeep. And you might be able to get into a few more "remote" places with the extra ground clearance.

Just an idea.

[RPreeb]

Originally Posted by Jagiven

Looks good, I would agree in that picture the tt nose looks a bit high.

as for speed, the factory tires are only speed rated to 65 mph, you risk a shorter tire life pushing the speed.

The Jeep and trailer both appear to be front end high. Looks like the ball needs to be dropped (or the TT lifted) and the WDH adjusted to bring the Jeep level.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by RPreeb

The Jeep and trailer both appear to be front end high. Looks like the ball needs to be dropped (or the TT lifted) and the WDH adjusted to bring the Jeep level.

The purpose of the WDH is not to "level" the tow vehicle, but to transfer weight to the front axle of the tow vehicle. Even in a completely optimal setup, you will still get some rear-end squat. This is especially evident in OP's Jeep because of the softer off-road suspension. It will have more travel and the rear will drop a little more than otherwise. I don't recall seeing a pic of the Jeep uncoupled, but I'm betting that the unladen suspension leaves the vehicle very close to level. Pickup trucks (for example) have a natural "rake" to them (the rear rides a little higher) to compensate for loaded conditions. Once loaded, the natural "squat" will cause the truck to ride "level", but this is a side effect, not the intended primary purpose of the WDH. This is one of the reasons I would never install a "leveling kit" on any of my trucks; I run my truck loaded often, so I want it to settle in to a level attitude. If I level it unloaded, I'll get too much rear squat when I'm loaded.

I hope that rambling made sense... haven't had my coffee yet.

[Chickeneye]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

The purpose of the WDH is not to "level" the tow vehicle, but to transfer weight to the front axle of the tow vehicle. Even in a completely optimal setup, you will still get some rear-end squat. This is especially evident in OP's Jeep because of the softer off-road suspension. It will have more travel and the rear will drop a little more than otherwise. I don't recall seeing a pic of the Jeep uncoupled, but I'm betting that the unladen suspension leaves the vehicle very close to level. Pickup trucks (for example) have a natural "rake" to them (the rear rides a little higher) to compensate for loaded conditions. Once loaded, the natural "squat" will cause the truck to ride "level", but this is a side effect, not the intended primary purpose of the WDH. This is one of the reasons I would never install a "leveling kit" on any of my trucks; I run my truck loaded often, so I want it to settle in to a level attitude. If I level it unloaded, I'll get too much rear squat when I'm loaded.



I hope that rambling made sense... haven't had my coffee yet.

Yes this makes sense but as the WDH distributes the weight it will lower the nose a little as it puts more weight on the front end. My Jeep actually dropped about an inch in the front end.

My jeep with the softer suspension sagged a little in the rear due to that giant tire hanging off the back and the full metal bumper I replaced the factory plastic one with. That's why I added airbags to help with any squat to keep the jeep level when loaded.

That first picture was after driving 2 hours to the dealership and dealing with my bank who hadn't not transferred them the money yet and just threw the WDH on and really didn't take much time on dialing it in.

Now that I have it home I installed the Andersen hitch properly and welded the brackets to the frame so they wouldn't slip toward the Jeep. Without being welded the bottom of the brackets pulled forward no matter how tight I made the bolts.

Here is a picture after setting it up properly and dropping the ball a notch.

Keep in mind there is actually a slope that the whole rig is sitting on for draining in my apartment complex.




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[Chickeneye]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

Good looking rig, glad it's working out for you!

As far as being a little nose-down, just out of curiosity, might you consider raising the trailer instead of adjusting the tongue down? It would be neat if you could make the 'bird a little more capable off-road so it would more closely reflect that awesome Jeep? For the record, I don't really know what all that would involve, but I think it would look way cool to have a lifted trailer with off-road tires on the back of that Jeep. And you might be able to get into a few more "remote" places with the extra ground clearance.

Just an idea.

I already have the Baja package which is lifted 3"-4" from the factory and I think going much higher could have adverse effects on handling.

But for those that have the non Baja and want to make it taller it's not hard but will involve unbolting the axel from the frame placing a piece of 2" square tubing along the frame where the axle bolts then bolting the axel to the tubing. Just make sure to get very thick walled tubing to support the weight.


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[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Chickeneye

Yes this makes sense but as the WDH distributes the weight it will lower the nose a little as it puts more weight on the front end. My Jeep actually dropped about an inch in the front end.

My jeep with the softer suspension sagged a little in the rear due to that giant tire hanging off the back and the full metal bumper I replaced the factory plastic one with. That's why I added airbags to help with any squat to keep the jeep level when loaded.

That first picture was after driving 2 hours to the dealership and dealing with my bank who hadn't not transferred them the money yet and just threw the WDH on and really didn't take much time on dialing it in.

Now that I have it home I installed the Andersen hitch properly and welded the brackets to the frame so they wouldn't slip toward the Jeep. Without being welded the bottom of the brackets pulled forward no matter how tight I made the bolts.

Here is a picture after setting it up properly and dropping the ball a notch.

Keep in mind there is actually a slope that the whole rig is sitting on for draining in my apartment complex.




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You want the front of the Jeep to ride at the same height coupled or uncoupled with WDH engaged. Technically, you want the steer axle to weigh the same with or without the trailer coupled and WDH engaged, but measuring the height of the fenders before and after offers as close an approximation as we can get in our driveway.

The second pic looks much better. Given you had a good experience towing it from the dealer with a non-optimal setup, I bet it tows even better now.

Whatever, I still say it's a darn good looking rig!

[secal48]

We have towed both our pup and an x17z with a liberty and had no problems. But for our larger Starcraft 24RLS we opted to move up to a bigger Durango.

[chesley]

I tow with my jeep ,I have a 174bh ,toes like a dream
My jeep is a 2016 jkur lifted 3.5 inches and run 37" tires ,regeared to 4:88

[Chickeneye]

Just towed mine about 800 miles round trip and did great


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