Waited 10 years for this tow - towing my CJ3a with a Gladiator!

[farmjeep]

I've been hauling my CJ3a Farm Jeep to antique tractor and Jeep shows for a decade. I have used a Ford F150 as my tow vehicle and it always seemed wrong. So when the Gladiator was announced, I started to save my pennies. And last weekend I picked up my Sport S Max Tow in TN and drove the almost 300 miles home on back country roads. So with a little over 400 miles, I'm loaded and headed out in the morning. I do have a few questions.

Since I'm still in "break in mode" I'll be headed out on back roads and can easily keep my speed below 60MPH. There are rolling hills , but no mountains in southern Indiana. I also have a very steep and long gravel driveway (goes up 250 feet with two switchbacks in a quarter mile). So the first question is should I just use the 4-Auto for up/down my driveway. How about on the highway?

As I stated, I've hauled this rig for a decade without issues. But when I drove onto the trailer, I noticed the Gladiator did squat more than the F150. I have a spot I marked with the F150 that seemed to be the sweet spot for the tongue weight. Should I expect handling differences between the F150 and the Gladiator?

Finally, I love the backup camera! I had an aftermarket camera in the F150, but it was nothing compared to how easy it was to hook up the trailer today.

Looking forward to any towing tips.
Barry

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[2tall]

Very cool. The color on that CJ3a is awesome!

 

[farmjeep]

Thanks, the story of the 3a is at www.farmjeep.com I really hope I can convince FCA to change the cover of the Gladiator manual from showing the TJ from towing a side-by-side to towing a CJ.

 

[BRMoose]

Beautiful old survivor

 

[farmjeep]

For a fun read of Willys' vision for the Jeep, see https://www.farmjeep.com/2020/09/01/1944-jeep-planning-brochure-on-ewillys/

 

[MrJeep]

Awesome stuff! I too was waiting for the day I could trailer my TJ to a Jeep event with the JT. The smile the guy at the gate gave me last fall was worth it after seeing so many towed in with Fords, etc.

 

[DankjeeP]

I've been hauling my CJ3a Farm Jeep to antique tractor and Jeep shows for a decade. I have used a Ford F150 as my tow vehicle and it always seemed wrong. So when the Gladiator was announced, I started to save my pennies. And last weekend I picked up my Sport S Max Tow in TN and drove the almost 300 miles home on back country roads. So with a little over 400 miles, I'm loaded and headed out in the morning. I do have a few questions.

Since I'm still in "break in mode" I'll be headed out on back roads and can easily keep my speed below 60MPH. There are rolling hills , but no mountains in southern Indiana. I also have a very steep and long gravel driveway (goes up 250 feet with two switchbacks in a quarter mile). So the first question is should I just use the 4-Auto for up/down my driveway. How about on the highway?

As I stated, I've hauled this rig for a decade without issues. But when I drove onto the trailer, I noticed the Gladiator did squat more than the F150. I have a spot I marked with the F150 that seemed to be the sweet spot for the tongue weight. Should I expect handling differences between the F150 and the Gladiator?

Finally, I love the backup camera! I had an aftermarket camera in the F150, but it was nothing compared to how easy it was to hook up the trailer today.

Looking forward to any towing tips.
Barry

A WDH would probably help no?

 

[MrJeep]

A WDH would probably help no?

When you have a car hauler that big with a small car being towed you can adjust the tongue weight by moving the car back and forth. In other words,you can manually distribute the weight without a wdh.
I had to find the sweet spot for my TJ as the first time I towed it I got some sway. Moved it forward 6 inches and life was good and still did not have bad squat.

 

[DankjeeP]

When you have a car hauler that big with a small car being towed you can adjust the tongue weight by moving the car back and forth. In other words,you can manually distribute the weight without a wdh.
I had to find the sweet spot for my TJ as the first time I towed it I got some sway. Moved it forward 6 inches and life was good and still did not have bad squat.

That's kinda what I was thinking also. I am no towing expert, but it sounds logical.

 

[Benbean66]

Towed a friend of the family's '46 from SE PA to upstate NY, and it towed beautifully. He had brought it down with his Dodge 3500 and had the Willy's all the way up against the front. I had to play around a little with finding the perfect balance between squat and trailer sway.

 

[MrJeep]

Towed a friend of the family's '46 from SE PA to upstate NY, and it towed beautifully. He had brought it down with his Dodge 3500 and had the Willy's all the way up against the front. I had to play around a little with finding the perfect balance between squat and trailer sway.

Love the plant in the driver footwell. It's a shame it's not in sepa anymore, would love to see that.

 

[farmjeep]

The trip to the show and back went well. The only difference I could tell between the F150 with the 5.4L and the JT was the amount of time it took to accelerate to 60MPH. Have to be patient with the JT. Otherwise had the same great tow.

I had positioned the 3a at the same position on the trailer as always, which is somewhat forward due to the 300 pound plow hanging off the back. No bucks or sways and I wouldn't know it was back their - unless I'm accelerating

I was glad I had read in another thread about using the Auto-Shift and tach to improve fuel mileage. I wasn't concerned about that on this short (1 hour each way) tow, but I can sure see how it will be useful on a long trip.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The trip to the show and back went well. The only difference I could tell between the F150 with the 5.4L and the JT was the amount of time it took to accelerate to 60MPH. Have to be patient with the JT. Otherwise had the same great tow.

I had positioned the 3a at the same position on the trailer as always, which is somewhat forward due to the 300 pound plow hanging off the back. No bucks or sways and I wouldn't know it was back their - unless I'm accelerating

I was glad I had read in another thread about using the Auto-Shift and tach to improve fuel mileage. I wasn't concerned about that on this short (1 hour each way) tow, but I can sure see how it will be useful on a long trip.

Those plows are HEAVY. I had a 2 14" bottom plow for my F20 and that thing was crazy heavy. A lot of iron in a plow.
I've got a single bottom horse-drawn plow by the house as decoration and I hate like heck to have to move that even a little bit.

I'd love to watch at the plowing contests they held a few times at the big local summer show each summer - it was amazing to see a Jeep plowing, and then a steam tractor with a 12 bottom plow come along and do a huge swatch of land in minutes.

I used to haul this tractor when I had it - on a heavy flatbed I owned years ago. This tractor went to a collector in Kentucky as it was a rare experimental version with electric start - 2 years before they were released with electric start.

A WDH would probably help no?

I've never used a WDH on a car hauler, never saw it as needed, most companies and dealers say "not needed". The wheels are way back on such trailers and you move the load to keep the tongue weight exactly as you want it.

 

[farmjeep]

I have two other plows that I display and they weigh over 450lbs. You can see a CJ5 plowing here - https://www.farmjeep.com/farm-jeep-plowing/ The small 16" single bottom is a lot easier on the Newgren lift and me too.

The 3a has a 265lb front bumper weight, so the actual weight distribution is pretty balanced and I suspect helps with getting a nice tow.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Would be really cool to see that stuff. I miss my tractor and plow - still have most of my antique engines but sold a few of those a couple of years back, too. Needed the space.

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