Nah, insurance will be cool with him wiping out a few other motorists once he tells them he regeared the axles and has a kevlar clutch.

 

Since you are asking the question, I think you know the answer. It is a stupid question.

 

I think the scenario is that the OP is trying to be an engineer.....where the problem is....he's not. Seeing someone else do foolish things on Youtube doesn't quite qualify as being an engineer the last time I was in engineering school.

There are many factors that go into the tow rating capacities. When designing a vehicle, you test in controlled environments, with identified test specifications that represent all the different environmental weather conditions and aging of individual components over time in conjunction with other stress test factors. You perform these tests, analyze the results and then identify the weak points and address them in design improvements, then re-test and move on to the next weakest item of failure if your target towing capacity needs to be increased. The key is, this is all done in controlled environments with controlled tests and testing specification requirements. You try to do this same kind of engineering in the real world to increase towing capacity without the proper background, test environment then people die. It's as simple as that. You do this, and get in an accident and injure or kill someone and their family, then investigations are performed. Investigations reveal you were towing a 6000lb boat on a vehicle that has a rated tow capacity of 3500 lbs. For the investigators it won't matter that you re-geared, or did whatever mod YOU thought would improve towing capacity, you are unqualified to make those rating capacities. So if you didn't harm yourself, you go to jail for man slaughter. Now ask yourself, is taking those kinds of risk really worth it, or would it be better to go purchase a truck with the 6K+ rated towing capacity?

If you can afford a 26ft boat and trailer which are classified as luxury items, then you can afford to buy an old truck to tow it with as well.

 

When did manufacturers first start publishing tow ratings?
I remember back in the 70's and 80's when the roads were littered with sub 5000lb "cars" towing 26-30 foot 7000lb travel trailers.
The roads were not scattered with flaming trailers and corpses.
"I think" tow ratings have more to do with the litigious nature of modern society, insurance, and the decline of personal responsibility in North Americans than anything else. 25 years ago you'd see a monte carlo towing a 26' travel trailer, but, it's be in the right lane, 2 hands on the wheel, traveling 55mph... these days that same situation you would see the driver in the left lane talking on the phone, sipping a latte, tailgating another vehicle at 80mph... then wreck and claim the manufacturer was at fault.

/rant off.

I towed 7500lbs diagonally across the country with a 5spd XJ rated at 3500lbs.
No one pooped their pants or died, truck ran another 200k miles on the same clutch, and I sold it with over 300k still running strong.
/flame suit on.

 

I know a guy who used to drink and drive daily. No issue for years. Last year, hit a kid on a motorcycle at a stop light because he passed out. Maybe not a great analogy, but just because someone has successfully done something risky, does not make it ok to do.

I had a little trouble finding current data, but during the 2000s there was over 50,000 accidents annually involving trailers. Over 50% caused by exceeding tow ratings. The top 3 truck manufacturers are in a never ending tow rating war. They want to squeeze out every pound they can. They also do extensive testing - more than you can imagine. There are many factors that go into tow ratings. And what is being towed is often as important as the weight. I've seen some shit trailers out there and some that were very poorly designed. In addition, to properly tow a trailer, you need to have a certain percentage in tongue weight or it is down right not safe. There is no way a JKU is good for 600-800lbs of tongue weight.

Maybe you are an expert in trailer loading and weight distribution. Sure, there is some error built into the number to assume people are stupid. However, if driving a JKU while pulling a long trailer that exceeds the weight rating by nearly 2x, how exactly are you going to stop the trailer sway when it starts?

Keep in mind, that trailer length is a greater factor. The longer the trailer, the more side force it has. A trailer that long will produce far more side force than a JK can handle. It will toss that back end out in a hurry (trailer sway btw, is the number one cause of trailer accidents).

 

After people got seriously injured for towing above the tow ratings and not being made aware of what those ratings were. In society, it's unfortunate but we often find ourselves having to learn from the mistakes of the past. Being resistant to accept the acquired knowledge from those mistakes of the past is the path in the direction of ignorance and not the path of being smarter than everyone else like some pursuing that path instead like to think.

It's about evolution, not revolution.

 

I would never advise some one else copy that, don't get me wrong, I understand, it was a lot of work and I had to stay on top of things constantly. No way I was letting my girlfriend(at the time, now wife) get behind the wheel.
But for trailer sway...
Single axle F250 weight = 7000lbs, Max tow rating = 12,500lbs.
How is that going to stop trailer sway?

And yet a 4500lbs JKU is rated for 3500lbs. I don't buy it.

 

And surprisingly, no one has brought up the different tow limits on European JK's. That should be justification for everyone to tow 5000, at least...

 

You need to look at GVWR. JKU is not a truck. Far from it. Pissed away all the tow capacity on being fat. In addition, there is no engineering to equip it for towing. Look man, I live in Detroit and know a ton of engineers at Mopar and Jeep. Several that work on the Wrangler. None of them would even tow the max 3500lbs. I buy what they're selling. They designed it and borrow grand Cherokees when they need to tow.

 

What he said.