Guys with JKUs who tow. How much weight do you tow?

[elcoyote]

I regularly tow our AT flatbed with loads ranging from 1500 lbs of building materials to our 325 gallon water tank that weighs 2600 lbs full. Our JK is a 2012 with the 3.6 motor, 4.10 gears on 35's with 6 speed manual trans. We're towing at 5200-7000 ft of elevation. Mileage can vary depending upon terrain, lowest I have seen is 13.4 MPG with the heaviest loads. More often I get 15 mpg with the lighter loads.

Trailer brakes are a must, particularly with the heavier water tank.

 

[monkeyplunger]

I had a 2010 JKUR stock and did not enjoy towing with it. I live in the mountains of eastern AZ. Driving it empty in the mountains annoyed me due to not necessarily the lack of power but the spacing of rpm between 4th and 3rd. If I put on cruise at 65 mph it would shift from out of OD (4th) at the slightest incline, but not after dropping to about 59 mph, then sometimes drop to 2nd screaming to get back to 65. This would yield about 16 mpg. If I anticipated the hills and take from 4th to 3rd before the incline I would get about 17 to 18mpg. Mind you this was empty.

When I hooked up my sierra 4x4 trailer appx 1800-2000 lbs and loaded the inside of the jeep with a fridge, two dogs and a baby, 4th gear basically disappeared except on level ground at 65 to 70 mph ( minus any headwind). If the horizon had the illusion of an incline it would shift into 3 rd. this would yield 14 and sometimes 13 mpg.

I really don't fault the 3.8l at all, it's a great engine for durability. It's the gearing which is not optimal. If it had a 6 speed it would be ok. You can easily tell that the power curve just doesnt match for the speeds and mountains of AZ.

Coming out of roosevelt heading east there is a long uphill grade and I could do it loaded with trailer at 55mph in 2nd gear. Sometimes the AC would kick out depending if it was the dead of summer at about 7 mpg. While this is tolerable (Barely) it is very annoying. very inefficient system. I could have 5th wheel diesel rigs with a second trailer pulling a boat or utv pass me going 60 mph and most likely getting double mpg. It always felt like that I was driving at 100% power just to go the speed limit in the hills. In this day and age 55 mph and 65 mph should not be a problem when towing at 60% of the vehicles weight rating.

Since I have the off road trailer and we love traveling in it, I decided to get a 2013 JKUR with an auto. If you look at the torque curves between the 3.6 and 3.8 the 3.6 is flatter through the rpm range. Combine that with slightly different gear ratios and one extra gear it is noticeably better.

Just my .02 worth. I really enjoyed the 2010 but the 2013 is much nicer.

 

[rolando]

Towing a teardrop trailer

I do have a 2011 JKU with the 6-speed manual transmission and we (a family of 4) did a 6,300 mile roadtrip with our teardrop trailer last year. Our route went from Northern VA basically along Interstates 70, 15, and 40, visiting Denver, Moab, Zion NP, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and then back home - a highly recommended trip BTW.

We pulled our Little Guy without any problems because it weighs under 1,000 lbs. You could feel it "pushing" a little bit when braking, but otherwise the Jeep ran without even noticing it. The gas mileage though was about 2 MPG less ... and don't think of using the 6th gear as an overdrive - even the little hills in KS make you switch gears

 

[Longtallsally]

With our '12 Rubicon with a tiny spring lift and stock tires and gears and 6 speed, we do just fine with the E1 loaded with water and a bike on the front.

We recently did a family trip with some fire roads that included in some pretty gnarly switchbacks. No worries, although I was very glad to have the trailer brakes. I HIGHLY recommend getting the kit and installing. The OEM harness for it is about $100 and about another $100 for a brake controller.

As it sits there, I'd say it's darn near 3500 lbs. The economy with just me saw a high of about 17 like that. With the wife, baby, and dogs (and associated gear) it dropped to 15 or a touch below.

I drive like a serious grandpa and we're limited in Kalifornistan to 55mph, but the Jeep would pull all day long at 65+.

 

[RunninRubicon]

Trailering

I have pulled this little off-road trailer that loaded weighs 1650 lbs, over 5000 miles with both an 03' TJ and this 08' JKUR. Both with manual transmission (5 & 6 respectfully). The JK gets much better fuel economy. I average 14.7-17.2 mpg @ 65-70 on the freeways and 55-60 mph in the mountains. In the mountain passes around Silverton Colorado I dropped to about 10 mpg but those were steep and high in elevation. Adding a more open intake and exhaust helped a great deal and improved my gas mileage about 2-3 mpg. That would be something most would recommend. But that's a whole other story and thread.

 

[usadventureracing]

Q

I have a 2013 Sahara unlimited and will be towing a horse trailer and looking to install 7 way plug and brake controller. The dealer told me that once I install these two items I will have to bring it to the dealer to get the computer reprogrammed, has anyone heard of this?

Add ing a 7 way plug universal wiring kit, so will have both 4 and 7 way plugs on the jeep.

 

[onetraveller]

You do not need to have the dealer do anything to account for the seven pin trailer harness.

However, I would suggest buying the Mopar harness and removing the stock 4 wire kit. It's a much cleaner install. Mine took me about an hour. You can then either convert your trailers from 4 to 7 pin plugs, or just carry an adapter.

I pull a Jayco sport 8 popup. It weighs about 1200 ponds empty. I also have a 7x16 utilty trailer for hauling stuff. It pulls both of them just fine.

Mike

 

[johnmoo]

I wouldn't go over the max tow weight. with gearing tires and engine, you could set to pull more just don't forget braking! Even with trailer brakes on along down hill grade if over weight brake fade will happen.Believe me I know. Going into Jackson Hole Wy. pulling on Chaser weight around 1900 total trailer weight even with trailer brakes, had major fade only thing that save my butt was the manual tranny. 1st gear taced out.

 

[usadventureracing]

Thanks for the info. I was looking to get the mopar and will just do that.

As for towing a horse trailer I am aware of the 3500 limit. I do have 3.73 gears and will only be towing that weight in the flatlands.

 

[Hondarider]

I towed my 3500lb boat for a season or two and it did OK, but not great. That was with the 6 speed, 3.8, and 32" tires. It definitely required higher RPMs than I'm accustomed to, but the engine probably didn't mind nearly as much as my ears did.

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