rj'sjeep

is towing with a stick difficult?

Rebar-7

Yeah I guess.....

rob_engineer

No. I tow a 5000 pound toy hauler with manual. A little harder to get moving but once moving its fine.

101gargoyles

Ask your clutch starting from red lights or stop signs on an upgrade. It ain't a Kenworth tractor. Just consider your load weight. Tow (and carry) more than your rig's GVWR weight = don't whine about what happens.
Don't know of a JK rated to tow 5000 pounds

Billbikes

I think the biggest problem would be starting on an upgrade especially if you have 3.21 gears. Seems 1st is a pretty tall gear combined with too tall diff gears.

tjkamp

this.

All depends on the Jeep. The lower the differential gearing (numerically higher) the easier it is.

dmwil

JKU is rated to tow 3000lb. (Corrected: 3500 lbs.) The chassis could easily handle more, but there is something about the drive train that limits it to that. It may be cooling, it may be axles, it may be the transmission, but there is a reason they came up with that number, so I wouldn't advise going over it if you are concerned about long term durability.

Make sure you have 75w/140 gear lube in the rear, too, and I'd change the tranny fluid at least every 50k miles.

That said, I frequently tow a pop-up camper and a light 17' aluminum boat. With gear, I think the boat might come in at maybe 1700 pounds, 2000 tops.

I towed the pop-up from Indianapolis to Colorado with 6 kids, my wife, and all our gear on board, so I'm pretty sure we were at or near the gross vehicle weight limit. It pulled just fine, even in the mountains. I currently have 87k miles on my Jeep, and the clutch is just fine, so I don't think there are any issues.

If you know how to properly drive a manual transmission, you should do just fine. The key is not sitting there slipping it too much as you take off. That's what burns them up. Learn to get going quickly. Also, don't sit at stop lights with the clutch pushed in. The less that clutch pedal is pushed in, the less wear. I had a YJ that had 125k on it before the first clutch wore out, and it was a 4 cylinder and I towed frequently with it, right at the 2000lb limit.

My sister, however, used to wear clutches out in 20k miles! Of course, she wears out auto trannys, too. (foot on brake, other foot on gas at stop lights.) In fact, come to think of it, she took care of fenders and bumpers frequently, as well!

Ryan0260

As others stated, proper gearing makes towing with a manual a much easier task. The lower the gearing, the more torque you will have to pull with, and less you will have to ride the clutch to get it moving.

rob_engineer

True, but you can get a Jeep Liberty rated for 5,000 pounds. Do you honestly think that is more capable? Have you read the warning above your head? The doors and top don't protect you. That's why the JKU is artificially held to a lower tow rating in this country. Check Germany. Check Australia. I think you will find it rated higher than I the US for the same gas powered JKU. The drive line is not a limiting factor. However, the receiver is not super strong due to the crossmember. I put on a smittybilt XRC bumper which increases the receiver to a 5000 pound rating. Check out my picture. It's a toyhauler that weighs about 5000 pounds when I have two motorcycles loaded. I've towed that around 5,000 to 6000 miles. It's fine for NJ, PA, VA towing. Would not want it in the Rockies.
I should add that I take all safety precautions. Dual axle electric brakes. Weight distribution hitch, sway control. And I drive nice and easy.

rj'sjeep

I am pretty sure its 3500 lbs using an auto on a 3.8 2008 jku