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"Max" towing our camper

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TL;DR - The Gladiator did awesome towing our ~3900 lb camper and was light years better than our Honda Pilot that was rated for 5000 lb tow capacity.

Well, my family loaded up "Max", our JT Sport S with the Max Tow Package and took it on a 120 mile round trip camping weekend trip. This is our first pickup truck and loading stuff in the truck bed was great, especially when it came to hauling wood at the campsite and keeping bugs out of the cargo area when loading/unloading the truck bed. The JT did great maintaining 70mph in places with a 70mph speed limit and was incredibly stable. I checked all temperatures and everything was below normal temperature throughout the entire drive.

This is our first camper. Our history with the camper is that we towed it home in early June '19 with my wife's current generation Honda Pilot Elite (9 speed auto) AWD with the 5000lb tow package (hitch, harness + transmission cooler). After going on one family trip on county roads (owner manual says to not drive over 55 or 60 mph when towing with a Pilot, so the freeway was out of the question), we (my wife more than me) HATED towing with it. Even with the weight distribution hitch, the Pilot's relatively short wheelbase and fully independent suspension led to quite the squishy/bouncy ride -- apparently it's referred to as "teeter totter effect". Based on some research online, I knew it was time to call in a much longer wheelbase truck with at least a straight rear axle. After much debate with my wife about getting a full-size truck and many reasons to not do so now, my wife agreed to get the JT since it's marginally smaller than a full-size in terms of wheelbase and length. The payload and tow capacity of this Sport S with Max Tow were also very similar to some of the full-sized trucks with "the wrong gears" like the 3.21 Ram 1500 Laramie that I saw with a 14xx payload (lower than my 1533 lb payload in the JT) and ~8000lb towing. I mean no insult to Ram owners since they are super cool, and I'm sure we will end up in a full-size if we buy a much larger camper, but the JT is "just right" for our family (and garage space) right now. :)

Tow setup:
JT Sport S with Max Towing Package
Forest River Surveyor 19BHLE; 23' single axle travel trailer - Forest River says 3600 lb dry; I'm assuming it was 3900-4000lb loaded up (we really like the camper)
Blue Ox Sway Pro Weight Distribution Hitch (bought for the Honda Pilot, but it helps smooth out the ride even more) (awesome!)
Tekonsha P3 brake controller w/ 3014-P wire harness to make it plug & play on the JT (amazing!)
Fit System 3891 Clip On Tow mirrors - worked awesome for visibility; the verdict is still out there on them staying attached really good for longer trips (the brackets

We likely had 450-500lbs of passenger cargo (me, my wife, our two boys, and our dog)
I'm assuming there was another 150ish lbs of cargo in the bed

Pictures are of the JT and camper at the camp site and a couple I grabbed at a school parking lot close to home once we were back in town. (Yeah, I deliberately parked goofy at the school to grab a few pictures on as level of ground as possible.)

Jeep at camp 2019-07-27.jpg


Jeep in parking lot 2019-07-28.jpg


Jeep in parking lot2 2019-07-28.jpg
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Looks great with the trailer. White was a good choice with that trailer. I don't even have 50 miles on my max tow Firecracker Red. Was on vacation when my dealer called, it was only 6 weeks after order I wasn't expecting it for a couple more weeks. Got back Friday night before I had to work a 3 day 12 hour shift schedule. Ended up taking a long lunch Sat to pick it up. Today will be my first day with time to drive.


TL;DR - The Gladiator did awesome towing our ~3900 lb camper and was light years better than our Honda Pilot that was rated for 5000 lb tow capacity.

Well, my family loaded up "Max", our JT Sport S with the Max Tow Package and took it on a 120 mile round trip camping weekend trip. This is our first pickup truck and loading stuff in the truck bed was great, especially when it came to hauling wood at the campsite and keeping bugs out of the cargo area when loading/unloading the truck bed. The JT did great maintaining 70mph in places with a 70mph speed limit and was incredibly stable. I checked all temperatures and everything was below normal temperature throughout the entire drive.

This is our first camper. Our history with the camper is that we towed it home in early June '19 with my wife's current generation Honda Pilot Elite (9 speed auto) AWD with the 5000lb tow package (hitch, harness + transmission cooler). After going on one family trip on county roads (owner manual says to not drive over 55 or 60 mph when towing with a Pilot, so the freeway was out of the question), we (my wife more than me) HATED towing with it. Even with the weight distribution hitch, the Pilot's relatively short wheelbase and fully independent suspension led to quite the squishy/bouncy ride -- apparently it's referred to as "teeter totter effect". Based on some research online, I knew it was time to call in a much longer wheelbase truck with at least a straight rear axle. After much debate with my wife about getting a full-size truck and many reasons to not do so now, my wife agreed to get the JT since it's marginally smaller than a full-size in terms of wheelbase and length. The payload and tow capacity of this Sport S with Max Tow were also very similar to some of the full-sized trucks with "the wrong gears" like the 3.21 Ram 1500 Laramie that I saw with a 14xx payload (lower than my 1533 lb payload in the JT) and ~8000lb towing. I mean no insult to Ram owners since they are super cool, and I'm sure we will end up in a full-size if we buy a much larger camper, but the JT is "just right" for our family (and garage space) right now. :)

Tow setup:
JT Sport S with Max Towing Package
Forest River Surveyor 19BHLE; 23' single axle travel trailer - Forest River says 3600 lb dry; I'm assuming it was 3900-4000lb loaded up (we really like the camper)
Blue Ox Sway Pro Weight Distribution Hitch (bought for the Honda Pilot, but it helps smooth out the ride even more) (awesome!)
Tekonsha P3 brake controller w/ 3014-P wire harness to make it plug & play on the JT (amazing!)
Fit System 3891 Clip On Tow mirrors - worked awesome for visibility; the verdict is still out there on them staying attached really good for longer trips (the brackets

We likely had 450-500lbs of passenger cargo (me, my wife, our two boys, and our dog)
I'm assuming there was another 150ish lbs of cargo in the bed

Pictures are of the JT and camper at the camp site and a couple I grabbed at a school parking lot close to home once we were back in town. (Yeah, I deliberately parked goofy at the school to grab a few pictures on as level of ground as possible.)

Jeep at camp 2019-07-27.jpg


Jeep in parking lot 2019-07-28.jpg


Jeep in parking lot2 2019-07-28.jpg
 

Oilburner

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PackerBacker you are the ideal Gladiator target customer, Exactly the niche Jeep hoped to fill with this truck. Congrats you are good to go!
I can hardly wait to order mine :time:
 

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TL;DR - The Gladiator did awesome towing our ~3900 lb camper and was light years better than our Honda Pilot that was rated for 5000 lb tow capacity.
PackerBacker, any hills, or fairly flat trip? Our travel trailer's just a bit lighter than yours, and our '03 Cherokee has just a bit more towing capacity (5-something thousand) than the Pilot. But we've found that pulling over mountains, the Jeep really struggles, so eyeing upgrading to a Gladiator later next year. In the meantime, we're pretty much limited to camping up and down the I-5 corridor.
 

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Really good write up. It helps those who are thinking about a vehicle to tow with. The 4:10 rear end is a key feature and when not towing I'm am getting good gas mileage. Thanks
 

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TL;DR - The Gladiator did awesome towing our ~3900 lb camper and was light years better than our Honda Pilot that was rated for 5000 lb tow capacity.

Well, my family loaded up "Max", our JT Sport S with the Max Tow Package and took it on a 120 mile round trip camping weekend trip. This is our first pickup truck and loading stuff in the truck bed was great, especially when it came to hauling wood at the campsite and keeping bugs out of the cargo area when loading/unloading the truck bed. The JT did great maintaining 70mph in places with a 70mph speed limit and was incredibly stable. I checked all temperatures and everything was below normal temperature throughout the entire drive.

This is our first camper. Our history with the camper is that we towed it home in early June '19 with my wife's current generation Honda Pilot Elite (9 speed auto) AWD with the 5000lb tow package (hitch, harness + transmission cooler). After going on one family trip on county roads (owner manual says to not drive over 55 or 60 mph when towing with a Pilot, so the freeway was out of the question), we (my wife more than me) HATED towing with it. Even with the weight distribution hitch, the Pilot's relatively short wheelbase and fully independent suspension led to quite the squishy/bouncy ride -- apparently it's referred to as "teeter totter effect". Based on some research online, I knew it was time to call in a much longer wheelbase truck with at least a straight rear axle. After much debate with my wife about getting a full-size truck and many reasons to not do so now, my wife agreed to get the JT since it's marginally smaller than a full-size in terms of wheelbase and length. The payload and tow capacity of this Sport S with Max Tow were also very similar to some of the full-sized trucks with "the wrong gears" like the 3.21 Ram 1500 Laramie that I saw with a 14xx payload (lower than my 1533 lb payload in the JT) and ~8000lb towing. I mean no insult to Ram owners since they are super cool, and I'm sure we will end up in a full-size if we buy a much larger camper, but the JT is "just right" for our family (and garage space) right now. :)

Tow setup:
JT Sport S with Max Towing Package
Forest River Surveyor 19BHLE; 23' single axle travel trailer - Forest River says 3600 lb dry; I'm assuming it was 3900-4000lb loaded up (we really like the camper)
Blue Ox Sway Pro Weight Distribution Hitch (bought for the Honda Pilot, but it helps smooth out the ride even more) (awesome!)
Tekonsha P3 brake controller w/ 3014-P wire harness to make it plug & play on the JT (amazing!)
Fit System 3891 Clip On Tow mirrors - worked awesome for visibility; the verdict is still out there on them staying attached really good for longer trips (the brackets

We likely had 450-500lbs of passenger cargo (me, my wife, our two boys, and our dog)
I'm assuming there was another 150ish lbs of cargo in the bed

Pictures are of the JT and camper at the camp site and a couple I grabbed at a school parking lot close to home once we were back in town. (Yeah, I deliberately parked goofy at the school to grab a few pictures on as level of ground as possible.)

Jeep at camp 2019-07-27.jpg


Jeep in parking lot 2019-07-28.jpg


Jeep in parking lot2 2019-07-28.jpg
I am getting ready to tow a similar trailer on a 2,000 mile round trip. It's a rental. Would you say the mirrors are necessary or could you get by without them?
 

5JeepsAz

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Awesome write up! Thanks and Congrats!
 
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Murgatroid - Thanks. I actually went into the dealer to buy the identical one in Firecracker Red, but that one was getting a lift kit and bigger tires. I told my wife "white will match the camper better" (which apparently is a thing for people having tow vehicles match the trailer? :))

BBQBird - The part of Wisconsin that I'm in isn't really known for being all that hilly. The rip on Oshkosh (city about 30 miles south of me) is that the largest hill there is the landfill. All kidding aside, I didn't have much for elevation changes, but I did end up passing a few people on the Leo Frigo Bridge (you should be able to google the view) which slopes up quite a bit as you approach it and is generally quite windy. It was super stable for that and made short work of going up that bridge. I was impressed since I felt like my JLU Sahara with the 3.45 gears had trouble keeping speed sometimes without towing anything.

KVJ - I totally agree about the value of the 4.10 axles vs the 3.73s for towing with the JT.

abugarcias - I suppose it depends on how much freeway driving you will be doing and how much you want to see things. I say that because I was very grateful to have a better view of cars flying all around me, especially on multi-lane roads, but I'm the kind of guy that wants to have some better inclination if someone is behind me on county roads. If your trailer is like mine, at 7.5' it's substantially wider than the Gladiator (I see the JT being 73.8" (6' 2.8") wide online). I have found that the tow mirrors I have still didn't help a ton for seeing directly behind the Jeep, but you do see cars behind you a few car lengths back. The mirrors are extra helpful for getting a better view of vehicles one lane to your left or right on the freeway, but I'm thinking you could maybe just tinker with the stock mirrors to get that view. Since the verdict is still out there on the tow mirrors and I'm concerned about how they stay secured over long distance, I would say you should try tow mirrors but I can't fully endorse the ones that I have yet.
 

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PackerBacker, thanks for the info. Regarding mirrors, last year I added a wireless rearview camera to the back of the travel trailer, so I can see who's back there and to help with backing up. Made my towing experiences much less stressful.
 
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PackerBacker, thanks for the info. Regarding mirrors, last year I added a wireless rearview camera to the back of the travel trailer, so I can see who's back there and to help with backing up. Made my towing experiences much less stressful.
Well, then I’m guessing towing mirrors may not be as critical. Now you have me thinking about how my camper has a mount for the wireless cam and it certainly would help out while going down the road too. Well, then I just checked Amazon and saw that the cheapest backup cam package is like $400...guess I will stick with my mirrors for now.
 

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PackerBacker you are the ideal Gladiator target customer, Exactly the niche Jeep hoped to fill with this truck. Congrats you are good to go!
I can hardly wait to order mine :time:
I agree!
That is about a perfect set up as you can get for the JT.
Congrats and enjoy the camping.
 

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TL;DR - The Gladiator did awesome towing our ~3900 lb camper and was light years better than our Honda Pilot that was rated for 5000 lb tow capacity.

Well, my family loaded up "Max", our JT Sport S with the Max Tow Package and took it on a 120 mile round trip camping weekend trip. This is our first pickup truck and loading stuff in the truck bed was great, especially when it came to hauling wood at the campsite and keeping bugs out of the cargo area when loading/unloading the truck bed. The JT did great maintaining 70mph in places with a 70mph speed limit and was incredibly stable. I checked all temperatures and everything was below normal temperature throughout the entire drive.

This is our first camper. Our history with the camper is that we towed it home in early June '19 with my wife's current generation Honda Pilot Elite (9 speed auto) AWD with the 5000lb tow package (hitch, harness + transmission cooler). After going on one family trip on county roads (owner manual says to not drive over 55 or 60 mph when towing with a Pilot, so the freeway was out of the question), we (my wife more than me) HATED towing with it. Even with the weight distribution hitch, the Pilot's relatively short wheelbase and fully independent suspension led to quite the squishy/bouncy ride -- apparently it's referred to as "teeter totter effect". Based on some research online, I knew it was time to call in a much longer wheelbase truck with at least a straight rear axle. After much debate with my wife about getting a full-size truck and many reasons to not do so now, my wife agreed to get the JT since it's marginally smaller than a full-size in terms of wheelbase and length. The payload and tow capacity of this Sport S with Max Tow were also very similar to some of the full-sized trucks with "the wrong gears" like the 3.21 Ram 1500 Laramie that I saw with a 14xx payload (lower than my 1533 lb payload in the JT) and ~8000lb towing. I mean no insult to Ram owners since they are super cool, and I'm sure we will end up in a full-size if we buy a much larger camper, but the JT is "just right" for our family (and garage space) right now. :)

Tow setup:
JT Sport S with Max Towing Package
Forest River Surveyor 19BHLE; 23' single axle travel trailer - Forest River says 3600 lb dry; I'm assuming it was 3900-4000lb loaded up (we really like the camper)
Blue Ox Sway Pro Weight Distribution Hitch (bought for the Honda Pilot, but it helps smooth out the ride even more) (awesome!)
Tekonsha P3 brake controller w/ 3014-P wire harness to make it plug & play on the JT (amazing!)
Fit System 3891 Clip On Tow mirrors - worked awesome for visibility; the verdict is still out there on them staying attached really good for longer trips (the brackets

We likely had 450-500lbs of passenger cargo (me, my wife, our two boys, and our dog)
I'm assuming there was another 150ish lbs of cargo in the bed

Pictures are of the JT and camper at the camp site and a couple I grabbed at a school parking lot close to home once we were back in town. (Yeah, I deliberately parked goofy at the school to grab a few pictures on as level of ground as possible.)

Jeep at camp 2019-07-27.jpg


Jeep in parking lot 2019-07-28.jpg


Jeep in parking lot2 2019-07-28.jpg
I towed a Forest river nobo camper (roughly 3/4 the size of yours) with my '16 JK Rubicon this summer on a fairly long trip from Colorado springs up to Yellowstone, back down to Moab and back through Pagosa springs to Colorado springs. needless to say I wasn't very impressed with its capability to tow that trailer around through the hills. Granted the JK has a 2.5" lift and 35'' tires on it, but on some of those long flat-ish stretches of highway across Wyoming and Idaho it was still struggling to maintain 60 MPH. Did you have any issues like that with your JT? Being that they have the same motor I'm a little worried itll be the same story just with a longer wheel base.
 

nerdridesbikes

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Thanks for the write up! I have a Heartland Mallard M185. It’s 19ft long and has a 3600lb dry weight like yours. I have a Colorado now but had wanted to get back to a Jeep, so the gladiator will be perfect. Good to know this will work as a setup.
 
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I towed a Forest river nobo camper (roughly 3/4 the size of yours) with my '16 JK Rubicon this summer on a fairly long trip from Colorado springs up to Yellowstone, back down to Moab and back through Pagosa springs to Colorado springs. needless to say I wasn't very impressed with its capability to tow that trailer around through the hills. Granted the JK has a 2.5" lift and 35'' tires on it, but on some of those long flat-ish stretches of highway across Wyoming and Idaho it was still struggling to maintain 60 MPH. Did you have any issues like that with your JT? Being that they have the same motor I'm a little worried itll be the same story just with a longer wheel base.
I have had no trouble maintaining 60mph on flat-ish stretches. I go 72 (camper tires are rated for 75mph at full psi -- need some safety margin) on the highway which is mostly flat and it's fine. It will take a little while to get up to speed, but it's a Jeep...it takes a while even without something being towed. :) If I were regularly going through Colorado or through other mountains, I would have gone with a Ram 1500 right away (with the 3.92 gears), but we are mostly weekend campers and stick within 1.5 hours of home and "Max" does perfect for that.
Keep in mind that the new ZF 8 speed is awesome in the JT. As a die-hard manual transmission lover, it pains me to say, but I like the ZF in the JT far better than the 6 speed manual that I had in my JLU. The ZF with 8 speeds especially deserves lots of love for finding the right RPM and gear with towing duty.
 

Astephan1284

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I have had no trouble maintaining 60mph on flat-ish stretches. I go 72 (camper tires are rated for 75mph at full psi -- need some safety margin) on the highway which is mostly flat and it's fine. It will take a little while to get up to speed, but it's a Jeep...it takes a while even without something being towed. :) If I were regularly going through Colorado or through other mountains, I would have gone with a Ram 1500 right away (with the 3.92 gears), but we are mostly weekend campers and stick within 1.5 hours of home and "Max" does perfect for that.
Keep in mind that the new ZF 8 speed is awesome in the JT. As a die-hard manual transmission lover, it pains me to say, but I like the ZF in the JT far better than the 6 speed manual that I had in my JLU. The ZF with 8 speeds especially deserves lots of love for finding the right RPM and gear with towing duty.
Yeah, that may have been another issue all together. The '16 JKUR is the 6 Speed manual transmission as I honestly just find them enjoyable to drive. 6th gear was pretty much out of the question for most of the trip though. That was a big part in why I ordered the new gladiator Rubi with an auto. I've read/heard great things about the new (to us old wrangler folk at least) 8 spd auto. That and getting the auto over the manual almost doubles the tow rating in the gladiator.
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