A Mojave Towing Hypothetical...

[ShadowsPapa]

Hey all,

Need get a 5k lb raceboat (30ft, 7ft beam) from NY to Florida (roughly 1,400 miles). Assume trailer weighs 1,200lbs being conservative. Its a very nice aluminum double-axle trailer.

A potential tow vehicle: Mojave 6spd. Not the ideal towing vehicle, but coincidently enough, that jeep needs to get to FL too. So I was thinking, instead of shipping both down, tow the entire package.

Towing capacity is 4.5k lbs, but various other trims have considerably higher. Is the clutch the limiting factor? What have you done? Has anyone gone near these numbers?

Moreso looking for people with experience towing these kinds of loads, less so the peanut gallery reading the owners manual

You bought the wrong truck.
Besides what is always said on this sort of thing - there's liability in case of an accident. someone can sue your ass off.

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[jdq22]

You bought the wrong truck.
Besides what is always said on this sort of thing - there's liability in case of an accident. someone can sue your ass off.

I have a Silverado to tow, but that stays in NY. But yep, wrong tool for the job

 

[ShadowsPapa]

With the right judgement, I think it could be done easily and safely.

1) Don't even try to use 6th gear. The idea is to make power with RPM not torque so as to subject the clutch to less stress. 4th might even be ideal. Remember that revving the pentastar won't hurt it. Even for many hours.

2) Remember that power required to drive a certain speed goes up as nearly a cube function. That means that going 2x as fast requires 8x as much power.

So that means that there is a large difference in power required to go 80 vs 60.

80/60 = 1.333
1.333^3= 2.197

In other words it takes TWICE as much power to go 80 mph as it does to do 60 mph.

If this were an AT, we wouldn't be worrying about this, but the clutch is a known weak spot.

Now that we'v addressed the drivetrain, let's move onto the chassis.
I've towed across town at 2x the manufacturer's approved tow weight, but I'd be hesitant on the highway.

It's going to be tiring because the trailer is going to move the tow vehicle around.

So I guess in summary.

1) Go slow
2) leave extra following distance
3) do everything gently. Like grandma was in the back seat sipping tea.
4) don't plan to drive for very long - this will be tiring and stressful because the truck will be moved around by the wind, by road camber, etc.
5) It should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway. Don't even attempt this without a weight distributing hitch and trailer brakes.

Is it physically capable - yeah. It's not going to blow up and kill everyone around.

Is it smart, safe for others or the truck or the driver? No.

Transmission aside - that's over the tow rating of an automatic Mojave. And then there's the tongue weight limit of 600 pounds. How's he going to get to 10% plus of trailer weight on the tongue if it's only supposed to carry 600 pounds?
You can justify about anything with some math - even government budgets.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

You can't leave extra following distance on I-95. If there's room enough for a car, someone's going to put a truck in it.

Not to mention the "go slow" LOL - that's a hoot (no offense, Hootbro). Good luck with that. If others are going 80 and you are going 60 to "go slow", you can actually be cited in some areas.
And even towing only 6,000 pound Mojave tow rating, I'd not go over 65, 70 tops.

It's bad enough the natural crazies out there but when it's encouraged by some, that's irresponsible - for the doer and irresponsible of the one doing the encouraging by saying yeah, it's ok, just be careful.
You could tow 7,000 pounds - but it's stupid, irresponsible, and not considerate of others sharing the roads. (and it's dangerous - trucks have burned to the ground doing such things)

 

[ecidiego]

Just put a Max Tow sticker in place of Mojave, done.

 

[DailyMoparGuy]

Sorry to pile on but just don’t. I know it’s hypothetical, but make sure you leave it here on the forum lol. Don’t tow near 2k pounds over the limit. Doesn’t matter how slow you you or how gently you row the gears. It isn’t worth anyone’s life. Not even worth potentially damaging your JT.

Edit: Just to add some math for perspective, don’t just focus on being 1,700 pounds over the tow rating…more importantly, its a whopping 38% over the tow rating. It isn’t the same as a heavy duty truck towing 1,700 pounds over capacity of say 23,000lbs (that would 7.4% over in that case).

 

[dcmdon]

If I had the option of doing it, or renting a tow vehicle for the trailer and then driving the truck down, it would be a no brainer for me.

I'd follow my own advice above.

But as I think through it, I'd also drive only at night.
60 mph, no cruise control, in 4th gear in the right lane.

Limit the driving to 8 hours or so. Max.

Piece of cake.

 

[MrZappo]

If I had the option of doing it, or renting a tow vehicle for the trailer and then driving the truck down, it would be a no brainer for me.

I'd follow my own advice above.

But as I think through it, I'd also drive only at night.
60 mph, no cruise control, in 4th gear in the right lane.

Limit the driving to 8 hours or so. Max.

Piece of cake.

When you do such a thing, please post a date and time so I can warn everyone I know to stay away from you.

Over the hitch limit, over the published towing limit, way beyond the clutch and transmission limit, past the brake limit, likely not insured as your policy likely won't cover you.

Just because you can do something and get away with doesn't make it smart or responsible.

Doing it at night ? What difference does that make ? Less people to hurt I guess.

Internet expert I guess.

Totally irresponsible advice.

 

[TigerInFL]

speaking from FL. please don't do this. we already have enough idiots who come here on vacation and leave their brains at home.

don't be that guy!

 

[Snake Eyes]

To clarify for everyone since the point seems to be missed - nothing is more important than safety. This is not a trip I plan on doing, hence the name of this thread is a hypothetical. Plan is to get it trucked.

I am canvassing to see if it has been done before with certain modifications, i.e. tires, weight distribution hitches etc.

The platform can support the weight (AT, Max Tow). My question is, what are mitigating factors, and why is the 6spd Mojave unable to tow it while others can.

Appreciate the input from everyone, peanut gallery included

When I work with attorneys, it is widely know that saying something is a hypothetical is the same thing as saying…..this is real but I just don't want to say that in case it causes an issue…..otherwise one does not ask.

Hypothetically some people will say sure you can do it if you do x,y and z (and you will say how wonderful their answer is, like you did)….then again those individuals that gave the answer…its not their a** when it does go to hell. It is yours…hypothetically of course.

 

[Lunentucker]

Don't brake for the armadillos. They're not on the endangered list.

 

[Hootbro]

Just hire some Mexican to tow it. They seem to have found the cheat code to creative towing solutions.

 

[Cavitt]

A Mojave Towing... That is definitely Hypothetical!

 

[bleda2002]

As others said, I'd this was an AT I'd say you could do it. Dynamically in terms of suspension, brakes etc the truck can take it but it's not gonna like it and it's going to sag like crazy since the Mojave has soft springs but it would be unpleasantly doable.

My bigger worry would be the truck catching fire as the MT is basically a flaming (literally) pos in these trucks unsuitable for any real loads. You'll either catch fire or mad torque derate once that transmission heats up

 

[BourbonRunner]

When you do such a thing, please post a date and time so I can warn everyone I know to stay away from you.

No kidding. I95 between Baltimore and DC is chock full of idiots that don't know how to drive as is. Adding this is like throwing gasoline on a house fire.

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