me and a bunch of my buddies are heading out to rausch creek pa offroad park in a week, we were planing on towing up two jeeps on one trailer but then decided that they won't both fit comfortably. so then we found another trailer to borrow for the weekend (16ft dual axel open flatbed car hauler w/ brakes) and we were thinking that this may be able to be towed with my truck (2000 f150 5.4l) if i throw a brake controller in it. were guessing the jeep weighs in at about 3500. with nothing in the bed and 3 people in the truck do you guys think that this will work SAFELY for our trip 150 miles each way (mostly highway) or do you think i am pushing my luck.

thanks kevin

 

I towed 2 lifted Zuki's on a large flatbed. I had 3 people in the cab and camping gear. My truck is a 4.6 with 3.55 gears. I was actually able to get the trans into overdrive as long as I was on flat ground and maintain 65 MPH but you could tell the truck was straining and hauling a huge load.

What axle gears do you have? Your 5.4 will pull better than my 4.6 but then again your Jeeps are another 1k heavier each than my Zukis were.

Either way the truck will be overloaded no doubt, but I do believe it will do it. I pulled my load for over 250 miles one way and we didnt run into any issues, even got an amazing 11 MPG



We had a couple hundred pounds of firewood in the bed, but due to having to cram the zukis on there with no WD hitch the back sat pretty low

 

if your hitch is rated high enough to take the load then i'd would assume the truck could handle it. but that is still an awful lot of weight so make sure all your brakes and services are good.

 

only putting one jeep on the trailer to be towed by my truck, originally we were going to try what you did with a 20ft trailer and my friends f350 but the two jeeps wouldn't fit on the trailer together so he is towing his jeep up with his f350 and i am thinking about getting the other jeep up with my f150. as far as brakes on the truck they are pretty new and i will pick up a trailer brake controll in the next few days, putting fresh oil in for the engine, and have a trans temp gauge so i can monitor that the entire trip.


i always see guys on here towing large travel trailers with there f150's and thought one little jeep can't weigh too much more if it does out weigh the trailers.

matts ford
i have the factory towing package with the factory class 3 hitch receiver i will take a look at what thats rated at but i think it should cover what i am thinking of towing

scott 1981
i have 3.55 gears like you

 

KDracing: Sounds good man, if yall take pictures on the trip make sure to post them up. Any pics of the jeep?

 

i will definatly take some pics and post them up heres the jeep i will be towing up

1995 grand cherokee
auto locked rear
eaton selectable locker in front
33 x 13.5 x r15 tires
knuckle over steering (not in this picture)
winch not sure what its rated
and alot of other stuff

 

That probably weighs more than 4k pounds, but you should be fine with your truck and trailer.

 

3100 stock
Probably 3600 as it sits there.

They were unibody so they are much lighter than they look

 

3100 pounds? No way! My 1992 Gramd Am weighed 2900 pounds. A brand new 2008 mid-size sedan weighs 3400 pounds. Some further research showed base curb wreight of the I6 around 3600 pounds. With extra stuff as shown in the pic, probably close to 4k pounds. Regardless, not too heavy for a 5.4L F-150.

 

FWIW, I found some plans for 16' twin axle low boy trailers at 1,800 lbs and twin axle deck trailers at 2,600 lbs.

My quick google search supports APT's numbers showed the curb weight on a stock 1995 Grand Cherokee at round 3,700 lbs.

Even if the trailer is at the high end and the Jeep is just over 4,000 lbs. you should be able to tow it safely, IMO. Of course, that's assuming proper loading, and paying attention to all the ratings (gross combined vehicle rating, rear axle rating, etc...)

 

Right you are Sir, I owned a XJ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Cherokee_%28XJ%29 and thought it was close to that. Your 4k seems dead on

 

Ive towed around 6k with 4.6 3.55 lowered 3/3 just fine. Just take your time and you will be fine.

 

I have always thought that was a bad *** picture.
I pulled a black v-6 from College Station to Katy on a double axle flatbed. Those things have such low wind resistance I could hardly feel it. I was cruising at 65 uphill passing traffic on Hwy6 back from CS

 

thanks scott, i just wish i had the rear windows up

 

I didnt notice it till ya said something. Yeah people dont give the 4.6 motors enough credit, they get the job done though.