flat tow a tj

[scott/kerri]

you know i find this funny people are getting involved  the wornt even at the event and if you where concerned why didnt you take a look  before you start putting people down and what they drive. and how did comanche  runner get into this when 2grand4u was asking a  qustion.

[comanche killer]

   lmfao my xj towed my grand just fine the only time i even felt the weight of my grand was going up hills  the inline 6 has more the enough tork to tow iam pritty sure jonhyc sew me leave mclean with little to no problem towin it     

[comanche killer]

I hope commancherunner sees this....

what does this mean?

[cLAY]

It always "works fine" till that one day you get cut off or get caught it bad weather and then you get an education on how things in motion like to stay in motion.

I have a tow bar setup for my ZJ in case in breaks down and needs to be hauled back, but I don't PLAN to use it, just as an emergency back up.

[WhiteOut]

An XJ with the 4.0 I6 has a max tow capacity of 5000lbs. that is with a proper weight distributing hitch and the toe prep package.  Flat towing a ZJ that is 1500lbs more than the max weight is just asking for trouble. Adding a lift and bigger than stock mud tires wont help the situation any either.

[Spinalguy]

what does this mean?

i assume it means that the info Clay provided earlier that flat towing does not take into consideration weight distribution and therefore means one can tow LESS than what is stated for the vehicle.
You got lucky. But as many threads on many 4x4 sites regarding the Darwin approach to towing would suggest...its only when you will crash yourself and HOPEFULLY no one else .
What you are doing is wrong.

[comanche killer]

u talk like I don't know that is y I'm planing on buying a 3/4 ton or 1 ton to tow my grand ya Ur right I did get lucky I wouldn't recommend towing like I did if u don't know what Ur doing in my case I do know what AM doing i used to tow full grain wagons/flat deck wagons with a load of hay on them/ grain augers / pretty much anything of the farm equipment  sort that needed to be towed from Field to Field I towed with my Comanche back home.......... with that kind of experience I think I can say I know what I'm doing............. I'm a farm boy  not a city boy.................


and that the end of that............
thank u very much..................   

[Spinalguy]

u talk like I don't know that is y I'm planing on buying a 3/4 ton or 1 ton to tow my grand ya Ur right I did get lucky I wouldn't recommend towing like I did if u don't know what Ur doing in my case I do know what AM doing i used to tow full grain wagons/flat deck wagons with a load of hay on them/ grain augers / pretty much anything of the farm equipment  sort that needed to be towed from Field to Field I towed with my Comanche back home.......... with that kind of experience I think I can say I know what I'm doing............. I'm a farm boy  not a city boy.................


and that the end of that............
thank u very much..................   

i do not doubt your experience...on the farm.
But doing farm activities in the CITY negates your experience

Anyways, glad to know you are getting a proper tow rig.

[Immortal]

what does this mean?

I was hoping that you would see this post to reevaluate your thinking when it came to towing your rig.
It is not how powerful, or how much torque the little I6 can dish out, it is CAN YOU STOP SAFELY WITH YOUR SET-UP? Key word is SAFELY.

And, yes I was there, Scott/Kerri.

[dunl]

This guy probably drove to town "safely" along a road with many turns.....doesn't mean what he's doing is "safe".

[cLAY]

That reminds me of the time I was towing my XJ out to Waiporous. I had had an off and on problem with death wobble on the XJ but thought I had fixed it. Hadn't occured in quite awhile. We were heading to camp on the Hunter Valley Road and not far past the Waiporous Valley road wife looked in the truck mirror and screamed the wheels is coming off the Jeep! I checked my mirror and the tire on my side looked like it was coming off as well.

Pulled over and upon checking things I found the lower track bar bushing completly gone(as in missing) as well as the lower bolt. As well the lower bolt hole in the axle mount was seriously elongated. Apparently DW had started up while I was towing it and completly trashed the TB. However with the camper on the truck and the rough road I never noticed it till I actually saw the axle in the mirror trying to exit out from under the Jeep.

I unhooked the tow bar and tried to drive it off HWY40. Wouldn't start, apparently the shaking was SO bad it rub through my power cables for my winch and shorted out the battery. You should have seen the sparks when I tried to boost it before I realized what was going on!

In the end I had to leave the Jeep in the ditch on HWY40, drive back to town(fortunatly I live in Cochrane), pull the TB off my spare parts rig, buy a new battery and some cables, then go back out and drill a new hole in the lower TB bracket with a cordless drill and install all the new parts in the rain. Good thing we took off early on Friday. All so we could camp out in the rain all weekend and do two really muddy trails.

So does anyone still want to flat tow?     Sometime ask me about my adventures with the $200 homemade tow dolly and how well it worked with my XJ on 8" of lift and 36" tires......   THAT was fun....

[JackstandJohnny]

hey Clay, have any interesting stories about towing with a 200$ homemade tow dolly and how was it with you XJ on 36s?