colder

ok guys..kind of a newb question here but i AM a newb when it comes to towing. im going to be towing a boat coming up in may. its an 18 foot bayliner tri-hull and its going to be going up some VERY steep roads to get it where i want to go. my question is, what can i do to prep my Jeep in adavnce to avoid any issues. my cooling system is up to par as of now (new rad,hoses,etc.) and i have new brakes so what else is a good idea? also, anybody have the link to wiring the electric fan with a manual switch? cant seem to find it. Btw i have a 90 xj, upgraded open cooling system, and a 3" lift with 31x10.5's if thats relevant

TheJerm

Transmission cooler. Quickest way to kill these trans it to overheat it towing and offroading. Btw how much does the boat weight? The brakes on jeeps suck for towing and takes miles to stop with a load behind it. Not advised to tow more than 2k pounds.

jeepgirl99

Towing is a cinch once you get the hang of it.....I used to tow a horse trailer loaded with horses ( 2 ) and our Starcraft boat ( think it's a 19' footer ) behind my Stock 93 Cherokee.....up and down my hill which is about 8 miles of steep up and down with lots of sharp corners....The Cherokee's do a fantastic job towing all kinds of stuff and I never put anything extra on mine.....In fact before it got retired it was still towing the boat long distance with a burned out valve and ran like crap, but still took it everywhere I asked it to.

My towing is now done with a 78 Dodge Power Wagon ( 440 ) with a 22' gooseneck flatbed trailer.....If I can tow this stuff around and not crash, you'll do great!

djb383

That load sounds like the tail will be waggin' the dog.....use caution.

BuckB91XJ

I would suggest a 3 core radiator (I bought mine from CFS radiator) and an aux tranny cooler if you plan to tow on a regular basis. The OEM XJ radiator is a POS!!! Even a new one. It just doesn't do the job if you actually make your XJ do real work.

A little trick I learned from a fellow XJ owner is to pull the aux. fan relay (in a block box on passenger side wheel well) and put in a jumper wire. This will make your aux. fan run constantly anytime the key is turned to the on position. I still use my Jumper for slow trail running on hot summer days. This trick works well and when you are not towing you can just remove the jumper and reinstall the relay. Takes 2 seconds. My aux. fan is still alive and well after 6 years.

colder

well when i did the coolant system upgrade i did put a 3 core radiator in so good there. how can i check out the tranny cooler? sorry, im self taught here and thats a new one for me. and yeah, these brakes suck but its what i got to work with lol. buck, im gonna try that once i put the electric fan back in! lol, took it out when i changed the water pump and havent put it back yet