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Jeep JK towing at it's limits? Experience and opinions?

8K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  STRIDER946 
#1 ·
Hey everyone. I have a 2014 JK with the Trailer tow group, automatic, and 3.73's and have a couple questions and looking for past experiences.

I'm looking to upgrade our Runaway Camper which weighs around 1,000lbs with stuff in it and tows perfectly fine through the mountains. We want to get something that we can stand in. I found a few options that are 2,000lbs or less (leave a little for gear) but I'm still worried about sway and just being miserable pulling the thing.

These 14 ft "Fun Finders" are 1,900lbs with 190 tonque weight. I'm not sold on these as I already read many reports of people having sway in their suv's let alone a 2 door Wrangler.



Runaway also has a special model below at weighs around 1,800lbs and is a 6x12




So the 2 questions are.

1.) does the 2 door Jeep Wrangler have the anti-sway mitigation software built in? I see it in 4 doors but can't confirm 2 door
2.) general experiences pulling close to the tow limit and sway experiences. I do understand the tongue weight is very important.
 

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#2 ·
1.) does the 2 door Jeep Wrangler have the anti-sway mitigation software built in? I see it in 4 doors but can't confirm 2 door. All 2012+ Jeeps have it
2.) general experiences pulling close to the tow limit and sway experiences. I do understand the tongue weight is very important. See below


I've towed our 6x10 cargo trailer with a couple of Jeeps, it weighs in at 3500 and 350 tongue. Right at the weight limit, but OVER the frontal area limit. 3.73 JKU manual and a 4.10 JKUR auto, both with big brake kits.
Wasn't a fan of how they towed so I got a Ford F150 as a tow vehicle.

So they can tow the weight but long grades uphill are a challenge. The biggest challenge IMO was side wind, we get a lot of that in OK and it was flat scary a few times. Jeep alone can be scary in strong side wind :D

I understand the increase in 2 door specs the last couple of years, but your '14 2 door hasn't changed. Putting that aside the thing that everyone wants to skip over is the frontal area limitations. Here's a post from a couple of years ago with the '14 towing specs: LINK

2 door frontal area is 25 sq ft, 4 door is 32 sq ft. All of the trailers you've shown way exceed that.

Now you'll get people saying they tow more and that it's OK. I'm just saying no matter how you look at it, you're 50% over max frontal area limits. Which is why I bought a truck for towing.


Sorry to be negative :beerdrinking:
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the response and I didn't take it as negative. I'm looking for honest answers since towing in the Rockies can be quite different than towing a boat to the lake at sea level. The frontal area is something I wondered about but haven't heard a lot.

No matter how I slice it it looks like the JK is not going to be a great answer for towing.
 
#4 ·
If you pickup a distribution hitch with a sway bar that will make a huge difference when it comes to sway and drivability. It did for me anyway towing a 3000 lbs loaded travel Trailer with my JKUR.
 
#5 ·
I towed for too many years 'just at' and 'just over' the recommended limits....only using a 1/2 ton 4x4 pick up. By Grace I was spared a number of times from my own stupidity before trading the whole deal off on more adequate 3/4 ton pick up.

It made the trip SO much better.

Whatever it is we think we're saving by trying to ride the line, is not worth the stress on man nor machine to do so.

My enthusiasm for Jeep towing is not dead, as I often tow up to my OEM limit, using either a 5x9 utility or true M100 Bantam ammo trailer. This though, is for such as fire wood, compost, various garden stuff, and not RV camper stuff.

Encourage your close attention to the joys of not being overloaded in your journeys.

That 'frontal area' drag is too important to ignore, for sure, along with the simple CGVWR.
 
#6 ·
Kinda off the subject but kinda still on it.
I used to drag aroub a few small campers that were designed for small tow vehicles. The problem I usely ran into was they are balanced for a lighter toung weight as opposed to be balanced for proper towing.

The three I had the displeasure of dragging around with a Grand Caravan(tryed the marriage thing and didn't like it) would sway like crazy because of this. Stacking as much stuff in the front of the camper always helped but when I started straping my 15 gallon water jug to the toung it made all the difference in the world.
 
#7 ·
The good news is that the engine and trans will handle that load all day long. The bad news is that the short wheelbase will make it really squirrelly on the road. My brother had a 2-door and was towing a trailer full of stone pavers. He took a turn in town and it jack knifed on him. His issue was that the weight on the hitch took weight off the front tires, thus reducing steering traction. He wasn't using a load balancing hitch, which probably contributed to his misfortune. You'd be best served following Jeeps guidelines
 
#11 ·
Has anyone found upgrades to allow a Jeep JK Unlimited with the factory tow Pkg. (3500 lbs) tow more then the 3500 Lb. Limits. I would like to double the tow wt. to match my Jeep Grand Cherokee that's rated at 6200 lbs. Then I could toe my travel trailer with the JK.
 
#13 ·
Look into scamp trailers. They make a fiberglass "egg" trailer that is ~1500lbs dry and has a shower inside.

Don't take it offroad.

I tow my teardrop all over the place with my modified 2-door. Parts and details are in my profile.

The trailer is 1500lbs empty, and probably right at 2000lbs when loaded with 30 gallons of water, 16 gallons of gas, food, and the camping gear. The frontal area is very low as the teardrop is the same height as the Jeep. The wheelbase is only about one inch wider then the Jeep on each side, while the cabin is 4'6" wide (more narrow then the Jeep). It has electronic trailer brakes, but can't use an anti-sway hitch since it has a fully articulating hitch instead for offroad use.

When on road, this trailer had never given me any trouble. It's never swayed or made any noticeable impact on the direction of the tow vehicle. It does increase my braking distance by a little, even with the trailer brakes.

When offroad, it makes obstacles harder. Tracking 6 wheels is much more challenging then tracking 4. Switchbacks are "fun" while towing!
 
#14 ·
Just bought a small pop-up 8' box 116 lbs hitch weight and 1650 dry weight with a 2096 GVW. I was considering the 10' box which put the dry weight at 1846 and the GVW at around 2700. One thing I haven't seen taken into consideration in this thread is insurance. If you have a problem and are over your max towing weight limit will the insurance cover? I think not, given the fact they will look for any reason to NOT pay a claim. This is the reason I went with the smaller trailer. Even though the the '16 Wranglers are rated at 3500 for a 2 dr. Just something to think about.
 
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