OK heres the deal i wheeled my XJ for a couple years then tore it apart and sold its axles and lift thinking i would build it like my YJ for wheelin (fullwidths all that jazz) but i need a tow rig and daily driver for the YJ. Soooo i am Really thinking about makeing the XJ into a "decent" hauler.
plans are
33x14 or 15 wide street tires
Full width chevy 44/60 8 lug
D300
TF727
360
i've already got my ideas on bulding a subframe and putting leafs up front, thats no problem.
questions aredo yall think i'll have enough weight to flat tow the YJ (full width 44/60 35x15.5 SX's) and eventually tow it on a trailer.
i figure the width will be good for hauling and i can extend the WB about 7 inches. main thing i'm worried about is the weight issues.
i'm planning on useing some half ton chevy springs in the rear so it can handle the tongue weight of the trailer
SOOOO what do yall think am i crazy, i just don't want some boring 2wd f150 for a DD/tow rig.

I would not do it. It would be very unsafe and handle badly.

its all about wheelbase- something the XJ does not have enough of for towing.

for all the money/time spent on converting the XJ to a tow rig, you could easily buy a mid 80s chevy 3/4 ton or 1 ton. even if it is sort of rusty it will last you a long time.

hell you could probably even buy a $500 honda as a DD if you didnt want to drive the truck.

Handle badly? i don't know about that, my YJ hadles great and thats with 35 SX's
I agree on the WB thing and on the buying a chevy and thats a definet option. i can't afford insurance on 2 vehicles so the tow rig has to be a DD also.
keep the opinions coming

In my case the wife's XJ weights 3500 pounds and my CJ-7 weights 4400 pounds. Like said before start with something heavier.

Pick a truck that has a frame at least! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Its a wheelbase thing trust me, no mater how much power you put into it it will still suck for towing. I have towed with a xj before and it was squirly at 55, I now tow with my Dodge and I can do well over 70-80 and not even know that I am towing anything thing. thats about a 5000 lbs trailer... you can do it but its not the best of Ideas.


Ps

should this be in TOWRIGS

Chris

In a word:

NO

remember the last incident when a xj was used for a trailer/cj7 on the way to tellico. id call up craig and see if he can sell you that 2wd ford pu w/ the t-18 for a tow rig. i think he only wanted like 400 bucks for it.

Hunter

hunter, yes i do, and thats one of the reasons i am considering it, matt tows with his grand all the time and it does fine,
and taco did decent enough for most of the trip and he didn't have a equalizer hitch.
Does a grand weight much more than a XJ? i figure with an extra 300 pounds of tires and axles and another 100 in steel and 100 in egine tranny t-case a built XJ would wiegh alot more. toss a equalizer jitch on and it should be good enough?
any opionions on these statements?
i'm all ears
thanks

look man, if you wanna do it, do it.

but everyone so far has told you its unsafe AT BEST, and downright stupid overall.

1) v8 swap in an XJ is gonna be... tight. cooling would be an issue.

2) making a subframe? tahts alot of work...

3) wheelbase. you dont have it.


you can BUILD anything you want to. and if you have hte skillz, theres no reason you cant take half ton truck parts, build a frame, and make a SWB half ton XJ. but why would you want to? just to say you did?

buy a half ton work truck, drive it as a daily, and be done with it... OR buy a late 80's grand cherokee, WITH the 360, etc etc, if you have to have a jeep.. you can get NICE ones for less than what your gonna put into that xj... and it will be more reliable and less troublesome than your XJ project.

i agree that everyone here so far thinks its a bad idea But, why do you think a ZJ would be better than a XJ, they are both uniframe and both near the same WB so why is it a stock ZJ can tow but a built XJ can't
just a question i'm looking for input and i've gotten it but would like more
lets stay calm
thanks

first, ZJ's suck at towing also. however jeep saw fit to rate them to 6200# (depending on package) because they are heavier, and use heavier duty parts and cooling.. and brakes. none of this is relevant to you because your not gonna use any of the crap that makes a tow vehicle a tow vehicle from your stock xj (axles, powertrain, cooling, brakes.)

spend some time actually towing with a short wheel based vehicle that weighs about as much as what you are towing. we can go back and forth all day on this, but untill you do it, you wont understand.

I hav seen something similar done before.

BOY THATS A DANGEROUS COMENT

Ther was a guy at the puallup fair
swap meet a couple years ago and he did some
thing similar to this

He swore it went down the freway towing
a trailer with 2 jeeps on it just fine
he also used it for towing a large
camping trailer.

What he had done was to add another
axel in the back of his jeep this
axel was removeable it baseicaly
atatched to the jeep in 4 places
useing hitch style recevers and
I belive it had air bag suspenshion.

I think a one ton Wagoneer would be sweet, dana 60's and a turbo diesel.

This isn't a totally crazy idea. I too have pondered this exact question since we have a 2wd XJ and my YJ. But the XJ's brakes are so bad I dropped that idea from the start. Sounds like what you want is a Full Size Jeep. I bet you could find one cheaper than buying all the parts seperately and slapping them onto an XJ. My freind owns a J10 pickup that was used as a chase vehicle for professional Valvoline Baja racers. Totally built truck, talk about ultimate tow vehicle.

See if you can trade your XJ for a decent tow rig. Be safe, go 3/4 or one ton..

Originally posted by RockReadyXJ
so why is it a stock ZJ can tow but a built XJ can't
thanks

It sounds like you are starting with the answer you want to hear (the XJ is the greatest tow choice), and ignoring the advice?

The only XJ/ZJ difference was the V8 option rating from DC (as the ZJ with I6 shared the XJ 5000# tow rating, and the axles and brakes are near identical).

The XJ is a very capable platform to build on, and if a built XJ works for your use as a tow vehicle ... good (and if it does not, then you may want to revisit the advice given in the thread). The brakes are more of a towing limit than power and gearing (and you will swap axles anyway).

Not that I know anything about XJ's :confused: but there are more appropriate cheap used tow vehicles (leaving the XJ to meet the daily driver requirement, and save the modification $$$).

Happy Trails!

Originally posted by ChrisPy
ZJ's suck at towing also.

Precisely. Hell, even a full-size 1/2 ton is "marginal" at best for towing a Jeep-sized rig - despite what the "tow rating" might be. Bottom line, upgrading your XJ to "3/4 ton" status will be twice as expensive as just BUYING a 3/4 ton truck outright. And the net result won't be as good.

TEX

This is what happens when you try to tow a trailer with the wrong vehicle. My good friend was towing his 1 ton Blazer on 44's with a 4-runner. I don't think a 4-runner is much different than a Cherokee. Bottom line is it got squirly, he lost control, the truck was completely totaled. He saved the 60 front, the tires and a few other things. He wasn't hurt, but he learned his lesson. Maybe you should take this into consideration.http://mudtruk.com/jim3.jpg

Sure, you can upgrade an XJ to tow. Let's see, you need to upgrade the frame, springs, and axles to carry the load, the brakes to stop the load, and the motor to pull the load.

Here's the easiest process:
1.) Hitch your cherokee to the trailer, crank the trailer landing gear down, and carefully chock the trailer wheels.
2.) Pull the pin on the reciever hitch and remove everything forward of the pin.
3.) Replace everything forward of the receiver insert with a 3/4-ton truck, or AT MINIMUM, a 1/2-ton truck.
4.) Install the receiver pin and tow.

It is theoretically *possible* to built your XJ up with bigger axles, better brakes, a heavier suspension, and E-rated tires.... but you'd still have short wheelbase and 'uniframe...' and you'd never be able to pass Virginia's rather-stringent vehicle inspection program. Worse yet, even if you had built the XJ up, you'd be past the gross vehicle rating of the chassis (which does NOT change, no matter how you modify the vehicle, the factory-rating stays the same), so you'd be illegal on the road, should anyone choose to inspect you. That could really ruin your day in a lawsuit. :(

Randii

well i guess the general opinion is not to do it :D i guess i'll make my decision, if i build it i'm sure i'll post,
thanks for the the input

Ditto on what most everyone else is saying. Towing is not an area you want to skimp money. I have a 1 ton dually with a Lance camper that I tow with and I can't tell you the number of times I have been grateful for the wheelbase, the weight and the brakes. There are a lot of idiots out there that have caused me to lock 'em up and swerve and I can think of two instances in particular where someone would have been severely injured had I tried the maneuvers while towing with an XJ.

Originally posted by ChrisPy
first, ZJ's suck at towing also.....

I beg to differ.....wel....just a little. When I took my job 250 miles from home my 5.38 geared Jeep with no OD quickly became a non-daily driver and I started looking for a DD/tow rig.

I really wanted to buy an XJ but they just didn't have the towing capacity I was looking for, 5500lbs is not enough for a 1200lb trailer with a4380lb Jeep on it, the ZJ's were rated higher, and the 93 V8 ZJ I ended up with is rated for 7500lbs with a weight distributing hitch, my Jeep ready to go out on the trail, on the trailer, weighs 5880lbs, and with those weight dist. bars on it tows quite nicely. I wouldn't tow it through the mountains at 100mph in a snowstorm, but I have had to thread the ZJ and trailer and Jeep trough some construction barrels during a panic stop at 75mph, and it handled it fine, the pucker marks have all but disappeared from the driver's seat.

I did tow the Jeep once without the weight bars on, major suckfest to say the least. Would I do it with an XJ? I dunno, probably not, and if I ever get my K3500 put back together I'll stop towing with the ZJ, but for now it does the trick.

Holy crap! This is the first time I've seen this thread, but you clearly need to consider this further. Even if it were safe, what happens when you get pulled over and you're marched down to a weigh station and they weigh you in at 10,000GVW when you're registered for 5000? You'll get a substantial fine, and I bet they don't let you leave the same way you came in.

Check out the laws, safety. Of course, you'll have a brake controller on your trailer, right?

Bryan

I can vouch for 4banglers tow rig, its got brakes that are just fine...(member locking them up to get to the mcdonalds on the way to the most hardcore wheelin spot ever....jeez your a maniac!) I think if you choose your trailer wisely (must have brakes!) you will be fine...just my 2c. Its not like your towing every weekend, right? If so, buy a duracrap or a powerless and forget about it!

I agree with the rest on the 'NO' issue, I use my XJ as a DD, and will not tow with it. another friend of mine did with his and pulled a 2000 lb travle trailer, it pulled ok, but panic stops sucked, not to mention the Chasis took a beating. He sold it and got a 2wd 4dr F150, it is twice the tow rig as the XJ. Granted thats an exspensive option, but you can make up your own mind.

Me, I flat tow my Sammy with a '93 4dr exploder. Not my first choice in rigs, but if I take it easy its good till I can get something better. I had one instance that scared me, I took a corner too fast and the sammy tried to pass. but thats all.

oh and its way underpowered.

What about liability? You run over Mary Jane Rottencrotch and her lawyers will have your salary for life, even if it's not your fault.

Bryan

soryy I just want to ask a simmilar question on this note what about using a tow bar to tow an XJ with a 2wd comanchee

The XJ isn't built to your standards and the tows would be short distance.
You all have me alittle nervous about what I do:confused:

I've been towing my Toy with my (s10)Jimmy for two years with no problems. I built my own trailer and can make my tounge weight whatever I want. If I'm going racing for the weekend and need to have all the camping stuff on the front of the trailer I just keep the rig to the rear more. I have no problems at all. My wife evens drives it. Much of this depends on the trailer. I have no problems at 60-65, on back roads, no problem. Make sure you have good working brakes on the trailer.