I have been thinking about using my Jeep to tow my Jayco Jayflight X213 lately as it may get a little better MPG's than my truck and I want to take it on trails down in southern Utah while camping. I have been a little hesitant about it because my trailer is pushing the limits of the Jeep in terms of weight and length(5500 lb GVW/24' tongue to bumper.) That said, I bought a Prodigy P3 electronic brake controller and got it wired in over the weekend so I finally hooked up the trailer and took it for a spin.

The Setup:

Hitch = Equilizer 1000 lb/10000 lb 4 point WDH with sway control
Suspension= OME HD front springs/shocks with JBA top plate & OME Rear shocks with JBA 2.5" springs+extra ISO
Engine = Custom Intercooler + Flex Fan Mod + Self tuned to 400 ft-lb/200+ hp

Setup:

I didnt adjust my Equalizer hitch specific too the Jeep. I had been using it on my F150 and kept the head angle settings the same. When I hooked up the trailer it crushed the back of the jeep and lifted the front. Once I got the spring bars locked in place the front of the Jeep came back to the normal 21" hub-to-flare height that it sat at unloaded. The rear was also at 21" unloaded and ended up at 19.5" with the trailer and WDH in place. This is about right, I think they usually say the rear should be about 1" lower than normal and the front should sit at the unloaded height so that you know the full weight of the axle is back in place for steering and braking reasons. If I was to tow it again I would think about removing the spare tire off the jeep and put it in the trailer. This would help get the back end up a little.

Stability:

I was honestly surprised how stable it was going down the road. Yesterday was very windy here and I got the trailer up to 70mph on several occasions in cross winds with no drama. Occasionally I would get a little twitch but nothing dramatic and no white-knuckling. It handled bumps fine and passing Semi's at 65 mph was not an issue. The WDH kept the rear from whallowing around from the trailer weight. Instead the Jeep and trailer would hit bumps as one unit.

I drove some 50 mph 2 lane roads, a stretch of straight 65mph highway, a curvy section of I80 with 45mph truck speed limits, and a 55mph winding road along the side of a reservoir.

It was not as stable as my F150, but that is 6200 lbs empty and as a 157" wheelbase, so that is to be expected.

Brakes:

Braking was fine. I never felt like the trailer was shoving me. The Prodigy uses g sensors to adjust the rate of braking on the trailer and, while havent really dialed it in yet, I found it to be a little clumsy. It would start out light and then come on strong. It was almost like there was a feed back effect where the prodigy would sense me braking, add trailer brakes which caused it to slow faster, which then would cause to add more brakes. This happened when coming to a stop where you would all of a sudden feel the trailer brake hard.

I am used to my 2014 F150 with the factory brake controller that is 100% proportional and driven off how far you depress the brake pedal, not g sensors. That thing is fluid and you barely know the trailer is ever back there because it always uses the perfect amount of brakes.

Engine/Trans/Power:

As I suspected, power was lacking. I could get up to cruising speed and hold 65mph in 5th gear on the flats but having a GDE Transmission Tow tune would definitely be helpful because it likes to shift to 5th at 60mph where it couldnt maintain speed. I found myself leaving OD Off until 65 or 70mph, which was semi annoying. Having 4th gear up to 70mph would be perfect(GDE Trans tow tune)

I had to climb a couple of big grades. One was a 7% grade for a couple of miles and I was WOT in 2nd gear at 4000 rpm doing 45mph. Not fun. The other issue is that there is a total dead zone in that 50-55mph range where the jump from 3rd to 2nd is too large and it would cause the Jeep to go past redline. It would sit in 3rd at <2500 rpm constantly losing speed until it finally had enough RPM's to jump to 3900 rpm in 2nd where it would hold the speed. This was obnoxious. For anyone who says more gears is not a good thing, yes it is.

On a slightly less steep climb(maybe 4%) it was able to chug along in 3rd and I even made a pass on a guy doing 55 mph in some beater 70's Ford pickup.

The jeep stayed cool. It was only 60 degrees but I have had cooling issues in the past while not towing, so this was a good sign. Seems the Flex Fan mod is doing a fantastic job. There is no way I would have been able to pull for 5 min straight at WOT like I did and not have the temp gauge move. It stayed rock steady right where it should.

Lessons Learned:

I need a new torque converter or I have to reduce the torque on my tune. I could get this thing to hammer away no problem in 4th and 5th and even a little in 3rd.

The Prodigy needs some fine tuning to really work well. Its no where near as nice as the brake controller in my truck.

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2006 CRD - GTB2056 turbo by Dieselguy86, Eco Trans Tune, Lift Pump, Week's, HDS Tstat, Racor Filter, ARP's, OME 790's+Top Plate, JBA 2.5", JBA UCA, Moab's+265/75R16, ARB Bull Bar, 4.10's, TrueTracs

Why were you towing up a hill in 2nd gear at 45 mph?
Why not turn OD-off and use 3rd gear at 45 mph and about 1900 rpm?
With OD-off, the TC will be locked at that speed and your transmission will run cooler.

I think that you will definitely want a lower stall TC.
Or switch to 4.10 gears.

If you plan to keep towing, I’d switch to 4.10 gears. Much better overall and probably cheaper in the long run.

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U.S. Army Retired

Because it couldnt hold 3rd gear, I was losing speed WOT in 3rd until it finally got down low enough to be able downshift to 2nd. I did have OD off.

I did let out in 2nd cause it was spinning the engine so hard.

Yes, I agree, 4.10's are going to happen. I just bought Truetracs for the front and rear so I plan on doing the 4.10's with those. I am also searching for a TC. Obviously the suncoast is considered the best but I really dont wanna drop $850 on this thing. I already spent a lot on it in the last year.

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2006 CRD - GTB2056 turbo by Dieselguy86, Eco Trans Tune, Lift Pump, Week's, HDS Tstat, Racor Filter, ARP's, OME 790's+Top Plate, JBA 2.5", JBA UCA, Moab's+265/75R16, ARB Bull Bar, 4.10's, TrueTracs

Friendly advice: Don't make a costly mistake like I did on my Dodge Cummins, I went through two other converters along with the install labor costs before finely opting for the much higher priced SunCoast.
1800$ (ouch) in the box at the time of purchase and still had to pay labor for install.
If I had it to do all over again, obviously I would have purchased the SunCoast first and saved a lot of money.

So when I decided to upgrade the TC in the Jeep, I went straight for the SunCoast, I did not want to make another costly mistake...
SunCoast TC in Dodge has worked perfectly for many years now, pulling 10k load as well as Jeep SunCoast TC works perfect pulling a 4k load. No slippage in either.

There may other TC's out there as good and less costly than a SunCoast, but I cannot speak as to their performance since I have not used them.
But I definitely know the SunCoast TC's works and works well....

*Note: TransGo kit and front pump replaced at time of Jeep TC install

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Supporting Vendor and Moderator of LOST
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I plan on doing it myself and if I go with something like a the Florida Torque converter it will be <$200. If it doesnt work I can pull the trans and put in the suncoast or equal and Ill only be out $1050 or so.

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2006 CRD - GTB2056 turbo by Dieselguy86, Eco Trans Tune, Lift Pump, Week's, HDS Tstat, Racor Filter, ARP's, OME 790's+Top Plate, JBA 2.5", JBA UCA, Moab's+265/75R16, ARB Bull Bar, 4.10's, TrueTracs

the FL tc for 'direct replacement' on the crd liberties is the 13-35. I believe it's around that $200-210 amount you mentioned. I believe it is an upgrade for what the OEM installed.
Their 13-35LS- SD is not really listed anywhere in their catalog. I don't know why either!! It does have a lower stall than the above mentioned 13-35.
It runs $550. Of course, it's what they ultimately recommend too
as per my email to them;


Marcin <ftc906@comcast.net>

Feb 9

to me

Best one we offer and recommend is 13-35LS SD is a low stall ,billet ,high
carbon clutch and hd splines with hd damper.
$549.00 + shipping.
Thank you

I don't run either the suncoast, nor the Florida one. (gotta have a running engine first!!)
So I can't say which is 'better'. I plan on the Florida one strictly based on saving 300 bucks!

_________________
2006 KJ CRD, bought 9/11/14, 70,500 miles. Circulating Rotella T6 5w-40
11-3-14 oem stat installed
11-5-14 gen II FH installed.
Sasquatch elbow kit, samcos, GDE eco FT. 11-26-14
80,500 miles, engine is disassembled, awaiting parts 3/18
Budget?? Sure! 'Everything I have'.
New "Pet" name for My Jeep; 'Soul Sucker'

I spoke with one of the FTC guys on the phone. he said their T/C's are good for 250 ft-lbs over the stock ones.

As a side note, the 13-37 is the hemi TC and is listed as "low stall" vs the 13-35 that is listed as "medium stall". I believe he said medium = 1800 rpm and low = 1500 rpm.

I didnt know the pricing on the billet unit so thanks. $550 aint bad. The have the 13-37 S/D as well.

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2006 CRD - GTB2056 turbo by Dieselguy86, Eco Trans Tune, Lift Pump, Week's, HDS Tstat, Racor Filter, ARP's, OME 790's+Top Plate, JBA 2.5", JBA UCA, Moab's+265/75R16, ARB Bull Bar, 4.10's, TrueTracs

Kerry@americanhotrodsolutions.com
318-208-4184
Amateur Radio K5EMU

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