hey guys... I am just curious what the towing capacity is for our xjs.. I know (from looking online) that with the 4.0/ auto transmission it is rated at 5000lbs but my question is what dictates the towing capacity? like since I swapped the dana 35 to a 44 with disk brakes and some stuff to the engine would it go up?

thanks

 

p.s. does anyone know what the aprox. towing weight of an 8 passenger pontoon boat is? haha

 

5K towing also requires HD cooling and a auxiliary tranny cooler. If your XJ has factory a/c, it has HD cooling.

 

Find your local certified public scales and find out exactly what the boat weighs.....don't guess.

 

I pull boats all the time (real cheap to rent on the army base).. Ive pulled trailers with 6 fourwheelers, and I have pulled an f150... I just want to know what determines what your towing weight is and what, if anything, can you do to improve it.

And I don't think the pontoon boats towing weight can be anywhere near 5000lbs (boat itself weights ~3500).. I was just curious

 

Guess I'm not sure what u are asking.....the towing specs are stated in the factory owners manual.....max tow capacity is 5k lbs and the manual states 4.0, auto, HD cooling and a auxiliary tranny cooler are required to safely tow 5k lbs. The XJ will probably move 50k.....move it safely, no. Public scales cost a few bucks.....guessing weight could cost u your XJ, not to mention your........

Towing very much in a XJ with 35" tires...................yikes!

 

From what I understand, he is curious whether or not modding the XJ changes it capacity. For instance, he mentioned he changed out the turdy-five for a D44 with disc brakes. Would that highten his max load weight?

 

No I cant see how changing those items would. They are obviously better stronger and better than stock options but there is a lot more components that go into figuring out max tow capacity that just rear axle's and brakes. Stick with the STOCK rating just to play it safe. Good Luck!!

 

No not at all. The aux tranny cooler is a very specific package. Most XJ's do not have one.

It would change the payload. The GAWR is higher on the D44 vs the D35. More than likely it will not change the towing capacity just being a D44. The fact that the brakes were upgraded will increase the towing cap as will lower gears. More than likely it will not change the fact that it is still a midsize SUV. The unibody is NOT designed to haul. Most midsized trucks with real frames are not rated over 6000lbs. I wouldn't feel comfortable towing over 6K with an XJ regardless of mods. Seeing that his is sitting on 35s with a good bit of lift it will probably get the bob and weave at speed as well...

 

Most XJs are not rated to tow 5K lbs. It's, good advice to stay with what the factory recommends. Take any of the 4 items I listed out of/away from the factory equation and towing capacity will be less than 5K lbs.

If an accident happens and one of those 1-800-XXX-XXXX law firms gets involved, try explaining to a jury "I modified my XJ to tow more than the factory recommendation".

 

like those guys said you can probably pull more than the 5k lb limit but it wouldn't be safely. I think you would be ok towing the pontoon boat, they dont weigh very much at all. If you start hauling more than what your vehicle can handle that thing will steer you, not the other way around :P.

 

You can petition to have a GCWR raised. It takes quite a bit and you get a new sticker for the door. Most of the people who do it have much larger vehicles but the idea still applies

5K with oversized tires is going to pushing it with that motor.

 

That's it.....a petition.....hope the OP keeps us informed how that goes.

 

Thank you! haha thats what I wanted to know... I have 4.10s and so far even with the tires/lift I havent had a problem "bob and weave". I pulled a trailer down to LA from MT as it sits now (1800 miles)... I am not worried about an 800 number as I am in a very rural area and usually leave at like 4/5am (no traffic), I am only going like 40 miles, and the speed limit is only 55 down here... I was just curious what you could do to increase it (say I wanted to pull one of those pop-out campers in the future)

 

no your towing capacity can only go down, not up. it is determined by the size of your jeep. a tj has the same motor, same rear end but shorter wheel base, and it's capacity is only 1500 lbs.
if you lift your jeep, you are restricting the safe towing capacity because it's more unstable at speed in an emergency maneuver especially while towing a jetski let alone another vehicle on trailer.

i guess if you could stretch the xj and put on some weight, it could handle more towing capacity. but a proper certified class 3 tow hitch installed by a certified installer is only legally restricted to 500 lb hitch weight. so you can't exceed that.