X2. Well said. Thanks for posting.

 

My jeeps towing capacity is 1500 I believe. What changes would get me to 3500? Is it just the gearing since I have 3.21's? Don't mean to hijack but seams this is the place to ask.

 

Just gearing to 4.10. If you have a pre 2012 auto you may want a transmission cooler.

 

I'm curious at to what camp trailers people are pulling with their JKU ?? What to you have?

 

Is yours a 2dr, or a 4dr?
If 2dr, the max is 2,000 lbs, no matter what gears are in it.

 

Tow ratings are quite interesting in how they are figured. In the US there is a standard that all have agreed to meet to level the field. I presume that Europe uses a different standard, hence the different rating. Part of the "test" in the US is the vehicle has to pull its trailer up a specified grade, maintain speed, ac on full blast, driver plus 1 passenger, and not cause undo stress to the drive train (ie. overheat engine or transmission, blow up, etc.) I believe this grade is in arizona near the Davis Dam. The standard is Sae J2807, I believe all US sold vehicles will be using it by 2013 but many have started using it as early as 2006-2008? Toyota was the first to post their numbers for their trucks. Most of the trucks are going to see a reduction in tow ratings.

I tow a 2700lb pop up with my JKU and it does pretty darn good. I would not pull something that heavy without trailer brakes though. Trailer brakes make a HUGE difference. I actually get better gas mileage pulling the trailer than not pulling the trailer. I also don't try to go faster than 65 pulling a trailer.

However, I just picked up a Jeep Commander with a Hemi so the JK isn't on trailer duty anymore.

 

I'm replying to several posts, sorry about the odd jumps.

The SAE standard is very new and the JK was rated several years ago. Not all US manufactures are following the new SAE standard since its so new. Some have decided to use it this year, others are waiting till the next vehicle redesign to implement it into their factory testing. Most current tow ratings are set on a blend of the manufacturers tolerance for warranty claims and liability lawsuits vs marketing.

Semi's have airbag rear suspension's and I know it might come as a shock to some but there is a limit to how much you can put on those drive axles. I just drove a Buick Rainier for 6 years with an air bag rear setup as well. Using a scale at a gravel yard I can absolutely confirm that bags do not move any weight forward. I'd post the slips if I still had them. One of my loads added 1050lbs to the tongue before I moved the gravel Black on the trailer. I left there with a 700lb tongue weight. Front axle changed from about 2600 to 2500lbs. rear went from 2500 to 3200. It swayed above 60mph.

JK front rotors are 11.9 inch by 1.1. To give a reference my Rainier and all others on the Trailblazer platform have 12.8 by 1.15 brakes and are rated at 5700ish with the proper gear, they weigh about 10% more than a JKU to start. But it's not always about gears, cooling etc. I think alot of the rating comes on shock size, track bar size and sway bar size. The rainier had a 43mm front sway bar and 24mm rear compared 31mm and 19mm on the JKU. I'm darn sure the track bar on the rainier was much stronger as well but I don't have sizes to compare. We know the rear track bar is suspect in lifted applications with large tires. Heavy tow loads could place a similar stress on it and having it break while towing could cause a serious accident.


The different tow rating for our jeeps overseas might take into account speed limits, average temps and road design and average driver intelligence. Maybe in Europe nobody goes over 62mph while towing. Maybe it's a conspiracy against us 'mericans like Obama being reelected.

 

I've been pulling a 19' travel trailer that has a dry weight of 3,000 lbs. for the past year. I have 4.10 gearing in my Rubicon and had the stock 32's on for the first 6 months of towing. Then I lifted it 2.5" and went with 33's so I can offer my experience with both set-ups. I live in the Central Valley of California so just about anywhere I go I have to climb and descend a mountain range. I've made several trips to the coast (with both set-ups) and tackled the 6% grade there. It was easy with the 32's and had no problem maintaining 55 mph. With the 33's I'm barely hanging on to 45 mph. This is, by the way, usually with 4 people and 1 dog in the Jeep.

I've also pulled to Big Bear Lake and Lake Tahoe. Both tough pulls. Both were with my 33's on and it was slow going. But I was going as fast as the trucks pulling trailers so based on that I think I did fine. Going to Big Bear I chose the easiest way in with the most gradual climb. Coming back I took the steepest (and quickest) route home. It was posted as an 11% grade! I just kept it in the low gears and took my time coming down. Didn't use the brakes all that much when I used the gears properly. I never heated up the brakes and stopping power was there when needed.

The absolute toughest climb I've managed so far is the climb up out of Lake Tahoe where I'm climbing a very steep (not sure what % grade, sorry) road for several miles. I had to drop down to 1st gear and maintain RPMs around 5k just to keep it moving. I was doing everything I could to keep my speed at 30 MPH. The engine did heat up to about 3/4 on the gauge, first time that's happened. I was not the slowest RV on the road though. We actually caught up to a couple trucks pulling 5th wheels going even slower. In hindsight, I guess I would have been fine at a slower speed myself and not pushing my rig like that.

So, done right, it's my opinion that the JKU can handle every bit of the 3,500 lbs. it's rated at. However, I added the following mods specifically for towing:

- B&M Trans Cooler
- Superchips Tuner
- Airlift Air Springs (bags)
- Brake Controller
- Weight Distribution Hitch with Sway Control

I've never felt unsafe while pulling. Stopping power has been fine, not great, but I've managed to stop every time so far. Just allow a little extra time. I am upgrading to Hawk LTS brake pads in the next couple of weeks that will probably help out a little more. If you will be towing more than rock crawling, they have another pad that is better when hot than these, but I suspect the LTS will be at least as good as the stock pads while towing, but definitely better when cold. The sway has been fine. I've never felt like the trailer was pushing me around. Gearing was good with 32's and 4.10, but with 33's, I'd prefer something around 4.56. With 35's I'd be looking for 5.12.

Here's the trailer I'm pulling:


Spree Escape 196S by KZ

 

DGriz,

That blurb really makes my day. I live on the Texas Gulf Coast and there really are not to many hills around here until you get to Central Texas. I now feel good about going and looking at 3000# (dry weight) travel trailers.

Thanks for the write up.

 

When fully loaded the trailer comes to about 4500 lbs. It's a Fleetwood E-2.