Would you tow it?

[JeepDan22]

Need someone with more knowledge than myself and honest opinion of the Jeep is capable of handling this travel trailer. This will be mostly local weekend camping at most in Florida,Tennessee and Alabama.

All 3 occupants with dog that is inside Jeep is are 600lbs

Jeep specs below from manual
GVWR-5800
GCWR- 11,100
Max GTW-6000
Max tongue-600
Cargo cap-1100


Travel Trailer specs below from dealer
Looking at 2024 Forest River No Boundaries NB 19.2
Dry Weight -4003
Hitch weight-480
Cargo Cap-1347

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[smlobx]

I’ve seen this trailer being towed by a Gladiator around here.

I will tell you that trailer specs are ALWAYS WRONG! The weights are with a stripped down model without things like propane, water or any options that may be available. If you have one locally I would suggest you let the salesman let you get it weighed. It will surprise you. Also, most people figure adding between 500 to 1000#’s to the trailers weight to figure your actual towing weight.

 

[DylanM]

The main problem you're running into with that combo is your payload limit. With 600 pounds of people and pets loaded up, that leaves you 500 pounds for the weight of the WDH and trailer tongue -- adding those two combined will make you overloaded.

 

[Glad Jeeper]

Yes, in a heart beat!!!! As long as it is set up to trailer tow.

 

[danimal2000]

I would, if you've towed before I don't think you'd have much problem in your area, not exactly mountainous down there. But as mentioned, the advertised dry weight of the camper is likely BS. Check the yellow sticker if you go to purchase (on the outside of the camper, driver side near the front). Our camper advertised dry weight of 3800, actual is 4200. But gladiator tows it well. I'm basically right at payload which is typically the limiting factor. You will certainly want a weight distribution hitch.

 

[JeepDan22]

I will for sure have weight distribution hitch but I am sure that itself might add more weight. Also asking all the folks in the house to jump on scales to total occupants weight is 555.

 

[Labswine]

Absolutely. Yours will weigh a little less than mine once you get all your stuff in it.

I have a 2021 Vantage Sonic SN220VRB. It's 27' long and around 5,100 lbs with all we want or need. I have the BlueOX WDH. My tongue weight (factory specs is 425 lbs) is, I'm guessing, around 525 lbs with all the stuff in the front pass through in the trailer. It's just me and the Bride.

My set up, I measured from the bottom of the receiver to the ground, then hitched the trailer up BEFORE setting the WDH and my rear droop was about 1.5". I hooked up the WDH and my droop was around 3/4".

My Overland (ordered 5/19. delivered 7/19) handles it very nicely. The BlueOx WDH also does a great job of sway control in that when I'm being passed by a tractor/trailer, I get little or no sway from the ensuing wind blast.

I don't go any faster than 65 MPH while towing. I also shift manually and pretty much never see 8th gear. Up shifts are usually between 2,500 and 3,000 RPMs, and I have found that that gets the whole rig moving well. I typically run in 7th at 65 MPH at around 2,100 RPMs. Yeah, it's a V-6 so going up a grade, I'll have to drop a gear until I get back up to speed or have crested the hill.

My fuel economy is between 12 and 13 MPGs towing.

You'll LOVE that outdoor kitchen too...I use mine more than I use the indoor kitchen (except when I need the oven). Cook something greasy like burgers or bacon, and the indoors (and your clothes) won't smell like it for the next few days.

This is my rig.

 

[JeepDan22]

Thanks for the info Labswine

Yeah I guess it is the trucks available payload (hitch weight) that had me worried or questioning everything as the online tow calculator I found shows only 65lbs left for truck available payload. I used one of those online guides where I put in all Jeeps info and it shows trailers it recommends. We went and looked at some trailers and wife fell in love with this one. We will 90% try and stay where all electric and water hookups so no need to travel with water. As far a camping cargo we are minimalist in our 50’s. Just chairs and a table needed along with dog and maybe glass of wine.

Also does a WDH help ease the hitch payload and distribute it to trailer and truck front axle a little?

 

[MudderNuker]

We tow a Geo Pro 19BH with our JTR. The yellow sticker shows 3,278lbs which dead on with the factory specs. Tongue weight is 410 lbs. The JTR tows it quite well. I still have to install airbags in the rear springs and adjust the WD hitch so that the fiction bars are actually engaged properly. I had that hitch on a Sierra 1500 AT4 diesel before and I haven't yet fine tuned it for the JTR. As far as quality, Geo Pros are very good. No issues with our camper since new 4 years ago with the exception of the Dexter torsion axle that bent but they are replacing it with a new one plus a tire.

 

[JeepDan22]

Reason I ask about the WDH helping payload or hitch weight is I was searching if it helped and came across this guys post about how it moved weight off tow vehicle to trailer.

 

[yoda13]

I would tow it! I would also make sure my WDH had sway control, but that’s just me I guess…

 

[JeepDan22]

Will be ordering Equalizer 4 point sway control distribution hitch for which ever trailer we purchase. Recommend by a friend he claims is good hitch.

 

[BennieD]

I have a Rubicon with 7000# towing and pull a 28 ft trailer that is 6200# empty. I do use a weight distribution hitch and a sway system for speeds over 60

 

[Labswine]

Will be ordering Equalizer 4 point sway control distribution hitch for which ever trailer we purchase. Recommend by a friend he claims is good hitch.

To answer your question, yes the WDH transfers some of the weight forward on your tow vehicle to the front axles. As I mentioned earlier, I measured rear droop before and after hooking up the WDH and it did lift the rear of my Gladiator meaning that some of the weight was transferred forward.

My Overland feels just as planted in the front with the trailer attached as it does not towing anything.

My BlueOx set up does really well as a WDH but also helps tremendously with sway control. As I said, when being passed by tractor/trailers, I get almost zero sway/pushing around from the ensuing wind blast. Plus, I am very aware of my surroundings so when I see when they're coming up, I set myself in the lane ready for any potential wind blast.

One other thing, your side mirrors for towing...

I bought the ones off Amazon that were for the JL, Thorne Adapters (look in this section for info as to how to order), and add on (stick on) convex mirrors (again look through this section as to where to buy) that sit in the upper, outer corner of my factory mirrors, as well as another pair for my towing mirrors. REALLY helps with blind spots, and also helps see more of the lanes on the sides of the trailer. The JL mirrors with the Thorne adapters are very solid and don't vibrate at all.

 

[Okie Gladiator]

I’m pulling a 3,200 lb Coleman Lantern with my 2022 Rubicon. 3.5 inch metal cloak lift with 37 inch Nitto recon grapplers.

Truck was having hard time getting beyond 5th gear and hovered around 3500 rpm at 55 to 65 mph. I could manually shift to 8th and it’d run 2200 rpm…it’d run well. But I went ahead and changed from 4.10 to Yukon 4.88s. After that it’ll find 8th quick and run smooth the whole time. Couple hundred miles testing so far. Here’s a couple before and after.

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