Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

[GatorMike]

For the first time in 35 years MrsGatorMike and I are taking separate vacations this year. She is going to Tennessee to visit an old friend and I am taking the boat to the Keys. She just informed me she will be taking my 09 Silverado and I will be taking her 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I have never towed the boat with the cherokee. The HD Silverado outweighs the boat about 2X and it is like towing nothing back there. I imagine the Cherokee and boat are around the same weight, I think the boat weighs around 3500 lbs loaded.

Do any of you tow with a Cherokee? We are talking about 270 miles each way from Orlando to Marathon all flat roads. I am not worried about the condition of the Cherokee, although it is more than 10 years old it is very low mileage it was inherited when my dad died last year and has only 15,000 miles on it so it is like new. I am more concerned with how it will tow.

Thanks for any comments.

 

[FunInDuhSun]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

I tow a 14' tinny with my Grand Cherokee.
The GC brakes are marginal for your load- even on flat terrain.
Show her who's in charge and tell her your taking YOUR Silverado for safety reasons.

Have her GC fully serviced before she leaves to make sure it'll be reliable. I'll bet that is her biggest concern. Get a AAA membership too if it makes her more comfy.

 

[funk6294]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

Get up real early and just take the truck before she wakes up. If she is like my wife she will sleep in for a while and by the time she realizes what happened you will be LONG gone. OR you could make up some shenanagans about the Jeep not being rated to tow the boat...

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

Lol She needs the truck because she is hauling some things up to her friend in Tennessee. Actually it is my daughter-in-laws mother they are going up to visit. Kind of a long story how this came about but my wife, daughter-inlaw and grandaughter are going to Tennessee and my son, grandson and I are going to the keys. I'm really looking forward to spending some time with just the boys. The women think we will be living like pigs in the condo and they are probably right, no time to clean up when the fish are biting.

I'll probably hook up the boat in the morning and take it over to I-4 for a little test drive to see how she tows. Better to do that than to get a suprise next week.

 

[sasto]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

Key's fishing has been on fire the past few weeks.

 

[funk6294]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

I can see how that could be an issue. We have a 2003 GC with the 4.7 v8that I use to tow with and it does pretty well. It has been lifted and is running 33 inch tires and still pull 4000lbs around without a whole lot of hassle. With stock size tires it should have plenty of go to pull. Does your trailer have electric or surge brakes? I have pulled trailers with the surge and have had no issues, and have pulled smaller trailers with no brakes without a problem as well. So my guess is that you will be able to handle the boat with the jeep.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

No legaly anything over 3000 lbs in Florida is suposed to have breaks but I'm not legal. I've never had issues with the truck but once while towing the boat with my sons Durango on a wet highway I had a problem when making a quick stop. I expect the Cherokee will tow similar to how that Durango towed. I imagine the Durango was a little heavier than the Cherokee and that 5.9 litre V8 was a monster motor.

I'm guessing with no fuel and nothing in the boat I'm probably right at 3000.

 

[funk6294]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

Give it a whirl and see, if I remeber right Florida is pretty flat so large hills wont be too much of an issue. Just check the brake pads before you leave.

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

I have a 99 with a 4.0 and its rated to tow 5k, with the V8 6500.
Says right on the factory receiver hitch, hopefully yours is towing package equipped.
My boat weighs around 3k and tows great. I do have 189k on it so I do not tow in overdrive, besides that 4.0 dont mind to rev in 3rd gear.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

Father inlaw tows his Malibu with a Grand Cherokee (2007?) and it works well. I think he's got a V8 in his.

 

[cntryguy146]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

oh u should be fine i pull my 22 ft sea ray with my 96 grand cherokee and its got 150 xxx plus miles on it mines got the 5.2L in though i didnt see what u had its also got the AWD but ya my boats actully heavier and bigger than my jeep and i pull it just fine

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

Thanks guys but I swung a deal to pull a double switch tonight. My middle son has a Silverado a couple of years older than mine. My wife is going to take my Silverado, my middle son will use her Cherokee and I'm going to borrow his Silverado to tow the boat with. His Silverado has the heavy duty suspension too so it will be just like towing with my own truck. I still think once I get back I will try towing a couple of shorter trips with her Jeep though just so I will know if the situation ever comes up again.

 

[swcolorado]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

Mike,
You'll be fine on shorter distances. I used to tow my '01 185 Reinell an hour each way to the lake pretty much every weekend.

My '98 Grand Cherokee only had the 4.0L 6 cylinder and was lifted with 32" tires. It towed fine.

Only time I had any issue was when I first bought it and I was coming over one of the steeper Colorado passes and had some issues with the brakes on the Jeep (surge brakes on the trailer were inoperative).

That was a distance of 275 miles over mountain passes over 10,000 feet in elevation with a LONG, steep downhill section.

I'm pretty sure it would handle Florida.

Oh yeah, my GC had about 224,000 on it when I did the 275 mile drive.

 

[eli_lilly]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

There's a really good chance you'll get pulled over in the Keys if you have no trailer brakes. For whatever reason, the trailer brake law is vigorously enforced on boat trailers traveling through the Keys.

Boat not being strapped down is another one they actively look for but that one is easy to comply with.

-E

 

[salmonite]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

i have a 07 with a 3.7 and i hate towing with it. my 3500 boat whips my g.c around like nobodies business.

 

[soaringhiggy]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

I have been pulling with GC's for several years with a 22 foot cabin, no issues. Tow with care. The week point on the GC is the tranny, the fluids should be changed every 50 60 k miles and all is good. If you do not change the fluids the trannys have a tendancy to go out at about 110 k miles or so, your milage may vary.

The GC is fairly short wheelbase, can get abit tail wagging the dog thing going, but I would do that pull, Fl is flat and as we all know low altatude.

The Silverado will be nicer.

 

[Purecarnagge]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

I owned a 98 GC and there is on way in hell i'd take anything larger than a regular sized pop up camper behind that thing. I pulled a camper twice and every other time I borrowed a truck from a buddy.

Lets face it people do stupid stuff when your driving and its beyond on your control and you won't be able to stop in time

I know you got a solution now but I'd just rent a truck if it came down to it...

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

There's a really good chance you'll get pulled over in the Keys if you have no trailer brakes. For whatever reason, the trailer brake law is vigorously enforced on boat trailers traveling through the Keys.

Boat not being strapped down is another one they actively look for but that one is easy to comply with.

-E

Have you ever run the Overseas Highway on a really windy day? Ever gotten stuck behind someone that broke down and blocked half or all of the road?

Some sections are a pretty long run, it's about 127 miles overall, depending where your going.
I spent some time down there, and at that time my company car for a short period was a 1998 Grand Cherokee, I didn't mind the truck but the mileage from the 4.0L automatic set up was disappointing to say the least. The most I towed with it was a small enclosed trailer, about 2200 lbs or so and it handled that fine. No brakes, never had them, and did get hassled a few times but no tickets. I would suspect that it would get a bit hairy on a windy day with 3500lbs in tow there, brakes or no brakes. FL in general is pretty flat, but small storms pop up in a hurry down that way, it's not unusual to get a hard down pour and t-storm that comes out of no where too. My last trip down there was on motorcycle, its a great ride, but we got wet nearly every day.

I do agree that the GC lacks a bit in the brake department, mine never felt all that great with the trailer on or off. The anti-lock brakes acted up sometimes with the trailer on and put the ABS light on. The dealer blamed the trailer, but the trailer had no brakes and the truck had a factory installed hitch and trailer wiring.

 

[krakatoa]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

Actually I tow my boat with a Jeep Grand Cherokee 2004 6 cyl. have no problem with it yet. The only "bad" thing here are the brakes.

 

[Purecarnagge]

Re: Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle?

its not the towing power, its the ability to stop with boat/camper behind you that drove me nutz with the thing. I had a 98 GC Laredo. That GC green color. Thing was nickle and diming me all the time too.