That person is driving way to fast. That's one of the reason why he lost control.

 

The cooling system factors into the towing capacity also.

Mostly I think it is the bean counters and legal eagles setting the tow limit. I've heard the same Jeeps have much higher tow limits in Europe.

 

That's what I am thinking... I understand you have to be smart and respectful of the load your pulling and the short wheelbase makes it a challenge and potentially dangerous. But with the right equipment (sway control, brake controller, and weight distribution hitch) and with respect / common sense, you should be able to get away with pulling more than your average needs (up to 5000?). I am with Freewill that I am sure the company wants to just cover for all the people that try to pull a dual axle trailer loaded with a car behind a car... Or do you think it's another warranty voiding tool that they would use for weak tranny and engine "lifetime warranty"... lol

My jeep downshifts going uphill on the highway on it's own. It's a sad 135 rwhp... My motorcycle had that in 4 cylinders. But that will be changed this weekend with a Ripp SC... :-)

Thanks for thoughts and input...

 

I have a 3000lb popup and though the 3.6L has what I feel is the guts to pull more, my last experience towing it on a windy day makes me not want to go any bigger. I can't imagine a high profile trailer when the wind kicks up!

 

your video keeps reminding me of this......russian air bag test....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpeb3v2W9YM

 

The number 1 reason is the suspension. The JK is designed to flex and sway to get over rough terrain, this is great on trails, not so great for towing. The squirly feeling several have mentioned on here is due to the suspension, then throw in the short wheel base and it's not a great combination. So while the engines can certainly tow more, that is not the issue at all.

For reference, I've pulled everything from my small offroad trailer (empty weighs about 400lbs, full including rooftop tent & two canoes is about 1200lbs) to my Troops Trailer (6x10 which will easily reach 3000+ when full) and don't have an issue from the power side, but it is scary as hell towing the Troop trailer when it's windy.

Fully loaded for canoeing (not too bad driving this set up even with some wind due to the light weight of the trailer)



On the way home from this trip, we had 60-80 mph winds. Even doing 25 or less I was white knuckled the whole time as the tail was wagging the dog so much.

 

Okay Scouter... you sold it to me.. lol The "made to flex" is a good point and not good for trailering but on a calm day, going down hill, with trailer brakes, ect.... we can pull anything we put our mind to... ha ha ha. I do pull my 24' mallard camper around locally to take it out of storage to camp grounds within 40 or 50 miles but most of it is flat and straight and speed limit around 45-55 mph. Here is a pic befor I got the HD springs...


Every breeze is definatly felt but I have never felt out of control with it.

 

I agree about the suspension flex I came from the Trailblazer platform which is related to the Colorado the OP mentioned. The sway bars on JK's are about 25% smaller than the Gmt355/360 platform. I would bet that the liberty has bigger sway bars than the JK. The GM frames were alot bigger and seemed stronger than the JK's, but there was zero articulation. If you wanna move lots of weight around I'm sure JK's will do it, just dont go fast or overheat the tranny.

 

If you really want a head scratcher look up the euro JK specs. They can tow 2000 kg or almost a 1000 lbs more than what we can in the us.

 

Even with the 3.8 it has way enough power to tow 5000lbs. Even the old single cab ( short wheel base ) 4 cylinders ( 112hp ) toyota pickup had a towing capacity of 3500lbs, 1500lbs more than a 2 door wrangler, thats just not right. power has little to do with towing capacity. maybe the suspension is too soft or the tranny/clutch are weak. because a lot of short wheel base truck can tow alot more than the wrangler.

I towed over 3000lbs often with my old 4 cylinders toyota truck, and power was not a problem, for sure you can't climb hills at 80mph, but in 3rd at WOT it is ok lol.