Questions on towing with the Jeep Gladiator, non diesel

[hepcat]

My experience so far has been a single 500 mile trip towing my 23' Airstream home from the dealership. The hitch wasn't set up properly so it wasn't as carefree as I'd have liked, but 10-11 mpg seemed to be about what I averaged as well. I'll take that. I think I have the hitch issues resolved so the next trip should be easier.

Your issue isn't so much the weight as the frontal area of the trailer. I towed a 34' triple axle Airstream with a V10 Excursion and got about 10mpg. I sold the Airstream and bought a Bigfoot 25' trailer that was a couple of thousand pounds lighter... and got about 8mpg with the Excursion. It was a great trailer, but towed MUCH harder because of the square frontal area.

BTW, ST (Special Trailer) tires are only rated for 65mph. I'm quite content towing 60-65mph tops.

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[Jaybre007]

My experience so far has been a single 500 mile trip towing my 23' Airstream home from the dealership. The hitch wasn't set up properly so it wasn't as carefree as I'd have liked, but 10-11 mpg seemed to be about what I averaged as well. I'll take that. I think I have the hitch issues resolved so the next trip should be easier.

Your issue isn't so much the weight as the frontal area of the trailer. I towed a 34' triple axle Airstream with a V10 Excursion and got about 10mpg. I sold the Airstream and bought a Bigfoot 25' trailer that was a couple of thousand pounds lighter... and got about 8mpg with the Excursion. It was a great trailer, but towed MUCH harder because of the square frontal area.

BTW, ST (Special Trailer) tires are only rated for 65mph. I'm quite content towing 60-65mph tops.

I am glad someone mentioned the travel trailer tires as many people scare me as they pass by towing their 5th wheel, travel trailer or whatever because they just do not know how dangerous they are being to everyone else on the road. Another point to bring up is the axle ratings. Many people either overload their trailers or go too fast for the axle rating, a bad scenario either way. Listen to all the folks and tow 60-65, towing is not a race and no need to smoke a set of brakes and see how fast you can accelerate to prove what? Enjoy the trip, enjoy the radio, enjoy your company and let auto xmsn do the work, I get anywhere from 10-16 mpg depending on winds and hills in the TX hill country. But most of all have fun and check tire pressures!

 

[Farmer Fran]

To add to the towing...

with my RAM 1500, 5.7, 3.92 gears

my 298RK 34' at 8000lbs and my last tt 24' at about 4500lbs, i got 9 to 11mpg on both. I usually run max 65mph.

 

[GI Grandpa]

My experience so far has been a single 500 mile trip towing my 23' Airstream home from the dealership. The hitch wasn't set up properly so it wasn't as carefree as I'd have liked, but 10-11 mpg seemed to be about what I averaged as well. I'll take that. I think I have the hitch issues resolved so the next trip should be easier.

Your issue isn't so much the weight as the frontal area of the trailer. I towed a 34' triple axle Airstream with a V10 Excursion and got about 10mpg. I sold the Airstream and bought a Bigfoot 25' trailer that was a couple of thousand pounds lighter... and got about 8mpg with the Excursion. It was a great trailer, but towed MUCH harder because of the square frontal area.

BTW, ST (Special Trailer) tires are only rated for 65mph. I'm quite content towing 60-65mph tops.

Maybe this article will help.
Turning my Jeep Gladiator into a Camper Tow Rig - APT Outdoors

 

[hepcat]

Maybe this article will help.
Turning my Jeep Gladiator into a Camper Tow Rig - APT Outdoors

Actually, I've towed travel trailers with Jeeps since about 1980. I have K-Source snap-on JT mirrors. My Gladiator has the FCA OEM brake controller installed. The problem was the way the dealership set up the Blue Ox SwayPro hitch that came with the trailer. Not enough tongue weight allowed for sway (and boy did it sway...,) and the way the dealership set it up, and then "fixed" it actually led to a condition with LESS tongue weight instead of more. I've trialed-and-erred the proper hitch height, and I'm pretty close if not right on. My next trip will tell the tale.

 

[Dakarra]

As others have pointed out, there are many variables left out of your description. Also, WHERE you tow is a prime differentiator - I recently towed from TX to CO keeping my speed around 65mph and averaged about 14-15 during the transit. However when I got to CO and went over Monarch Pass I was in 4th gear at 4,000+ RPM and got about 8 mpg. Moral of the story: Factor in your gears, your tire size, your load and your speed. Don't get anywhere near the rated max tow weight of your JT. Slow down and enjoy the view at 65.

 

[Labswine]

Actually, I've towed travel trailers with Jeeps since about 1980. I have K-Source snap-on JT mirrors. My Gladiator has the FCA OEM brake controller installed. The problem was the way the dealership set up the Blue Ox SwayPro hitch that came with the trailer. Not enough tongue weight allowed for sway (and boy did it sway...,) and the way the dealership set it up, and then "fixed" it actually led to a condition with LESS tongue weight instead of more. I've trialed-and-erred the proper hitch height, and I'm pretty close if not right on. My next trip will tell the tale.

I got lucky with my dealer setting up my BlueOX system. They absolutely nailed it.

When I'm towing...no faster than 65 MPH, that's 7th gear at around 2,100 RPMs, and I shift manually all the time whilst towing, and get 12-13 MPG...when I get passed (like I'm standing still) by a tractor/trailer, I get almost no sway. I measured my rear droop vs. no trailer, by first setting the tongue on the ball, and saw a 1 1/2 inch droop. Then I hooked up the WDH bars and droop was only about 3/4 of an inch. My truck feels very planted in the front end.

I tow a 2021 Vantage Sonic SN220VRB which is 27' long. I'm figuring around 5,100 lbs with all we want or need and, the factory spec says tongue weight is 420 lbs. I figure it's closer to 520-530 lbs with all the schtuffola in the front pass through.

 

[MemphisMississipp]

I tow 3000lb NuCamp Teardrop 18’ in my Max Tow. I usually get 14 on the flats and 12 in the hills. I shift the auto manually and usually am in 7th gear staying around 65mph.

 

[JTGuy]

I have not towed with my JT so this is all just my opinion and knowledge .
Our 6th gear is 1:1 so that is the strongest and will generate the least heat . A diff re gear to 4.56 or 4.88 will help any size tire . I would only tow with random axle trailer. Some of the new trailer tires are rated for over 65 MPH. A weight distribution hitch with sway control is a must. I would not want to tow a TT that will "wag the dog". Tow with the water and waste tanks empty. Have TPMS on the TT. Remember that many states don't have a 55 MPH limit for towing and when a set of triples pass you doing 80 things can get fun.

 

[Josh00333]

11+ is fantastic towing. You’re not going to get better than that.

For me, max 65, will jump to 70 to pass, but I’m normally at 63 in the slow lane.

Im out west at 3500-7500 ft, towing 5k. My mileage is 8, 5 if I’m fighting a head wind…. Which seems like EVERY time I hook up the trailer. #yellsatclouds

 

[MudderNuker]

For what it's worth, before I bought my first JT, I had '21 GMC Sierra Duramax diesel. Towing a Geo Pro 19BH, 3,300lbs at 65-70MPH, my best MPG was 14 MPG. When I towed with the JTW ( stock 32" and 3.73) a 2000lbs flat bed with a Wrangler YJ on top (over 5000lbs) I averaged 13.8 MPG at 65MPH. I did manually shifted most of the way. Now I have a JTR and I towed the flat bed yesterday to go buy a big picnic table. The JTR has 35" tires and even on auto I was seen 7th gear. The dash was showing 16MPG. Could have been better but the winds were pretty high. 11+ is actually not bad.

 

[MPMB]

11+ is fantastic towing. You’re not going to get better than that.

For me, max 65, will jump to 70 to pass, but I’m normally at 63 in the slow lane.

Im out west at 3500-7500 ft, towing 5k. My mileage is 8, 5 if I’m fighting a head wind…. Which seems like EVERY time I hook up the trailer. #yellsatclouds

The wind kills MPG while towing. I fought wind from OK to UT after picking up our trailer.

I only have a little Hiker trailer, but even that in the wind was pulling my MPGs down to 11/12 driving through TX and NM. I was trying to "draft" semis going 69-70mph, and I could get up to 13-15mpg for a few moments. But then we'd hit a hill, and the semis slowed to 60mph by the top, and I'd be passing them. Coming home I got around 14-15mph with very little wind, and going over the mountains south of Provo.

Ethanol-free gas also can improve MPGs. I did a test (non towing) back-to-back. I went from 14-16mpg to 17-18mpg+ without changing anything. I might have to test more than one tank, as I was still increasing my mpg when I had to gas up again.

And I'm in a 4.10 JTR with 37s and 3" lift with a RTT on a rack (then; the RTT is on the trailer).

 

[Labswine]

Yeah, against the wind sucks (not only gas ).

I find going onto the wind, to try to maintain 65 MPH, I'm constantly shifting between 6th and 7th on a flat stretch of road.

 

[jjstohr-13]

I tow a 17' Springdale that is 9' wide and weighs in at #3800. With the manual sport JT, I go all the way down to 10.5 mpg. When we use the wife's Durango with the same trailer, we get around 14mpg. Between the wind resistance and the automatic transmission, it is worlds different. When I towed a Kia Sorento on a dolly with my JT, I got almost the same 15-16mpg as normal. It really didn't care about the weight as much as it did the wind of the camper.

The best thing I did for trailering with both vehicles was to install the airbag helpers in the rear springs. That took out about 90% of the bounce and sway.

 

[Stan H]

I find going onto the wind, to try to maintain 65 MPH, I'm constantly shifting between 6th and 7th on a flat stretch of road.

That's why I just roll 70 or 75 and let it pull down to 65 on the hills that way I go from 8th to 7th sometimes to 6th and then right back on to 7th and 8th

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