Towing with an XJ ?
 

Our Limited has the factory towing package: receiver, ball mount, and wiring harness.


But I'm a little concerned about long distance towing considering the propensity of these things to have over heating issues just on their own.


Nothing too big: probably an 8 or 10 foot long U-Haul from Colorado to Montana.


Our full size vehicles have a lot of miles and there's some deferred maintenance on them due to the fact that they are just local backup vehicles. I'm not sure whether to fix up one of them, trade one up for something with less miles, or go with the Cherokee which is our "newest" vehicle mileage wise.

They can tow, just don't go over the weight limit. You might consider a bigger transmission cooler though.

The engine should be fine. It'll do more work, but it'll be fine. Keep the maintenance on it and keep the oil changed.

Just had the cooling system flushed and the oil changed and chassis lubed (this latter didn't seem to have been done in a while).


I wasn't really planning to tow with it at all except for maybe a short haul utility trailer once in a great while. But it looks like family issues are coming up.


My one experience with an aftermarket transmission cooler was a ruined radiator. I guess they thought the plastic mounting pins could just ride forever on the core of a cross flow radiator. It did go that way for almost 20 years but finally started leaking near Eden TX.

I just towed home a stock xj with my Cherokee. I have stock gears 35s and a 4.5 stroker and jeep did awesome
I was using a tow dolly. Drive was 3hrs one way. Jeep did great didn't get hot at all. Only thing is brakes where not up to the task but I just kept in slow lane and gave myself a lot of stopping distance.

Our jeep is completely stock.


The trip would be about 700 miles (14 hours pulling a trailer?), across Wyoming where it seems like it is uphill and upwind both ways.


Do you use "3" instead of Overdrive on the transmission, or just put it in Power mode ???

Yes use 3. Do not use overdrive when towing. Your rig will do fine towing haul on freeway if stock.

Thanks :)

Happy safe travels fellow Jeeper!

Be sure to let's us know how the xj did and any issues or tips.

Also I'm curious as to the mpg you get towing with your stock jeep.

Mine got 15mpg towing jeep with tow dolley back home all freeway.

I don't know yet when this might happen, but at some point I am going to need to go help my mom move into a smaller place. There's going to be stuff to move, stuff to get rid of, and probably a little bit of stuff to bring home.


My 1989 "Blue Ox" Chevy pickup is so rough looking that I fear the cops in Colorado will tear me apart, even though it runs and drives good (it's my fire wood pickup). The 1991 Suburban has saggy rear springs which I'm not sure are worth fixing. My old namesake GMC has less than 100K and runs good, but you just never know about something that old on a long trip. It leaks oil like crazy because of those old flimsy tin valve covers.


The car of course can't haul much and can't tow anything.

I've towed a number of different sized trailers behind my 2001 XJ for long distances (200 miles or more) and from experience:

- 4x6 cargo trailers and smallish utility trailers are a non-issue
- a fully-loaded 5x8 cargo trailer can be towed all day long, any speed, no problems.
- the XJ will struggle with a loaded Uhaul 6x12 trailer at freeway speeds. Acceleration, hills and braking become issues. Plan on doing no more than 55mph.
- anything bigger is asking for trouble.

My XJ is a 2001 4.0L 2wd, automatic (AW4) transmission, stock except with a large transmission cooler and synthetic gear oil in the rear axle, both of which you will need if you're towing any distance. I also have air shocks in the rear to level the load a little, and that helps a LOT. As mentioned, if you have an automatic transmission, do not tow in overdrive and plan on getting 15mpg.

I'm tired of renting trailers so often, and I have a lot of moving to do this summer so I'm hoping to buy my own 5x10 Pace cargo trailer this week. That seems to be the perfect size/weight for an XJ.

Thanks, that's probably the size we would need :)


When we hauled a 6x12 U-haul (only because they didn't have any larger!) up here from CO almost 20 years ago, we pulled it with a 2wd Suburban with a four speed manual. I wouldn't have considered using anything less. We had that trailer so packed that a snake would have had to crawl out backwards and it wasn't light stuff either. She drove the Burban/u-haul and I drove the namesake pulling our travel trailer and the bed all loaded down with heavy stuff.

Something I learned the hard way. A 1500 lbs trailer with no trailer brakes is more dangerous than a 3000lbs trailer with brakes. If someone surprises you with that 1500 lbs behind you it will just push you right into them. ABS would help but your stopping distance is surprisingly longer.

I think all the U-Hauls have surge brakes - not sure about the smaller ones, though.