Towing with jeep wrangler

I have a 89 with a 258 six and a 4 inch left with 32 inch tires. I tow a utility trailer with a four wheeler. The load is probably about 1300 lbs. It does fine with it. I probably wouldn't go much heavier, considering the tow rating for a stock set up is 2k.

 

I tow with a 1998 Jeep Cherokee with the 6 cylinder. My camper is probably 600 lbs loaded and I don't even feel it back there most of the time. The Jeep Cherokee is also stated to be able to handle up to 5k lbs towing.

 

I tow our fairly large PUP (~ 3.5k lbs) with a 2017 Wrangler Unlimited, granted it's a bit bigger than the two doors of the past but it definitely pulls with ease. I also have 33" tires and a 2.5" lift. This spring will be the first time pulling with the lift installed, so I'm curious as to how it feels but I have confidence it won't feel much different.

 

I've got an 85 CJ7 (mostly an 85 anyways) with 4in lift and 35s with a freshened 6cyl and "hot" ignition. I used to tow the tip deck with 2 smaller Hondas foremans on it - no problem. We use to pull our 1984 pup with a 4cyl ranger. Sort of the same world because you'll never see top gear but you can pull on fine.

 

Didn't realize there were so many modified Jeeps here..

AAAUGIE, if you were to search around for someone parting a Wrangler with a 4cyl you could swap in front and rear axles to help out with the towing and larger tires. You should have 3:07 ratio unless already done whereas the 4cyl should have a 4:10 ratio.

 

Sounds like you already have the gearing issue taken care of with the 8.8 swap..

Jeep's and camping.. and your in a great area.

 

Im afraid to tow with my jeep lol. Pup is larger and the jeep is not as smooth as the pick up. Wish you guys well, my jeep will just be a shore jeep!

 

I think the rear ends of the Jeep Wranglers is a bit on the small size. Not much beef there and may wear out on you. My 99 Jeep Wrangler did this on me just pulling a large utility trailer back and forth around the state here in Virginia... I got my 99 jeep used and I think the previous owner used the Jeep to tow a boat trailer a lot...

Had to replace the gears... I never tried to pull my 2008 StarCraft RT14 trailer with it...

Roy Ken

 

I don't believe you are going to prematurely wear out a differential if you are towing no more than the load the vehicle is rated for... Wranglers of the OP's vintage have Dana 35 rear ends. Axle breakages in them are common with oversized tires and a heavy right foot.

A lot of differential trouble comes from water in the gear oil.

 

Wranglers came with a Dana 30 front axle, and a Dana 35 rear axle. The same rear axle installed on a Cherokee with a higher tow rating. A Ford 8.8 rear axle is an upgrade intended for the stresses of offroading with larger tires.

You shouldn't have issues with either to be honest.. unless periodic maintenance was non existant.

 

I had to edit my prior response. It was incorrect.


YJ Wranglers only have a Dana 35 in the rear. Some TJ's have a Dana 44

 

Axle swap convos over a popup. This is Jeep country! Good times