Towing with a Grand Cherokee

[don4331]

My brother tows his yacht (wave boat) all the time with his Grand Cherokee - with trailer, boat, full fuel and toys, he's probably push the 7,200lb limit (helps that he is runt of family)

It's about an hour's drive from his place to lake.​

Don't overly "cheat" with weight distribution - get a proper hitch (weight distributing) to keep weight on front wheels.

Should you need to do evasive maneuver, your shorts will thank you.​

 

[Blmpkn]

Big issue IMO with either engine is maintenance. Both are good for eating camshafts if not maintained correctly, 3.6 likes engine oil coolers too.

Ah yeah forgot about this. My coworker had a 200c with the 3.6. He's a proper gearhead so all his maintenance was done well and on time... still ate the cams. Just barely before warranty expired.

 

[Ranger850]

Isnt a Durango pretty much a Grand Cherokee?? Maybe better options on the Dodge?

 

[rusty ol ranger]

My brother tows his yacht (wave boat) all the time with his Grand Cherokee - with trailer, boat, full fuel and toys, he's probably push the 7,200lb limit (helps that he is runt of family)

It's about an hour's drive from his place to lake.​

Don't overly "cheat" with weight distribution - get a proper hitch (weight distributing) to keep weight on front wheels.

Should you need to do evasive maneuver, your shorts will thank you.​

From what i read they carry a 1280 payload. Ill be pushin that pretty hard if not a couple hundred over. (400lbs tounge, two 275lb guys, full 24.5 gallon tank, plus ~100-200lb in gear). But only a about 3/4 tow capacity.

This will be max a few times a year. Probably 2 or 3 locally and a longer trip or two (3 or 4 hrs).

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Isnt a Durango pretty much a Grand Cherokee?? Maybe better options on the Dodge?

I looked at durangos and my neice in law has one. I cant stand them. They are basically overbloated chargers.

I like the jeeps cause they actually have an ok ground clearence, the dashes and interiors are nice...and they look pretty cool IMO. Not 78 CJ7 cool...but cool by todays standards.

Plus after watching some youtube videos they are way more wheelable then i figured. I might do some light wheeling up north on fire roads or the mild ORV trails with it. Since i cant get the wife on a quad.

 

[racsan]

Dad has a grand cherokee, V8. Tows with it unless its something really big like a 27’ camper or his tandem flatbed with a tractor on it. Must like it, he is on his 2nd one. Before that he drove 4.3 S-blazers. It always suprized me he would have a jeep, given his hatred for chrysler products. When he needs a bigger tow vehicle he has a 2016 F250 5.4

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Isnt a Durango pretty much a Grand Cherokee?? Maybe better options on the Dodge?

They are pretty much different.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Dad has a grand cherokee, V8. Tows with it unless its something really big like a 27’ camper or his tandem flatbed with a tractor on it. Must like it, he is on his 2nd one. Before that he drove 4.3 S-blazers. It always suprized me he would have a jeep, given his hatred for chrysler products. When he needs a bigger tow vehicle he has a 2016 F250 5.4

Also im going to be honest everyone i know with a mopar built in the last 10 or 15 years has had amazing luck with them. Yes the electronics are iffy...but mechanically they go and go. My dads got an 01 town and country he refuses to part with thats got almost 370k on it...and it has NOT been taken care of.

I guess im kinda soured on fords lately.

 

[racsan]

Well dads “hatred” of mopar was due to working for the phone company and dealing with his company issued dodge van. Granted the “dodge” of today isnt the dodge of yesterday (or his work era of ‘68-‘95) I barely remember riding with him once, back when companies still bought manual transmission fleet vehicles. You never see a 3 on the tree manual anymore, barely can find a manual period.

 

[dvdswan]

Personally, I'd look at a truck just because of the wheelbase is longer, better control on windy days or rutty roads.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Personally, I'd look at a truck just because of the wheelbase is longer, better control on windy days or rutty roads.

When I was bombing across Iowa with my Skamper in the back of my F-150 I came across a GC with a big popup trailer. Probably not loaded correctly but going around a curve I could see the tail was starting to wag the dog. I kicked it up a little to get around him on a straightaway so if he lost it he would be behind me.

Dumb ol' 20yo F-150 with 800lbs of slide in camper didn't care, set the cruise to 73 and let 'er eat.

 

[Ranger850]

They are pretty much different.

yeah, I did my Googles after I posted that. They DO seem to tow more than a Cherokee, IF that's the goal.

Side NOTE: Since were on a Mopar theme; I met a kid last week in an "Aspen". ( Chrysler's Durango,, My buddy had an Aspen back in the day, but it was a Seadan. ) Than thing was pushing 600 HP. AWD Hemi powered and C L E A N. I'm not sure if he swapped the motor or built the one it came with. Interior looked like a old school Lincoln Cartier Edition. Plush leather, jeweled bezels on all the gauges. Looks like it was done by the Bentley Factory. Again, NOT sure if it came like that or if he had it reworked. May not be most of ya'lls cup of tea, but for me, it was the perfect blend of performance & Luxury.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

yeah, I did my Googles after I posted that. They DO seem to tow more than a Cherokee, IF that's the goal.

Side NOTE: Since were on a Mopar theme; I met a kid last week in an "Aspen". ( Chrysler's Durango,, My buddy had an Aspen back in the day, but it was a Seadan. ) Than thing was pushing 600 HP. AWD Hemi powered and C L E A N. I'm not sure if he swapped the motor or built the one it came with. Interior looked like a old school Lincoln Cartier Edition. Plush leather, jeweled bezels on all the gauges. Looks like it was done by the Bentley Factory. Again, NOT sure if it came like that or if he had it reworked. May not be most of ya'lls cup of tea, but for me, it was the perfect blend of performance & Luxury.

The interior sounds stock....the 600hp hemi not so much.

 

[don4331]

From what i read they carry a 1280 payload. Ill be pushin that pretty hard if not a couple hundred over. (400lbs tounge, two 275lb guys, full 24.5 gallon tank, plus ~100-200lb in gear). But only a about 3/4 tow capacity.

This will be max a few times a year. Probably 2 or 3 locally and a longer trip or two (3 or 4 hrs).

Payload is cargo and passengers; your full fuel tank* doesn't count against payload (auto manufacturers assume you are going to fill the tank). Gear goes on the trailer - you might need a water tight box but you can trailer way more than you can haul. 4k of trailer should have 600 lbs of tongue weight - j2807 allows for just 10% because that is the minimum amount determined to be safe by engineers and as testers are using concrete blocks to meet limit they can be very accurate with placement/any higher would start reducing trailer towing limits - as you have noted its pretty easy to hit payload limit.

Aside - 5th wheel/goosenecks took the hit as j2807 requires 20% on hitch (really should be more like 25%) and initially the trucks didn't have enough rear axle - now they have Dana 110s and limits are threw roof again.​

​

* An optional, larger than standard fuel tank will result in payload being decreased - so the 136l tank F-150s have lower payload that identical truck with std 80l tank...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Fuel level isn't standard. Some are full tank, come are half tank etc.

And some delete on frivolties such as center consoles, rear bumpers and spare tires to pad the payload ratings (dunno if they still do but Ford used to do this a couple years ago)