thaclav

I might be using the Jeep to tow a BMW 2002 home to fix up as a project. I'm wondering what the towing capacity of my Jeep is and if it can tow the BMW. The curb weight on one of them is in the neighborhood of 2000lbs. My Jeep has a Class III (im pretty sure) hitch and it's set up to support trailer brakes too. If I do have to tow one of them home I'll probably use a friend's truck but it'll depend on timing and where the car's located. It would just be nice to know if I can tow the thing with the Jeep.

LCFRJEEP

Do you have a manual or automatic tranny? Either way, your good up to about 6000. I have personally towed much more than that and I would not recommend it but understand the 6000 lbs is not the absolute limit! If you are going to tow the car, make sure you have your tires maxed out on PSI and if you have an auto tranny, make sure you tow with the trans in the 3rd gear position. Your trans will appreciate it as will your wallet. Good Luck!!

caged

actually, the towing capacity of an xj is only 5000lbs.
i know 6000 doesn't seem like much more, but it can push the rear end of the jeep around when cornering.
also, if DMV happens to pull you in the scales, you'd be overweight and can be fined.
just remember, there is a 500lb max tongue law.

if your xj is equipped with a factory installed hitch, it should have a mount in the middle to the body as well as bolted to the frame provided nut strips.

http://www.theautochannel.com/vehicl.../solo0029.html

i know this link is for a 2000 model xj, but the weight is still the same.

Jesse James

you shouldnt have any problem at all. the 1992 i had that used to be my dads XJ and is now my source for spare parts towed a 6500 lb travel trailer from toronto to st. johns newfoundland (over 3000 miles round trip) with only one overheating incident. your Beemer shouldnt cause it any problems

Phil99

Iv towed a Chevy Suberban to my friends house once not sure how much that weighed but i made it just fine

coreyt

I tow a 2500lb boat like its nothing all season long.

XJ.89.Limited

I don't recommend towing anything more than 2000lbs, and many others on this forum will agree with me. The unibody platform of the XJ is just not meant for pulling. It doesn't matter if it "can be done." It's a matter of what will happen because of it. If you want to tow the beamer, make sure the trailer has brakes, you don't go on a highway, and you take it slow and easy. Plan out a route that doesn't have hills or many starts and stops. If you have an automatic, get a tranny cooler. Make sure all fluids are in good running order (oil, coolant, tranny, axles, transfer case). Keep in mind that the car weighs 2000lbs at least, plus the weight of the trailer it's on. Trailers can also be about 1000lbs. I don't see where the tow capacity of 5000lbs came from. Guys pull 2000lbs and can clearly feel it behind them and some have struggled with 3000lbs. A dodge dakota with the v8 magnum has a tow capacity of 5000lbs. The dakota is a full frame pickup designed to pull, not a unibody SUV designed to go offroad after a day on the street. Hence the name "mall crawler" given to the XJ.

djb383

The XJ is rated to tow 5k lbs IF it has the 4.0L, auto tranny, auxiliary tranny cooler and heavy duty cooling. If it's missing any of those item it's rated at 2k lbs towing. We've towed 1500 lbs and u can deffinitely tell it's back there. The XJ is light duty at best.

Northwoods Snowman

Something that must be added to what djb383 said is that you can only tow up to 5000 lbs with 750 lb tongue weight when you have a weight distributing hitch. With out a weight distributing hitch (and the other items mentioned) the max as stated is 2000 lbs and 200 lbs tongue weight. Here's the data tag on the OEM hitch installed in my XJ. The specifics are also detailed in the owners manual.

Missmegzie

Hi ya'll newb here. Thinking about installing a tow hitch to my 2001 jeep cherokee sport 4x4. All information found online says this jeep can tow a Max of 2,000 lbs. I wanted to get a camping trailer with a dry weight of 1,845 lbs. However the GWVR is nearly 3,000lbs. I probably wouldn't be able to tow this right? With passenger and cargo weight combined? If I cant get this trailer, which campers would you suggest for a light duty jeep? This whole towing thing is confusing.

Thanks in advance!

00t444e

You'll be fine towing that.

Griffyorcono

Don't overthink this. For some reason, we have a lot of people on here that care about your safety more than they care about answering your question. Just go with what these guys say and figure out the true answer and come back and let us all know if your XJ made the trip because I think it should be fine.

cpttuna

I have two utility trailers. One weighs 450 pounds empty and the other 1,000. I have used both over the years many times. I worry every time i haul. First there is place of cargo in the trailer to balance the load. Second is pulling power. It doesn't take much before you know a load is back there and power becomes a problem. I always travel slower and keep my distance from others. Others sail by me but they for the most part have pickups. you can tow with an XJ. Some of the comments made by those who have concern me.

Spencer_P

1. Trans cooler
2. Good brakes
3. Trans temp gauge

EZEARL

^^^ that plus at least the front "sway" bar.