another tow question

[dbrownie]

Hello all;

Just purchased another Liberty, It did not come with tow package

but dealer said they would "add" it. They did put on a class 3 hitch

with a 7 pin plug but the towing group says its need a heavy duty cooling

fan.

Part 82206937, I called jeep and they said do not tow over 2000#s

with out the "heavy duty cooling kit".


Now I am confused?!??!

Any help!!!

Thanks
dbrownie.......

 

[K Dje Ryu]

That's correct. You need a ****** cooler and an additional fan in order to be able to tow 5000 lbs. 2000 is the limit without it.

 

[tjkj2002]

If your KJ was built before may of '03 then you got the 45RFE ******,just add a AUX ****** cooler and you'll be fine,that's all I did and have pulled a 5000lbs trailer twice for 1500 miles through the mountains with no problems.Now if you got a may '03+ KJ then you got the weaker 42RLE ******,I would get all the HD cooling componets before towing anywhere near 5000lbs with that ******,heck 5000lbs with the 42RLE is problally past it's limit.

 

[06Liberty]

yep, they didn't give you the "towing package"...they gave you a trailer hitch. The two are definately not the same.

 

[dbrownie]

Does it have a ****** cooler if 4wd automatic?

Is the engine cooler just a larger cooling fan.

Thanks for quick response!!

Dbrownie

 

[dbrownie]

That's correct. You need a ****** cooler and an additional fan in order to be able to tow 5000 lbs. 2000 is the limit without it.

yep, they didn't give you the "towing package"...they gave you a trailer hitch. The two are definately not the same.

Yea, looks that way they also charged me 600$ for my trouble.

We have a family vacation comming up and cant tow our camper!!!

I am VERY unimpressed.

(even more scary wife is MAD!)

Any sugestions??!!??

Dbrownie........

 

[KeswickDave]

Check across the bottom front of your rad, you may already have the ****** cooler, I did without the tow package.

If you've got that much I'd say you're good, I don't have the HD cooling (additional engine-driven fan), but I recently towed my 3500 lb (est loaded) trailer about 3400 miles, engine temp never moved.

I don't think you mentioned the weight of your trailer, but yeah, based on my experience 5000 lbs might be pushing it.

I did have the ****** temp light up once, at the beginning which I attribute to excessive shifting due to my lead foot - use cruise if you have it!

Hope that helps,

Dave

 

[Atrus]

The cooling is that there's an electric fan AND a mechanical belt-driven fan.

Besides the towing help, I love the extra fan. I can sit in 95* heavy traffic idling down the road and the temp gauge won't move past halfway.

 

[JeepJeepster]

Tell us what year you have and we will tell you what you need.

The libertys with the 42rle trannys only need the engine driven fan..

 

[Atrus]

I think jeepster's right - I believe all the 42RLE liberties have the trans cooler. I haven't noticed one without it. That can always be added, it's not too difficult or expensive (generally speaking, never specifically installed on a KJ).

Also, what do you have, and where are you towing? I believe that if you are towing on relatively flat surfaces without a lot of stop and go (aka, a lot of shifting) you'd be just fine. Really, think about it....the trans is set up to tow that much, it's not a "mechanicals" issue, it's a cooling issue. We ALL (well, except for the lucky few with the 45 trans or those wierd manual trans people ) have the same transmission with the same rating.

So, if you can tow 4,000 lbs on a "non-packaged" KJ without warming up too much, you'd be fine. Conversely, if you have harsh terrain and you tow 4,000 lbs in a "tow-packaged" KJ and you're warming the trans too much, then you are not fine.

Basically, in my eyes I see this 2,000 and 5,000 lb estimates as Jeep's "rule of thumb" to cover their butts. If you tow 4k pounds and overhead without the proper package and have issues, then they have a leg to stand on as to why it's not warranty-covered damage. As I said, all the mechanical pieces are the same.

 

[Marlon_JB2]

The cooling is that there's an electric fan AND a mechanical belt-driven fan.

Besides the towing help, I love the extra fan. I can sit in 95* heavy traffic idling down the road and the temp gauge won't move past halfway.

So could my '04 without towing package.

All I need is a hitch. I got both fans and the transmission cooler.

 

[Atrus]

Way to piss in my cornflakes, Marlon

 

[dbrownie]

Thanks for your quick reply folks!

It is a 2007 Liberty 3.7 4wd.

Our last one was a 2004 without the tow package.

It did a great job except for the long hills in PA!

The camper is about 4000#

Thanks again.......
dbrownie

 

[dbrownie]

Dealer now says he will install cooling package "at cost".

Do you think it's worth it?

Dbrownie

 

[JeepJeepster]

I dont.. I would get the engine driven fan at Napa and put it on myself.. Just look through the grill and make 100% sure that the ****** cooler is there. They changed a few things on the 07's but Im almost sure they just made the ****** cooler bigger on 05+ libertys. The 07's should have it..

haha, I lol'ed atrus..

 

[tjkj2002]

I would get the engine driven fan at Napa and put it on myself

But don't forget to get the bigger fan shroud,the mechanical fan will be worthless unless you have a shroud over it.

 

[dbrownie]

Thanks guys.

I'l let you know how I make out.......

Dbrownie

 

[JeepJeepster]

My 04 has the bigger shroud and I do not have the towing pack or engine driven fan tjkj.

You must be registered for see images attach

Theres no fan.. Trust me..

 

[Epic-yoda]

I have an 02 limited and I have a hitch and the engine fan but no trany cooler or electric fan.

 

[tjkj2002]

My 04 has the bigger shroud and I do not have the towing pack or engine driven fan tjkj.

You must be registered for see images attach

Theres no fan.. Trust me..

Did you buy your KJ new? If not they took off all the HD cooling before selling it,or replaced the shroud and ordered the wrong one and put it anyway.If your KJ did not come with HD cooling(or tow package) it should not have the bigger shroud.