I've got a 2012 4 door JK and wonder if anyone has had any problems pulling and about how much can it pull

 

With 3.21 gearing, it is less than 3.73 gearing. I took my towing to the extreme. I've been following this forum for 4 years. I've probably towed a heavier load than 99% of the people on here. My tow was a box shaped toy hauler. Loaded with two motorcycles weighed about 5000 pounds. I probably did about 6000 or so miles of towing over 3 years. I upgraded to a smittybilt bumper that increases the hitch rating to 5000 pounds. It allowed me to use a weight distribution hitch. Safety: my trailer had dual axle brakes. I used a good brake controller. I used weight distribution hitch wit sway control. 2012 JKU sport with manual trans and 3.73 gears. I wouldn't have done it if I lived in Colorado, but worked fine in NJ, PA, and VA. Disclaimer: don't tow more than what the jeep is rated for.

 

The only thing I'll be pulling is a pontoon boat and sometimes a trailer with a utv on it, I'm looking for a receiver hitch to put on it and will probably be putting 3.73 gears in it later

 

should be fine for that. Just drive slow. Leave plenty of room between vehicle in front of you. Trailer brakes make a world of difference. For receiver, sounds like you can just go to Amazon or quadratec to find one like the oem one.

 

After doing some research I'd be better off putting a better rear bumper on my Jeep, the receiver hitch doesn't look very trustworthy or even made very good

 

smittybilt XRC is what I got. I believe it is the only one that actually gives a tow rating. It is a fantastic, strong bumper and receiver. It ties the receiver into the frame rails through the plate steel of the bumper. But, it's not cheap. Here is the comparison.

 

The bumper isn't actually part of the receiver hitch. The receiver bolts to the frame cross member.

 

the smittybilt XRC bumper is integral with the receiver. The stock bumper is not. See pictures in my above post.

 

Never said that your bumper wasn't. I'm pointing out to the poster that most replacement bumpers use a port to allow the OEM receiver hitch to pass through. FWIW, the jeep is only rated to 3500lbs (Class II). The XRC is class III (6,000lbs) so that's good, but doesn't mean you can tow 6,000lbs with it. I know folks do it, but it's not a recommended practice.

 

Let's clear this up a little. Your jeep is rated based on brakes, cooling, transmission, length, etc. That's how they derive the tow rating

The smitty bumper can "tow" 6000lbs because that's the safe limit they've determined for the steel and welds. Yet another example of a company creating a little bit of skewed advertising. It's like the mighty mend it glue- "watch it pull these dump trucks" but they are still bolting and welding those things together instead of using that glue.



Do as you please and believe what you'd like, folks here will ask for information and then go do the opposite.