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2.0 v 3.6 towing

DanW

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I tow as well , No more then 2000 LBS. Owning nothing but manual Jeeps since my 71 cj 5 and 20 years of Truck driving ( 140,000 lbs) you learn what works and what does not. The low torque 3.6 fails when mated to a manual . can it be done ? sure! rev, and slip the clutch . But for me that is not a long term option . Glad you love yours.
Lol, ok. Total failure. Got it. Glad you told me that or I'd have been fooled. :CWL:
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DaveinCali

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I have an '18 JLUR 2.0 eTorque. This is an anecdote, but I can tell you my wife just hauled a stuffed-to-the-gills Schutt x2 Adventure Trailer and a packed family of 5 up Tioga Pass near Yosemite up to 10,000 ft and when we got to the top she was still waiting for the "hard part". (FYI, this is the highest mountain pass in California, with a dramatic 3,000 ft ascent)

With that said, fully loaded at highway speeds the ascent from 6,000 to 10,000 ft in the span of ~20 minutes did lead to the coolant temp getting really hot really quickly... you could watch the temp creep up to 75% of max on the indicator. But, if you pull over, the temp drops back below the middle mark (where it normally sits) within probably 15 seconds... that fan is huge.

I did find that it was hard to restore 65 mph after hard braking on a steep uphill at high elevation and full load until the hill flattened out a bit... there was a moment where I was struggling to accelerate it beyond 50 in 3rd gear. 0-50 steep uphill in high elevation at full load was no problem at all.

Bigger issue for me was brake fade on the decent... massive brake fade by the end... and it's hard to maintain highway speeds and have enough engine braking... realistically I should have had it in 2nd gear and kept it as 50 but had it on 4th for most of it while descending at 65, and that led to brake failure.

Net, 2.0 can tow just fine. Won't be a pickup truck, but it can do the most extreme application I've experienced adequately.
 

Badweissenbier

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I tow as well , No more then 2000 LBS. Owning nothing but manual Jeeps since my 71 cj 5 and 20 years of Truck driving ( 140,000 lbs) you learn what works and what does not. The low torque 3.6 fails when mated to a manual . can it be done ? sure! rev, and slip the clutch . But for me that is not a long term option . Glad you love yours.
I would have to differ with that statement. I tow an R-pod 190 all over the hills of WV without any problems. I pretty sure I’m close to that 3500lbs and my 3.6 manual does just fine without having to slip the clutch. 1st gear is plenty low enough to make for an easy takeoff.
 

ODDs

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Our pop-up camper was about 3300 lbs and the 2.0t pulled it as though it wasn't there. Even at elevation and up inclines it is fantastic.
 

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Revolution_322

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Oops real facts were introduced , this thread is about to die. Jeep is telling you the 2.0 is not there towing choice and the 2.0 fan boys will disagree of course.
Send your graphs and charts over to jeep, I’m sure they don’t know any better. LOL
Theres a reason the 2.0 isnt in the Gladiator platform.
 

AnnDee4444

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Yes, but lack of power isn't it.
It's probably because they did a marketing study and figured that (most) truck buyers don't want a 4 cylinder.

The biggest issue I have with the tow rating is that the 2-door is only rated at 2000 pounds (as 2-door Wranglers have always been) even though the JL's wheelbase is longer, brakes are better, more power, etc.. Even the 2021 2-door Bronco is rated at 3500 pounds, and it's wheelbase is only 3.6" longer.
 

ODDs

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It's probably because they did a marketing study and figured that (most) truck buyers don't want a 4 cylinder.
I do speculate that could be the case. By the time the Gladiator was introduced, they already had two years of trying to sell it in the smaller Wrangler, and realized what a struggle it was to convince Jeep buyers of the benefits of modern technology with a small displacement engine..
 

DanW

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There is an engineering reason why they did not use the 2.0 and went with the 3.6. There is much more to the stress towing puts on an engine than just heat, too. The 3.6 has huge main bearings and the short block is overbuilt. It will handle heavy loads better than most engines, including other V6 engines. It was designed knowing it would be used not only in cars, but in the Ram pickup, as well. It was also overbuilt with the idea it might have forced induction one day and even possibly direct injection.

I'm sure cooling played into it, as well, as did other factors. It is really a combination of factors that probably didn't require much thought or any input from marketing, at all. They wanted the highest towing capacity in the midsize market and the Pentastar was a no brainer because it was ready as-is, with no new development necessary. I believe the only change they made was to widen openings in the grille.

BUT, 4 cylinder perception, or not, the reason the 2.0 isn't there has nothing to do with lack of power, and I don't think it has anything to do with people not wanting a 4. The F150 seems to sell just fine with the 4 cylinder Ecoboost, which by the way, was built with the F150 in mind, so it probably had the strengthening necessary to handle it, as well as cooling or any other requirements.
 

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Well, here I am contemplating something that never crossed my mind when I bought my 2.0 Turbo Wrangler - buying and towing a travel trailer. We are considering a Jayflight SLX 154 BH. Its a 15' travel trailer with a dry weight of 2645 lbs and a tongue weight of 345 lbs. We plan on getting a nice weight distributing hitch with sway control, and possibly air lift helper bags. Should I go for it? Not planning on full timing, mostly wanting to take local trips within 200 miles of Oklahoma City.

My biggest concern is keeping the transmission cool. In addition to this thread, the best info I came across is this write up from Mishimoto for their aftermarket trans cooler.

Apparently the JL 2.0 and 3.6 use the same trans cooler. I was surprised at how much surface area these coolers have, but they are pretty thin and have small fins. Good to know there is an option out there if I do decide to go with this setup and need additional trans cooling. I wanted to share this product because I thought it was relevant to this thread.
 

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I had a 3000lb pop-up camper with a 420 lb tongue weight, and I used an Anderson equalizer hitch.

Granted it had a small frontal area due to the collapsed height while towing, but the 2.0 pulled it like it wasn't even there. It even did awesome up steep mountain grades and at elevation. I was still passing JK's up hills with the camper in tow. Over flatlands I was still getting better than 20 mpg.
 
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I had a 3000lb pop-up camper with a 420 lb tongue weight, and I used an Anderson equalizer hitch.

Granted it had a small frontal area due to the collapsed height while towing, but the 2.0 pulled it like it wasn't even there. It even did awesome up steep mountain grades and at elevation. I was still passing JK's up hills with the camper in tow. Over flatlands I was still getting better than 20 mpg.
I appreciate the info. Do you know what range of trans temps you are seeing?
 
 



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