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View Full Version : Who tows a ZJ w/ a ZJ?



notfast
04-26-2007, 05:14 PM
Properly set up 97 5.2 with brakes towing a 97 4.0 using a open deck trailor.

Anyone towing a ZJ with a ZJ?

Cody
04-26-2007, 06:07 PM
I towed a ZJ that was chopped up (3500 lbs) on a lilghtweight trailer (1600 lbs) with trailer brakes and 10000 lb load distribution and sway control

Absolutely the stupidest think I've done in my life. The v8 would pull it (with od off of course) but I burned up the tranny and the first time I was caught in a heavy rain with a cross wind was also the last time I ever towed that load with my ZJ.

It would be ok for short distances around town, but if you're planning on towing long distances--such as to and from a trail--it's a bad idea.

The idea/decision to use buy the ZJ and use it to tow my ZJ ended up costing me about $2500.

Buy at the very least a 1/2 ton truck. The extra WB and weight makes a world of difference.

OverkillZJ
04-26-2007, 06:32 PM
Let me sum this up for you (as someone who previously argued with Cody, above, on the matter): IT'S A BAD FUCKING IDEA!!!!!!

Now go get areal truck.

notfast
04-26-2007, 06:37 PM
I figured I have both, why not....But apparently there are many reasons why not.

hkszx2
04-26-2007, 06:39 PM
i towed a conquest tsi a few times with a zj on a tow dolly and that car was gutted and was about all the zj could handle exspecailly up any sort of incline

Cody
04-26-2007, 06:53 PM
it's just not worth risking the safety of yourself, your family, and anyone else that finds themselves on the road with you.

I had a wheel bearing on my trailer sieze and rip the entire tire/wheel assembly off of the trailer at highway speeds in the Price canyon (which has the highest number of driving related fatalities in the US per mile). I was towing with my Dodge so I didn't loose control or have an issue--but had I been towing with the ZJ I highly doubt i would be lucky to be alive.

Any unforseen issues like that--a deer crossing the road, a flat tire, a sudden stop--anything and that ZJ is not equipped to control a 16-18' 6000 lb trailer. I don't care what mopar markets their tow ratings at.

Cody

OverkillZJ
04-26-2007, 07:18 PM
Point is.. maybe a ZJ can tow. But when it comes to ANY error, or failure... let alone STOPPING, it's really just a bad idea, nomatter how good it seems at the moment.

J B
04-26-2007, 10:31 PM
I don't care what mopar markets their tow ratings at.



Yeah, there seems to be a LOT of marketing BS going on with that. The biggest one is Ford on the commercials where they talk about the current F-150 being able to tow 11,000 pounds.

Uhhh, yeah. I bet you'll only try that once.

There's a lot more to towing than the vehicle having the power to get up hills fully loaded.

BigDaveZJ
04-26-2007, 11:56 PM
I rode with Corey in his 5.9 when he had to come rescue my ZJ after I blew up the t-case. PLENTY of power, but holy crap was it scary. The trailer decided where we went, we didn't have much say in the matter. Fast forward to towing with a F250, couldn't even tell there was a trailer back there, even in major crosswinds.

Cody
04-27-2007, 12:22 AM
ya, its so much more relaxing and stress free to be able to crank up the AC, set the cruise at 80 mph, and listen to some tunes when you're towing.

Beats the hell out of the 65/50/60/55 speed action I get in the POS 4.0 that I drive with no ac while it overheats and gets passed by everyone on the road. grrr

BigDaveZJ
04-27-2007, 12:25 AM
That was one of the nice things I had when I was still driving the ZJ to the trails, AC still worked and blew nice and cold!

chadjans
04-27-2007, 02:07 AM
ya, its so much more relaxing and stress free to be able to crank up the AC, set the cruise at 80 mph, and listen to some tunes when you're towing.


There is nothing like towing to the trail, running the trail and then getting back into the nice comfortable tow rig and forgetting the trailer with the load is behind you and not having to worry about something braking and killing you on the way home. I was passing hondas through the hills while pulling my 8K load at 80MPH on the way to Moab.

DCHZJ
04-27-2007, 08:45 AM
Towing a ZJ with a ZJ is the stupidest thing you could do. V8 or not the ZJ is like the Xterra (which i have now) and is good for towing 3 things. A small boat, a small utility trailer and a 12' landscaping trailer. anything more and your looking for trouble. They are just not designed for that. Buy a 1/2 ton truck minimum. Better off with a 3/4 ton. I considered towing my Rover from my Apartment to my townhouse (about 4 blocks away) At 4500 lbs...this would have been a mistake (flatbed to the rescue).....now i am looking at trading my Xterra in next year for a F250 so at least i have something i can tow with.....

Zombie
04-27-2007, 11:39 AM
I know its not absolutely necesarry, but I don't like to tow anything that the tow rig does not outweigh by at least 2500 pounds.
If you get something stupid going, on, the weight and wheelbase of the tow rig is what can prevent you from dying, and taking others with you.

Krash80
04-27-2007, 12:06 PM
I know its not absolutely necesarry, but I don't like to tow anything that the tow rig does not outweigh by at least 2500 pounds.
If you get something stupid going, on, the weight and wheelbase of the tow rig is what can prevent you from dying, and taking others with you.



To an extent what you said is a good rule to follow. I agree...I like having an 8k lb tow rig to tow a 6k lb load. But itt's not really totally necessary for safety though depending on what sort of towing setup you have...if you think about it, an average semi tractor with a sleeper cab might weigh around 20k lbs, sometimes less, yet it can very safely pull a 60,000 lb load behind it.
The type of trailer, how it hooks to the truck, and how everything is loaded is by far more important than comparing the weights of the tow rig to the trailer.


FWIW, I towed a stock ZJ for a couple hundred miles behind my ZJ when it had a 4" lift....and it was not a very fun ride. On the other hand, I towed a stock ZJ the other day behind my diesel superduty, and even without the trailer brakes hooked up, I could barely even tell I had anything behind me...it was a beautiful thing.

Zombie
04-27-2007, 03:08 PM
I towed a stock ZJ the other day behind my diesel superduty, and even without the trailer brakes hooked up, I could barely even tell I had anything behind me...it was a beautiful thing.

Exactly. ;) Like I said, its not nescesarry, but its nice. I'm a lot more comforatble pulling my ZJ behind a almost 9000 pound dodge than somthing that weighed less. . Its not a requirement, but having a heavy tow rig makes me happy.

Jim311
04-27-2007, 05:18 PM
I towed a friend of mine's broke ass rig home behind my Jeep. If it had been stock height with stock gears and tires it wouldn't have been that big of a deal. The brakes were what really sucked. If your trailer had good brakes it might not be TOO bad but it's certainly not ideal. Like others were saying.. it's the trailer and how it's loaded that's really important. Speeding something up is easy.. slowing it down is a different story.

redzjon31's
05-21-2007, 09:52 AM
I havent towed anything that big with mine yet but i have pulled out a forklift from work that was stuck in the pavement and showed everyone up. One guy said if my jeep can pull that thing out he will go by one. Lets just say he was very impressed with what i could do!!!!!

BigDaveZJ
05-21-2007, 09:56 AM
Recovery and actual towing are two COMPLETELY different things . . .

notfast
05-21-2007, 03:29 PM
I havent towed anything that big with mine yet but i have pulled out a forklift from work that was stuck in the pavement and showed everyone up. One guy said if my jeep can pull that thing out he will go by one. Lets just say he was very impressed with what i could do!!!!!


and theN?

fr3db3ar
05-21-2007, 04:17 PM
That was one of the nice things I had when I was still driving the ZJ to the trails, AC still worked and blew nice and cold!

They made fun of me for that @ GSMW :D but I was comfy and the dust stayed on the outside :D

OverkillZJ
05-21-2007, 07:53 PM
What's AC? I don't even have that in the tow rig at the moment!!!

bigrubbers4x4
09-02-2007, 04:57 PM
i towed a 94 4.0L from Philly to Johnstown (1 hour east of Pittsburgh) a few weeks ago with my 5.9L. the 94 was on a tow dolly, it went pretty good, but stopping took more distance. i had no problems getting up to and staying at 65-70 mph, on the turnpike. with the ac on and when it was raining.

Pipeliner_86
09-10-2007, 09:48 AM
Ever seen a ZJ tow an F350 crewcab 4x4 diesel before?

I did it. Used my 98 GC TSi to tow home a 1992 Ford F350 crewcab 4x4 diesel. This was just a tow strap between the two vehicals, not a trailer. But the 5.2 definately has good low end pulling power.

Plus it looked pretty cool, the vehical in tow was twice the size of the tow vehical.

MoonWorks
09-11-2007, 10:56 PM
I've done it quite a few times. I usually get a few..."What the fuck" comments when I pull up pulling my ZJ with the only trailer I have available which is a full size 12k construction trailer weighing in at around 4200 (using load bars of course). Make it a nice ~9500 lb pull. Not bad behind a WJ :lol: . It's an 02 limited..has a 4.7ho and awd so it doesn't do bad but cornering isn't always fun and you top out at around 55-60 comfortably. It does much better than I thought it would but I would agree that its not the safest or smartest thing to do.

Hopefully I'm done with those days. I pick up my new tow rig tomorrow morning. An F250 with a 7.3L should do the trick :).

And how the hell does recovering a vehicle even the same as towing? That's fuckin retarded. That's like saying you're a master chef just b/c you bag groceries at Food Lion!

2KFLEXJ
09-13-2007, 10:56 AM
Wow. Extremly bad idea.

redzj
09-25-2007, 01:35 PM
I've towed this a few times with my zj.......in and out of the barn...I wish I had a picture.
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e7/c_crowe78/IMG_0369.jpg

BigDaveZJ
09-25-2007, 01:47 PM
This is why you don't tow a ZJ with another ZJ.

http://www.bigassjeep.com/pics/phoenix/7.16.06.bb.jpg

Especially my ZJ . . . .

OverkillZJ
09-25-2007, 01:51 PM
...That was just funny...

DieselZJ
09-25-2007, 08:23 PM
Are you looking at buying a zj for a tow rig, or it's somthing you already have? I disagree with they guys saying it's stupid to tow a zj with a zj.

I've towed 5000lbs with my zj a number of times, and it's very comfortable. I usually tow with a dodge dually, so I generally use that because I have it, but I'm not scared to tow with my zj. I don't haul ass with a loaded trailer though, even in the dually, just cause that's a stupid thing to do. ...... Set the cruise@80mph with a loaded trailer:smt120 Kill yourself


Edit: I didn't see post #4... Since you have both, I'd go for it if you have everything properly set up. Just be sure to maintain your wheel bearings, tires, and brakes, and you'll be good to go.

BigDaveZJ
09-25-2007, 08:26 PM
A ZJ with a proper car hauler is not 5k lbs though. My ZJ probably weighs close to 5k lbs just by itself, plus another 1750 for my 16' trailer. It's just not worth the risk.

DieselZJ
09-26-2007, 09:58 AM
A 4.0 zj is about 3700lbs, and an open deck car hauler with a 7k capacity is 1000-1300 lbs.

BigDaveZJ
09-26-2007, 10:09 AM
A bone stock ZJ may weigh 3700 lbs, but I don't think anyone here is talking about towing a bone stock ZJ. By the time you add on stronger axles, beefier suspension, the weight goes up tremendously. There was a guy a while back who built up a nice 5.9, and IIRC he was pushing 6k lbs.

My 7k lb capacity open deck car hauler weighs 1750.

EDIT: I'm pulling out to Moab tomorrow, if I see some scales, I'll try to get a weight for ya, but I guarantee my ZJ and trailer are MUCH more than 5k lbs.

nate
09-26-2007, 11:45 AM
Your weights are very optimistic man. I agree a bone stock 4.0 ZJ weighs about 3700-3800lbs, but like Dave said, add axles, big tires, suspension stuff, bumpers, winch, etc and it gets heavy.

I have a scale close to work, free to use so I mess with it often.

My ZJ is 4950lbs empty and my 10k 18 foot flatbed is 2550lbs empty.

It puts me around 7500lbs. If I had a Class III hitch I would need a weight distro setup even (my setup is 10k rated, class V).

Yeah the 5.9L ZJ is ok in power, but it still won't get you anywhere fast pulling a trailer and the ZJ itself isn't designed to handle a trailer that big IMO.

You really need a truck, or something with that long of a wheelbase. If you get into a situation where you need to panic stop, or it's windy that wheelbase will help you a ton. I even notice this when pulling with a long box truck, vs my short box.


A v-8 gasser will do the job even, of course at the expense of fuel mileage and speed.



A 4.0 zj is about 3700lbs, and an open deck car hauler with a 7k capacity is 1000-1300 lbs.

Cody
09-26-2007, 11:59 AM
I towed a hacked to shit ZJ on a 16' car hauler (trailer weighed 1600) and it was close to 6000#'s. I would say 4000 is pushing it behind a ZJ. I used to tow with one, so I am not speaking out of my ass.

Cody