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Can we talk JT Normal Tow?

tstugel

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I beg to differ if you are going to tow a 4,000 pound trailer or anything like that at a reasonable highway speed. It will be a chore if you have any sort of cross wind. I pull a 20' boat, a 19' enclosed trailer, an open snowmobile trailer and a 14' utility trailer. Can the JT pull them, of course it can. Does it do it easily, absolutely not. I have had a Tahoe I towed the same trailers with and traded a Nissan Titan in for the JT, those were way easier to tow with than with my JT. Again, for the occasional loaded tow the JT works fine, but if you are going to tow a lot I would not get anything to large to pull. IMHO. I added inexpensive air bags to the JT for towing and hauling, made a big difference. The real issue is the JT doesn't have the vehicle weight and gets pushed around by a trailer.
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Labswine

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I dunno, many moons ago I would tow a 5,500 lb 1985 Larson DC215 (HEAVY boat at 21.5' including 55 gallons of gas and a 350 cu.in. V-8) on a two axle boat trailer (weight unknown) with my '93 Grand Cherokee Laredo. No tow package, just an after added U-Haul class III mounted hitch receiver. Went all over New England including Winnepausakee with NO issues. It was the 4.0 I-6 at 195 HP and what? 240 ft lbs torque? If I recall the tow rating was around 7,000 lbs? So, I'm pretty sure I was right at the maximum. Two-three people, some eats, kept it 5 mph below the speed limits and no problems.

I also tried to tow it with a '96 RAM 1500 4x4 extra cab with the 5.2L. My GCs did SO much better than the RAM which had the factory trailer package. The RAM could not get the boat up a normal ramp unless I was in 4Lo (the GC could walk it out in 2H) and driving was the tail wagging the dog (plus it blew out the transmission on one trip...hence the quick move to a 1996 GC Laredo 4.0L I-6 again, no tow package but the U-Haul class III bolt on hitch receiver...)

So onto our JTs. 3.6L V-6, 285 HP, 280 ft lbs(?) of torque so, more HP and torque? MUCH more than the old I-6 GCs, AND a longer wheelbase.

So if you are worried about getting close to your two rating, just as long as you're under I really don't see any issues. Our campers have electric brakes to help slow down and stop, WDHs, anti-sway bars, unlike my old boat trailer which had only surge brakes and no WDH, which by the way, my old GCs handled just fine as I wasn't driving it like I stole it. Besides, if you're smart about it, 5 mph below the speed limit and keen observation of your surroundings should keep you out of any trouble.

JMHO. Others may call me looney tunes but that is my experience(s).
 

wannajeep

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The real issue is the JT doesn't have the vehicle weight and gets pushed around by a trailer.
In my opinion when all is said and done the real issue is the motor, and being said trailer control is the easier problem to solve.

If you break down towing into 3 basic modes: pulling; cruising; slowing.

Pulling: It's a 3.6L V6 with 260 lb ft of torque. It has its limits.

Cruising: It's a 3.6L V6 with 285 hp. It has its limits.

Slowing: Weight and push can be mitigated with brake controllers, weight distributing hitches, sway control, and perhaps most important, keeping an eye on conditions head and leaving plenty room between you and what's ahead. Of the three modes, this is the easiest one to solve, but it relies on driver attention, whereas pure hp and torque may do the opposite.
 
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fun2drum

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Interesting points of view going on here - exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for in the thread.

I’ve about settled on a 24’ trailer with no slide, dry 4,400, GVWR 5,800, hitch 585. I know the hitch is close to my 600 lb limit but it’s just my wife and me in the JT which with the tongue and all our stuff will still be well less than our 1100 lb payload limit. Most of what we carry in the trailer will be stowed in the rear bunkhouse, and I’ll be installing a 2” receiver for our two bikes at some point. That should take some weight off the tongue and still give me a nice ratio between trailer and tongue weights. All will be well below my towing capacity, GCWR, etc., etc.

All things considered, I think the tow with it will be pleasant. My JT goes up Old Fort Mountain, a 4-mile steep grade on I-40, in cruise without a lot of downshifting so I think it should pull my weights relatively well on the flat land and rolling hills. Yes I’ll be driving some two lane mountain roads on occasion too, but mostly for camping around the Blue Ridge Parkway where maintaining a highway speed won’t be my priority.

I’ve put down a refundable deposit on the trailer to tie it up, and still want to look at an identical one closer to me today in case they can come close to the crazy good price we got. It would save us about 8 hours of driving each way to buy closer. We’ll see.
 

Liftr

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In my opinion when all is said and done the real issue is the motor, and being said trailer control is the easier problem to solve.

If you break down towing into 3 basic modes: pulling; cruising; slowing.

Pulling: It's a 3.6L V6 with 260 lb ft of torque. It has its limits.

Cruising: It's a 3.6L V6 with 285 hp. It has its limits.

Slowing: Weight and push can be mitigated with brake controllers, weight distributing hitches, sway control, and perhaps most important, keeping an eye on conditions head and leaving plenty room between you and what's ahead. Of the three modes, this is the easiest one to solve, but it relies on driver attention, whereas pure hp and torque may do the opposite.
I’ve been following this thread. And I want to share with you guys how far things have progressed since I bought my first tow vehicle. I still have my sales brochure of the 1997 GMC K2500 With a 5.7L V-8.
255 HP and 330 lb/ft of Torque.
6,000 pounds tow rating with the 3.73 axle ratio,
7,500 pounds towing with the 4.10 gears.
Jeep Gladiator Can we talk JT Normal Tow? F5C3D816-FC2D-4486-B873-08A29449B8E3
Jeep Gladiator Can we talk JT Normal Tow? CC011541-AD32-4B9F-8C06-6DAF50259825
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TL;DR: keep the trailer small and light. This is a 3.6L motor in a light duty truck.

--

I tow a 16 ft, 3,500 lb (dry/unloaded) travel trailer with the 3.6L non-max tow, manual transmission Rubi JT. It's good, not great. Terrain is mostly flat and the distance is only about 200 miles a year (drop it at camp for a few months, bring it back home). I would have no problem towing this longer distances, more frequently, if that was the situation. But again, it's good, not great. I've towed the same load with a 3.8L JKR and it that was certainly worse. I've towed the same load with a 5.7L Ram 1500 and it was no problem at all. But that's apples/oranges thing.

From what I hear the auto transmission will probably tow better than the manual.

In my experience I think 6,000 lb unloaded is a tall order for the 3.6L Pentastar, with or without Max Tow package, and the ads when the JT came out showing it happily towing a very long and heavy Airstream were somewhat misleading. I don't think Max Tow does anything for torque - it's still the same motor, same tuning (correct me if I'm wrong). Wider axles/stance will give greater stability but it doesn't change hp/tq.

Keep in mind the dry weight of the trailer isn't the target. Must consider the total weight. That's trailer, plus essentials, plus driver/passenger(s) (typ. 150 lb each), plus weight distributing hitch (mine is 70 lb!), plus gear stored in the truck, etc. All of these reduce your towing capacity, I would assume by the sum of those weights. Traveling light is a good plan but in reality how light do we really travel?

If you want your JT to be the tow vehicle and not have to buy a separate TV, I'd encourage you to make some sacrifices on the trailer (smaller, lighter). A loaded trailer that can be tugged with the JT might make for a more enjoyable road trip / camping experience than an unloaded one where you get to the site and now have to go out and load your water, make a trip to get your food, etc.

Also keep in mind a 28 ft trailer is a costly purchase, and once it's done, it's done. If you hook it up to the JT and find it's just not the right combination, that would be Not Good.

Regardless of what you end up with, a properly set up weight distributing hitch is a must, and I'd even put that ahead of a brake controller.

I do have the Max Tow with 4:10 gears and the wider axles and I can say at 6000-6500#s with the automatic transmission it will tow up several thousand feet on the highway at or above 70 mph speed limit. In the flats and slight grades I have enough power to drive well over the speed limit at that weight. The braking is also fantastic combined with the trailer brakes.

The real difference between stock sport and Max Tow is the wide axles, brakes, cooling and the 4:10 gears, small diameter tires with the 8 speed auto. There is plenty of power.

If you want to tow a weight and go distance with the standard sport change the gears to 4:10 and keep tire size to a minimum.

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Ferg

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I don't know if it's the same with other (non-MaxTow) JTs with the regular tow package or not, but mine does have the transmission cooling system added.
 

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If it's an 8 hour trip coming home with your new trailer, you will surly know then if you made a good choice.
 
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fun2drum

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If it's an 8 hour trip coming home with your new trailer, you will surly know then if you made a good choice.
Oh, a new development recenty came up with that. The local Camping World, who I'd been working with earlier when looking at trailers, called me with a new lower price on the same trailer that we'd first looked at on their lot. They had been a few thousand bucks over our budget so we originally passed and found the one in Cincinatti, just like it but a year older and within our budget.

We went back and looked at the local one again and it honestly looks like it was never pulled or slept in, though it's technically a used 2020. The new price was roughly the same as the older one in Cincinatti, considering the trip. I'm picking the local one up tomorrow afternoon, and it's about three miles from my house! So - I'll have to take a little weekend trip in it soon and see how it does. I actually enjoy towing travel trailers and it's been a few years, so I'm excited to say the least.

After I bring it home I'll post a picture or two in the What are you towing thread.
 

ChrisK

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Guys, I realize I’m dense when it comes to towing but...I have a 2020 Sport S Altitude pkg with the tow package. I cannot get a straight answer as to what my max is. The manual says 6k, the dealer says 4500. he said the package does not include the brakes to get to 6k. I’m pretty confused as it has the bigger alternator, cooler and class IV hitch. I probably won’t exceed the limit and am interested in getting the brake controller because I want to pull a two horse trailer as opposed to my 6x12 covered trailer with my CanAm this summer to get hay and occasionally bring a horse to the indoor ring. In short, how the heck do I find my weight caps, the decal doesn’t help and I want to follow the book but the dealership has kind of sent me into questioning what the book says. Also 373 gears automatic trans and the Mopar lift as well. Any help?

Jeep Gladiator Can we talk JT Normal Tow? 0056B5E0-06E0-41BC-A176-5913097B99CC


Jeep Gladiator Can we talk JT Normal Tow? A98AB8FE-1513-46FB-AA90-21BEECBE7675


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fun2drum

fun2drum

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Guys, I realize I’m dense when it comes to towing but...I have a 2020 Sport S Altitude pkg with the tow package. I cannot get a straight answer as to what my max is. The manual says 6k, the dealer says 4500. he said the package does not include the brakes to get to 6k. I’m pretty confused as it has the bigger alternator, cooler and class IV hitch. I probably won’t exceed the limit and am interested in getting the brake controller because I want to pull a two horse trailer as opposed to my 6x12 covered trailer with my CanAm this summer to get hay and occasionally bring a horse to the indoor ring. In short, how the heck do I find my weight caps, the decal doesn’t help and I want to follow the book but the dealership has kind of sent me into questioning what the book says. Also 373 gears automatic trans and the Mopar lift as well. Any help?

Jeep Gladiator Can we talk JT Normal Tow? DA281E54-D818-4FBE-BF3C-261BE92CBF9B


Jeep Gladiator Can we talk JT Normal Tow? DA281E54-D818-4FBE-BF3C-261BE92CBF9B


Jeep Gladiator Can we talk JT Normal Tow? DA281E54-D818-4FBE-BF3C-261BE92CBF9B
I think your manual and door sticker are right and your dealer is wrong.
 

ChrisK

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When you read the sticker, what do you read as my tow rating?
 

muttinthehut

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I have a 24' Surveyor RV that is very close to the same weights as Fun2Drum. We've taken it out twice with the Gladiator on short trips and so far no issues. That being said, I feel that is about the max I'd be comfortable towing in this vehicle. I'm still dialing in the WDH and getting a little "porpoising" at times, but generally it works. I plan on taking the setup to the scales soon to get actual weights now that we have all the gear we need.

I have to say that I fell victim to the advertising and thought we were getting a vehicle with a little more capability with respect to towing. We haven't done any long trips yet but have a few scheduled in the coming months. It will be interesting to see how this performs in the hills, but I'm setting my expectations on the low end. Does it work? Yes. But pretty certain we're maxed out at this point.
 

Mr._Bill

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When you read the sticker, what do you read as my tow rating?
The Manual and the door sticker are the Authoritative numbers, unless you get a letter from Jeep telling you otherwise. A stock Sport S with Auto and Tow Package has a 6k pound towing capacity. Most states require trailer brakes for anything over 3k pounds, and some as low as 1500 pounds. The tongue weight gets deducted from the total Cargo capacity when loading passengers and gear, so the heavier the trailer the lower the Cargo capacity.
 
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fun2drum

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The Manual and the door sticker are the Authoritative numbers, unless you get a letter from Jeep telling you otherwise. A stock Sport S with Auto and Tow Package has a 6k pound towing capacity. Most states require trailer brakes for anything over 3k pounds, and some as low as 1500 pounds. The tongue weight gets deducted from the total Cargo capacity when loading passengers and gear, so the heavier the trailer the lower the Cargo capacity.
Yep, and even the hitch itself has to count toward payload weight, and those things can be dang heavy. I don’t believe it counts as tongue weight though, because that starts at the point of coupling and goes back. At least that’s the way I understand it.

If we’re truthful with ourselves, most of us will max out the payload limit well before we reach the truck’s listed towing capacity.
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