Towing Speed

[Ark]

How fast are you either able to tow (maxed out?) or feel comfortable towing?

My wife and I live in Salt Lake City and have always loved truck camping. We have two young kids now and my super old 1st gen Taco isn’t really cutting it anymore. A 3.6 Rubicon Gladiator towing a small trailer seems like just about the perfect solution for us to keep camping, now as a bigger family, and still be able to explore some reasonable Jeep trails in Moab and elsewhere. We’re looking at an R-Pod 193 or something along those lines. If we decide to haul that combination down to St George, am I going to be stuck doing 65 in the slow lane or will the Gladiator be able to keep up with traffic on I-15 with the 80 mph speed limit?

I’m pretty sold on a Rubicon Gladiator for its combination of off road capability and tow rating. I realize it’ll likely be stuck in 5th gear and could be pretty loud. I’ve watched TFL’s max-tow video and saw that Gladiator struggle to keep 50mph. Not planning to go that heavy and the mountains here aren’t that high. Just curious to know what I’m in for!

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[concretewolf]

67 mph. Seriously. Set up with a WDH and sumo springs pulling a 4,750# 23’ travel trailer with about 750 lb payload. I have the max tow option.

 

[DAVECS1]

If your running stock I think 70 would be a decent ride with the tires aired and aligned properly. I am supercharged with a lift and 35s and a good trailer brake, and I pull at 70.

 

[Darkamek]

I’m running at 65mph pulling a wolf pup 17jg. I feel the axles could benefit from being geared higher though. The Gladiator is a stock max tow, but I do have a non max tow gladiator geared to 4.88 and it’s amazing.

 

[GOCAMPN]

I don't own a camper/trailer, but my father in law likes to participate in auto auctions and I do the pickups for him. I'm surprised at those of you having a hard time towing. My JT doesn't seem to even notice the difference, this setup was just over 6,000lbs and I didn't feel a hint of lost power. Drove it from Philly to my house in Eastern NJ on the highway, got to 80mph with ease. Sport Max Tow.

Also sorry for the quality I had to rip this picture from my Instagram.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

And here a year ago last winter I had trouble keeping a speed of 70 on the hills of I80 - with my empty car hauler. But then that's an Overland with the 3.73:1 gears.

 

[Ark]

For additional context, I’ll use trailer brakes and a WDH with sway control. If necessary I’ll also add some airbags

I’ve read other threads and 65mph seems to be the consensus. I’m happy with that if that’s the reality. Will a stock Rubicon just flat out not go faster? Or does it start to feel scary above that speed?

 

[Kevin_D]

It’s really not safe towing at speeds over 60-65-ish. Shit happens really fast even at that speed.

Kevin

 

[Labswine]

What ever you're comfy at. Me, I'm comfortable at 65 mph max in my Overland (stock with tow package) towing my 27' overall TT. I also shift manually. 7th and 8th on flat or slight downgrade is around 2,000 rpm. Lower than 58 mph, 6th at around 2,500 rpm is perfect until I'm back to between 60 and 65 when I can go back to 7th (which is pretty much where I tow anyways...8th is a rarity except for a long downgrade).

 

[brianinca]

You *really* need to investigate how towing a trailer is different to driving down the road. Trailer tires have speed ratings that vary by model and manufacturer, but the consensus guidelines are 65 MPH is the speed limit: https://www.natm.com/blog/tire-load-index-speed-rating

I very much appreciate how smooth and comfortable our JTR is at 80-85 MPH on SoCal freeways, but that's got NOTHING to do with towing a big trailer. I'll speed up to 65 to pass a semi but that's back down to 60-62 after that.

We've seen several rolled trailers in the last year just traveling to the coast (2 hr trip) and we see trailers towed by coal-rolling brodozers at 80 MPH. Cause, effect.

A 12 ft cargo trailer at 3500 lbs isn't the same thing as a 6000 lb 25' travel trailer, drag, inertia and leverage are all factors that affect performance over and above "how much does it weigh".

How fast are you either able to tow (maxed out?) or feel comfortable towing?

My wife and I live in Salt Lake City and have always loved truck camping. We have two young kids now and my super old 1st gen Taco isn’t really cutting it anymore. A 3.6 Rubicon Gladiator towing a small trailer seems like just about the perfect solution for us to keep camping, now as a bigger family, and still be able to explore some reasonable Jeep trails in Moab and elsewhere. We’re looking at an R-Pod 193 or something along those lines. If we decide to haul that combination down to St George, am I going to be stuck doing 65 in the slow lane or will the Gladiator be able to keep up with traffic on I-15 with the 80 mph speed limit?

I’m pretty sold on a Rubicon Gladiator for its combination of off road capability and tow rating. I realize it’ll likely be stuck in 5th gear and could be pretty loud. I’ve watched TFL’s max-tow video and saw that Gladiator struggle to keep 50mph. Not planning to go that heavy and the mountains here aren’t that high. Just curious to know what I’m in for!

 

[SloW8]

Hey There...

I live in Lehi and have a Mojave with an RPOD 202. The 202 weighs in at 4,600 bare. Loaded up its over 5k.

I will say that the chassis is fine with the weight, but the little 3.6 is working hard to move that weight, especially at this altitude. I towed our trailer over highway 6 to Moab earlier this year and it did okay, but it wasn't effortless. You will want to shift manually. The transmission will hold a gear to redline when you are towing and it makes more sense to shift 500-900rpm earlier.

I would not feel comfortable at 80. It will do it, but for safety factor, I would keep it at 70.

An RPOD 193 or 196 behind a Rubi would be awesome. DM me if you want more details and opinion on the matter.

 

[jeepin48]

For additional context, I’ll use trailer brakes and a WDH with sway control. If necessary I’ll also add some airbags

I’ve read other threads and 65mph seems to be the consensus. I’m happy with that if that’s the reality. Will a stock Rubicon just flat out not go faster? Or does it start to feel scary above that speed?

It will go faster than 65 no doubt. You will run out of comfortable handling before you run out of power. The handling will depend on a lot factors ( dual axle or single, WDH type and if its setup properly, brake controller, and airbags to give some weight back to the front wheels).

 

[WXman]

When I pull my 8.5x24' enclosed completely loaded, I usually set the cruise at 65 MPH which is 5 MPH below speed limit. If it's a super windy day I might dial it on down to 60 MPH.

Getting where you're going slowly is better than not getting to where you're going.

When towing something huge, a weight distribution/sway control hitch is a really good idea, and I used to always ignore those. But now that I'm pulling this much around with the JT I went ahead and bought one and I really like it. Obviously trailer brakes and a controller are a must.

 

[Ark]

I appreciate all of the replies! This definitely helps to understand what I'm getting myself into before I jump all the way in. Sounds like 65 with 4,800lb trailer is the way to go.

This maybe goes beyond the scope of this forum but how does that compare to a 1/2 ton? Obviously the 1/2 ton towing the same trailer will sway less and pull up hills a lot better but from a speed standpoint, would I still need to max at 65 just because of typical trailer tire ratings and maybe safety factor? Sorry for all the questions. I've towed small utility trailers with little trucks a lot but TT's are a whole new world to me.

It will be a lot easier when we roll down the 80 mph highway at 65 and my significant other is getting grumpy that we're going so slow to know that we wouldn't (shouldn't) be going any faster even if we had a bigger truck. (Just trying to justify my Jeep urge here)

 

[ShadowsPapa]

If you have ever been tooling down the interstate and had someone pull up alongside you and start honking and pointing back - then pulled over to see a tire coming apart and the tread flapping as it spun and whipping the camper........
Happened to me once. And yeah, I used to be the sort to assume I could go as fast as I wanted.

( I also lost trailer wheel bearings once and was glad I wasn't flying like I used to do.)

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