Tow capacity help...

It's kind of a bummer Jeep totally got out of the diesel business. They had that Grand Cherokee Bluteck diesel out for a couple of years too. They dropped them before they had a chance to really catch on.

The new Pentastar gets great reviews in the Grand Cherokee, and now the Wrangler. It would be nice if they brought it into the Liberty as well.

You'd have to find a Diesel Grand Cherokee before you can think about spending the money!

plus deisel is gonna cost you more per gallon, so that also is a negative economical factor. I bet it would be a strong puller too.

Word on the street is that the new Jeep Grand Cherokee will feature a diesel option in the next few years. That will make the best American SUV on the market even better.

I have not yet. I am looking into a 2003 ranger 3.0 v6 4x4 manual trans, and also have become interested in jeep wranglers. Does anyone know how difficult it is to install brakes on a trailer??? or if a 4 cyl 4x4 jeep could tow??

agree

Wait, he is asking about towing a few miles right?

10-15 miles. And not on highways.

Any 4x4 will do that. Jeeps too. Even escorts too apparently.

Jeeps, especially the older or with lockers will get it out. Low range on a four cylinder jeep is really low.   

And you have n=been told about the stopping ability of smaller trucks.

I think if you buy anything lighter than a f-150ish, you will be sacrificing long distance towing and stopping ability. In my old f150 the excel would push the truck in quick stop situations, and that is scary. A jeep, like a cj, would scare the crap out of me every time some teenager cut in front of me.

Are you against a full size vehicle? Around here, for what you pay for a wrangler or a ranger you could find a full size for the same price.

Will this be your primary vehicle? Or a second vehicle used less often (only when you need to tow)? Based on your original post, Im guessing the former... but please confirm. There are a lot of things to consider if youre looking for a vehicle that will do it all, if you plan to use it every day. Understanding what youre looking for (besides a tow vehicle) would give us some perspective. If youre looking for an inexpensive second vehicle that wont get used much, thats a different story. Things like reliability and fuel efficiency become less important if the vehicle wont get used much.

Full size trucks can make great tow vehicles- but theyre not necessarily better just because theyre bigger and heavier. They generally have beefy frames, which is a help, but they dont always have the best brakes- which is pretty important. There are several mid-size vehicles that come to mind that can out-tow their full size counterparts.

Jeeps are fun and could tow a house- you wouldnt have a problem at the ramp. They dont stop well and their short wheel bases can make them darty at higher speeds with a trailer behind them, though. I would take a look at the tow capacity for anything youre considering... 2-door Wranglers are usually only rated for 2000 lbs.

No need to cut anything off- CC stopped welding on couplers in the early 70's. A trailer from the 80's should be bolted on.

Adding brakes isnt too difficult, but isnt cheap- you'll need a new coupler/actuator, hubs and lines. Probably ~$500, all said and done.

Trailer brakes won't help you backing down a steap wet ramp. I'm guessing that's how alot of submersible SUV's got started, and why limit yourself to towing locally?

Bri892001 wrote: If you're on a budget, you might be better off with a heavy rear wheel drive car, like a Caprice Wagon or something.

Seriously, you should be fine in any Ranger (2wd, 4x4, auto, manual) going 15 miles down side streets provided you have good tires all the way around. I've had some butt puckers slipping down some steep, wet sandy ramps with bad front tires. Like SNobsessed said, if you do have trouble getting going on wet steep ramps use the boat to push a little.

the diesel age is beginning, 30 years late, but thats due to politics, anyways Chey Cruze will have the diesel option next year, the EPA i believe mandated 34 mpg, instead of 24 in the US I believe sarting in 2013...i think we'll see alot of changes in transportation the next few years......yes, I drive a foriegn jetta, only cause i bought it for 15 hundies, i got Kraut in the blood so i dont feel so bad.
actually as we speak im doing a complete engine swap, (short block) on a 2009 6.4 ford f-250, what a fcn nightmare, pulled the cab to remove the engine, only 107k on it, pulled it down and it blew a push rod.

its not so bad paying 4 bucks a gallon for diesel when you get 50 mpg, gotta adapt and get use to it, now a diesel hybrid, damn good idea, they done want to push 80mpg on you just yet

I too would throw out the Ranger as an option. I had a 89'SB Ranger with a 2.9 V6 in it that I used several times to pull my Procraft F/S 180 with it and she did not like it one bit. Almost got stuck on a wet ramp once as I was burning up the clutch trying to get up the ramp. Decided right then that I needed a bigger truck.

Gary S wrote: For the last 33 years I have only been 7 miles from work- not far enough to even warm them up- they are not for everyone.

Holy crap, no wonder it died an early death! If I was 7 miles from work, Id be riding a bicycle! Cold starts and the warm up period are the most brutal on an engine... and even more so on a diesel since they have so much more mass to get warm. Sounds like yours lived a good portion of its life in that high wear zone.

Until recently, I could always get to work on the subway. It certainly had it's downsides, but I didn't spend much on gas or put many miles on my vehicle.