Advice on Towing with KJ

PFMCDM · **Joined:** Thu Nov 08, 2007 6:12 pm **Posts:** 14

I have a small lightweight aluminum boat - 14 foot and trailer. I will be towing it about 1000 miles to Florida with the KJ at somewhere about 60-65 MPH. I would like to know if you think I will have to take it out of overdrive for the trip. The terrain is flat interstate and I hate to have it doing the high revs if not really needed. What is your opinion or experience or tips towing something lightweight.

I don't want to hurt the trans or anything but it doesn't seem sensible to have it screaming in a lower gear either.

Thanks

BeepBeepJeepJeep · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:10 pm

Define lightweight...

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:11 pm

I take mine out of OD when its flat, straight, level, boring, nothing to look at roads and thats with a 6 X 10 enclosed trailer with a bunch of stuff in there. I would watch it close though temp wise etc.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 4:50 pm

Your trans OD is not ment to be used when towing.Lock it out of OD and live with the lower mpg's,that is just the nature of towing anyways.Anways you will only be pushing about 400 rpms more in 3rd instead of OD and you could actually lose more mpg's if you leave it in OD over locking out OD.

But by all means you can run it in OD but please don't complain when you ruin your tranny.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 5:00 pm

A 14' aluminum boat shouldnt weigh over 1500lbs if that. If it easily holds O/D without you giving it much gas and doesnt feel like its wants to down shift or unlock the torque then it shouldnt hurt anything.

If you see a hill coming let off the gas some and go ahead and push the O/D off button.

Just use your own judgment on weather or not you think it will hurt anyhting running in 4th. Its hard to tell since were all just sitting on the couch typing.

As tjkj said, when towing you should have O/D locked out so dont be surprised if you tranny doesnt last over 100k miles.

03kjsport · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 5:16 pm

i pull my 14er around with no prob's. across the state only but i can hardly even tell its on there.

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 5:40 pm

I hooked a very heavily loaded 6X10 enclosed trailer to mine at 121 miles and towed it over 250 miles, hauled 4 loads back and forth that weekend so I broke it in right, since that time I have towed it and another trailer to Boston and back , twice to Orlando and back and several trips all over Ohio moving friends and relatives.

At 108,000 mine is still going, so to those that keep saying NEVER, well you can do it, just be careful and if you see a hill hit the OD button off. A lot depends on how you take care of a vehicle and knowing how to drive with a trailer on.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 5:59 pm

So you let it go into O/D with that trailer tommudd? Was it completely flat?

I tried O/D once and mine wouldnt hold it at all.

trailer was a 6x12 but it wasnt heavily loaded.

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36530

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:16 pm

I tow in OD on flat highway without issue. I never use OD while towing on hills of if the load is very heavy.

15' Fiberglass Boat+Trailer weight for me is around 1000 pounds. So far no problems

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:14 pm

flat open highway, 75 mph and loaded for bear with the OD on cruising along at 2200 RPMs nothing like it :wink:

I am one of those people who are anal about maintenance on all of my vehicles but I run them hard all the time as well. If it can not hold up to me pulling a loaded trailer then I will build it better until it does or can hold , but so far so good! :wink:

SoDakJeep · **Posted:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:46 pm

i agree with everything said so far. I have towed my buddys 18 ft starcraft fishing boat plenty of times to the lake 20 miles away 65mph the whole way no problems. The flat land helps out wonderfully around here and I never click it out of OD

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Fri Aug 22, 2008 12:44 am

I guess if its completely flat you can do that but Ive never been anywhere that was flat enough for me to run O/D very long at all if I was towing.

I would think a 15' fiber glass boat weighs more than 1,000lbs sleeve. We have a 15' bass boat and I would say it weighs at least 2k lbs.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:04 am

Dry weight of boat = 410 pounds

Trailer ~ 250 pounds

Gear + sails + cooler of "drinks" ~ 200 pounds

Boats without motors are much lighter than boats that require gasoline and oils for power.

I do agree that traveling on the highway (through hilly country) requires you to be out of overdrive. Living in a flat state like Michigan or Ohio means that I rarely see any hills [let alone mountains] and lets me cruise around in OD. Then again, it is really about how the KJ behaves in OD when trailering.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Fri Aug 22, 2008 11:41 am

ohh, didnt know it didnt have a motor. Weight limit on our boat is 600lbs(without 55hp engine) so it weighs a lot more than that. Trailer is pretty HD too.

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Fri Aug 22, 2008 12:27 pm

My motor comes from paddle power when the wind dies down

XC204 · **Posted:** Fri Aug 22, 2008 12:49 pm

Twice to Colorado from Illinois OD in Il and Nebraska weight 1500# no OD it the mtn's or hilly areas

By xc204, shot with FinePix S5000 at 2008-08-02
HWY 50 Arkansas river east of Salida

tulsa · **Posted:** Sat Aug 23, 2008 12:06 pm

Jeepjeepster wrote:

So you let it go into O/D with that trailer tommudd? Was it completely flat?

I tried O/D once and mine wouldnt hold it at all.

trailer was a 6x12 but it wasnt heavily loaded.

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36530

Jeepjeepster,
A 6x12 trailer does not have to be loaded to be a load. The frontal area is plenty load. I am willing to bet the 14' boat and trailer will not be noticed except on those steep hills in Florida.

abrace · **Posted:** Fri Oct 03, 2008 3:49 pm

I know that this may be apples and oranges as I have a CRD with the 545RFE but I believe it to be the same gearbox is the 45RFE witout 5th gear. In any case I regularly tow a 5x10 enclosed trailer (very high, 6' of headroom inside of it) up through the white mountains of New Hampshire. The curb weight of the trailer is approximately 1,000lbs and I have about 1,500 of equipment in it for a total load of about 2,500 lbs. I do this every weekend at is 155 miles round trip. I leave OD engaged the entire trip except for one huge hill where it will hunt if I do not. I have a tranny temp sensor and I will tell you that the gearbox is cool as a cucumber. My temp sensor (in the pan) sits at about 130 degrees for most of the trip. When I get off of the highway and take some side roads it will peak out at about 175 degrees..I believe this is because I am not in TC lockup for most of that portion of the trip.

If you tow a lot get yourself a temp sensor and let that (and watch to see if it spends time hunting) be your guide for whether or not to lock out overdrive.

---Aaron

trac95ker · **Joined:** Tue May 23, 2006 3:02 pm **Posts:** 116

Letting the TCM decide when to lock and unlock the torque converter will usually create more heat than if you unlocked it yourself. The cooler can't always dissapate the heat. If it gets to hot seals can deform, fluid burns, stator clutch can seize or break etc.

A deeper pan and a temp sensor along with high quality fluid and regular changes would be best for the longevity of your tranny. Personally, I don't think light towing is a problem especially if your vehicle is not loaded down with gear. To be safe flick the OD off on hills. Downshifting the tranny on hills is a good safety measure too. I know it may cause more wear but it's better than overheating your brakes and loosing stopping power.

Advice on Towing with KJ

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