Can I safely tow this??

[Little Miss Trouble]

On the JLWrangler Forum the only safe towing ever recommended is something the size and weight of a Red Ryder wagon with a bag of groceries in it. Anything else is liability, loss of control, wrecks, damage, children being thrown in the air, dogs and cats living together and death.

I don't care who you are... that sh!t is funny!!

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[KCSgtMaj]

I've considered a Dolly trailer if I did this to save the warranty miles on mine... or even a flat bed so that when the time comes I don't have to replace 10 tires including the Jeep tires... thoughts?

Class C motorhomes are typically limited between 3500 to 5000 lbs. you’ll be over weight, unless you flat tow. You’ll also have to get an auxiliary braking system while flat towing. Towing is not as simple as just hooking up and off to the races. Look up the rules in the state where you live and abide by those rules.

1. You cannot tow more than what is allowed on the vehicle data plate.
2. You must have auxiliary braking in the vehicle being flat towed.
3. Towing equipment must be certified for the weight that you are towing. I.e. Tow bar, receiver hitch, safety chains, and towing base plate.

 

[rdfact]

On the JLWrangler Forum the only safe towing ever recommended is something the size and weight of a Red Ryder wagon with a bag of groceries in it. Anything else is liability, loss of control, wrecks, damage, children being thrown in the air, dogs and cats living together and death.

You forgot mass hysteria!

 

[bcupton]

Just as others have mentioned don’t try it!
I towed a small trailer under 2k lbs gross weight and it was horrible! I got 12-13mpg and never saw a gear higher than 6. I have a 18’ JLU 3.6L automatic. Never again!

 

[BigMaCro]

you don't need a brake controller for most trailers as the electric brake system functions off your brake light wiring.

Hi all, I feel most topics have been covered in this thread, but I saw this and just wanted to clarify about brake controllers, so folks don't have misunderstandings about them.

E-trailer is a very well regarded source for towing products and information - they provide outstanding technical support and advice in addition to selling towing related products. Here is their article regarding brake controllers:

https://www.etrailer.com/faq-brakecontroller.aspx

Trailers have separate wires for brakes and brake lights. The brake lights need to come on at full brightness as soon as you touch the pedal, but electric brakes are modulated and won't even activate if you brake lightly. You wouldn't want the trailer brakes to come on full blast every time you touch the brakes - you'd smoke tires and wear out brake shoes pretty quickly! A brake controller has sensors and logic in it to determine when and how hard to brake. Additionally, they provide controls to adjust the "gain," or braking force, depending on how heavy the trailer is.

 

[Zandcwhite]

Hi all, I feel most topics have been covered in this thread, but I saw this and just wanted to clarify about brake controllers, so folks don't have misunderstandings about them.

E-trailer is a very well regarded source for towing products and information - they provide outstanding technical support and advice in addition to selling towing related products. Here is their article regarding brake controllers:

https://www.etrailer.com/faq-brakecontroller.aspx

Trailers have separate wires for brakes and brake lights. The brake lights need to come on at full brightness as soon as you touch the pedal, but electric brakes are modulated and won't even activate if you brake lightly. You wouldn't want the trailer brakes to come on full blast every time you touch the brakes - you'd smoke tires and wear out brake shoes pretty quickly! A brake controller has sensors and logic in it to determine when and how hard to brake. Additionally, they provide controls to adjust the "gain," or braking force, depending on how heavy the trailer is.

And for a large trailer I agree, for a sub 4k pound trailer you really don't need a brake controller. If you did, they'd come in every vehicle rated to tow 5k pounds... and yet they don't come in any of them. 10k for sure. That's why full sized trucks are available with brake controllers from the factory.

 

[_olllllllo_]

I chose my 2019 JLUR with the knowledge I would be towing an off-road capable trailer. I have the 6-speed manual and regeared to 5.13s. I am currently running 35" KO2s. We tow an Off Grid Trailers Expedition 2.0 with a dry weight of 1700 lbs, although I have learned that dry weights usually apply to the base trailer as my loaded weight is 2800 lbs with all the gear and 31 gallons tank filled with water. I have towed the trailer over 10,800 foot passes, on the 200-mile off-road Emigrant Trail Jeep Jamboree event, a 125-mile off-road trip on the El Camino del Diablo "The Devil's highway" in Arizona, all without issue or difficulty. The 5.13 gears made a huge difference in towing.

 

[azjl#3]

Reality,my dad would overload his 76 f150 all the time, but that was 45 years ago. Now, if you have an accident, forgetting lawful limits, you open yourself to personal liability in the form of real expensive lawsuits.

 

[Zandcwhite]

Reality,my dad would overload his 76 f150 all the time, but that was 45 years ago. Now, if you have an accident, forgetting lawful limits, you open yourself to personal liability in the form of real expensive lawsuits.

If you're at fault you're at fault and subject to potential lawsuit with no trailer. Being slightly over weight doesn't make you at fault if you didn't cause the accident. It doesn't make you extra at fault if you did.

 

[LukeDagny]

Thanks I really do appreciate your input. I think I have pretty much narrowed it down to just pulling the trigger on a used Class C and tow the Jeep on a flatbed trailer. I do a lot of off the grid camping, so I won't really need to worry about where to put the trailer at an RV park.

Jayco Greyhawk/Redhawk have 7500# towing capacity, and very easily flat tow a JLUR. Mine had the Godzilla V-8 as opposed to the V10, and gas mileage was crap. Maybe 7-9 MPG, but I didn't loose much when towing, maybe 7-8.

To me, the big downside to flatbed trailers is finding a place to store it. Either at home or at the campground. Locally, trailers big enough to haul a JL are $5k+, and require annual inspection/registration.

I have about $3k tied up in my flat towing set up with Blue Ox Ascent tow bar, Blue Ox Patriot 3 brake system, Maximus 3 tow plates, and Harbor freight magnetic tail/brake lights. All but the tow plates and magnetic lights are a holdover from my LJ.

 

[azjl#3]

If you're at fault you're at fault and subject to potential lawsuit with no trailer. Being slightly over weight doesn't make you at fault if you didn't cause the accident. It doesn't make you extra at fault if you did.

It becomes a major contributing factor if your jeep crashes. It can sure as heck make you far more liable if you overload. You then become criminally negligent, not just stupid.

 

[Zandcwhite]

It becomes a major contributing factor if your jeep crashes. It can sure as heck make you far more liable if you overload. You then become criminally negligent, not just stupid.

Again, show me 1 case. The only one anyone has provided in 15 years of asking this question was a guy hauling 30k pounds with a truck rated at 10k. A few hundred or even a thousand pounds over, especially when you're lawyer will point at the brochures for the '24+ models are rated at 5k pounds as are all JLUs across Europe and Australia and ask how could my client know the difference? And again if it's a bad enough accident that anyone is looking that hard your camp trailer is a pile of kindling with no water in it. The parts they could round up would be well under 3500 and a good lawyer will argue half of it was road debris that wasn't even in your trailer. Believe what you want but case law is public record and nobody has ever shown 1 case that wasn't thousands of pounds over.

 

[Little Miss Trouble]

Jayco Greyhawk/Redhawk have 7500# towing capacity, and very easily flat tow a JLUR. Mine had the Godzilla V-8 as opposed to the V10, and gas mileage was crap. Maybe 7-9 MPG, but I didn't loose much when towing, maybe 7-8.

To me, the big downside to flatbed trailers is finding a place to store it. Either at home or at the campground. Locally, trailers big enough to haul a JL are $5k+, and require annual inspection/registration.

I have about $3k tied up in my flat towing set up with Blue Ox Ascent tow bar, Blue Ox Patriot 3 brake system, Maximus 3 tow plates, and Harbor freight magnetic tail/brake lights. All but the tow plates and magnetic lights are a holdover from my LJ.

Funny the Greyhawk is my #1 choice right now! As for the trailer, I can keep that at my house. I mostly dry camp in the desert & Glamis... so I'm not too concerned about what to do with the trailer at an RV park. But the more I've been reading... the more I think I'll just flat tow it. I need to look up all this Blue OX stuff for towing that way. Thanks for the info!

 

[Valpo Jeep]

I guess it all comes down to what you want to do.

Keep the side by side or sell the side by side and take the Jeep instead.

Keeping the SBS you will need something to haul it. Either your current toy hauler trailer or a toy hauler RV and haul the SBS and flat tow the Jeep if you decide that route. You can trade the current hauler in for the RV.

If you sell the SBS then your current camp rig is not right for what you need. RV of your choice of size and flat tow the Jeep or a class A with enough tow rating to trailer the Jeep. There are class A tow haulers on the market as well.

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