Hi guys, just a quick note, I own 3 XJ's. The reason is: I have never had a vehicle I liked as much as the XJ. 2 of them are 99's and a 2001. I purposly bought a new 21' ultra lite weight travel trailer. 3400# dry. My total weight on a truck scale is 8500# I just got home to Tx rom a 2200 mile trip to Durango Co. Had some tough pulls, but no problems. I watched the temp gauge like a hawk, even had the AC on. Made 11.2 MPG for the trip. The torque range for the 4.0 liter is flat from 2200 to 2800 rpm and the specs say the towing capicity for these Jeeps is 5000#. I am going to put a tranny temp gauge on it though. I am an old man and plan on giving these tough Jeeps to someone in my family some day.

 

i would tow anything with a stick rather than auto! all our dumptrucks at work are stick! (f550s and then macks!) only things ever replaced were all scheduled maintenance. more control. less damage.

 

Grable,
Good solid comments. Pretty much what I suspected, but good to get some real info. Now I need to find an appropriate XJ. I would like ~97-2001, 5-spd, 4x4, low mileage Any ideas? Want to sell one of yours?
Derrold

 

so....towing a car on a trialer with XJ not so good idea...i am also guessing that there is no way i could tow a 3200 lb car on a 2000lb trailer behind my XJ with 35" tires that should i?

 

:donat ello:: donatello:

 

Pull what you want to behind these trucks I just hope you are nowhere near me. I have a 5x10 trailer I pull my lawn mower on and pull it with the 90 XJ once in a while. It pulls it OK but gets pretty hard to handle at times because the Jeep is just too short to pull much of a load.
Some of you guys are really putting your lives and others around you in jeopardy pulling the stuff I have seen and read about here. If you need to pull these loads buy a truck designed to pull it. Some of these loads I wouldn't pull behind my 71 F100 with disc brakes and a 460. Trailer brakes help stop the trailer sure and a weight transfer hitch will help with the swaying but the let that trailer start swaying one time when a Semi is passing you with about 30 mph on you and the guy in the other lanes swerves into you lane and see what happens.
I just hope you don't have your family with you at the time everything piles up against you as it will sooner or later
You really need to think about it before you hook up to the next trailer
Flame me all you want but I needed to say this.
clint

 

i have a 2000 xj with 205000miles on it 31's 5" lift i pull my 2800lb+ tandem axle trailer you can tell it struggles on the up hills and stopping sucks but it get the job done better then my E250 work van!

 

I would get the E 250 work van looked at as something is wrong with it if it has trouble with that load.
clint

 

You know the guys with LIMITED towing experience really need to keep their SCARE opinions to themselves.
ANY properly I want to really stress the PROPERLY set up vehicle trailer combination is no more dangerous than going to the beer store in a Nash metropolitan. I mean geeesh guys there will always be the chance that someone like you not paying attention to their driving will pull out in front of someone like me. But you could do that whether I was pulling a trailer or not. Does that mean I need to buy a peterbuilt just to pull my boat so when you do pull out the weight of my tractor will just demolish you?
And here is something for the guys wanting to pull a trailer with a car on it. I drove back from Dallas Texas to Toronto Ontario with an '70 Olds 442 on a trailer behind my 89XJ. I had the load leveler bars on and a proper sway bar with trailer brakes. Properly set up and balanced. No scares in over 1800 miles. And I'd do it again in a heart beat. If I could only find another 442 optioned out that way! LOL

 

i towed this 350 miles from central nj to central vt up and down hills no problem. 96 sport 4.0 ax15 stock 3.07 gears stock tires. dont know dry weight of my trailer but its a single axle frame from a 20 ft camper decked in 2x12's. 8'wx10'lx8'h shed thats been reinforced with steel studs. was loaded with a 2500 watt generator, construction tools, lumber to build a 12x12 deck, 6squares of shingle bundles, 20 steel studs weighing about 20lbs each and some other miscellaneous stuff. balanced my load over the axle so that i could lift the tongue by hand. did 55mph on the highway in 4th gear, never overheated. even got it into 5th gear a few times. no weight distro hitch, trailer has electric brakes and i have brake controller. never swayed, never had problems with the clutch.

 

THANK YOU!

 

I got a 97 with 3in lift, 31s,5 speed and i pulled my race car (81 olds w\big block chevy) on a 20ft all wood deck dove tail,and it dosent do to bad.trailer brakes help a ton but ive done it without,and if you plan on doing it often id recomend regearing,and if its a heavy load you might need helper spring or air bags\shocks to help the leafs out im going bags but havent\cant put them on right yet.

 

Hi Derrold, I live in Kerrville Tx. This area is the place to buy used Jeeps. Mild temp, no salt, rust, lots of older people who trade just because there is nothing to spend there money on. I have found several XJ's for sale close to here. Keep your eyes on San Antonio. It is the 8th largest city in the US. I have a suggestion 4 U,,,,look 4 anything from 99 up thru the last year they were made,,,,2001. A way better dash, interior, and has the newer rear door, tailgate, or whatever U want 2 call it. My 2001 has the UP COUNTRY option, which is about 3" higher off the ground than the others. I had them side by side on a cement floor when I measured them. It has 16' tires and absolutely no different height than the 15" on the other 2. Thanks for your response, and good luck on finding one! When I die,,,there possibly will B 3 for sale.

 

^dibs!!!

 

Like I said flame away. I said what I felt needed saying. Towing a load too heavy and long is as bad as street racing. It is just irresponsible and dangerous to others besides you. If you need to two regularly buy a truck large enough to do it safely. If you were the only one on the road do what you want but you are not.
I have been driving for 33 years many of those years pulling loads professionally or at least driving professionally. I have seen all kinds of idiots hauling 28ft boats with a small front wheel drive car. Sure it will get it rolling and might even get up to speed. Is it safe?
Once came upon an accident where there was a small Toyota pickup and a utility trailer all tore apart. There was also what looked like a pallet load of 12' drywall scattered over 3 lanes of traffic. There were 2 bodies covered with blankets on the side of the road from the small car he ran into when traffic came to a stop too fast for him to stop for.
One of those bodies was pretty small which I assume to mean it was a mom, dad and child. See much of that and the idiots that cause stuff like that to happen and you will understand where I come from
Flame me, kick me off the site or whatever.
clint