So, what is everybody towing?

[ShadowsPapa]

A local school district? lol

Or if you mess up..........

Sponsored

 

[sroberts1519]

Thanks for that pic and post. Gives me hope for my own Overland. I had CRAPPY experience hauling an EMPTY 1600 pound flat bed car hauler last winter. The truck STRUGGLED and the transmission hunted to no end. But you are pulling the same weight I'd expect with my trailer and a 3200 pound car on it. (and I'd have a lower profile with a car on an aluminum car hauler that sits pretty low)
I put Sport S max tow springs under the rear of my overland. Helps prevent the soft feel. Still rides very nice, but is more firm and you do have a bit more road feel - still, it's comfortable and it is a truck, afterall.

Your rig sure LOOKS NICE and sits so nice and level. Just a perfect straight line!
FCA should buy that photo from you for their marketing flyers.

Thanks!

As I said earlier, the drive out wasn't that bad. It was kindof windy, but the truck seemed to handle the wind pretty well. I am towing only in Oklahoma. Oklahoma is flat. lol. I would never ever think about pulling that trailer with a Gladiator in mountains such as Colorado or Utah. Going out, on I-40 East bound, I set the cruise control on 60 mph. The tranny did hunt, but mainly stayed in 5th and 6th gear, and going into 7th (or a couple times 8th) on longer down hills. On longer overpasses, it occasionally downshifted down to 4th briefly. The biggest hill I had going out was Tiger Mountain on I-40 East bound. It did shift down to 4th for the mile or so drive up that hill. Oh, I was watching temperatures on the pull out. The tranny temp was typically between 208 and 212, and there was a brief moment (going up Tiger Mountain), where the tranny spiked at 218. It was like 55 to 60 degrees outside, which would help in temps. I am curious to see how it does in Oklahoma's 100 degree summers.

The drive back home wasn't quite as pleasant - it was much more windy (probably 30-40 mph gusts), and it was mainly a head wind. it wasn't a white knuckle experience, but I did have to pay more attention to driving, fighting against the wind. also, the drive home, I was in 4th gear a lot more. Coming home I had the cruise set at between 60 and 62.

My rig does sit pretty level. I do have a lot of squat in the rear (I know I am over GVWR of the jeep - different topic), but close measurement indicates that my rear end is around 1/4 inch lower than the front. Running the rig across the scales I have about the same percentage of GAWR on front vs rear, so I don't know if I want to adjust my WDH, adding a little bit more to front axle, or to just upgrade the springs to stiffer springs.

Do you recommend the Sport Max Tow springs to the Ruby springs?

Weather permitting, we will take the rig out again sometime during Christmas break. Hopefully it wont be as windy and I can get a better idea of how it will pull.

Thanks

 

[sroberts1519]

Or if you mess up..........

That is a classic line!!!!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Thanks!

As I said earlier, the drive out wasn't that bad. It was kindof windy, but the truck seemed to handle the wind pretty well. I am towing only in Oklahoma. Oklahoma is flat. lol. I would never ever think about pulling that trailer with a Gladiator in mountains such as Colorado or Utah. Going out, on I-40 East bound, I set the cruise control on 60 mph. The tranny did hunt, but mainly stayed in 5th and 6th gear, and going into 7th (or a couple times 8th) on longer down hills. On longer overpasses, it occasionally downshifted down to 4th briefly. The biggest hill I had going out was Tiger Mountain on I-40 East bound. It did shift down to 4th for the mile or so drive up that hill. Oh, I was watching temperatures on the pull out. The tranny temp was typically between 208 and 212, and there was a brief moment (going up Tiger Mountain), where the tranny spiked at 218. It was like 55 to 60 degrees outside, which would help in temps. I am curious to see how it does in Oklahoma's 100 degree summers.

The drive back home wasn't quite as pleasant - it was much more windy (probably 30-40 mph gusts), and it was mainly a head wind. it wasn't a white knuckle experience, but I did have to pay more attention to driving, fighting against the wind. also, the drive home, I was in 4th gear a lot more. Coming home I had the cruise set at between 60 and 62.

My rig does sit pretty level. I do have a lot of squat in the rear (I know I am over GVWR of the jeep - different topic), but close measurement indicates that my rear end is around 1/4 inch lower than the front. Running the rig across the scales I have about the same percentage of GAWR on front vs rear, so I don't know if I want to adjust my WDH, adding a little bit more to front axle, or to just upgrade the springs to stiffer springs.

Do you recommend the Sport Max Tow springs to the Ruby springs?

Weather permitting, we will take the rig out again sometime during Christmas break. Hopefully it wont be as windy and I can get a better idea of how it will pull.

Thanks

The sport max tow rears are made to support heavier weights better. You give up a touch of the soft, cushy ride but honestly, not bad. My wife didn't even comment after I swapped in the max tow springs under the rear of mine.
The curb height did drop a tiny amount on mine - meaning after taking out the Overland rears and putting max tow rears under it, the receiver was about 1/8" or so lower - meaning only a tiny amount at the axle. BUT, with a load on it (trailer hitch weight or payload in the box) it should drop less because the max tow progressive springs will support the weight better.
DEPENDING on the springs under any specific Overland - because there's NO ONE SET used under any of these - it can vary, you may not notice a difference in curb height. The overland springs laying next to the max tow springs were longer than the max tow springs - that tells you how much more the stock overland springs settle just with the weight of the empty truck!

 

[sroberts1519]

The sport max tow rears are made to support heavier weights better. You give up a touch of the soft, cushy ride but honestly, not bad. My wife didn't even comment after I swapped in the max tow springs under the rear of mine.
The curb height did drop a tiny amount on mine - meaning after taking out the Overland rears and putting max tow rears under it, the receiver was about 1/8" or so lower - meaning only a tiny amount at the axle. BUT, with a load on it (trailer hitch weight or payload in the box) it should drop less because the max tow progressive springs will support the weight better.
DEPENDING on the springs under any specific Overland - because there's NO ONE SET used under any of these - it can vary, you may not notice a difference in curb height. The overland springs laying next to the max tow springs were longer than the max tow springs - that tells you how much more the stock overland springs settle just with the weight of the empty truck!

Thanks for the Info. Did you swap out only the rear springs, or did you swap out the fronts also?

I am ok with losing some of the (unloaded) rake by putting on max tow springs on the rear. I guess that is one of the reasons why Jeep put so much (unloaded) rake on the Overlands is because of those soft springs squatting so bad under load.

I have never swapped out springs on a vehicle before. Is it difficult? Any special tools required? or is this something I should let the dealer do?

Thanks,

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Thanks for the Info. Did you swap out only the rear springs, or did you swap out the fronts also?

I am ok with losing some of the (unloaded) rake by putting on max tow springs on the rear. I guess that is one of the reasons why Jeep put so much (unloaded) rake on the Overlands is because of those soft springs squatting so bad under load.

I have never swapped out springs on a vehicle before. Is it difficult? Any special tools required? or is this something I should let the dealer do?

Thanks,

You can do it if you just take your time, be methodical and logical. I found doing one side at a time was easiest, not as much work in the end.

You'll need a good torque wrench in the end, and remember to tighten things once the truck is sitting on its own feet on the ground, not when things are hanging in the air.
use JACK STANDS, do not support the truck by a jack only (besides, you'll need the jack to lower and left whatever end of the differential you are working with)
The thing that helped me was using a bottle jack to help "push the end of the differential down" since I was doing it mywelf. If you have a friend to help, they can pull down on the end of the differential while you swap the springs. The tough part was really keeping that stupid isolator up in place while putting a spring back. I finally got ticked and cleaned the top of the pad and the palce where it goes with a clean rag and MEK and used 3M 08001 Super Weatherstrip Adhesive to glue that XXXXX pad up in place LOL
It's got a "tit" on it that goes into a hole up there and unless you are an octopus, keeping that lined up while putting the spring back....... maybe others have another trick, but that's what I did.
Be careful with the brake hoses - you'll have JUST ENOUGH hose to get the differential down far enough to get springs out and in.

A Milwaukee cordless electric impact is a huge help for taking things apart - but if you use one to put things back, be gentle and slow, run things up to touching only, lower the truck, then torque things. I did a write-up somewhere here about the swap......

I had plans on adding a winch at some point, and maybe even a steel bumper (and I did both recently) so I also put springs from a Rubicon up front as they are a bit heavier trucks than the Overland.

 

[sroberts1519]

You can do it if you just take your time, be methodical and logical. I found doing one side at a time was easiest, not as much work in the end.

You'll need a good torque wrench in the end, and remember to tighten things once the truck is sitting on its own feet on the ground, not when things are hanging in the air.
use JACK STANDS, do not support the truck by a jack only (besides, you'll need the jack to lower and left whatever end of the differential you are working with)
The thing that helped me was using a bottle jack to help "push the end of the differential down" since I was doing it mywelf. If you have a friend to help, they can pull down on the end of the differential while you swap the springs. The tough part was really keeping that stupid isolator up in place while putting a spring back. I finally got ticked and cleaned the top of the pad and the palce where it goes with a clean rag and MEK and used 3M 08001 Super Weatherstrip Adhesive to glue that XXXXX pad up in place LOL
It's got a "tit" on it that goes into a hole up there and unless you are an octopus, keeping that lined up while putting the spring back....... maybe others have another trick, but that's what I did.
Be careful with the brake hoses - you'll have JUST ENOUGH hose to get the differential down far enough to get springs out and in.

A Milwaukee cordless electric impact is a huge help for taking things apart - but if you use one to put things back, be gentle and slow, run things up to touching only, lower the truck, then torque things. I did a write-up somewhere here about the swap......

I had plans on adding a winch at some point, and maybe even a steel bumper (and I did both recently) so I also put springs from a Rubicon up front as they are a bit heavier trucks than the Overland.

Again, thanks for the info. I probably will upgrade the springs after Christmas. I will see what my local dealer charges to swap out the springs, and then decide if I want to tackle it myself (I got a good torque wrench, etc).

Thanks,

 

[S&S]

just took a trip from Coeur d alene Idaho to long view Washington, 400 miles towing a 6x12 enclosed trailer. empty going and it did fine, liked to stay in 6th gear unless down hill. coming home was a bit different, 2000 lbs of crap in the trailer. and i have to say it struggled a bit. again loved 6th gear. got just under 13 MPG up and 11.5 MPG back to be expected. this motor likes to rev and boy did it. i went home a different way not to many hills. i think it would have had a hard time climbing the hills loaded. now it has a 6000 lb tow max, i was at 3500. and i did this with the 285/70/17 tires. i am not disappointed but i know what to expect next time...i will hold off big jobs until i get a hold of a 392 Gladiator...i have to remember its not my 2500 mega cab diesel. miss that truck

 

[deuce]

 

[GLDHE8R]

Just picked this up yesterday. 200 miles Ohio and Michigan Fairly flat. Pulled it like a champ 65mph ran best in 4th (manual trans).

 

[Ferg]

Just picked this up yesterday. 200 miles Ohio and Michigan Fairly flat. Pulled it like a champ 65mph ran best in 4th (manual trans).

Man, those GeoPros are nice!

 

[B-RAD]

Bringing the bike in for service

 

[emcdonald]

We picked up our new Travel Trailer. We had to do some research on brands that fit the max payload and towing capacity. The EcoDiesel tows like a dream!

 

[GLDHE8R]

Man, those GeoPros are nice!

Thanks, we did a lot of research seamed to be the best fit for us.

 

[Ohio5pt7]

My intention is to tow this once a year from storage to our campsite in May and then back in October. It weighs 6400lbs. I may remove the two batteries and propane tanks to reduce the tongue weight. I have an Equalizer WD hitch. Fingers crossed

How does it tow? Considering a eco gladiator. My TT is 5704 empty but it's a once a year 1400mi round trip with some mountains to SC.

Sponsored