Towing 5000 lbs with Max Tow Gladiator - Use Manual?

[BH1973]

So, after years of thinking about getting a Gladiator I finally picked one up - a slightly used 2024 Sport S w/Max Tow and gobs of other options (MSRP was $59,500, I got it with 14,000 miles for $34k). The previous owner also put probably $8k of after-market upgrades into it (really nice hard bed tonneau cover, aftermarket bumpers and winch, LED trail lights, 33" Mickey Thompson Baja tires, etc).

Anyway, I used it this weekend to tow a 5000 lbs boat/trailer about 200 highway miles - about 400 lbs of tongue weight, another 500 lbs of people and gear in the truck. When I started out in auto the engine revved to over 5000 rpm - and still wasn't downshifting when I thought it really should. After just a few miles - before getting on the highway - I decided to shift into manual mode and just do it myself. I was generally shifting up at around 4200-4500 rpm - and finally settled in at 65 mph on the interstate in 6th gear at around 2900 rpm, with occasional down/upshifts to 5th or 7th depending. It just seemed happy there. I averaged about 9 mpg, which wasn't that far off from the F150 3.5 EcoBoost we previously towed this boat with. The Gladiator towed okay, but not great - and not nearly as well as the F150, but I didn't expect that. I wouldn't want to pull much more than 5000 lbs with it - and 7700 lbs just seems crazy to me. I just didn't like the shift points - got frustrated when it didn't shift when I thought it should. It is equipped with a throttle commander, which I think I'm going to remove. But that device isn't supposed to affect towing or shifting.

Anyone else have this experience towing with the Max tow Gladiator? I really felt that if I didn't manually shift the engine might have redlined at some point.

Sponsored

 

[Gvsukids]

It is equipped with a throttle commander, which I think I'm going to remove. But that device isn't supposed to affect towing or shifting.

Throttle commander will keep the RPM's a little higher. Over 5000 RPM is normal.

 

[ALT2870]

The computer will adjust over time to new shift points based on how you're driving. It can take some driving to adjust though in my experience should take less then an hour or less then 50 miles. Mileage will quite literally vary.

 

[swanson]

“You“ added weight to the Jeep with the upgrades. That all adds up to what the vehicle can or can’t “tow”.

 

[BH1973]

“You“ added weight to the Jeep with the upgrades. That all adds up to what the vehicle can or can’t “tow”.

I get that, but I don't think the after-market upgrades added more than a couple hundred pounds. It was still well under the 7700 lbs limit and 1600 lbs payload. It did okay, about what I expected. Still felt like 5000-5500 lbs is more realistic, especially for long-distance highway towing.

 

[JmattNYC]

The V6 screams that is very true. Not sure your location but the max tow gladiator tow very very well on flat grounds. For hills it can have mix results but will still do the job. Not sure your set up (lift, tires,etc) or Towing set up(WDH, Airlift air bags or sumo springs, Trailer brake controller,Anti-sway,etc) but am sure you know to look into these things. I guess you keep it at 80% of its towing capacity and you should be fine.

Look for the TFL video on youtube where they took a gladiator rubicon in the Ike Guantlet. I think it will give you better prospective of working the JT. Good luck

 

[ChrisNLA]

The 3.5 Ecoboost makes nearly twice the torque that the Pentastar makes at almost 2,000 RPM less. The naturally aspirated Jeep needs to sing to make any power / pull any thing.

At 4,800 RPM its just now making its max torque (all 269 pounds of it), so it's going to need to twist past 5K to drop its next gear back into the sweet spot.

 

[Labswine]

I tow a 27', 5,100 lb travel trailer (twin axle) with my Overland, with the trailer package, (ordered 5/19, delivered 7/19) and shift manually.

I have only once tried letting the trans do it's own thing. When I did, it was like 65 MPH in 4th at like 4,500-5,000 RPMs on the flat...wholly unnecessary.

I shift manually, starting in 1st and, when I hit around 3K RPMs, then I up shift. Highway, for me it's 65 MPH in 7th at around 2,100 RPMs. The only time I see 8th is going down hill with a tail wind

Cruising at 65, going up a grade, when speed drops below 60 MPH, I typically drop back to 6th and around 2,500 RPMs until I crest the grade, and am back to 65 MPH then, it's back into 7th. There have only been a few times I have had to drop to a lower gear to even maintain 50 MPH on a grade and that was in the Pocono mountains heading up into NY State, and that was 5th gear at around 3+K RPMs until I got to the top of the grade.

Yeah, it's only a V6 but it seems to do the job well. Temperatures are still in the safe zone even when it's 100 degrees out, temps don't get over 220 degrees.

Towing like this I have averaged 12-13 MPG with mine. Now I just changed (this past December) from the factory 255/75R 18 Dueler HLs to Hankook Dynapro AT2s in the 265 flavor. I did notice a 1 MPG drop in economy so, I'm guessing that when towing, I'll more than likely see 10-11 MPG when towing...we'll see this summer when I go to Cooperstown, NY for vacation...yeah, the Baseball Hall of Fame ...and will be driving again through the Pocono mountains.

Your Maxtow shouldn't have any issues towing your boat even with the add ons. Just watch your speeds, RPMs, and gear choice and make logical decisions about shifting, and you'll do just fine.

 

[BlueScapegoat]

So I don't have a gasser JT, I have the diesel. And my last tow rig was a 6.2l gasser SVT Raptor. They both shifted pretty well in acceleration keeping it in D, they're pretty smart. Where I saw advantage towing was before a big hill pre-emptively putting it into manual mode and downshifting to where you know it will be anyway then bumping it back into auto once you start climbing the hill. That eliminates the delay and loss of speed that ends up resulting in not only going below the speed limit but also a redline acceleration pull up the the hill if you have it in cruise control or you try to hold the speed yourself.

HP is engine torque x rpm. It's slightly more complicated than that, but that's all you need to know to get the concept. Torque is power. RPM is work. If it spins more, it might actually sound like it's working really hard to you, but it's actually less work per revolution. At least for a gasser. So not only is it doing less work per revolution at a higher rpm, but it's moving more air through the engine and doing more passive cooling in the process.

So, don't be afraid of rpm. Intentionally bumping down the rpm can be harder on the engine but it really shouldn't let you bump it down so far that it hurts it.

 

[Zachanadandy]

The v6 is high strung. Peak hp isn't until nearly redline at ~6200rpm. It's not a turbo motor or a v8. The only way it makes decent power is high rpms. Let it spin, it'll be fine. Forcing it to stay in the lower rpms just turns your 285hp into <200hp.

 

[GI Grandpa]

So, after years of thinking about getting a Gladiator I finally picked one up - a slightly used 2024 Sport S w/Max Tow and gobs of other options (MSRP was $59,500, I got it with 14,000 miles for $34k). The previous owner also put probably $8k of after-market upgrades into it (really nice hard bed tonneau cover, aftermarket bumpers and winch, LED trail lights, 33" Mickey Thompson Baja tires, etc).

Anyway, I used it this weekend to tow a 5000 lbs boat/trailer about 200 highway miles - about 400 lbs of tongue weight, another 500 lbs of people and gear in the truck. When I started out in auto the engine revved to over 5000 rpm - and still wasn't downshifting when I thought it really should. After just a few miles - before getting on the highway - I decided to shift into manual mode and just do it myself. I was generally shifting up at around 4200-4500 rpm - and finally settled in at 65 mph on the interstate in 6th gear at around 2900 rpm, with occasional down/upshifts to 5th or 7th depending. It just seemed happy there. I averaged about 9 mpg, which wasn't that far off from the F150 3.5 EcoBoost we previously towed this boat with. The Gladiator towed okay, but not great - and not nearly as well as the F150, but I didn't expect that. I wouldn't want to pull much more than 5000 lbs with it - and 7700 lbs just seems crazy to me. I just didn't like the shift points - got frustrated when it didn't shift when I thought it should. It is equipped with a throttle commander, which I think I'm going to remove. But that device isn't supposed to affect towing or shifting.

Anyone else have this experience towing with the Max tow Gladiator? I really felt that if I didn't manually shift the engine might have redlined at some point.

What gears are you running? Your post didn't mention it, but running larger more aggressive tires will effect towing. 7,700 lbs is with 4.10s and stock tires.

 

[Panthers65]

In addition to the weight of the tires just with the GCWR, the tire weight is unsprung/rotational weight.

I've got a set of 37" BGF AT's on aluminum wheels, and a set of BFG MT's on Dirty Life Beadlocks. Same size wheels and tires, but there's like 22 lbs difference in weight per wheel/tire package. That's almost 100lbs of weight difference on the wrong end of your gear ratio. I can absolutely feel a difference in the jeep depending on the tire/wheel package I have on (admittedly, I swap them back and forth way more than I should) and I probably see a 10-15% drop in MPG's with the MTs/Beadlocks. The weight would have the same effect on towing that it does on MPGs, just making your engine work harder.

All that being said,6 cylinder Jeep motors have always been high-rev engines. It's one of the reasons I love over-gearing jeeps, I'd rather the motor wind a little higher than constantly lug. Don't be afraid to spin the motor up when you need to.

 

[Blade1668]

My take on a SportS w Max-Tow, mine is a 2020 the stock tires are 245 r17 with 4:10 gears. So any changes in tire size up decrease the towing. Mine came with the 245 AT tires I actually could get up to 29 mpgs when it was stock and towed fairly well. On several occasions I hauled up to or slightly over rated weight in bed of bagged concrete. The stock 245 HT tires were s### I know I got a set of them from a member here as take offs of his "Max-Tow" JT. A hard drop in mpgs even with them and crap manners even on road. Now mine has been on 33's for several years since 2 stock tires sets towing is tanked in mpgs and performance. I regularly get 16-19 mpgs not towing 14-16 at best towing now, my 05 Wrangler Unlimited actually tows better in many cases with 31-32 tires (within 5000 lbs) rating. A 16-18 mpgs. Now my JT is heavy loaded most times also now. . . Topper, 12 fridge, solar system(s), 100 amp battery, 10 gal water tank, camp gear, recovery gear, winch, heavy F. bumper, ect.

FYI the "Jeep 6 cylinder" 4.0 doesn't have or need to be spun up to 5k for power just the V-6 engines maybe. On heavy loading my Wrangler Unlimited is limited on brakes so a plus there on JT. Same with my Comanche it's brakes were marginal for towing over 1500-2000 lbs. My 90XJ didn't really notice a 5000 lbs load but 4:56 gears and 33's or 35's tires. It caused I-state at 70-80 mph fairly well even towing but you could cook a steak on the axles due to 4:56 gears.

 

[Zachanadandy]

My take on a SportS w Max-Tow, mine is a 2020 the stock tires are 245 r17 with 4:10 gears. So any changes in tire size up decrease the towing. Mine came with the 245 AT tires I actually could get up to 29 mpgs when it was stock and towed fairly well. On several occasions I hauled up to or slightly over rated weight in bed of bagged concrete. The stock 245 HT tires were s### I know I got a set of them from a member here as take offs of his "Max-Tow" JT. A hard drop in mpgs even with them and crap manners even on road. Now mine has been on 33's for several years since 2 stock tires sets towing is tanked in mpgs and performance. I regularly get 16-19 mpgs not towing 14-16 at best towing now, my 05 Wrangler Unlimited actually tows better in many cases with 31-32 tires (within 5000 lbs) rating. A 16-18 mpgs. Now my JT is heavy loaded most times also now. . . Topper, 12 fridge, solar system(s), 100 amp battery, 10 gal water tank, camp gear, recovery gear, winch, heavy F. bumper, ect.

FYI the "Jeep 6 cylinder" 4.0 doesn't have or need to be spun up to 5k for power just the V-6 engines maybe. On heavy loading my Wrangler Unlimited is limited on brakes so a plus there on JT. Same with my Comanche it's brakes were marginal for towing over 1500-2000 lbs. My 90XJ didn't really notice a 5000 lbs load but 4:56 gears and 33's or 35's tires. It caused I-state at 70-80 mph fairly well even towing but you could cook a steak on the axles due to 4:56 gears.

The 4.0L redlines before 5k. The 150hp peaks at ~4250 and starts to roll off from there. Not only do you not need to spin it up like the 3.6L, there's nothing gained by going much over 4k. Conversely the 3.6L doesn't even make peak torque until ~4200rpm and peak power is at ~6200rpm. Fundamentally didn't engines. Of course with the extra hp, I'd bet the 3.6L is still making more power at 4k than the 4.0L. If you drive then both the same way you'd be disappointed in one or the other. The 3.6L doesn't like being loaded much below 2500 rpm. The 4.0L will still pull at 1500 rpm. Driven to it's strong suits (wind it out), the 3.6L is a much better engine in my opinion. Drive it like a straight 6 or an old school v8 and it's massively disappointing.

 

[Labswine]

The 4.0L redlines before 5k. The 150hp peaks at ~4250 and starts to roll off from there. Not only do you not need to spin it up like the 3.6L, there's nothing gained by going much over 4k. Conversely the 3.6L doesn't even make peak torque until ~4200rpm and peak power is at ~6200rpm. Fundamentally didn't engines. Of course with the extra hp, I'd bet the 3.6L is still making more power at 4k than the 4.0L. If you drive then both the same way you'd be disappointed in one or the other. The 3.6L doesn't like being loaded much below 2500 rpm. The 4.0L will still pull at 1500 rpm. Driven to it's strong suits (wind it out), the 3.6L is a much better engine in my opinion. Drive it like a straight 6 or an old school v8 and it's massively disappointing.

The 4.0L was rated at 190 HP.

I was able to bump up the one I had in my '96 ZJ Laredo to an estimated 210 HP by opening up the intake, free flow exhaust (cat included), a throttle body spacer that 'swirrled' the air coming in, and finally, I replaced the factory 19lb/hr single point injectors with 22 lb/hr multi-point injectors from a Mustang 5.0L (Bosch injectors were direct replacements). Not only could I spank a stock Mustang GT 5.0, but I also got MUCH better fuel economy like, 22 MPG running around and just over 27 MPG on the highway. (The Mustang I spanked was pissed when I told him it was a modified 4.0L I-6 in my ZJ and not a de-badged 5.2L V-8 )

The shame is that there is little we can do with the Pentastar to coax a few more ponies out of it, short of a supercharger which the lower end cannot handle, and will grenade on you.

The only other option is to see if you could get a stealership give you the RAM 1500 tune for the 3.6L Pentastar as it's rated for 306 HP.

Sponsored