Towing with my Renegade

Peepers · **Joined:** Thu Jul 14, 2005 9:16 am **Posts:** 2

Hey guys,
I got a question regarding towing with my 2003 Jeep Liberty Renegade.

I currently also own a heavily modified 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GST with approx. 350 HP and I would like to take it to the drag strip soon. However, I would prefer to tow it there rather than drive it. Reason for towing is because I prep the car into race trim at home (save time at the track) and just in case something brakes I can tow it back home. I saw that UHaul rents these "auto transports" : http://www.uhaul.com/guide/?equipment=autotransport . My Eclipse weighs approx: 3053 lbs, so I'm inquiring if my Renegade with the factory tow package (Class III) can tow all this weight safely?
What do you guys think?

Thanks
Peepers

hoss75 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 14, 2005 10:16 am

Official towing capacity is 5,000lbs so you'll be fine, (assuming the Uhaual isn't over 1,000lbs)but you won't be winning any races with that much wieght behind ya.

DoverKJ · **Posted:** Thu Jul 14, 2005 10:34 am

You could always go and buy an aluminium(sp?) trailer from http://www.aluminumtrailer.com. They are much lighter then a steel trailer, but a lot more expensive. The 16' trailer's curb weight is 880# and the 20' is 1115#

Just a thought.

Brian

OKJeep · **Posted:** Thu Jul 14, 2005 10:48 am

You would be just over the official 5,000 lb limit with the Uhaul trailer (2,000#).
I suspect if you're not going too far, you'd be fine.
Definitely get a break controller installed before doing so though.
I've hauled a Featherlite aluminum trailer (1,300#) and a Miata (~2,200#) over 2,000 to Mid-Ohio with no problems at all (except for a couple of blow-outs that f'd up a $300 fender), but that is 1,500# less than what you're looking at.
Slow and easy, you'd be fine.

Peepers · **Joined:** Thu Jul 14, 2005 9:16 am **Posts:** 2

Thanks for the replies guys ....
I guess I got a couple more questions ......
1) I was reading in the owners manual that it's recommended to take all these "switching to netural" steps before towing. What are the point of these? Can't I just load the trailer on the hitch, put the jeep in Drive and go? - it's a 4X4 with select track. I currently tow a Seadoo (1000 lbs max). I load the trailer on the hitch and put her in drive and away I go. I've had no issues thus far, am I doing something wrong or bad?

2)Since I'm new to towing larger weights, what's the purpose of a break controller.

Thanks
Peepers

hoss75 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 14, 2005 9:41 pm

he means a brake controller.. they control the brakes on the trailer so that the trailer helps you stop.

OKJeep · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2005 1:41 am

That is for a trailer with it's own brakes. It ties into your brake system to utilize the trailer's brakes instead of the Liberty's. Most larger trailers will have brakes.

I don't know about the "switching to neutral" thing. I just hooked up, made sure everything was working right and went on down the road.

Yippers · **Joined:** Thu Jul 07, 2005 11:21 pm **Posts:** 1

Switching to neutral ... Is it possible you were reading about towing teh Liberty .. not about towing WITH ?

AmericanMetal · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2005 5:01 pm

The switching to neutral thing is only to tow the (Liberty) with another vehicle. That's why there is a neutral location on the 4 whl drive handle between high and low gear.

The trailer you're looking at is 2k and the car is 3k. It puts you at the limit for towing. You also have'nt added yourself of gear you're about to bring to the track so now you exceed the tow weight.

A brake controller is a must, a weight distributed hitch adds towing safety.

If I were you and you have front wheel drive apparently, I'd look into a car dolly from u-haul.

WV(0)IIIIIII(0) · **Posted:** Sun Jul 17, 2005 10:39 am

Quote:

That is for a trailer with it's own brakes. It ties into your brake system to utilize the trailer's brakes instead of the Liberty's. Most larger trailers will have brakes.

It does not tie into the brakes it wroks off of the 12v electrical system to help stop the weight of the trailer by activateing a large magnet on the trailer brakes. I would suggest that you have a trailer with elec brakes and the controller installed in your Jeep before leaving with that much weight. Also it is key to try and compress the suspension on the car when attaching/straping it to the trailer to help with sway on the trailer. I have put a large ammount of weight behind my Libby and you had to start to stop about a mile away with the standard brakes. Also note that you will have to switch out the trailer light plug-in on your Jeep to a seven plug/pin. I'm not a truck driver or anything but my brother and I haul his 72 Mach1 to the dragstrip all the time and trailer brakes play a large role in this.
Chris

Towing with my Renegade

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