2012 Jeep Overland 4X4

[Brent1974]

Just getting started. Any help is appreciated. Thanks

I have only found 1 thread on this forum talking about towing with a jeep and it wasn't good. I understand that the length and width of the jeep could be an issue. However I can't believe you can't tow something of weight with this Jeep and still be safe. Power isn't the issue, but everything else might be.

Jeeps specs: 6800 GVW/ Curb weight 5,200 / 12,200 Combined Weight rating / 7200lbs towing capability/ 720 TW /air suspension/ etc. (Class IV hitch) / tow package. Jeep says we can tow a 30ft trailer.(Yes I know) Capacity of jeep cargo I believe is. 1150. Rear axle rated at 3700lbs. I was considering a cougar 19/21/24?

If you consider the largest trailer, 24ft box plus 3 for 27ft. Even with the tongue weight we would be way less than the max capacity in the jeep of 1150. Two passengers gas and some cargo.

The 24 has a dry weight of around 5500 and a tongue weight of 450, payload capacity of 2200lbs. Wouldn't be loading to much with just the two of us except the necessities.

Will be using a W/D hitch with Sway.

Is this even close? If not how about the 21 (5200 dry weight) or 19 (4800)?

Thanks for the help, I love my Jeep, but safety first, and I don't want to destroy my Jeep.

After writing this out and seeing it I may have answered my own question, but would like to get some feedback from the experts.

Thank you for your time and help.

[koko]

We pull our 19 with the Durango and would never go any bigger without changing our vehicle. There's enough power, but the wheel base is too short. We DO feel the pull on a windy day.

[BirchyBoy]

Interesting topic. We are in the market for a newer SUV for our travel trailer. Ours is a 25' (27' overall) with a dry weight of 3,800lbs. We are looking specifically at the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the V8 or a Tahoe.

I'm towing it with a '99 Yukon which is heavier but has a lower tow rating. I can feel it on a windy day but it was never a white-knuckle ride. I used an Equalizer hitch, BTW. The same hitch would be moved to the Jeep or Tahoe.

[x96mnn]

Towed a ts25s rVision with a 2008 Jeep Liberty. Used a reese dual cam antisway system.

No issues with power, when you hooked up the camper no squat, thing handled terrible. Feel it was length of camper compared to the wheel base of the jeep.

You can check the specs of the rVision and Jeep Liberty combined and see how it compares to your rig.

[bsmith0404]

Well, I'm not an expert, but I have owned and towed with a Cherokee, Durango, and a Suburban before I went back to a truck. Power was never really an issue with any of them, the stability improved with stance and weight. Obviously, the wider the vehicle and the longer the wheelbase the better they handled. Of course, the bigger vehicle also weighed more. Look everything over close, the max tongue weight is based on a few factors such as hitch capacity, axle capacity, and tire capacity. It doesn't take much to add a couple hundred pounds to the tongue weight once you start adding batteries, propane, water, gear.

If you are set on keeping your Jeep, I'd live with the smaller trailer for the few weeks per year that you will actually be using it. Definitely don't want a tail waging the dog situation with a short wheel base. Better safe than sorry.

[koko]

I believe there's someone on this forum who tows with a Durango, has a Premier 22 and doesn't have a problem. That would probably be max length for safety. No question, a WDH is needed.

[Ken / Claudia]

I have never read any towing information that says what a max. length of any trailer can be towed unless you compare the wheelbase of the TV to the RV. Besides all the different types of trailers on the market today and what about tomorrow. A 30 ft flat bed carrying snow machines will not tow like a 30 ft travel trailer. I would go by max. weights limits but, I guess if it is in print by Jeep in the manual they have a reason to print it. If so, I would ask them why.

[BirchyBoy]

Originally Posted by Ken / Claudia

I have never read any towing information that says what a max. length of any trailer can be towed until you compare the wheelbase of the TV to the RV. Besides all the different types of trailers on the market today and what about tomorrow. A 30 ft flat bed carrying snow machines will not tow like a 30 ft travel trailer. I would go by max. weights limits but, I guess if it is in print by Jeep in the manual they have a reason to print it. If so, I would ask them why.

When I was looking at better TV's, I ran across a Ford towing guide that gave limits for length as well as frontal area.

[x96mnn]

Originally Posted by Ken / Claudia

I have never read any towing information that says what a max. length of any trailer can be towed until you compare the wheelbase of the TV to the RV. Besides all the different types of trailers on the market today and what about tomorrow. A 30 ft flat bed carrying snow machines will not tow like a 30 ft travel trailer. I would go by max. weights limits but, I guess if it is in print by Jeep in the manual they have a reason to print it. If so, I would ask them why.

The topic has been discussed a number of times on this forum. I first heard of it a few years back on a post on RV.net. The information was produced by the RV consumers group, jury is out on if they actually paid an engineer to help the, come up with the calculation. There are some great post from people who seem to have the educational back ground that confirms their logic to be sound based on stability of the combination.

Their calculation is simple, 110" of wheelbase has a recomended max trailer lenth of 20 feet. For every 4" of wheelbase you can comfortably add another foot.

I will not say it is true, but my personal opinion it does have some validity based on personal experiance.

[Ken / Claudia]

Just asking, would any of the Jeep models wheel base length fit into that formula to pull a 30 ft trailer. My thought is with all the different trailer types having axles set differently, width, height differences, giving a max length based on anything other than wheel base of TV, would setting a max length make sense. I will admit I have not looked up any except this years Dodge 3500 and Ford 350s and only read about load and towing weights.

[zuley]

If I may chime in with my thoughts on the subject. We, ourselves, have an 08 Grand Cherokke with the 3.0 litre oil burner. Prior to purchasing our Elite 23RB we hauled a high wall pop up with the Jeep. Towed like a dream, did not know it was back there. Made the mistake of going to the Toronto show one cold January afternoon two years ago. My wife spotted the 23RB and fell in love with it. She does not ask for a lot, after all she has me. Like your Overland our WK is rated to tow 7200 pounds and loaded the new TT weighs in less than 6000 pounds. What could go wrong here?? Signed on the dotted line a week or two later. Towed once with the Jeep and ordered a new truck the following Monday morning. As was stated power was no issue at all. It is the short wheel base of the Jeep that is the root of evil. There are a few people who have stated they tow with like sized vehicles. Don't mean to sound negative here but good luck to you. I think you are playing with fire. Even with the good WDH we took a side gust of wind and crossed the centre line as a result. There was no tail wag, the vehcile and trailer both moved sideways. That was enough for me.
Good luck with your decission and research.
Dave

[Brent1974]

I appreciate all the information and opinions I am getting from this question. Lots to think about.Definitely the Jeep with the shorter wheel base is an issue. Looking for smaller lighter trailers.

The 110 inch = 20 ft, add a foot for every 4 inches, rule, shouldn't get you into trouble.

One question, if you are talking about a 20 ft trailer, I am assuming you are talking about the box and not the additional 3 ft of tongue length?

Thank you again for your help.

[bsmith0404]

okay based on the 110" for 20' and add 1' for every 4" theory, the overland with a 114" wheel base would be good for a 21' trailer. Wonder where Jeep came up with 30'??? And as already mentioned, there is a big difference in trailer designs and weights. I wouldn't put much faith in the 30' claim.

[JRTJH]

Apparently Chrysler does have a website that provides recommendations for maximum trailer length. It lists the maximum for class 3 as 25' and the maximum for class 4 as 30'. The chart goes further in stating that the maximum trailer tongue load is 750 pounds and the maximum frontal area is 64 sq ft. I think one would be "hard pressed" to find a 30' trailer that stays within all the restrictions.

http://www.wjjeeps.com/trailer.htm#GROUP

[koko]

In our case the box is 19 ft. (overall length 23'2"). Doesn't matter the formula. As Zuley said, when an unexpected 35 mph gust sends you involuntarily into another lane effortlessly, and I don't mean sway - I mean car and trailer, that's scary; and it's also happened to us. When we had our Shasta we wouldn't have even considered pulling with anything less than our Suburban. With our Durango (comparable to Jeep Grand Cherokee) we would not feel SAFE pulling anything larger than the camper we now own, weight-wise nor length-wise (and usually the longer the heavier). Just speaking from the experience.

[x96mnn]

Originally Posted by Brent1974

I appreciate all the information and opinions I am getting from this question. Lots to think about.Definitely the Jeep with the shorter wheel base is an issue. Looking for smaller lighter trailers.

The 110 inch = 20 ft, add a foot for every 4 inches, rule, shouldn't get you into trouble.

One question, if you are talking about a 20 ft trailer, I am assuming you are talking about the box and not the additional 3 ft of tongue length?

Thank you again for your help.

I have not seen it ever stated if the length of the calculation should or should not include the hitch. Personally I have always used with hitch, the TS25s from rVision was a 25 foot rated trailer but measured bumper to hitch was 27 feet. In my case with the liberty it did not matter, I wss not off by a few feet, i was off closer to 8 feet. My experiance was like Zuely who posted, although I could not afford a new TV at the time so I parked it. Took a seasonal spot for the season while I saved up for a truck.

@ken,

The only jeep that may handle a 30 ft camper would be the Jeep Comander. I don't think it will but they appear longer and heavier.

My freind towed a 16ft clipper with a two door Jeep Wrangler. He said it towed fine but did upgrade to a truck. His problem was fuel and power based on his experiance.

[Brent1974]

Jeep advertising is interested in selling jeeps. Worked on me. I figured when it came time to tow something, if they say I can tow a 30ft trailer, I wouldn't have any issues. There should be a footnote explaining wheel base issues and towing anything over 20 feet with a 110 inch wheel base. Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen to me.

Light weight 21 ft. trailer for me.

Thanks again

[Ken / Claudia]

John, just so I know does that 64 sq ft= 5ft by 5ft front of a trailer? My math is likely wrong, I divided 64 by 12 to get 5.3 by 5.3. Unknown if that how to figure it out.

[JRTJH]

Ken, the way I figured it is 64 sq ft = a frontal area measured 8' tall and 8' wide. If it's 2' off the ground, that would be roughly an area as wide as most travel trailers and with a 10' tall trailer that's 2' off the ground, that's a total of 64 sq ft.

I'm certainly not saying that is the way to calculate it. I'm sure some engineering formula would prove me wrong by saying that the frontal area of the tow vehicle displaces some of the drag so there is an equation to reduce the trailer frontal area based on what's in front of it displacing air before it encounters the trailer front surface ?????

I've never fully understood how it's calculated so I would be very reluctant to say "I'm right" or "you're wrong" For me, it's an area that I just sort of avoid if I can LOL

I know that doesn't help, but if it opens the conversation so someone who does understand it can provide some insight, maybe we both can learn something ??????

[Ken / Claudia]

Thanks John, that explains it better, your reasoning makes sense to me. I did not know how to figure what they said into__ ft by___ ft. I thought they were showing that a trailer such as a pop up 30ft long was OK not a standard pull trailer that might be 8 ft by 8 ft frontage.