At the end of the month I'll be picking up a 6x12 enclosed trailer for work.

I've pulled trailers a few times before, but with trucks, so I'm just curious if there's any tips or tricks for towing with the JK you guys have. In addition to the trailer, I'll also usually have a load of ladders and scaffold on the roof of the trailer, if it makes a difference

Now that I'll finally have a trailer, this means I won't have to keep my tools in the Jeep, and if I don't have to keep my tools in the Jeep, that means I can rock the soft top this summer!

 

Wranglers are short wheelbase, and a little squirrely to start with (4 doors not as bad as 2 doors) so be careful not to get tongue weight too heavy, they handle poorly with the front tires light!!

Of course with any vehicle it the tongue weight is too light the trailer will sway and wobble.

 

The unlimited wheelbase is fine for towing what you are describing.
If your tongue weight is above 150lbs, i would get a good weight distributing hitch. An enclosed trailer is like a sail, it can push you around. i would also add at a minimum a friction sway bar control.
A trailer that size should have brakes and a brake controller 7pin might be needed.
if your set up correct you should be fine.

 

Lol, I'd hardly call the 4 door's 116" wheelbase a short wheelbase. It has a lot longer wheelbase than my WJ had and it towed pretty well. The 4.7l V8, factory tow pkg, and trailer brakes helped out a lot though. I haven't towed anything with my JK, but I'd imagine that its like my WJ in the fact that they don't like tongue weight. I really had to play with the tongue weight when I pulled a decently heavy trailer with it. I ended up buying a weight dist. hitch for when I pulled the car hauler with it. That's a hell of a lot more weight (5-6K lbs) than anyone should pull with a JK though...

 

A 6x12 trailer shouldn't weight that much, about 1500lbs I would think and then you've got another 2000 for gear. The weight rating of the 4dr jk is 3500lbs

 

Yeah, I know. I got way off subject.

 

The trailer does have brakes, and I have a 7 pin connector, but no brake controller yet. I have marks where it looks like the previous owner had one mounted but I haven't looked to see if the wires are up in there somewhere or if I'm going to have to run them myself

 

Actually the curb weight of the trailer is only 995 lbs, plus a few more for the racks I'm having them put on the roof. The real weight is going to be the scaffold when I move it, which is still probably under 2000 lbs so I should still have a little headroom if I need it.

 

Also, how necessary is an aftermarket transmission cooler? I know the auto trannys are prone to overheating and I don't want to run into trouble there.

I'm also hoping I can find a reasonably priced trip computer type thing that'll monitor my trans temp so I'm not leaving anything to chance.

 

I rented a 6x12 from U-Haul and had it loaded with almost 2,000lbs.

I didn't have any problem towing 120 miles. I was actually surprised how well it towed behind the JK.

If I was going to tow it daily a trans cooler and trans temp gage in the cab would be a good idea.