Towing with a Jeep Wrangler

Kowboy

Adventurer
Wranglers for their size and weight are over powered by comparison to other compact SUVs and with a separate body frame and live axles pretty much bulletproof.

Now there's somethin' you don't read very often. I person'ly consider them to be both woefully underpowered and weak in the stock form. Reckon it just depends on your expectations and usage tho.

I got no problems towin' my campin' trailer with my JK but it's HEAVILY modified for the task. And in my opinion, trailer brakes are a must on even moderate 4wd trails. I also like to air down my trailer tires as well. It does make for some additional rollin' resistance … but it don't shake up the beer so bad in the fridge.
 

Hilldweller

SE Expedition Society
The Jeep definitely tows better at low speeds than it does on the freeway. I think much of it depends on your particular expectations, tire size, axle gear ratio, vehicle weight, and your willingness to run at high rpm on the freeway. There is a thread in the Jeep section right now about engine alternatives that discusses some of those expectation issues. In addition, I would ensure that your trailer had brakes. Many will say that they aren’t needed, but JK brakes are pretty marginal to begin with. Once you get off-road, low and slow, no problems at all.
I had a JKU with 3.73 gears and a manual trans. It towed my teardrop better than my previous JK, a 2008 2-door with an automatic, but I'd still call it a miserable tow-pig. It didn't mind going slow but in our hilly area I was rowing gears like a maniac on highways.

I'd keep the trailer light.... ...my teardrop is NOT a light teardrop...

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No Ma

Wonderer
We tow a SoCal XS510 teardrop with our 2016 Wrangler JKU with 3.6L Pentastar and 5 speed auto. Haven't weighed the trailer fully loaded as yet, but it's likely in the 2300-2600lb range. The Wrangler and trailer are on 37" M/T tires. The Jeep is fairly built up with 4.5" AEV lift, Dynatrac front axle, 4.88 gearing, aftermarket front bumper with winch, rear AEV bumper with 10 gal. fuel carrier and a full set of aluminum skids. We also have a Dynatrac big brake kit on the jeep (bigger rotors) and the teardrop has electric brakes. When we head out to set up camp, we carry a bunch of stuff in the cargo cage up front as well as steps, utility tents and folding solar panels in the interior.

On the flats with no head/tail winds we can easily run at 70mph at ~2800rpm. Climbing mountain passes in Colorado is another story... 30-50mph depending on the grade. Overall, I have zero complaints. It does everything we expected and does it well (for a brick on wheels). We have 40K+ miles on the Jeep now with 15-20K of those being towing miles. I just follow Jeep's severe usage maintenance intervals at a minimum. The Dynatrac big brake kit or something similar is a must from my experience as well as trailer brakes for pavement usage and occasionally when towing on more severe off-road trails. Gearing is a big deal too depending on your total setup. The stock 3.73s in our base JKU would work "poorly" with our setup.

Like everything, depends on what's most important to you. We wanted a hard sided trailer we could haul over gnarly 4wd trails with some nice creature comforts as a base camp and a capable Jeep to explore with once we've set up camp. We run the Jeep harder to do this, so I expect a higher level of maintenance for the unit... goes with the
territory.

Jeep and SoCal.jpg
 

Kmrtnsn

Explorer
No issues pulling this, even in high head winds. With 33”s and 3.73s, no complaints except at high altitude where a bit of forced air induction always helps. 3A2DD418-CA4F-4BF0-9098-86DB20243915.jpeg
 

SBSYNCRO

Well-known member
I've towed a lot of trailers with a lot of different tow vehicles. I'd say that towing a <3,000 lb trailer with a Jeep JKU is totally do-able, but its going to depend on the type of driver you are and how your Jeep is set up. I run 35" tires on 4.88 gears and a manual trans and just started towing a Turtleback Getaway (about 2,000 lbs I'd guess). My initial impressions are that towing means shifting a lot more often, especially when I'm stuck behind trucks in the slow lane on a grade . I drove a 96 hp 4wd VW camper bus for years, so I learned how to adjust to driving 60 mph on the flats and 45 mph on hills, and also revving the engine for long periods of time.

One thing about the 3.6 engine is that it has very little torque and hp down below 3,000 rpms. If you have a manual trans, this means planning ahead before hitting hills. To the person that says Jeeps are over-powered, I can only say that he must be a life-long driver of Fiat 124 sedans or VW buses, because I'd say from a power-to-weight ratio, the Jeep is definitely on the low side of all the vehicles I've ever owned. By comparison, I tow a 10,000 lb boat with an F-250 diesel and it is a lot less work than towing a 2,000 lb trailer with the Jeep. But the F-250 won't get to the spots that the Jeep will. There's always a trade-off... :)

Another thing - you'll take an MPG hit obviously. But its not as bad as you might think. If I travel 65 mph without the trailer on flat ground with no headwind, I can average 18.5 mpg. With the trailer that is looking like around 15.5 to 16.0 mpg. A pleasant surprise, since my old 3.5 ecoboost F-150 would go from 24 mpg down to like 12 mpg when towing my boat!62778421344__D9C826BD-A9B5-4901-AC37-DAC25CE86C6E.jpg
 
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wADVr

Adventurer
I've towed a lot of trailers with a lot of different tow vehicles. I'd say that towing a <3,000 lb trailer with a Jeep JKU is totally do-able, but its going to depend on the type of driver you are and how your Jeep is set up. I run 35" tires on 4.88 gears and a manual trans and just started towing a Turtleback Getaway (about 2,000 lbs I'd guess). My initial impressions are that towing means shifting a lot more often, especially when I'm stuck behind trucks in the slow lane on a grade . I drove a 96 hp 4wd VW camper bus for years, so I learned how to adjust to driving 60 mph on the flats and 45 mph on hills, and also revving the engine for long periods of time.

One thing about the 3.6 engine is that it has very little torque and hp down below 3,000 rpms. If you have a manual trans, this means planning ahead before hitting hills. To the person that says Jeeps are over-powered, I can only say that he must be a life-long driver of Fiat 124 sedans or VW buses, because I'd say from a power-to-weight ratio, the Jeep is definitely on the low side of all the vehicles I've ever owned. By comparison, I tow a 10,000 lb boat with an F-250 diesel and it is a lot less work than towing a 2,000 lb trailer with the Jeep. But the F-250 won't get to the spots that the Jeep will. There's always a trade-off... :)

Another thing - you'll take an MPG hit obviously. But its not as bad as you might think. If I travel 65 mph without the trailer on flat ground with no headwind, I can average 18.5 mpg. With the trailer that is looking like around 15.5 to 16.0 mpg. A pleasant surprise, since my old 3.5 ecoboost F-150 would go from 24 mpg down to like 12 mpg when towing my boat!View attachment 626999

^^^ this. I use my Jeep for more utility than play and tow quite often. The 3.8 I had was another story but could do it, stressfully(if that’s a word) power aside I felt the JKU handled up to the rated 3500lbs very well with brakes and up to 2k(all I tried) without brakes.
 

Steve F

Adventurer
I always tow with mine, in fairness (for whatever the reason) the towing capacity of the 2 door 3.8 JK here in Australia is 1600kg (3500lbs). I'm waiting on my JLUR to turn up though as legally I can tow 5500lbs with that. The little 2 door has done fine though, just thirsty and not a lot of room for extra fuel so a couple of jerry cans go on the trailer for outback travel.

20180708_105553_RESIZED.jpg


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vtsoundman

OverAnalyzer
Lots of realistic responses in this thread (some more so than others) - the JKU/Jeep is not a great tow vehicle when compared to just about anything else on the road. It will never tow as well as a 1/2-ton pickup a Tacoma, a Grand Cherokee, a Tahoe, a Ranger/Colorado or even some/most CUVs.

I've spent quite a bit of time cruising along at full throttle in 3rd gear barely holding speed up long mountain grades in my Rubicon.

You just need to understand what it's intended use is and align your expectations accordingly.

If you keep it within the weight and frontal area, it will be fine (comparative slow and sloppy, but fine).

You will not win any speed or MPG contests doing so. Plan on spending lots of time in lower gears and slower speeds on any hills or elevations.

I've towed many things over many many miles with my 07 JKU 6sp with 285/70s and 4.10 - front area is a HUGE factor. My favorite trailers for the Jeep have short tongues vehicles that tuck-in behind/in the shadow of the Jeep.

Brakes are an absolute must...

I am normally a fast and somewhat impatient driver (hate traffic, prefer traveling at road appropriate speeds)...if I forget what the Jeep is, the lack of power and handling dynamics can become irksome...if I remind myself what it is (a kickass fun vehicle that can be easily modified, travel easily anywhere, etc etc), I relax and enjoy the scenery in the slow lane.

I will say : some of my fondest road trip memories are pulling my medium sized off-road trailer on and off road ... running slow in the mountains and taking it easy.

Don't buy a Jeep for it's towing ability (or lack of)....buy it for all the other reasons instead and plan your trailer accordingly.



Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk
 

Hilldweller

SE Expedition Society
I always tow with mine, in fairness (for whatever the reason) the towing capacity of the 2 door 3.8 JK here in Australia is 1600kg (3500lbs). I'm waiting on my JLUR to turn up though as legally I can tow 5500lbs with that. The little 2 door has done fine though, just thirsty and not a lot of room for extra fuel so a couple of jerry cans go on the trailer for outback travel.
Your tow ratings in OZ are different than ours in the States.
My '08 2-door literally popped wheelies if I hit a bump while towing our teardrop....

trailerdelivered007.jpg
 

bluejeep

just a guy
2006 LJ with the 4.0 6 cyl. My experience is that the important points of consideration (all mentioned in previous posts) include
-gearing (especially with oversize tires on the tow vehicle - I have 4.88 gears on 35" tires),
-brakes at least on the tow vehicle (I recommend Black Magic Brake kits) and also on the trailer if it is heavy,
-and air bags in the back to level as required.

Like others, I have spent too many drives trying to race down the hill so I can make it up the other side, too many miles trying to slipstream semi's, too many stops at the gas station (well, that might not change much), and added too many hours to my travel time because I choose to not run at 4200 rpm just to maintain speed limit rate of progress. Thus the changes I have made in gearing. Fixed things wonderfully

Much of my wheeling takes a good deal of hiway travel to get to the location. For example - between 5 hours and as much as 29 hours (galveston to Lake Tahoe side of Rubicon). Growing up, my parents had us on the road every weekend in the summer, so most things between my start point and my destination have already been experienced. As much as I believe in "it's the journey, not the destination", most times I consider the journey starting when my wheels touch dirt. So it's big interstates to the start point, and that means in order to keep up with traffic I need to at least be at 80 mph.

I am comfortable now with the gearing giving me the power at speed, and the brakes strong enuf to safely (and quickly) stop me. I've not added the bags yet, swapped in new variable rate springs so have to see if the headlights shine too high with the trailer. If so, airbags it is.
 

Steve F

Adventurer
Your tow ratings in OZ are different than ours in the States.
My '08 2-door literally popped wheelies if I hit a bump while towing our teardrop....

View attachment 629028

I only have 130kg on the towball, the water tank is in the back of the trailer along with the pull out kitchen etc. I also have airbags in the rear springs of the JK. Tows great like this just looking forward to the 8 speed in the JL and the extra power of the 3.6L :)
 

rnArmy

Adventurer
98 TJ with the 2.5 four-cylinder/five-speed/33" tires/4.88 gears/3.5" RE lift/lockers front & rear.

Probably one of the worst Wranglers you can tow with. Tall, short wheelbase, Detroit locker in the rear, and underpowered with the trailer. With the trailer, it struggles on hills on the highway, and really struggles in higher altitude when on the highway (think taking I-70 driving east from the border to I-25). It will get you there though eventually. And once off-pavement in low range, there's no issue with having enough power.

However, sometimes you've gotta run with what you've got. And since there's not much room inside the TJ (even with the rear seat removed) if you're wanting to take more gear than will fit in the back of the TJ, it just screams for a little trailer. I love my lil' trailer and Jeep.

Mine's a small HF-trailer frame based trailer. It is relatively lightweight, and has electric brakes. It is amazing how much you can put in (and on) one of these little 4' HF-type trailers.

Overland Adventure.1.jpg
 
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billiebob

Well-known member
I choose to not run at 4200 rpm just to maintain speed limit
THIS ^^^ is key to pulling a trailer regardless of the vehicle or trailer.
And definitely where I am often towing 2K# behind a TJR.

DSC_0209.jpeg

No doubt it takes a love of driving and shifting to max out and tow with a straight six and a clutch.
Driving todays diesel pickups which only come with automatics and have double the power they had 20 years ago take all the fun out of driving. Kinda like semis, I drove when 460HP was the biggest engine you could get and you had to shift thru an 18speed. Now 600HP is the starting point and they all come with automatics cuz todays drivers all break the transmissions and clutches.

Me, I love driving and hate not having a clutch. I also prefer to be under powered since horsepower seems to cause most of the breakage and carnage.
The TJR does everything I need well including towing my work trailer to remote, high mountain job sites.
This was the drive into a customers cabin and yes, towing the trailer.
Work Trailer
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