My towing experience.

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JeepJeepster

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Only thing I had towed so far with my jeep was a fairly small 15' Bass boat. I figured it weighed anywhere from 1,700-2,300 but I really have no idea.

I dont have any great pics of it but heres a couple:

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In the pics above I towed it for 3 hours to a Dale Hollow State park. On that trip there were many big hills but I was fairly easy on it. The speed limit was 55mph the entire way but it would get down to around 45mph while staying in 3rd locked. Only once did it downshift into 2nd but I didnt mean for it to. Ive also towed that boat around the house to local lakes but thats nothing special.

Next is a ~6x12.5ft box trailer that I used to move some furniture an hour from home(around 100miles). The speed limit is 55mph for the first half then goes to 70mph for the second half. I was surprised how well the liberty handled with this trailer but it is a dual axle trailer. It does have brakes on both axles but Ive not hooked the brake controller up in my Jeep yet. Braking was no issue at all which was also surprising. I did hear a back tire squeal once when a green light turned red all of a sudden(hate when that happens) but it wasnt a problem.

I figured out the trailer weighed around 1800lbs empty and I wouldnt think it was over 2500lbs loaded. Biggest things I had was a 8ft couch, a computer desk, a chest, and a bunch of cloths.

I figured out really fast that wind resistance really made this trailer harder to pull than anything else Ive towed before. We have a 3,000lb pop-up that I often tow with our 94 Grand 4.0 which tows about the same as my liberty power wise and this trailer is harder to pull than it is. I did notice this trailer is taller than most Ive seen.

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Thing took a dang 2-5/16in ball.

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Didnt have a whole lot of stuff in it.





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First time Ive towed a box trailer and it did pretty good. It downshifted into 2nd twice on the bigger hills at around 45mph. When taking the bigger turns it felt like it was pushing the back end down and out which made the jeep feel very loose. I ended up putting 20psi in the air bags which made it sit about where it would with nothing on it at all. Air temp was around 60F when I left and the engine stayed right at 195F. Once the air temp got to 80F then engine went up to 202F and held steady unless I stopped and idled. I ended up turning the A/C on in town so the engine and ****** would stay a little cooler since the fan comes on and stays on with the A/C.

Final note, I got 11mpg. Used around a half tank in 120miles. :eek: Definitely need a diesel if youre going to be towing anything like this often.
 
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tjkj2002

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Odd you you got only 11mpg's.I towed my(now sold) 6'x10' enclosed trailer from Ft Lewis WA to Ft Carson CO(1500 some miles) with some very steep/long climbs and not much of any real flat stretches,weighing in at 4200lbs(trailer+ cargo) and I averaged 14mpg's over the whole trip with a speed of 65mph.

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JeepJeepster

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I thought it was pretty dang odd too. When I towed that boat I got 17mpg calculated by hand.

I would be worried something was wrong but my dad towed it back home empty with the 4.0 and he also got 11-12. Youve got 4:10 gears so Im sure that helped tons. I had my foot in the gas pretty much the entire time just to keep the speeds up.

That trailer I had was a bit taller than yours but theres not way it weighed that much. What did you have in that thing that weighed that much?
 
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tjkj2002

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What did you have in that thing that weighed that much?
Most of my tools and extra KJ parts,that alone was almost 2000lbs.The rest was two complete TA50 gear sets(all the gear issued to every soldier,you "find" extra stuff all the time) which weighs about 250lbs each.Then all the rest of my junk,TV,stereo,RC cars/parts,some funature,and clothes(with complete military issue of uniforms).My trailer was completly full from front to back and from the bottom to the top.

The most I ever pulled with my KJ was with the same trailer and I was helping USAFCOP move and the first load when we weighed the KJ and trailer it came to 12,200lbs and my KJ alone is 5500lbs.Thank god I only had to go about 35 miles in total with that weight,but it was in freezing rain.

As far as having 4.10's I am also running 265/75's compared to your 245/70's which would put us about equal in the final drive ratio.
 

BMR

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I use the libby to tow our bayliner 195 (19.5 ft) It does really well with it and handles hills fine. I dont know the weight of our boat, but its quite a bit bigger than a bass boat.

It looks kinda odd but I use a 16 in (I believe ball mount) to have full use of the tailgate.
 
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