FRDesign

The new Ford F450 can tow 24,500 lbs!

mmccurdy

Erm..... I'm not worried about the power, I'm more worried about the safety implications (i.e. completely unrelated to my acceleration/top speed, which I can live with regardless). But thanks though.

pearl-drum-man

I think the fact that you are lifted and on 35's might actually decrease your towing capacity from stock. As for the Liberty powertrain, even though the engine is only rated slightly more than the JK in HP, it feels much more responsive and powerful on the highway. The Libby brakes feel stronger to me as well. The Xterra has a lot more power than both Jeeps.

Edit: To your first post, it probably is possible to make your JK functional towing that weight, doing all the brake, power, transmission, and gear upgrades, not to mention the actual hitch improvements. You will probably never get around the liability issue though if you had an accident, so that would be a risk factor.

Turk

I've towed a lot of equipment with my F150 and 18 ft trailer and can say, as you reach the upper capacity, you become limited to what you can do and how the vehicle handles. My f150 4x4x can pull 6500 lb. I've pulled a ford 3000 tractor (on 18 ft trailer) and tongue weight and trailer balance becomes very important at those weights (4500 + 2000) and the upper limit.

You did not say if your trailer has it's own brakes or not. Brakes on the trailer at the upper weight limit are absolutely a must. You can not rely upon your vehicle to stop that much weight and still remain in a straight line. Also, if you get into stop and go traffic, heat buildup is much higher than you think. Proper adjustment of electric brakes and the vehicle brakes is important. You literally can get parts "glowing".

I also tow a 25 ft. wing keel sailboat. It is 12.5 ft high! Again, it is in the 5500 lb range and requires trailer brakes, duel axles, and 650 of tongue weight.

Tongue weight is probably the most important factor. If you have too little or too much, the ride can get very squirrelly. Trailers account for this with load leveling bars that you may or may not be able to use on the jeep.

My thought to you is, trade the airstream in on a RV and pull the jeep behind.

mmccurdy

Yeah that was one thing I forgot to put on the original list of things I'm considering -- going back to 33's (on 17" rims for stability, say) is not out of the question. Though I'm less psyched about the thought of removing the lift kit...

mmccurdy

[QUOTE=Turk;224632]
Tongue weight is probably the most important factor. If you have too little or too much, the ride can get very squirrelly. Trailers account for this with load leveling bars that you may or may not be able to use on the jeep.
[QUOTE]

Yeah, I was definitely planning on going with a load leveling/anti-sway hitch, which I believe will work fine w/ the jeep. I'm not exactly sure how the physics of those things work, but I was hoping that between the leveling hitch, beefing up the hitch receiver, and putting the airbags in the springs, tongue weight would be manageable.

Haven't bought the airstream yet (wanting to see how this thread and a bunch of other research turns out first), but that was actually my original plan. Then I started thinking "why pay upwards of $30-40k more for basically another engine, etc. if I can just pull a trailer..."

4300 lbs. is a very conservative estimate for the loaded weight of the one I'm looking at -- it will probably be more like 4000 in reality. There's also a smaller one with a 3500lb. GVWR which I've considered, but we're planning to spend long periods of time in it, and the larger one is much more livable. In any case, I figure that's my fallback at this point, since it's squarely in the rated range, it's three feet shorter, and people report those to be more maneuverable anyway.

StuDad

I *know a guy who* pulls his 3500# boat with the JK and 3.21 w/ 6 speed. the pulling is no problem, I'd worry about stopping pretty seriously. If the trailer gets over the weight of the tow vehicle, there can be big problems. brakes can help a lot, but you still have more weight in the rear... if it were ever to start moving around, it could easily cause you to lose control.

sgt rock

the coupler i have rotates 360 and uses 3 axes of movement. has a cool disconnect pin for dropping the trailer....i would say if any one was interested email off line as i do not want to offend of posting a web site!

bofer84

guys guys guys...its not about the weight, its about aerodynamics. the JK can pull just fine, you just cant be pulling a wall, as any vehicle will suffer, including diesels.

G-Spot

My guess is that you will need to remove your lift, go back to 32" tires, and do extensive mods to your engine, transmission, brakes, hitch, etc. You'll be a couple grand in the hole and have a jeep that is less capable off road. To top it all off, you'll run the risk of not having insurance coverage. It's just not worth it. If you have extra parking space, I'd say your best bet is buying a old used pickup with a V8. You can probably find one for not much more than your mods will cost.