actually its the one next to my cherokee in the pic

 

So after reading this thread I gather that it would not be the best idea to tow my new (or new to me) Tahoe Q4 fish & ski I just bought. Aprox weight of boat is 2200 pounds and guessing the weight of the trailer to be about 1500 pounds. Bearing in mind that I live in western NC and all the lakes we go to require driving up and down the mountains to get to them, and these are BIG mountains with severely steep grades at some points. I was planning on just buying on old 94 or 95 F150 with the 5.0 to pull the boat, thoughts from you guys?

 

I would with a trans cooler and an easy right foot and good adjusted trailer brakes I wouldn't even be nerves about it. That's just bairly heavier then your jeep. The trailer should stop you.

 

When my wife had her XJ years ago, she routinely pulled a two horse trailer with two horses in it. I'd guess 3500 pounds, easy. Pulled it just fine and stopped it just fine, because the trailer had brakes and I installed a brake control on the Jeep.

It was a 4.0HO with a 5-speed manual. All completely stock. She hauled horses to rodeos with that thing just about every weekend. She went anywhere from 15-20 minutes away, to three and four hours from home. No problems whatsoever.

Once my XJ gets shipped to me, I'll be using it to pull a 5x10 trailer that I'll load with hay and whatever else I want. I don't expect any problems.

I'd also get a class 3 hitch. I wouldn't mess with any of those lighter ones. If you think stopping will be an issue with what you're pulling, a brake control is not that hard to install if your trailer is equipped with brakes.

 

The most towing I've tried, pulled it no problems down the freeway 50 miles home.
I ran 60 to 65mph, that black beech heated up if you went faster.
4.0, auto, 4x4, with receiver hitch.
Not long after this picture the beech died. Mom got it hot and blew the engine when I loaned it to her.

 

Heck I got PnP (Push n pray) on mine without ABS.

 

Have the engine die on a Ozark NAtional Forest mountain road and see how good those brakes are without power steering.

 

Heavy duty radiator, trans cooler, and a Reese towmaster hitch and harness -

 

Last weekend I found a deal on a 2000 Xj Sport 4wd 4.0 that I couldn't pass up and I bought it with the idea I could leave it at my house in Lake Havasu City to launch my 19 ft. Bayliner and jet skis. This way I won't always have to drive a tow vehicle the 300 miles out there every time I go, and we'll have an extra car for any of our kids that go with us to drive.

I haven't had a chance to try it yet and I'm not concerned with the jet skis. Will I have trouble on the launch ramps with the boat? The boat and trailer together are close to 4000 lbs. and my 08 FJ Cruiser doesn't even grunt or slip at all, but it weighs a lot more than a Cherokee. I'm more concerned with tracton than power... The Cherokee is bone stock.

 

I suggest getting something meant for towing especially like a dodge with a cummins or a dually

Sent from the captains chair on the planet express

 

I agree, I wanted a truck, but $2200 for a clean 2000 XJ with 111k miles, a class 3 hitch and everything works with offroad trails all around my house... I'll never pull the boat more than 5 miles and if the ramp is too much for the Jeep I can probably sell it for more and look for a truck. I'm planning to find out tomorrow.

 

The answers to my questions in case anyone else is wondering:

2000 XJ Sport auto 4wd 4.0, all stock with a class 3 hitch. Boat is a 2006 Bayliner 195BR, 19 foot bowrider with a I/O V6. The boat and trailer are probably just shy of 4000 lbs. with full 35 gallon gas tank.

I only tow about 5 miles to the launch ramp and the XJ did just fine. I pulled the boat out of the water in Hi range 4wd without any slipping and backed it up my steep driveway into my garage also in Hi 4. I wouldn't want to do any long distance towing with this setup, but am satisfied I can use the Jeep for my needs.

As this is a vacation house, I don't need to drive a vehicle capable of towing the boat for the 600 mile round trip anymore and I have a nice XJ to play off the road with too when I'm there. Now to start researching lifts...

I definitley have the typical heat soak issue in Lake Havasu City's 110 degree summer weather, but that is whether towing or not. I'll be looking into the heat shield, hood spacing, etc. for this.

 

Offroad on the farm, as much as it will pull. On the road it's more about it'sability to brake & stop than what it wll pull. i see people bragging all the time that their (____) half ton will pull what should be pulled by a 1 ton. The danger is not being able to stop that load, not whether or not it will pull it.

 

This is true. You can pull anything within reason but still need to safely be able to control it.