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Towing ?

N

nib

Active member
City
Hernando
State
FL
Hey folks. Currently building my 8, OME suspension, original 4.3 (going to be rebuilt), 4.11 gears T 176 trans, 33" tires. Looking to see if any of you folks tow small campers? Like pop ups and such. Thanks Mark
 
I put a heavy hitch on mine because I'm always moving trailers and such. Most people on the internet go bonkers when you mention towing with a jeep CJ. I had a friend that towed his sailboat 120 miles ever so often to put in the water. His was a CJ7
But,
Like I said you are not gonna get a warm reception when talking about towing.
 
Most of the issues of towing with a CJ are more about stopping. Brakes are pretty marginal with 33’s, add a camper and it could get pretty scary quickly.
 
I would say if you are staying around the Florida area it’s probably not a problem at all. I towed a 17 ft Mako with a 115 hp Johnson with my CJ7 and 4 cylinder and I was under powered and overweight, but those are well made and heavy boats. Towing a camper to North Carolina or Colorado might be a lot to ask though.
 
Interceptor said:
I put a heavy hitch on mine because I'm always moving trailers and such. Most people on the internet go bonkers when you mention towing with a jeep CJ. I had a friend that towed his sailboat 120 miles ever so often to put in the water. His was a CJ7
But,
Like I said you are not gonna get a warm reception when talking about towing.
Click to expand...
Man you hit the nail on the head with that one. A little back ground currently doing a frame up with the thought of pulling a small pop up style trailer during retirement. Secondary type roads (no highway stuff) around the southeast and possibly further. No rush to get from point A to point B try to take in the sights instead of always driving past them. Thanks for your input. I will keep digging and if needed change my plans.
 
John N said:
Most of the issues of towing with a CJ are more about stopping. Brakes are pretty marginal with 33’s, add a camper and it could get pretty scary quickly.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Was looking at rear disk conversion.
 
Belizeit said:
I would say if you are staying around the Florida area it’s probably not a problem at all. I towed a 17 ft Mako with a 115 hp Johnson with my CJ7 and 4 cylinder and I was under powered and overweight, but those are well made and heavy boats. Towing a camper to North Carolina or Colorado might be a lot to ask though.
Click to expand...
Well...... Another nail in my coffin of good ideas.
 
Another question for you folks. Currently planning on having my original 4.3l (90000 miles) rebuilt by Titan engines. Clifford intake / exhaust and Howell throttle body. My gearing is 4.11 and the Manuel is a T176. Plan on running 33's what is a nice sweet spot for rpm with this motor for cruising. I can change my gearing if required. Check out this gearing calculator really nice.

Gearing Analyzer with Shift Tracer

Enter gear ratios, tire and diff ratio to analyze RPM vs velocity at shift points with tracer
www.blocklayer.com www.blocklayer.com
 
I have a 258 4.2 with Holley efi and T176 with 3.54 gears and tires at 31 & 33s. I really like mine with 33s off roading and just going down the road. I do have 4:1 gears in the transfer case and that makes a big difference off road.
 
I built an overlanding trailer out of a Bantam BTC-3 and I put an axle with trailer brakes on it with a controller in the Jeep. I can feel the trailer braking the Jeep for a fraction of a second with the controller set the way I have it.

As was said, braking is the big thing. I have FSJ axles with bigger brakes on my Scrambler and towing has never felt unsafe (always using the trailer brakes).

I have had a 4.0 and towed the trailer all over the country at 70-75 with 35s.
 
Last edited:
bigwalton said:
I built an overlanding trailer out of a Bantam BTC-3 and I put an axle with trailer brakes on it with a controller in the Jeep. I can feel the trailer braking the Jeep for a fraction of a second with the controller set the way I have it.

As was said, braking is the big thing. I have FSJ axles with bigger brakes on my Scrambler and towing has never felt unsafe (always using the trailer brakes).

I have had a 4.0 and towed the trailer all over the country at 70-75 with 35s.
Click to expand...
Thanks.
Looking at disk brake conversion for rear and Willwood brake master. Trailer would be under 2000# with brakes also.
Still researching thanks again for your input.
 
Look at the Navaho duel diaphragm booster and m/c from Off Again Off-road. I’ve been running one for years and it was a major improvement in braking.
 
The CJ-8 frame is a lot wimpier than the CJ-7 frame at the back due to the way they extended the base CJ-7 frame for the 8. Suggest to add some reinforcement to the mount points or add material forward of the hitch.
I added this hitch - but had to modify the sides to get the forward tie ins to work.Screenshot from 2025-08-01 18-05-08.png
 
Mancunian said:
The CJ-8 frame is a lot wimpier than the CJ-7 frame at the back due to the way they extended the base CJ-7 frame for the 8. Suggest to add some reinforcement to the mount points or add material forward of the hitch.
I added this hitch - but had to modify the sides to get the forward tie ins to work.View attachment 118410
Click to expand...
Nice.
Thanks for all the info. At first you ask a question and lots of folks (good intensions) give feed back. All appreciated then you start to dig deeper. And it appears to me the Jeep was made to go of road and haul anything. Not a large camper at current highway speeds. So that being said we have folks that 4 wheel all over this country enjoying these 8's. And then we have folks that bought these cool vehicles 20 years ago with visions. Now as time continues my rock crawling has tempered and that is cool. My question is if you were to build a cool functional 8 what would yo change or modify. I take all your responses and put them on the white board from hell and digest.
Thanks folks really appreciate
 
A/C. Driving somewhere of distance is getting harder to do in the summer with no a/c nor top, because it’s hotter with a top on.
 
Belizeit said:
A/C. Driving somewhere of distance is getting harder to do in the summer with no a/c nor top, because it’s hotter with a top on.
Click to expand...
Ya got A/C. Just went through hell up grading / reinventing the A/C on my XJS build. Florida takes no prisoners.
 
Mancunian said:
The CJ-8 frame is a lot wimpier than the CJ-7 frame at the back due to the way they extended the base CJ-7 frame for the 8. Suggest to add some reinforcement to the mount points or add material forward of the hitch.
I added this hitch - but had to modify the sides to get the forward tie ins to work.View attachment 118410
Click to expand...
I did the same on my CJ8, very stout.
 
I tow a tear drop camper with my CJ-8 all over. Some trips being 1000+ miles round trip. No worries other than comfort is a little primitive by todays standards. Braking is fine with trailer brakes.
 
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