[Lawless]

Curious on what some of you LJ owners are towing weight wise. I'm stock with 31's, 3.73's, D44 rear....etc. My wife and I are wanting a small camper and I'm curious what your experience is. I know it's rated at 3500#, but I know that's WAY too much.

 

[jgorm]

I've pulled some pretty heavy stuff. I never put it on a scale, but my enclosed hauler trailer weighs almost 1000lb empty and I filled it full moving to a new house a number of times. It does fine, but go slow because it brakes much slower. A couple times I said "oh sh. this is heavy" when I moved the first 5' in 1st gear. That load had a bunch of metal. Go with a hard sided pop up and you will be fine.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Pop-up tent trailers tow very well behind Wranglers, especially so behind the longer wheelbase Unlimiteds. I know I'm very happy with my Fleetwood Taos pop-up.

 

[Lawless]

thanks for the input

 

[UnlimitedLJ04]

Heaviest I pull is a 6x10 enclosed v-nose trailer, weighing around 2500-2700lbs when fully loaded. I also have a Vanco Big Brake kit (dual piston 48mm calipers + Black Magic Brake pads), 10" drum brakes on the trailer and a trailer brake controller in the Jeep. I have heavy rate rear springs with AirLift load leveling airbags to help control the weight & tendency to bottom out. I've got a heavy duty rear bumper with integrated hitch, and frame tie-ins. Trailer also has a friction sway control bar if necessary, but so far trailer sway hasn't been an issue.

So stopping & controlling the trailer is handled...but now the problem has become maintaining speed. Big loss of power & heating up the engine/trans when climbing mountains & hills. Even with 4.88 gears & a 1-ton trans cooler...

....so I'm currently searching for a used 3/4 ton diesel, which will climb those mountain passes without straining one bit.

 

[Lawless]

^ yeah man I'm trying to find a small lightweight travel trailer to pull to appease my wife to go on trail rides with...some of you may ask why...well the way I see it is the more I keep her involved the more I get to spend on mods

 

[UnlimitedLJ04]

^ yeah man I'm trying to find a small lightweight travel trailer to pull to appease my wife to go on trail rides with...some of you may ask why...well the way I see it is the more I keep her involved the more I get to spend on mods

here's what I built for camping...

It tows easier than my enclosed full size trailer, and I can see around it much better. You definitely know its behind you going up the mountains and it needs more downshifting, but it's tolerable enough to drive long distances.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

^ yeah man I'm trying to find a small lightweight travel trailer to pull to appease my wife to go on trail rides with...some of you may ask why...well the way I see it is the more I keep her involved the more I get to spend on mods

My wife barely puts up with this, you may want to consider one size (barely) larger which normally includes things like a forced air heater & hot shower which mine doesn't have.

 

[Lawless]

here's what I built for camping... It tows easier than my enclosed full size trailer, and I can see around it much better. You definitely know its behind you going up the mountains and it needs more downshifting, but it's tolerable enough to drive long distances.

Nice rig!

 

[Hurst]

I'm doing a frame off restoration of a 1968 Shasta. I hope the TJ pulls it ok!

 

[dotey1]

Hurst I am surprised that you did not use metal studs wherever possible for weight savings. Not sure of cost differences between wood and metal. I do like the idea to restore it. Keep us posted on progress

 

[Lawless]

Looks good Hurst! Definitely keep us posted as I'm looking into doing the same thing.

 

[Hurst]

Thanks guys! I went with the wood to keep it close to stock spec. These tin cans can fetch $8 to 25k if done right. I will keep you posted for sure. I'm worried about the weight on the tj. Oh well, I will do some testing.

 

[Lawless]

Thanks guys! I went with the wood to keep it close to stock spec. These tin cans can fetch $8 to 25k if done right. I will keep you posted for sure. I'm worried about the weight on the tj. Oh well, I will do some testing.

What did they weigh originally back in the day?

 

[a48jeep]

Wow, this is good stuff! Love that Shasta. My Dad pulled and Aristocrat 'LoLiner' with a late 70's CJ7, bone stock. It was a long time ago, but I think it was a dog on grades and I believe the Jeep had electric brakes and a weight distributing hitch. Tiny trailer, like 15' Loliner: 1800 lbs. Hitch wt 225 lbs (from web).

 

[Lawless]

Wow, this is good stuff! Love that Shasta. My Dad pulled and Aristocrat 'LoLiner' with a late 70's CJ7, bone stock. It was a long time ago, but I think it was a dog on grades and I believe the Jeep had electric brakes and a weight distributing hitch. Tiny trailer, like 15' Loliner: 1800 lbs. Hitch wt 225 lbs (from web).

Yeah that Shasta is a classic..

 

[Ted_D]

I pulled a total load of 3600 from North Idaho to Anchorage Alaska. 3 days 2750 miles and never had any problem

 

[Lawless]

Wow 3600# for almost 3k miles?

 

[Lawless]

I pulled a total load of 3600 from North Idaho to Anchorage Alaska. 3 days 2750 miles and never had any problem

Were you running stock?

 

[HotTotty]

It will pull fine it's the stopping that can be a problem.