Mine runs great but I'm on 33x12.50s I don't feel I would have a chance of towing much. Maybe if I stepped for 4.88s I would just from raw gearing

 

Well not jeeps but trucks, my truck has. 460 in it. And its a beast. Has more torque than you can shake a stick at. I've also got some cam init and full headers and a cold air. But stock gears. And I have a friend with a bone stock 351 with stock tires but 4.56s, and he can tow about just as good as me. Just goes to show gears go a loooong way.

 

You might not want to be going that fast unless your trailer has brakes, otherwise the first thing i would do for power is a complete full tune up (cap rotor wires plugs air filter ect.) then look into better injectors then bore the throttle body that seemed to make a big difference to me, maybe get a better coil and a better header unless you already have one.

 

Good description of what happens and what to do about it. Along with the correct gears.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...4112941AAqVRAr

 

is your trailer made of lead haha

i tow with stock gears and 31's and ive never had any trouble on the highways with anything from firewood to 25' pontoon boats

 

I suspect the OPs boat/motor/trailer weighs closer to 1500#, but that shouldn't be the issue. When towing he should be in 3 and NOT D. Yes the rpms will be higher, but the trans will be cooler and happier.

1995 specs are 190HP and 225ft/lbs of torque (or close). Those aren't huge numbers and it shouldn't be expected to tow and STOP like a more modern V-8 with 4 wheel disks.

There are stroker long blocks available to drop in for 260HP and a significant boost in torqe, but more $ than the average XJ is worth.

 

A stock XJ can pull quite a bit of weight... but pulling it and towing it are 2 different things. If I was in the OP's shoes I would take the boat and trailer to get weighed to either confirm or rule out a weight issue. Knowing the exact weight of the trailer is a very basic thing and should be worth a note. For instance....

My motorcycle trailer weighs 350lbs. My bike weighs 220lbs. Fuel, tools, straps, and other equipment is 145lbs. My trailer's gross weight is 715lbs.

 

I would also check the weight of the trailer. Then make sure the engine is running up to par. I pull a 17' fiberglass boat with my 91 cherokee and it has no problem making it to 70. However i only tow it at 60. Its one thing to pull it, its another to stop it.

 

I run 33's and pull a 3000# + trailer 400+ miles back home and back to school about twice a year then other stuff. does fine for 75+

stock gears, 33's and some engine mod's. just 5th gear is not useful

 

thanks for all the input. just to be clear, it pulls fine at 55 to 60 mph. if i hit 65 or more it wants to kick down a gear to maintain speed on flat road. the thing came with reciepts for a complete tune-up including plugs, wires, rotor, cap, and a fuel system cleaning all done at the dealership. it is running great. there is a river i like to run about 2 hours away. hills the whole way. this is an old jeep and i would like to avoid running the engine over 3000 rpms for long periods to maintain road speed. the complete weight of my boat, motor and gear is approximately 600 lb. i have no idea about the trailer. i can tell a difference when braking, but it is just a little bit. when i mentioned 70 mph i was thinking of driving without towing. i don't want to gear down to the point that 70 mph on the interstate has my xj sounding like my outboard.

 

Man I wish I would have taken a picture of what I seen last week, this guys was leaving a auction with a 32' fema camper pulling it with his XJ....It looked like his front wheels were not going to touch if he hit a bump.lol I would not have wanted to be on that ride home. I just hope he made it home OK.

 

we just towed a 20ft culvert pipe on a 10 ft trailer, with a standard cab 2wd colorado. that was fun...we have also towed a huge dual axle trailer used for hauling bulldozers with...you should have seen the looks we got with that. both times the stuff we were pulling was twice the size of the truck...good times.

I havent had the opportunity to pull anything other than people that got stuck with their less capable trucks. I hope to be able to pull a another car on a dolly/trailer though...prolly 3500 lbs, with stock gears...should be fun.