Nope. That's from the Jeep website, but my hard copy agrees. I purchased mine in Oct 2011... perhaps it's a later production run? I also confirmed it, by VIN, with the Chrysler Jeep rep on the phone.

 

Just curious what is everyone using for mirrors when towing? I bought a set of the clamp on ones like these CIPA Universal Tow Mirror - Cipa Usa Inc 11960 - Mirrors - Camping World They looked good but vibrated like crazy it was to annoying. So I have some that I made that attach to the bottom of the mirror heads. They are machined from aluminum and I installed a round street rod mirror head on the end. They are small in form so they don't look to bad. I am thinking of redesigning them and I'm bit curious what you all are doing.

 

I'm confused about tongue weight - somebody above mentioned it gets added to the weight of the jeep.

But it's also part of the weight of the trailer (at least when off jeep).

Do you weigh the trailer on-vehicle? Or does tongue weight count double (both for weight of trailer and weight of jeep)?

 

'09 JKUX w/aftermarket tranny cooler, rear airbags, prodigy brake controller.
2010 Funfinder 16x w/rear bunks.

 

I like the aerodynamic wind deflectors you added to the top of the jeep to get the wind up over the front of the trailer.

 

Uh hum...yes, thank you. My master's in engineering enables me to design......just kidding...have too many toys (my husbands) to fit in the Jeep or the tiny trailer.

 

That's a good question! This is how I interpret it: The Jeep is still towing, say, 3500 pounds regardless, and the CGVW stays the same regardless. But the 350 pound hitch weight gets added to the curb weight of the Jeep so if the Jeep is loaded close to its max GVWR then the hitch weight could put it over.

The mind-bender is this idea that the Jeep's towing capacity starts going down if the Jeep's curb weight plus the towed weight starts to exceed the CGVW. When that happens, either the tow must become lighter than the book rating, or some weight must come out of the Jeep. In either case, the hitch weight becomes part of the Jeep's curb weight and counts toward the GVWR.

As far as whether the hitch weight can be taken off the weight being towed, I'd say it cannot because the Jeep is still pulling an extra 3500 pounds even if part of that weight is on the hitch.

If I were doing this, I'd just make sure the whole rig was well below the max ratings. Then these details would not matter. The JK is definitely NOT a heavy-duty vehicle.

 

Thanks for that info. I got my JK in May and the book in June. Seems Jeep must have corrected it. Guess I'll phone to see if they still have any corrected copies. I like to have accurate info on board without the need for Internet or a laptop.

 

All this is well and good, but the real tow capacity is 3500 Kg or 7000 lbs. So I'm not really worried about my trailer capacity since I'm not ever going to get close to that wt. I got a new bumper with a 9k lbs hitch capacity and added some air bags to the rear springs to keep me level. Check out the 2008 Germany specs: 3500 kg tow capacity. The same vehicle specs, same tranny, same 3.8 engine and 3.73 rear. They do get a better tranny cooler, but now we can get the same one from MOPAR. I down loaded the info from Germany when I purchased my 2008 Rubicon. USA specs are to keep warranty claims at a min.

Hensly Hitches are well worth the money, so are a good set of trailer brakes with a digital controller. Tow at rational speeds and don't expect to pull at 70 mph, which is unsafe with any trailer setup. Speed equals more stopping distance, reaction distance, etc. Cheers

 

Hi all, first time poster. [Edit: oops, make that second time...]

Hmm, that's an interesting assertion. Is that an educated guess, or do you have specific knowledge of their motivation? If you do, I'm curious: What kind of warrantly claims would you expect to see? Why wouldn't they want the Germany specs to keep the same claims at a minimum in Germany?