I have a lot of experience with towing trailers and have towed a 25' travel trailer thousands of miles. I have learned a lot of things the hard way. There is no way that I would EVER consider towing a 22' travel trailer with an XJ. If I'm not mistaken, the 4.0 with the auto tranny is rated to tow 5,000 pounds. As a good rule of thumb, especially with a gas powered SUV, is to never tow more than 80% of your vehicles max towing capacity. That would be 4,000 pounds. You also need to keep in mind that towing a travel trailer, is like towing a wall through the air. Stick your hand out your window at 65 mph and feel how much resistance there is. It's a lot. Add a 15 mph head wind in there and now you're going through the air at 80 mph. Can the engine and transmission handle it? Who knows. I wouldn't do it with mine to find out. But that's not the issue here. If you want to send your drivetrain to an early grave, go right ahead.

The real issue, is that you're towing a travel trailer. A 22' long box, and you're towing it with a short wheel base SUV. It may seem fine and dandy when you're towing it around on city streets. Get it out on the highway and have a gust hit you from the side. Even worse, wait until an 18 wheeler goes blowing by you. When an 18 wheeler passes you from behind, it creates a venturi effect. The air that is passing between your trailer and the 18 wheeler, speeds up. It's the same principle that makes an airplane fly. When it speeds up, it creates a vacuum. So, as the trailer is passing, it is pulling the rear of your trailer towards the truck. The wheels on the trailer are the pivot point, and the front of your trailer is steering away from the truck. This in turn makes your XJ steer towards the truck. As the truck passes, it starts to suck on the front of your trailer. In turn, it steers your XJ away from the 18 wheeler. When an 18 wheeler goes blowing by, this all happens really fast. If you're towing a 22' travel trailer with an XJ, I promise you, you will notice. Even if you have a leveling hitch and sway bar. The tail wags the dog. You could buy a Hinson hitch that gives your trailer a virtual pivot point that is over your rear axle. A Hinson hitch is going to cost more than your XJ is probably worth.

Stopping is another problem. These things were not made for towing. The brakes on an XJ are designed to stop an XJ. Make sure you spend the money on a good trailer brake controller. I recommend the Tekonsha Prodigy brake controller. It will probably run you around $130, but it's well worth the money. NEVER EVER pull a trailer that size without it unless you have a death wish. You will be depending on your trailer brakes to stop you. Set it up so that when you're max braking in your truck, the trailer brakes are almost locked up. The instructions will tell you how to do that.

So, can you tow a 22' travel trailer with an XJ? Probably. You can do it safely, you just need to know what to look out for. Personally, I wouldn't do it because I'd be worried about my drive train. I also don't like scanning the horizon every time a big truck passes. I towed my 25' travel trailer with an F-250 and a diesel engine. It was like it wasn't even there. I could however, still feel the effects of cross-winds and trucks that would pass. I was only towing about 35% of what that truck was capable of. I started out towing it with a Chevy Tahoe and it was slow and scary at times. Anyways, be careful and know what you're dealing with.

 

yes, these things have a great power/weight ratio. but strangely enough, at work we had a 90s f150 xlt we used to pull mowers (wood bottom car trailer, 2 zero turns, 2 weed eaters, push mower) and that thing could barely get going...but of course it didnt have the tow package. But i mean my jeep could have outpulled that thing easily....it was freakin rediculous

 

i tried towing something with my cherokee once. i towed my wife's liberty, on a dolly, across town. i had only a 4" lift and 31s on it. it was not fun. the liberty kept trying to steer us and stopping scared the crap out of me. i used to tow trailers as part of a job, heavy trailers with lots of wet sand on them but we used pick ups. the jeep's brakes don't work for stopping. going was fine, stopping was not. if you are going to pull with it, don't go over 45 mph and leave lots of room.

 

I can take it people, flame away. I never said a canoe was too large. I am just saying do not pull a load too heavy for what you are towing with. I guess that is too broad a statement so how about, do not tow more than your truck, SUV or car is rated for. Sure you can add better brakes, springs and hitches and that will help. I would not haul much behind my 71 F100 if it still had drum brakes on it.
Maybe it is because I do have the F100 and have towed my landscape trailer and lawn mower with it so much that I feel the way I do about towing with the XJ. It is a world of difference with a light load behind the XJ. It is not anywhere near as stable as the F100 and in truth the F100 is not meant to be towing very much itself. U-haul will not even rent me a tow dolly. lol
People get too defensive on these websites these days.
I am just trying to help make somebody think before hooking up their XJ to a landscape trailer loaded up with a pallet of 12" drywall and killing themselves or a family of 4. What is wrong with that? If that is wrong just delete my membership.
OH, In North Carolina we do not have to have a catalytic converter on the car or truck unless it was on there from the factory. Not every car or truck has to have one. Only those that came with one. I have not even had to have my 71 inspected for many years. I think about 10 at least. When I get my 72 Maverick running it will not need inspecting. Anything older than 96, basically pre OBDII doesn't need emissions testing. They get a basic safety inspection until I think they are 25 years old and considered a classic, then no inspection.



clint

 

also the jeep in 4high pulls my heavy boat in idle out of the water on the boat ramp better then my van does, the tires just spin.

 

Hey I bet you shouldn't pull that trailer lol

 

FWIW...the DPO of my rig towed his fishing boat with the xj. 4.10's with 31's.

There was a receipt in the box that came with the xj from Amco Transmission for $2500.

 

I guess I am taking a really bad risk,, and U R right about the XJ towing capicity of 5000# I have been in the construction business all my life. I am 73 years old. My XJ pulls my 21' ultra lite trailer as good or better than Ford F-150's or half ton Chevy's. I had a friend who bought a new Chev a year ago. It went to market in a short time. The radiator was about 1" thick and he burned the motor with in less than a month. A 115degree day with just the air conditioner on. He was pulling NOTHING. Also had the drivers door fall off,,,the glue didn't hold. I have had a lot of fun telling Chevy owners about the doors being glued on. That was about 15 years ago, and I don't know about that any more. I guess what I am trying to tell U guys, is that I think Chrysler knows better than we do about what the XJ can pull. Again it says 5000# THANKS!

 

My F350 is rated to tow about 16,000. I routinely tow 20,000 and have towed 24,000 (maybe more...eight yards of wet manure), all with a class IV hitch.

The F350 is tow truck...it is a brute. I could put the XJ in the pickup box and tow 20,000. It ain't the engine or the frame or the axle that limits this truck, it's the transmission.

The XJ, on the other hand, is a unibody "car". It'll tow small popup campers OK if they are not too heavy. Anything more than that is asking for luck. That little radiator can't throw off enough heat to keep the trans cool.

 

grable, you type very well for your age, especially being up on the text way of typing. you use some phrases that tell me you are indeed older then a fair bit of us on this site.

i agree, if chrysler says its good for 5k, then its been tested for that. i know the liberty was 5500 so i was over hte limit and plus i had a lift and over size tires to not aid in the towing. the wife's old 95 with tow package towed everything superbly and never caused me to think another thing about towing with a cherokee. it was totally stock though.

maybe the lifted cherokees are swaying the answers in this thread because of hte amount of lifted versus stock cherokees?

 

Thank you very much for your help! I appreciate the time you, and others, have spent writing suggestions for me!
Derrold

 

Resurecting this thread but I thought I would add my .02. First off, in this case the owners manuual is very nice to have, and READ. Towing a regular trailer the weight limit is something much lower ike 2000# (I don't have the manual in front of me for specifics). ONLY with a weight distributing hitch is the XJ good for 5000#. The factory tow package also comes with an auxillary trans cooler to keep the tranny cool. I think the manual mentions seomething about the cooler being required too for the 5000# rating. The factory wiring also is set up for electric brakes though there is no controller (I guess you have to have the controller for the functionality to work?...still looking into this part).

I think the engineers at Chrysler can tell how much weight the XJ can pull better than guys that have been hauling who knows what for 30 some years. After all, they DESIGNED the vehicle. Would I go over 5000#? not unless it was an emergency, but I wouldn't hesitate to tow up to that with the proper equipment setup. There is going to be a safety factor built into the factory rating too. Chryser is not going to take the risk of having the vehicle fail because someone pulled 5001#. If someone wants to only pull 80% of the factory rating, more power to them, that's not a bad idea. However, telling someone that under no circumstances should they pull something that is less than the factory rating is going over the top, IMO. A long travel trailer is going to be affected more by the wind, yes, that's why you drive with that awareness and pay attention and don't eat your popcorn while texting your friend and reading the state map folded out over the whole front seat with the kids moments away from murdering each other in the back seat.

There are two main issues. The XJ can handle up to 5000# with a weight distributing hitch and tranny cooler. The other issue is the driver knowing how to handle a heavy load and driving accordingly with good judgement.

One other thing I just remembered...the owners manual also states that the #5000 limit is with an empty XJ and just the driver so don't forget to factor in weight in the Jeep.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is US has different ratings than Canada. The US I believe is slightly more laxed with its tow ratings. Here in Canada the ratings seem to be quite a bit lower.

Another thing to keep in mind is the towing laws in your Province/State because sometimes your vehicle tow rating might be much higher than you can legally even tow anyway.

 

I haven't run across that other than for seasonal load limits what would apply to semi weight type traffic.