[03redrubi]

I am looking at buying somethig to tow my jeep with. I have found a 2004 Grand Cherokee with a v-8. It has about 54k on it. Does anyone tow there Wrangler with a Grand? How does it do? My Wrangler is an 06 unlimited with 35's and armored up. I know the tow rating is 6500 on the grand so weight wise I should be ok. Thoughts?

 

[mac]

don`t do it....

there was a horrible accident just outside Las Vegas a few years ago..

look for a TRUCK to tow your Jeep
:wink:

 

[stangmata]

A GC is not sufficient to two an armored up Jeep, trailer, and tools. The motor will handle it but the brakes and suspension won't (nor will the tranny last).

Your best (and safest) bet is a 1/2 ton truck. You can get a 1/2 pickup for cheap.

 

[03redrubi]

Thats what I figured. I had heard things. I have been looking for trucks and was checking options. Thanks guys!

 

[gqjeep]

When I owned my 03 Grand Cherokee, I routinely towed with it. Mostly I pulled a 14" featherlite car trailer with my 52 Willys CJ3a on it. The trailer had electric brakes so that helped. Never had a problem towing with it or stopping.

Towed several cars on tow dollies, again never a problem.

The V8 had plenty of power and I never had issues with braking or stopping.

But for towing something like the Unlimited, you would definitately need some type of supplemental braking simular to that used when towing a vehicle behind an RV. I do think that flat towing with out the supplimental braking will over tax the brakes. If putting it on a railer you will be right at or maybe over the GVW depending on the weight of the trailer and how "heavy" your Jeep is.

It can be done, many people tow heavy loads with their Grands with great success, IF you do it correclty.

 

[JeepnBlake]

I've towed with Grand Cherokees before, a 93, a 95, a 99 and an 06.

I will say that Grand Cherokees are a little on the light side for pulling another Jeep. The 4.7 is a good motor, 245 hp which is decent for its small displacement, but it's far from ideal towing.

If you really want a great tow rig diesel is the only way to go.

 

[KaiserJeep]

I would say either buy an aluminum double-axle car hauler with electric brakes, or choose a different tow vehicle. When you approach the tow limit on a vehicle, you need everything in terms of equipment - that means electric trailer brakes, a load-leveling hitch, and possibly a sway controller.

Flat towing a Jeep is a bad idea anyway. You put the miles on the drivetrain, sometimes arrive and find out you have damaged the towed vehicle (or a part fell off), and the expensive offroad front tires wear out prematurely.

I carry an emergency tow bar, but that is strictly what it is - an emergency piece of equipment to get a broke vehicle back to pavement and a conventional tow truck. The extra charges for offroad recovery make it foolish not to have every vehicle in your group set up to tow any other, offroad. But towing on the highway is a whole other thing.

 

[MJM]

This is link will take you a discussion on an accident in Colorado. It was not caused by the Grand Cherokee, but it might not have happened with a truck.

viewtopic.php?f=72&t=69262&p=771918

I will make the original thread a sticky again...some folks thought we were taking aim at the GC, but that was not the case. I have towed with a 2002 Tahoe Z71 and thought it was on the short and light side.

 

[KaiserJeep]

...nor would it have happened if the Wrangler had been on a lightweight aluminum car hauler with two brake-equipped axles and a load-equalizing hitch. That does cost a lot more than a towbar, but it's actually legal as long as you stay under the rated towing weight of the tow vehicle.

The lightest Wrangler SE still weighs in at more than 3000lbs which means that flat towing such a load is flat illegal in many states unless you have surge brakes - which I have never seen on a flat-towed Jeep. That means that legally after an accident the presumption will be that YOU are at fault because of the illegal tow.

 

[Grand Wranglerokee]

When I flat tow my TJ, up & down my mountain road (6% grade), with my 1998 Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited, I definitely know that it is back there. Usually only a 40 mile round-trip. Power is not an issue. Braking certainly is! It is the fact that the TJ is constantly trying to push the rear-end, of the ZJ, out on the curves.

When I flat tow my TJ, in the same conditions above, with my 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 Power Wagon, the TJ is barely noticeable back there. The 3/4-ton truck has enough weight to keep the weight of the TJ at bay on the curves. Braking on the other hand, although not as bad as with the Grand Cherokee, is still an area of concern without a supplemental brake system in the TJ.