Not quite powerful enough to tow?

[Wakko]

I took the '07 on a 400 mile round trip drive on Sunday to pick up a "new" bike, and as with the last time I towed a motorcycle, it seems to juuuuuust be lacking in power. In OD, you can do 60 without much issue, but anything above that it will downshift, accelerate, then slooooowly drop in speed. Plenty of power with the OD off, but then the motor's hollerin' pretty good and the fuel economy is even worse. The weight of the trailer/bike isn't too much, but the wind resistance from this cube is kicking the Lib's ass.

Should I try to squeeze some more power out of the motor? Cold air? Muffler? It's the wife's Jeep, so I don't want to do anything crazy, and we're running on one income, so I don't want to kill the fuel economy either.

ETA: I'm running a 12" extension, so I do need to beef up the ass end a little too.

Thanks, guys.

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[rockymountain]

Leave the OD off. Anything else will cost you a butt load of money.

 

[tjkj2002]

Yep keep the OD off and keep the speeds to 60-65mph and you'll be fine.Towing and good mpg's do not go together.

 

[dmblair78]

Do what everyone said about the OD and DONT waste your money on a cold air intake!

 

[Wakko]

Darn. I have kin up in Tennessee and they offered us some high end furniture. Was gonna trailer up there (in the mountains, too) but now I'm rethinking it. Fuel economy getting there with an empty trailer, then getting down the mountain with these ****** brakes. Might be worth renting a UHaul with brakes of its own.

 

[tjkj2002]

Darn. I have kin up in Tennessee and they offered us some high end furniture. Was gonna trailer up there (in the mountains, too) but now I'm rethinking it. Fuel economy getting there with an empty trailer, then getting down the mountain with these ****** brakes. Might be worth renting a UHaul with brakes of its own.

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I hauled that trailer,full at 4200lbs,from Ft Lewis WA to Ft Carson CO and got 16mpg's.My KJ at the time of that pic was around 5000lbs,I kept it out of OD and the speeds between 60-65mph and that 1500 mile drive was anything but flat crossing the Rockies.No issues with braking,trailer had no brakes,and no issue with pulling it either but I did have 4.10's but running 265/75R16's.

 

[Wakko]

Wow, that's pretty impressive.

 

[sota]

towing is a balancing act. yes you're going to lose fuel economy. yes you need to be out of OD (at least at the right moments) so as to not be beating on the trans too much. if you're having braking problems then maybe you should deal with that first, or find a trailer with brakes.

 

[Wakko]

I haven't had any problems, however I'd be concerned coming down a steep road with a trailer. The driveway at my family's house is scary steep, though it's paved at least. If I were to attempt that with the trailer loaded up I'd leave it in first and ease it down. Driveway isn't that long at least. I gotta see if we have a picture of it somewhere. For a flat-Florida boy I expect all my roads to go N/S/E/W and vary in height only when going over another road. :Big Laugh:

 

[tjkj2002]

I haven't had any problems, however I'd be concerned coming down a steep road with a trailer. The driveway at my family's house is scary steep, though it's paved at least. If I were to attempt that with the trailer loaded up I'd leave it in first and ease it down. Driveway isn't that long at least. I gotta see if we have a picture of it somewhere. For a flat-Florida boy I expect all my roads to go N/S/E/W and vary in height only when going over another road. :Big Laugh:

Shift into a lower gear in the trans(1 or 2) and keep off the brakes as much as possible,you will still need to use them just don't ride them,short and steady use of the brakes to allow them to cool.

 

[frekeyguy]

Bought my used Liberty, picked it up Friday at 5PM, at 8PM Installed a hitch.

Next day picked up a motorcycle to work on.....towes just fine.....sure it doest have a ton of pep...but it does just fine.

CLOSED trailers = horrible on MPG....if your moving bikes, all you need is a light weight open trailer.

Also, Tongue weight is VERY critical. If unhitch my trailer with one bike on top, I can manage to get it re-hitched myself. There is some tounge weight, but not tons.

Here is my KJ towing two sport bikes *(street trim) with fluids. prob around 1300LBS or less. As you can see the tops of the bikes are barely at the roof line, and my trailer has a VERY high deck, and runs 12" tires. So there is minimal wind resistance. My tow rig is a tad longer than the KJ also.

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[Atrus]

Just keep in mind that after 55-60 mph, fuel consumption goes up exponentially. We're driving 4,000lb+ bricks. Hurl that up and down a mountain with a trailer on it, and the impact of speed on mpg is huge.

 

[Dave]

I have towed 5,000lbs in the mountains with no issue. Stay out of O/D for sure. Sometimes need 2'd gear going downhill and take it easy. Make sure your trailer brakes are adjusted right. If the ****** starts downshifting you are not in the right gear. Use 2nd gear if you have to going uphill (depending on grade and curves) to stop the ****** from shifting around. That way you get a smoothe uphill tow and the ****** stays in 2nd gear and will run cooler.

On flat highway once I get to 65 I shift it back to O/D. No strain on anything and I can get 16mpg as long as I stay on flat highway. Otherwise I keep O/D locked out.

Dave

 

[tjkj2002]

Just keep in mind that after 55-60 mph, fuel consumption goes up exponentially. We're driving 4,000lb+ bricks. Hurl that up and down a mountain with a trailer on it, and the impact of speed on mpg is huge.

Before the SFA swap and not towing I got my best mpg's on the highway at 78mph with 4.10's and 265/75's which was almost 22mpg's.At 65mph the trans would hunt often for gear and I would never get above 14-15mpg's at that speed.

 

[SabaII]

Before the SFA swap and not towing I got my best mpg's on the highway at 78mph with 4.10's and 265/75's which was almost 22mpg's.At 65mph the trans would hunt often for gear and I would never get above 14-15mpg's at that speed.

I agree with tjkj. There is no one set magical number that fuel economy suddenly gets worse. Ever wonder why the national speed limit and the number at which your fuel economy supposedly drops off are the same?

 

[sota]

Bought my used Liberty, picked it up Friday at 5PM, at 8PM Installed a hitch.

Next day picked up a motorcycle to work on.....towes just fine.....sure it doest have a ton of pep...but it does just fine.

CLOSED trailers = horrible on MPG....if your moving bikes, all you need is a light weight open trailer.

Also, Tongue weight is VERY critical. If unhitch my trailer with one bike on top, I can manage to get it re-hitched myself. There is some tounge weight, but not tons.

Here is my KJ towing two sport bikes *(street trim) with fluids. prob around 1300LBS or less. As you can see the tops of the bikes are barely at the roof line, and my trailer has a VERY high deck, and runs 12" tires. So there is minimal wind resistance. My tow rig is a tad longer than the KJ also.

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I love my copy of that trailer. Harbor Freight 4x8 folding 1100# capacity.

 

[sota]

oh and frekeyguy... I can do you one better.

bought my jeep on a thursday night. at 9pm I was in the dealer's lot installing the hitch to tow my CAR home that I drove out in to buy the jeep. towed the dolley out behind the car, then towed the car home behind the jeep.

my first 90 miles of ownership were towing.

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[J-Thompson]

To the OP
We towed my TJ wheels down with the KJ
It weighs in at 3900#
It has no brakes and the aerodynamics of a brick
Worse than your trailer
I could easily pull it at 70 in OD and get 15ish mpg
Pulled it 200+ miles 1 way more than once
Braking was not bad at all and I found the go to be
ok considering

Now we just got the wife a '12 Pathfinder
It has 50 more horses not sure on the torque specs
but I want to say it was also +50 or so
The Pathfinder is also body on frame and rated to
tow an extra 1000# over the KJ
So when the night time temps get below 70* in 2 months
I will be taking the same trip and can report back
When I

 

[Wakko]

It's amazing the different tow experiences you guys have had. Some folks have no problem getting good MPG and towing in OD, others are like me. Weird.

I know an open trailer would be more efficient for the bikes, but it's hard to justify buying one when I have access to this monster. If I knew I was going to be towing bikes alot more I'd consider it, but I don't do it all that often....a few times a year. The extra security and room is nice.

 

[Atrus]

Before the SFA swap and not towing I got my best mpg's on the highway at 78mph with 4.10's and 265/75's which was almost 22mpg's.At 65mph the trans would hunt often for gear and I would never get above 14-15mpg's at that speed.

I agree with tjkj. There is no one set magical number that fuel economy suddenly gets worse. Ever wonder why the national speed limit and the number at which your fuel economy supposedly drops off are the same?

Agreed that there is no one magical number for all vehicles, as Troy just pointed out. 265/75's on 4.10's is different than my 235/75's on 3.73's.

From what I have seen, I my MPG's drop going 80 vs 70, and I get much better economy rolling along at about 60 that I do at 70. Below that, I don't see much of a savings.