So the story is, I'm looking at buying a 1986 Mazda RX7 from Texas, since my current one is being eaten alive by rust . I'm going to take a trip down there with my dad and possibly tow the car back.

The Jeep is a 2001 Cherokee sport with the 4.0 I6 and auto trans, all stock. The RX7 weighs ~2700 lbs and I don't know how much a U-haul car dolly weighs, but it couldn't be more than a couple hundred pounds (anyone know for sure?). I've seen people use XJs to tow the same kind of car short distances, but in this case we'd be hauling the car over 1000 miles.

The XJ doesn't have the Towing package, but it does have the appropriate hitch and my dad has quite a bit of experience with towing. Will we be okay doing this? I'm kind of doubtful myself, but I have come across some posts on here mentioning it. Just wondering if anyone can make some recommendations and suggestions.

Thanks.

 

It should be alright, just take it easy.

 

do you have tranny cooler?
if so, the Jeep will be fine...
FWIW, I towed well beyond 5000lbs over 3500 miles... was a bit of a handfull on steeper declines, and worked rather hard on inclines... but 8 years later it's still my daily driver/weekend wheeler... and it's still running the original stock clutch.

 

www.uhaul.com has weights of there car dollys and trailers. They pick for you based on how much the vehicle your pulling weighs and the vehicle your pulling it with. I would try for the dolly over the trailer as the trailer weighs like 2000lbs or 1000 cant remember

 

Thanks for the input guys. So, if I install a trans cooler (same one as in the jeepin.com writeup) should we be okay?

 

U-Haul denied my request for a car dolly last fall. Our U-Haul requires a pickup or full-sized vehicle. Might want to call them first.

 

Most U-hauls will.... They use a computer program that bases it on weight of the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle. Its because of all the lawsuits related to their junk equipment, and folks that don't know what they are doing tearing their stuff up.

 

my dad and i towed a 6000lb travel trailer from Toronto to St. Johns, Newfoundland (2000miles) and back with a '92 XJ that was in already rough shape. We just tossed a tranny cooler in it and put another leaf in the back to try and level the Jeep up when towing. It made the 4000 mile trip there and back, and as i said, it was beat before we left. Yours should have no problem at all.

HTH

 

U-haul wont rent you the car dolly, they will tell you that the brakes on the vehicle are not sufficient without a trailer braking system... I towed a 32' pontoon boat for three years and never had issues and I told them that but they didn't care, they just said no. so call them up and ask, but they are VERY picky about what tows there car trailers, and will probably tell you no.

Oh and I was going to tow a 71 bug for a guy so that should tell you how picky they are...

try another rental place...

 

I use to rent a tow dolly for transporting my cars before I bought my own for $500. Money well spent. Anyway, just tell them you're towing a '65 VW bug. They weigh around 1600 lbs., so you should have no trouble getting the dolly. Unless you don't want to lie. Don't ever use over-drive when towing, as it will damage your trans.

 

As stated install a trany cooler. The main problem I see is not the XJ having the power to pull it but stop it. Do you have an electric brake controler? I'm guessing not. Which means the wieght of that car is going to be pushing on your jeep. We've towed my jeep before on a truck without electric brakes and you could tell when you went to stop that the jeep wanted to keep pushing the truck. I think you will probably be fine as long as the ground there is pretty flat. Also I would take breaks and don't try and drive all night as you don't want the brakes heating up on a long trip and failing. Just remember to give yourself plenty of stoping distance and if need be drop it down a gear when coming to a stop to brake the engine.