"When Properly Equipped" ... Three of the most misleading words.

[Mr Miami]

So as not to hijack the 392 Hemi thread (60 pages at this point) that has gone in so many different directions, I still do not understand if it is a Stellantis thing or just us people that are creating a lot of confusions, conspiracy theories, or whatever. Perhaps a bit of both.

I see that the '26 JLU Rubicon now has towing of 5,000 lbs. when last year it was 3,500 lbs. I don't get it, I thought the Rubicon "stuff" added to the weight of the vehicle and reduced the towing, as it does in the JTR. I can get a JT Max tow at about 7.700 lbs. towing and my own JT Rubicon is less at 7,000 lbs., supposedly because of the additional Rubicon stuff.

Then back to the JLR. On the Jeep build site, it mentions, under BOTH the 3.6 and 2.0Turbo specs, they tow 5,000 lbs. with those magic words, "When Properly Equipped." So now, looking at the build site, I get my choice of engines and can tow 5,000 lbs. when ..... aahhhhh.... "When Properly Equipped".

Then someone at Stellantis (or someone living in his parent's basement) is claiming the 6.4 V8 will be in the JL and the 5.7 in the JT. So the one that tows the most (JT) gets the smaller, less powerful engine?

I know, I know, I get it. It tows more "When Properly Equipped."

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[Rahkmalla]

Rubicon JLU now tows more due to full float rear axles that older JLURs didn't have.

"When properly equipped" isn't just a stellantis thing, it's all over every car manufacturer's claims for payload and tow cap (and a lot of other things)

So the one that tows the most (JT) gets the smaller, less powerful engine?

Power isn't the largest component of a tow cap for most vehicles. Specifically, for the JT: the community has arrived at the conclusion the tow cap on JTs is related to cooling limitations. To which you might respond: "Doesn't the JL have the same cooling restrictions, and if so why a lower tow cap?" and the answer to that is the JLU's tow caps out from the frame before the cooling comes into play. the JT frame isn't a stretched wrangler frame. It's a modified 1500 frame with a wrangler body on top of it. wheelbase and track helps with towing stability, and frame strength helps with the ability to sustain forces imparted on the truck by an outside object (the thing being towed).

So back to why the more powerful engine is expected to get a lower tow cap? Well... if you put them on identical platforms where cooling was the primary bottleneck, the answer would be that charged engines generate more heat than NA engines. If you're putting them on different platforms, cooling doesn't really matter because again the limitations of the JLU's frame and axles arrives before you max out cooling.

 

[Mr Miami]

Rubicon JLU now tows more due to full float rear axles that older JLURs didn't have.

"When properly equipped" isn't just a stellantis thing, it's all over every car manufacturer's claims for payload and tow cap (and a lot of other things)


Power isn't the largest component of a tow cap for most vehicles. Specifically, for the JT: the community has arrived at the conclusion the tow cap on JTs is related to cooling limitations. To which you might respond: "Doesn't the JL have the same cooling restrictions, and if so why a lower tow cap?" and the answer to that is the JLU's tow caps out from the frame before the cooling comes into play. the JT frame isn't a stretched wrangler frame. It's a modified 1500 frame with a wrangler body on top of it. wheelbase and track helps with towing stability, and frame strength helps with the ability to sustain forces imparted on the truck by an outside object (the thing being towed).

So back to why the more powerful engine is expected to get a lower tow cap? Well... if you put them on identical platforms where cooling was the primary bottleneck, the answer would be that charged engines generate more heat than NA engines. If you're putting them on different platforms, cooling doesn't really matter because again the limitations of the JLU's frame and axles arrives before you max out cooling.

Thank you for clearing up some of the crap floating around in my head. You present your information in a way even I can understand ... lol. I didnt realize the JT was so closely linked to the 1500. Also you mention the full floating axle on the rear of the JL Rubicon and its effect on towing. My next question would be why hasn't Jeep used that before? Is it a matter of price? I mean you are adding over a 40% increase in towing. That is a lot. Would it work on the JT also?

 

[ChrisNLA]

Thank you for clearing up some of the crap floating around in my head. You present your information in a way even I can understand ... lol. I didnt realize the JT was so closely linked to the 1500. Also you mention the full floating axle on the rear of the JL Rubicon and its effect on towing. My next question would be why hasn't Jeep used that before? Is it a matter of price? I mean you are adding over a 40% increase in towing. That is a lot. Would it work on the JT also?

The Gladiator chassis is a Wrangler on the front half (everything from the transfer case skid plate forward interchanges). The back half is design based off of a Ram 1500, and I believe shares the rear control arms with the Ram. The longer rear control arms are one of the big things that help stabilize the rear of the truck with higher loads.

 

[Rahkmalla]

My next question would be why hasn't Jeep used that before? Is it a matter of price? I mean you are adding over a 40% increase in towing. That is a lot. Would it work on the JT also?

The best answer I can give comes with a large caveat: probably not?

If the community is correct that the cooling is the primary bottleneck on the gladiators, then no additional frame/suspension upgrades will help with cooling.

 

[Sweetums]

So as not to hijack the 392 Hemi thread (60 pages at this point) that has gone in so many different directions, I still do not understand if it is a Stellantis thing or just us people that are creating a lot of confusions, conspiracy theories, or whatever. Perhaps a bit of both.

I see that the '26 JLU Rubicon now has towing of 5,000 lbs. when last year it was 3,500 lbs. I don't get it, I thought the Rubicon "stuff" added to the weight of the vehicle and reduced the towing, as it does in the JTR. I can get a JT Max tow at about 7.700 lbs. towing and my own JT Rubicon is less at 7,000 lbs., supposedly because of the additional Rubicon stuff.

Then back to the JLR. On the Jeep build site, it mentions, under BOTH the 3.6 and 2.0Turbo specs, they tow 5,000 lbs. with those magic words, "When Properly Equipped." So now, looking at the build site, I get my choice of engines and can tow 5,000 lbs. when ..... aahhhhh.... "When Properly Equipped".

Then someone at Stellantis (or someone living in his parent's basement) is claiming the 6.4 V8 will be in the JL and the 5.7 in the JT. So the one that tows the most (JT) gets the smaller, less powerful engine?

I know, I know, I get it. It tows more "When Properly Equipped."

It probably means they bothered to recertify the Rubicon package. I believe those numbers need to be verified, which costs money. It's easier to just subtract the pounds of added equipment - towing numbers are always very optimistic, my rule is to subtract 25% for real-world numbers that won't damage the vehicle over time.

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