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Towing with the 4xe

Puch

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Hello!
Did a quick search I didn’t get any hits for towing with the 4xe.
I’m thinking about trading my JT for the 4xe. Problem is I tow a 3000lb camper several times a yr. Some of the trips are 5-6 hrs a day on the highway. Anyone out there towing similar weight and distances?
Edit:
Just to be clear, I’m not asking anyone to do the homework for me. I’m just asking if anyone is currently towing similar weigh and distance with their 4xe. Thanks again.
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Tncdrew

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Is that trailer 3000# dry?
What's its tongue weight??
What's the tow rating of a 4XE?
What kind of tongue weight can a 4XE handle?
I know the standard tow capacity for a JT is 4000#, and 7650# for the max tow package.

You'd be seriously moving down in your safety margin IMO. I wouldn't do it.
 
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Puch

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Is that trailer 3000# dry?
What's its tongue weight??
What's the tow rating of a 4XE?
What kind of tongue weight can a 4XE handle?
I know the standard tow capacity for a JT is 4000#, and 7650# for the max tow package.

You'd be seriously moving down in your safety margin IMO. I wouldn't do it.
s that trailer 3000# dry? - NO

What's its tongue weight?? - Don’t remember.

What's the tow rating of a 4XE? - Don’t know. That’s why I posted this.

What kind of tongue weight can a 4XE handle? - Don’t know. That’s why I posted here.

I know the standard tow capacity for a JT is 4000#, and 7650# for the max tow package. - I have Max Tow and it does a great job.

You'd be seriously moving down in your safety margin IMO. I wouldn't do it. - Thank you.
 

BigMaCro

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I would tow that. Rating on 4xe is 3500 lbs. Gotta have brakes though, 4xe with tow package is pre wired for a brake controller or you can use the Mopar one with a tazer.
 

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s that trailer 3000# dry? - NO

What's its tongue weight?? - Don’t remember.

What's the tow rating of a 4XE? - Don’t know. That’s why I posted this.

What kind of tongue weight can a 4XE handle? - Don’t know. That’s why I posted here.

I know the standard tow capacity for a JT is 4000#, and 7650# for the max tow package. - I have Max Tow and it does a great job.

You'd be seriously moving down in your safety margin IMO. I wouldn't do it. - Thank you.
That's why I brought up those questions.
You've got some homework ahead. All your answers can be found on Jeep.com, but I can guarantee that 4XE won't have anywhere near the towing capacity of your JT. 😉
Personally, I prefer towing a load with hefty capacity "headroom", (read: Right tool for the job).
Wranglers were never designed for towing heavy loads. There will likely be others telling you "it's no problem", but you have to carefully consider the safety of you, your passengers, and other motorists on the road when towing (as I'm sure you're aware).
Good luck!
 

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Puch

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I would tow that. Rating on 4xe is 3500 lbs. Gotta have brakes though, 4xe with tow package is pre wired for a brake controller or you can use the Mopar one with a tazer.
Thanks. I would definitely go with the tow package. Not big fan of the tazer. Had one for the JT and it was be pain using the steering wheel controls to set it. Sold it a week after I bought it.
 

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My comfort level is based of experience towing a 15' camper with an XJ Cherokee 4.0. The 4xe is larger, stronger, with better everything than an XJ. I think that had a 7500 tow rating or something. It goes to show that the ratings are oddly calculated. I'm not saying to exceed them, but understand what the actual limitations are. Try it out, see how it handles, stops, and keeps temps in control.

The thing that made all the difference in the world with the XJ was installing a weight distributing hitch on the camper. Tongue weight wasn't out of spec, but with the weight distributed onto the front axles the tow vehicle sits level and handles much better, as one combined vehicle. That also limited sway and fishtailing.

***EDIT***
I wouldn't use a weight distributing hitch with the factory receiver. It just clamps onto the rear crossmember. I have installed a LOD destroyer bumper, which has longitudinal support bolted through the frame rails, not just the rear crossmember. Bumper/hitches with this design would do great with a weight distributing hitch.
 
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Puch

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Hello!
Did a quick search I didn’t get any hits for towing with the 4xe.
I’m thinking about trading my JT for the 4xe. Problem is I tow a 3000lb camper several times a yr. Some of the trips are 5-6 hrs a day on the highway. Anyone out there towing similar weight and distances?
Edit:
Just to be clear, I’m not asking anyone to do the homework for me. I’m just asking if anyone is currently towing similar weigh and distance with their 4xe. Thanks again.
Looks like I might want to rethink a 4xe? Maybe wait for some real world feedback.
 

Zandcwhite

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The tow rating has ample safety margin or head room already built in to it. Towing a 3k lb trailer is not a heavy load. The 4xe has extra weight, heavier rear springs, better brakes, and additional braking capacity thanks to the electric motor, all of which make it a better tow rig than any of the other JL models yet it has the same rating? In my opinion Jeep/stellantis figured it's just easier to have 1 tow rating/certification and be done with it. Not to mention, the same JLUs get a 5500lb tow rating in Europe and Australia. You'll have no problem towing a 3k lb trailer, and the extra torque of the electric motor will likely make it more enjoyable than towing the same trailer with the JT.
 
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The tow rating has ample safety margin or head room already built in to it. Towing a 3k lb trailer is not a heavy load. The 4xe has extra weight, heavier rear springs, better brakes, and additional braking capacity thanks to the electric motor, all of which make it a better tow rig than any of the other JL models yet it has the same rating? In my opinion Jeep/stellantis figured it's just easier to have 1 tow rating/certification and be done with it. Not to mention, the same JLUs get a 5500lb tow rating in Europe and Australia. You'll have no problem towing a 3k lb trailer, and the extra torque of the electric motor will likely make it more enjoyable than towing the same trailer with the JT.
Thanks for the info. The reason it has all those beefed up components is because it’s 500lbs heavier than a normal JL. If it had those same upgraded components and weighed the same as a regular JL, I’d say where do I sign?
The numbers say it will work. That I understand. Hearing from someone that actually does it is a different story. I looked at one guy on YouTube. He Towed around 3k lbs for 1000 mile round trip. His gas mileage was 9 mpg for the whole trip. That’s not any better than my JT (3.6L) with 35’s. Also, his rear diff gave him issues at the start of the trip.
I have to consider there’s a very good chance he was pulling much more because he was fully loaded with supplies and family. I will definitely be adding a lift and 35’s so I’m guessing that would make things much worse.
I’ll probably stick with the JT. It was worth considering just not worth spending the cash and being disappointed. Also, the I-6 is coming out.
Tanks again for everyone’s input.
 

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Jeeperz Kreeperz

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I know this doesn’t help the OP, as he’s looking to tow 3,000 pounds. But it might help someone else as a reality check for towing a more modest load.

I towed a trailer with our 2021 4xe JLUR on a 1,770 mile trip this past summer and averaged 17.7 MPG, with best mileage of 21.1 MPG. See Fuelly stats below. For reference, our 4xe has no lift, OEM 33” BFG KO2 tires, and probably was hauling about 800 pounds of mods/cargo/people in/on the Jeep

The trailer itself is about 1,300 pounds, and we calculated roughly 700 pounds of gear, food, roof top tent, fuel, water, etc. So, roughly a 2,000 pound total weight being towed.

Zero problems at all with this configuration. I do have the OEM tow package, a pair of AirLift 1000 Airbags for the rear coil springs, and I installed a Tekonsha brake controller. The brake controller worked flawlessly, even in one crazy panic stop when someone cut me off, and I had to swerve and mash the brakes at the same time.

Also loved how the max regen provides extra braking - great for down hills, etc. It’s like having another brake controller, not that I needed that for such a light trailer, but I would imagine that would be of help if someone was pushing the envelope on trailer weight.

Biggest factor for me impacting MPG was speed. If I stayed between 55 and 65 the mileage was good. Above 65, the efficiency dropped pretty quickly. Probably not a great idea to be trying to set any land speed records while towing anyway!

Here are my Fuelly stats for this particular 1,770 mile trip:

Jeep Wrangler JL Towing with the 4xe A4DC5031-4EDB-4553-835D-490CCE2B38ED
 
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MassMopar

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Not apples to apples but we tow a v-nose 5x8 cargo trailer - about 1300 lb empty / 1800 lbs loaded. With our non-4xe JLUR, I definitely felt like I needed a brake controller (Installed a curt if I remember correctly). With our 4xe, with max regen turned on, I didn't even bother to install a controller. The regen braking works so well I feel as confident as I did in the non-4xe JLU. I've never had the max regen cut out but I have heard of it happening on other electric vehicles during steep descents, so it's probably a good idea to just grab a brake controller anyway.

We get 13-14 MPG towing - I usually sit around 70 mph.

Jeep Wrangler JL Towing with the 4xe 03A7EAB0-35D7-42D8-A20E-A86176FF6C76


Jeep Wrangler JL Towing with the 4xe 335094C0-22EF-4103-9239-1C15A160FE0D
 

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Whether a 4xe or gas, all JL's have a 3500lb limit. You might be best to ask the dealer as well but as others have said, it's nice to have a little "headroom" weight wise rather than being at the edge. Maybe your trailer is less than 3k? did you have it weighed with all you use in it?
 

Bleda2002

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The 3500 is more because of the class ii hitch. The jl factory hitch is pretty crap in that it just clamps to the cross member so they don't put a beefier hitch on it. With the 4 door wrangler's weight, power, and wheelbase there is no reason it shouldn't have more like a 5k tow rating (aka comparable to a grand Cherokee) if not for it's poor hitch.
 

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I would second Jeeperz Kreeperz results. Last summer I took my 4Xe Rubi on a 1000ish mile roundtrip camping trip towing a 14.5' boat loaded down with camping/fishing gear and had the interior of the jeep pretty loaded as well. Also had a couple kayaks strapped to the top.
Would guess the trailer was around 2K and I had 500-600 pounds of gear inside plus the kayaks on top. So a little under what the OP is asking but I had zero issues. I don't know that I'd want to make a habit out of it but it did great. Also have airbags in the rear because with that much weight, the rear will absolutely sag and you'll get people flashing you constantly. Weight distributing hitch would definitely be better.
My mileage also definitely took a hit over 70mph. Power-wise, handling, stopping, I never felt like the 4XE had any issue at that speed but my mpg was down around 11-12mpg when 70-75mph in northern Michigan and I was using 93 octane (recommended when towing).
So can it do it... Yes. Will I continue to make similar trips a few times each year... Yes. If it is more than a few times/year and between the 4XE and a max-tow Gladiator though, the JT is much better suited for that task.
Kinda also comes down to which one fits your needs better for the other 90% of the year. If the 4XE is the better fit for that remaining 90% of the year (definitely is for me), then just slow down and baby it on those few trips/year.
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