bcperry2000

i wouldn't tow anything more than jeep recommends. i've seen some crazy stuff happen when smaller vehicles, and yes the jk is a small to me, tow large items. sometimes the tower becomes to towee. one of my friends in college was towing his CJ with a full size bronco. the CJ got out of control and they both flipped.

the most i would tow with mine would be a single jet ski.

gcg

Please be careful what you tow. Many of the posts in this thread seem to center around whether the vehicle has enough power to pull the trailer. This is only a very, very small part of the overall picture. If it were only power, one would assume that the 2 door JK should tow a larger weight than the 4 door. After all it has the same engine, transmission, gears, etc. And it's lighter so it should have enough power to pull more. But, it's rated as less. My guess is that it's because of the shorter wheelbase. The shorter the wheelbase, the less stable the vehicle is when towing. So it's rated at a lower weight for safety, not power.

Also, braking is a significant factor. Just because you can get it moving doesn't mean you can stop it quickly. Also, there are limits that you should meet in terms of the weight on the front axle, weight on rear axle, total vehicle weight (which will include tongue weight) and the combined weight of the vehicle and trailer. Each of these is there for a reason. And each has an effect on safety. It's all explained in your manual and it's all available over the internet.

All too often folks seem to think that if they have enough power, it's OK. It's not just your safety that's involved, it's the safety of your passengers and whomever you might run into.

And, if that's not enough, there are legal liabilities involved. If you have an accident while you are towing and your vehicle is judged to be illegal based on the applicable towing laws, you may be charged even if it wasn't your fault.

I read of a tragic case where a man and his wife were towing a trailer with their SUV. He was driving and someone pulled out right in front of them. He swerved to avoid them and lost control. His wife was killed. After a thorough investigation, the police indicated to the son that the vehicle was right on the edge of being overloaded and that if it had been just slightly over the limit the husband would have been charged with manslaughter!

Before anyone tows a trailer even near the rated (read that marketing) limit, it would be smart to really read up on all the numbers and make sure you are within the limits. It may save your life, it may save your wife's or childrens life, it may save a stranger's life and it may save you from a nasty lawsuit.

jckid

I bought a T@b trailer a couple of weeks ago, and we took it out for the first time last weekend. It was the lightest trailer of the ones we considered. It weighs 1600 lbs. I have a 4-dr. w/auto. It tows great, but you definitely know it's there. We're glad we didn't go with anything heavier, because there is definitely a loss of power when climbing hills. I'm getting a Magnaflow catback, so that may help give it a boost.

As far as towing with a 2-dr...We almost bought a T@b a couple of years ago when I still had my TJ. We decided against it. When we saw that Jeep was going to make a longer wheelbase 4-dr. Wrangler, we new that we wanted one so that we could tow a trailer. You're right, the T@b brochure shows a 2-dr TJ pulling one, however, a 2-dr. Wrangler is only rated to tow 1,000 lbs. I'm sure you could do it, but with the short wheelbase, we were concerned about handling issues. We saw a TJ pulling a 13' Burro trailer once (also a very small trailer), and it looked severly overloaded. T@b claims, however, that you can tow their trailers with just about anything. Some dealers will let you hook up the trailer and take a test drive with it. If I were you, I'd do that and see how it feels.

driley

I have read that the 3500 pound limiting factor for towing with the 4 door is related to engine cooling capabilities.

4whelin

That may have truth to it, after all I just pulled a 20' 6" Tahoe fish/ski today at BassPro like it was nothing. Heck, the back of the JK didn't even squat hardly any mayabe a 1/2" or less. It's dry weight is 2800lbs. and the live limit is 3631lbs. did just fine!!!!

eejk

I heard from a friend...that his JK could tow a 23 foot wake boat (4500# with trailer). He has a class 3 hitch.

mizedog

My '01 Dodge 1/2 ton pickup with a 5.9 was rated at 7,300 lbs. I remember coming down a large hill pulling the CJ-7 to Gorman and the CJ nearly pulled the rear of the truck around. I was just going too fast - even though I was well below the limit. That Dodge pulled the Jeep all over the place without incident (even Moab from SoCal). That one time reminded me that at 65 mph, there are alot of variables. A slinky JK coil suspension won't be do as well down curvy hills as a leaf-sprung truck. Keep that in mind.