Another towing temps question - mine seem high - Pentastar

[troverman]

Towed an 18' enclosed trailer - tandem axle, 102" wide. Trailer weighed about 5,100lbs loaded with my payload. My Gladiator is an Overland model - 3.73 axle ratio, auto transmission, and a Pentastar. I have put 34" tall tires on it (295/70/18) plus the 1.75" Terraflex spacers to widen it out a bit. Only payload in the Jeep is just me.

Anyway, it was a 50 mile trip through hilly New England, mostly 40-55mph roads, no interstate highway. Ambient temps were right around 80 degrees, A/C on.

I put the accessory gauges up on the central screen to monitor temps. After climbing a couple of hills, not very long or exceptionally steep, at 50mph, I saw a peak engine coolant temp of 230F and peak engine oil temp of 253. Trans maxed out at 208, I was fine with that. At the top of the hill, the ECT was able to recover pretty quickly and drop all the way to 188F. EOT took longer and eventually went down to the 210-220 range.

Anyway, the peak temps seem awful high. I know my trailer is a wind sail, I know the larger tires makes the truck work harder. But it wasn't that hot outside. This is my first tow with the Gladiator. I have installed the Redarc TBC. Overall, I'd rate this truck as "fair" for towing a 5k enclosed trailer. There was a bit of sway, and the front end feels light. The Pentastar, high temps notwithstanding, had plenty of power. Never once did I need to floor the accelerator to maintain speed up an incline. For a minivan engine, pretty impressive.

Sponsored

 

[sharpsicle]

I've always been under the impression that you don't need to really worry until you go above 260 degrees. So I wouldn't worry here. 100% right that your setup and load might be causing the higher temps though. Not much you can do there other than take it easier with this kind of load. It's good to know that now before you go take a more demanding drive such as prolonged inclines and/or hotter weather. Just need to manage it. But your experience on this trip seems totally okay. Just keep in mind that you'll want to change the oil out sooner than usual due to the increased work you've put on it.

The motor is indeed good for these trucks, despite what you might read or tell yourself. Who cares what other vehicles they use it in. Those don't define the engine, not in the least. Funny seeing people try to force that connection over and over.

 

[troverman]

Thanks. When you're at 253, 260 isn't far away though! I like to do 3,000 mile oil changes. I jokingly call it a "minivan engine," which of course it is, but Chrysler has so few engine options for so many years that this engine is used in basically everything from the Grand Cherokee, a version in the Cherokee, the Charger, the RAM 1500, the ProMaster, the 300, etc, etc. Seems to be a good engine.

 

[obrianmcc]

you might be able to relieve some of that stress (heat) with a regear ... not much else can be done with out the Max Tow package. A Max Tow grille might bring some some additional air flow?

 

[troverman]

My Overland is rated to tow 6,000lbs. At 5100lbs, I was well under that. The tires are 2" larger in diameter (and wider) than what came on it, but 5k seems reasonable. I do have the "upgraded" cooling fan.

 

[Jobofly]

you might be able to relieve some of that stress (heat) with a regear ... not much else can be done with out the Max Tow package. A Max Tow grille might bring some some additional air flow?

Does the max tow have a different grill?

 

[ChrisNLA]

Does the max tow have a different grill?

No.

But Gladiators in general do have very slightly wider grille slots than Wranglers do.

 

[troverman]

Yes, I was not aware of anything different grille-wise with the max tow package. From what I understand, max-tow gives a Sport the 1.5" wider axles and the 4.10 axle ratio. Basically Rubicon axles without the lockers. However, from what I can gather, neither the gearsets nor half shafts are stronger than the 3.73 axle ratio trucks. The 8-speed compensates pretty well for the numerically lower gear ratio. My larger tires are load range E, plus the spacers which helps with the overall stability. (Although the spacers do add some stress laterally to the axles).
I'm also curious how the Gladiator gets such a higher tow rating than a 4-door Wrangler. What is the limiting factor for the Wrangler? Is it rear suspension? Shorter wheelbase? The barely different Gladiator grille?

 

[Gvsukids]

My Overland is rated to tow 6,000lbs. At 5100lbs, I was well under that. The tires are 2" larger in diameter (and wider) than what came on it, but 5k seems reasonable. I do have the "upgraded" cooling fan.

Did you change your tire size on the computer?
You never want to tow 100% of your capacity, but more like 60%.

What is the limiting factor for the Wrangler? Is it rear suspension? Shorter wheelbase? The barely different Gladiator grille?

Axle, as the new Rubicon Wrangler has a 5000 pound towing capacity. The grill slots are wider too.

 

[ChrisNLA]

Yes, I was not aware of anything different grille-wise with the max tow package. From what I understand, max-tow gives a Sport the 1.5" wider axles and the 4.10 axle ratio. Basically Rubicon axles without the lockers. However, from what I can gather, neither the gearsets nor half shafts are stronger than the 3.73 axle ratio trucks. The 8-speed compensates pretty well for the numerically lower gear ratio. My larger tires are load range E, plus the spacers which helps with the overall stability. (Although the spacers do add some stress laterally to the axles).
I'm also curious how the Gladiator gets such a higher tow rating than a 4-door Wrangler. What is the limiting factor for the Wrangler? Is it rear suspension? Shorter wheelbase? The barely different Gladiator grille?

Well - a Grand Cherokee actually has 2" less wheelbase than a Wrangler JLU and can be had with much higher tow capacity than a JLU, so the wheelbase alone isn't the deciding factor at least. I'd guess its a sum of many parts. Wheelbase, suspension design, cooling system (including a tiny bit larger grille), etc.

Edit: Well up until the new rear axle that the JL can be had with, as mentioned above.

 

[troverman]

Did you change your tire size on the computer?
You never want to tow 100% of your capacity, but more like 60%.
Axle, as the new Rubicon Wrangler has a 5000 pound towing capacity. The grill slots are wider too.

1.) Yes
2.) Is that something you came up with on your own? You should be able to safely tow the max your vehicle is rated for, keeping in mind GAWR, payload, GCWR, and the rated trailer weight.
3.) The new Wrangler has a full-float Dana 44 rear axle. However, our Gladiators do NOT have this full float axle, and yet still tow more.

 

[Gvsukids]

1.) Yes
2.) Is that something you came up with on your own? You should be able to safely tow the max your vehicle is rated for, keeping in mind GAWR, payload, GCWR, and the rated trailer weight.
3.) The new Wrangler has a full-float Dana 44 rear axle. However, our Gladiators do NOT have this full float axle, and yet still tow more.

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/explain-different-gladiators-tow-capacity.44587/

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Towed an 18' enclosed trailer - tandem axle, 102" wide. Trailer weighed about 5,100lbs loaded with my payload. My Gladiator is an Overland model - 3.73 axle ratio, auto transmission, and a Pentastar. I have put 34" tall tires on it (295/70/18) plus the 1.75" Terraflex spacers to widen it out a bit. Only payload in the Jeep is just me.

Anyway, it was a 50 mile trip through hilly New England, mostly 40-55mph roads, no interstate highway. Ambient temps were right around 80 degrees, A/C on.

I put the accessory gauges up on the central screen to monitor temps. After climbing a couple of hills, not very long or exceptionally steep, at 50mph, I saw a peak engine coolant temp of 230F and peak engine oil temp of 253. Trans maxed out at 208, I was fine with that. At the top of the hill, the ECT was able to recover pretty quickly and drop all the way to 188F. EOT took longer and eventually went down to the 210-220 range.

Anyway, the peak temps seem awful high. I know my trailer is a wind sail, I know the larger tires makes the truck work harder. But it wasn't that hot outside. This is my first tow with the Gladiator. I have installed the Redarc TBC. Overall, I'd rate this truck as "fair" for towing a 5k enclosed trailer. There was a bit of sway, and the front end feels light. The Pentastar, high temps notwithstanding, had plenty of power. Never once did I need to floor the accelerator to maintain speed up an incline. For a minivan engine, pretty impressive.

The payload is you AND the tongue weight. At 10% that's 500 pounds..
But that's not the thing.
Your tires aren't helping. Diameter, yeah, but wider adds rolling resistance so there's that. Any change to tire size or lift drops your tow rating.
And an enclosed trailer is frontage you need to keep in mind. The book has a chart with maximum frontages allowed.

Did you try to manually shift and keep the RPMs up a bit? Don't let it hunt. Don't let it keep the RPMs too low.

The transmission temp at 208 isn't even close to hot. That's nothing

In the end, though, I don't see 230 as overly high as far as coolant.

You really must use a weight distributing hitch with such a trailer - that will put weight back on the front. 500 pound tongue weight will lighten the front of the truck a bit.

BTW - I wish people would drop the Minivan engine" bunk. It was first put in Grand Cherokee - and it's been in all sorts of other things including sports and performance cars. It was never made for a "minivan".

I tow 5,000 pounds with ease, never feel that it's got any problems handling the load.
Routinely hit 3300 to 4300 RPM, once in a while a bit above that.
Do not be afraid to let it wind up. It needs that.
Trying to keep RPM down is bad. It's not a 1950 flat head Ford. Let 'er wind.

I don't pull enclosed but then - that car sits up there in the wind, the proof is having to clean all the bugs off the entire front end when I get to my destination. .That means it's actually a second front the air works against, unlike towing a camper where the truck blocks part of the front of the camper. In my case the car is so far back I've got more drag.

 

[troverman]

BTW - I wish people would drop the Minivan engine" bunk. It was first put in Grand Cherokee - and it's been in all sorts of other things including sports and performance cars. It was never made for a "minivan".

Eh, its called a minivan engine as a joke. But it basically is the type of engine that would power a minivan, your typical 3-4 liter V6 with DOHC and 24v, decent power, decent economy. The Tacoma has a minivan engine too.

Sponsored