JK Unlimited/Rubicon towing?

[JEEPCHIK]

Recently towed a tradies trailer (6x4 with high roof) to Victoria and back in my petrol 2 door.Majority of the time I was happy with towing, but put a hill in front of me and it was like towing an anchor through wet cement. Once the car realized we were climbing it wasn't too bad but not overly happy.

Followed the owners manual for towing and didn't make much of a difference.V6 JK's just aren't set up for towing and with the added accelorator lagg thrown in, at times it was a nightmare.Needs some re-tuning before towing.

[zzzz]

Originally Posted by rodxj

Looking at a 5 hour trip this weekend with about 2 tonne hanging off the back....... Will let ya know how it goes...........

Thanks Rodx...that would be great feedback!

I am not too concerned about power as that is easily fixed
Some cars are just dangerous no matter what you change as the chassis/weight etc. is just not suited to towing.

Especially interested in any of the "moments" you might have.
Wet weather or downhill braking etc. as those are the ones that count.

cheers

Z

[grover1968]

I wouldn't I have one and have towed camper trailer round Oz. It is hard work over long distances.

[Buelljeeper]

Our 4 door diesel dragged a camper to the very tip of australia and back - about a 3500 kay round trip.
It's also dragged a tandem trailer wit ha CJ6 on it about 1500 kays.
The fuel did get a little thirsty on the cape trip, and in some parts with the CJ6 on it.
As for mods, it's the factory tow option, with an Anderson plug (for the camper), and yes we have the diesel chipped.
It should pull what you want to fine, but it could also pay to consider airbag suspension.

[JKohn]

I have an Unlimited Rubicon and towed a Trak Shak camper through the High Country and Red Centre.

On flat roads it was ok but on any incline it really struggled and that was with a weight of only 1.2 tonnes.

The other problem with the JK is the towball downweight -a paltry 170kg!! We have purchased a new camper and unladen the towball downweight is 160kg, so we have ended up purchasing a more suitable, and much better tow vehicle - a Pajero!

Granted not as capable off road, but as a towing/touring vehicle it is a much more suitable option.

Good Luck!!

[rolli]

Jkohn - ball weight can be greatly influenced by how the trailor is loaded. IE moving water tanks/fuel tanks to after the axle will decrease your towball weight which takes some of the pressure off the rear shocks.

As I have discussed before in similar threads, I was impressed by our unlimited CDI's ablility to tow (a *somewhat* heavier load than its rated for) considering the weight of the Jeep (or the lack of it) it did well, tho in my case we never hit h/way speeds, we sat on a steady 80km/h. But we were also 1t over.

I certainly wouldnt suggest to anyone you go over the towing capacity as it brings with it all sorts of legal and insurance issues, but if I were to be towing over 2t again (IE when the minister for war and finance releases some $$ for a boat!), I will be putting in airbags.

[BrisNut]

Originally Posted by Yom

Forget the jeep and get a patrol with a 4.8L petrol, put it on injected gas and be able to tow the TJ, shred rubber and be able to thrash off road all weekend

Better of picking up a 4.2l Turbo Diesel GQ/GU, better for towing anything using half the fuel of the petrol Patrols.