How much have you towed with your manual ******?

[KJ zGal]

Just wondering what anyone's ever towed weight-wise with the 5-speed manual transmission. I know the manuals are only rated to pull 3500 lbs, but I really don't understand why. They're the same engine, and it seems like they'd actually be a bit more powerful than the automatics. I got talking to my cousin up at camp this past weekend and he was telling me he figured it would pull more than the rating because those are typically for sustained towing, i.e. day after day after day, etc. He has a trailer that weighs 4300 lbs and pulled it up into the mountains with a Dodge Dakota manual V6 and had no trouble at all. What are everyone's thoughts on this?

 

[tjkj2002]

Your clutch is the weak link and what is keeping the towed load under 3500lbs,basically the clutch can not handle it(has more to do with it's size).The 5 speed manual's offered in the KJ's are not a very strong trans either to begin with,the 6 speed offered in '06 was a much beefier trans but the clutch is still the weak link.

As far as the auto trans being able to tow more is due to the torque converter.

 

[J-Thompson]

not only is the clutch the weak link but I would bet that better than 90% of the general public do not know how to tow with a manual trans
when they go to stop they press the clutch
this puts all the stopping power in the hands of the brakes
trailers are pushing you when you slow down so they are lifting the rear ,most of the breaking is on the front of your vehicle making it so that the rear end can slide out very easy
the auto trans will cause some friction and braking power when you let off the gas
giving better control

this can be easily tested
get going to 60mph and push in the clutch and go to neutral ,you will roll for a very long time
do the same in an auto but only let off the gas ,you will slow much faster

 

[adamkrz]

I've been towing my 3600 pound pop-up camper for the past 3 years without any issues, I've always been a manual transmission fan for everything except extreme 4 wheelin. My liberty is a 2004 5 speed 3.7

 

[brucebotti]

The Libby I just purchased for towing is an automatic, but I do have a lot of experience towing with a Dakota v-6 manual, which is pretty close to the Libby in towing capacity.

The limiting factor is to make sure that the weight of the trailer does not exceed the weight of your tow vehicle. When I towed a car trailer (with car) that weighed less than 4000# , I had no trouble as long as I towed in 4th gear. When I went up to 5000#, I had no issues pulling, but I had problems going down hill. The car/trailer combo would start "pushing" the tow vehicle. If I didn't keep applying the trailer brakes, or accelerate, I would get a bad swaying condition. I suspect that this would be more of a problem with the Libby due to its shorter wheelbase.

I will be putting a hitch setup on my Libby soon and will post my towing experience. My plan is to limit the car/trailer combo to 3500-4000#.

Just my $.02!
Bruce

 

[sleeve]

Can someone confirm the theory that the tow vehicle weight needs to weigh more than the towed load? A tractor-trailer combo or a 1ton with a 5th-wheel setup are two examples that I can think of where the trailer weighs more than the the tow vehicle.

I always thought swaying was from improper setup, too much speed or something like towing more weight than the vehicle was designed for?

I've never had a problem towing with the Liberty - but then again, I try to stay under the tounge weight maximum.

 

[Powerslave]

Well, as a matter of pure physics, you should not tow anything that weighs more than your vehicle. Whatever your towed object decided to do, your vehicle will be following... You tow the weight MAX, what the manual says to tow, anything else (more) is unsafe.

 

[sleeve]

So again: You are saying that a 1-ton truck weighs more than the 5th wheel it's pulling? Or that a Semi truck weighs more than the trailer and load it's pulling?

 

[Powerslave]

5th wheel towing is a "coupling" -vs- just hitching up to a pivot point on a ball. The pivoting surface of the 5th wheel is immense compared to the 1" ball, which your optimal pivot point is at the TOP of the ball anyway. You have tongue weight restrictions with a simple rear frame or bumper hitch, that, with to much weight; will rip the bumper off, or pull the frame down or tear the hitch off.

The 5th wheel, distributes the weight to the entire frame of the towing vehicle from the TOP pressing down, unlike the hitch, that PULLS only the rear vehicle down when weight is put on it. Even when a 5th wheel mount, is mounted in a pick-up, the mounting is done specifically so the bulk of the frame carries the weight.

You cannot compare the 5th wheel "king-pin" mount, to a simple ball hitch. The 5th wheel is designed to mount the trailer, and have it perform like it is PART of the entire vehicle, due to the 5th wheel design and how they are mounted. You cannot get the coupling effect you get with a 5th wheel, with a simple ball hitch...

 

[Powerslave]

Dunno how this got a double post, so I just edited this..

 

[sleeve]

OK, that makes sense. And thus - it's all in the setup.