i have a 1999 jeep cherokee sport about 100K miles on it. Im trying to tow a 3600ib car with trialer, wich is about 2000ib. my jeep has the towing pkg. but im not sure what hitch i have, class one? if i do have class one i cannot tow the trialer right? its about 700 miles each way, i would be towing the car back, all highway. can somone plz help me out. thanks

 

is it factory reese hitch?

 

What size is the square hole in your receiver, 1" square, or 2" square?

 

First of all, if im not mistaken, the XJ has a tow rating of about 3500 lbs. this should make you wary of towing anything heavier. Most vehicles with decent power and gearing will tow a heavy load, but as far as handling the push and sway of a heavily loaded trailer they do not. And the big thing, they do not stop well. Ive seen toyotas pulling skidsteer loaders fine, they just cant stop. Secondly, you have to look at the hitch tag, and it will tell you the weight rating. My XJ came with what i call the baby hitch with the 1 1/4 in. hitch insert. This is rated at 3500 lbs and does not make a good tow point for a trailer with a car loaded. It is a Class II hitch. A class III hitch is rated at 5000 lbs and a class IV is rated at 8000+. Be very wary pulling 5500 lbs + with your XJ over a long distance. It wasnt really designed to pull that kind of load.

 

yeah its a factory hitch. i think its the 2''. how about using dolly? or is it the same thing?

 

Same problem.....

Its not having enough power... you simply don't have the weight,size or brakes to keep it under control in problem situations.

 

If you were only goin a little way i think it would be fine but not 700 one way and then back it's alot of wieght for the xj and a hual i'd rent a truck if you can good luck

 

so do i have the class one hitch on my car? how can i tell? thers no tag or anything.

 

measure the square hole for the reciever to go in if its a 2 inch i think it's a classII if its the smaller one it's a class I i believe some one correct me if i'm wrong please

 

yeah its a 2inch...but thers a tag that says wgt disterbution 5000ib wgt carry 2000ib. so does that mean its class one?

 

Sorry i don't no that you might be able to look up reese hitch on the web and find there class ratings