What Size Travel Trailer Can A Jeep Grand Cherokee Pull?

A stunning blue Jeep Grand Cherokee on display, What Size Travel Trailer Can A Jeep Grand Cherokee Pull?You have your beautiful Jeep Grand Cherokee, and you want to take real advantage of it and get out on the road, you want to find the perfect travel trailer to take with you, so you have to ask, what size travel trailer can my Jeep Grand Cherokee Pull?

When it comes to choosing your trailer if you go just by the towing capacity you may be mislead into thinking it can handle a much bigger size of trailer, depending on the engine type and the tongue weight capacity the size of travel trailer a Jeep Grand Cherokee can pull ranges between 3,500 lbs and 6000 lbs, though the highest towing capacity is listed as 7,200 lbs.

What may seem to be solved by a simple case of looking at the maximum towing capacity of the vehicle as listed by the manufacturer, and then getting a travel trailer that fits within that range, does take a little bit more thought. We are going to look at what each of those factors is, and how they might affect your decision, and then we are going to give you some great options that fit what you are going to be looking for in a travel trailer.

Engine Type And Towing Capacity

The type of engine that you Jeep Cherokee has in it will impact how much it can tow, as you can see here.

Engine Type Towing Capacity Tongue Weight Capacity
3.6l Pentastar® V6 Engine 6,200 lbs 350 lbs
5.7l V8 Engine 7,200 lbs 500 lbs
6.4l V8 Engine 7,200 lbs 600 lbs
Supercharged 6.2l V8 Engine 7,200 lbs 600 lbs

What Are The Issues Of Towing With A Trailer?

Jeep Grand Cherokee pulling a Sonic travel trailer in beautiful Ojai ca.

It makes sense that driving with a trailer is not exactly the same as driving without a trailer and that you might experience some issues that you haven’t had to deal with before.

One of the first things to take note of is, how hot your engine is running when you are pulling that trailer. The last thing that you want to do is end up with an overheated engine because that can lead to further more expensive problems that are going to shorten the life of your vehicle.

Weight distribution can be an issue, because if you have it set incorrectly it is going to cause bouncing between the vehicle and the trailer, and this is going to make the steering not as easy, and it could damage your hitch and the frame of the trailer.

You need to make sure that you have taken your braking capacity into account when purchasing your trailer, and that your brakes are regularly maintained because you are definitely going to be putting a lot more strain on them.

A lot of what you have to keep a close eye on are regular things you would check with your truck, but which are just going to be affected more by the extra weight that you are towing. Your tire pressure is going to be something you want to monitor.

Keep the tongue jack or landing gear greased as well.

You may have all the numbers down, and have it worked out how much you can tow and what can be in the trailer, but it is still worth double-checking that it doesn’t look overloaded before you travel.

How Does Tongue Weight Capacity Figure Into This?

Tongue weight is actually a really good guide to safe towing. Your tongue weight capacity needs to be between 10 and 15% of the weight of the load which you are looking to tow. With 3000 lbs of weight, you are going to need a tongue weight capacity of 300 to 450 lbs.

Jeep Grand Cherokee on a road. Jeep Grand Cherokee is powered by the 3-liter turbo, direct-injection V6 diesel engine and by three petrol engine options: the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6, the 5.7-liter V8 and the powerful 6.4-liter HEMI V8 engine that powers the high-performance SRT model.

Why Is Cushioning A Good Idea?

You may be wondering how strict you have to be when it comes to adhering to the towing capacity that the manufacturer publishes for your vehicle.

The first question you might be asking yourself is, would it do too much harm to exceed the towing capacity? The answer is, maybe not initially, for one trip, but after a while, that extra added weight is going to affect your brake and your stopping capacity may not be enough.

Your tires are going to be under extra strain and might fail. The extra work you are making your engine do can cause it to overheat, which is going to cause problems with the drivetrain and the transmission.

Pushing it to the limit does not give you any leeway and doesn’t take into account the different conditions in which you may be driving.

You also have to adjust the amount downwards when you look at the tongue weight capacity of the hitch.

Taking anything to the limit does not really give you a safety margin, the first time that you take the truck and the trailer out you are going to want to be kind to the truck and to yourself.

What Is Dry Weight Vs. Real Weight?

This is an important distinction that you need to know when you are trying to work out whether or not the trailer that you are thinking of getting is going to still come in under the maximum towing capacity of your vehicle.

Dry weight is the weight of the trailer with absolutely nothing in it, and real weight would be the trailer plus all of the supplies and everything that you are packing it full of.

Does your trailer, with everything in it leave you enough room between the gross, or real weight of the trailer, and the maximum towing capacity to allow for a cushion?

1,500 pounds seem to be about the average weight of what people are adding to the trailers, so if you have a 2,500 dry weight, with 1,500 lbs of cargo, you are looking at 4000 lbs real or gross weight. This would give you plenty of cushion.

5 Great Lightweight Travel Trailers

There are a lot of great travel trailers that your Jeep Cherokee can haul. Here we have found five of the best options that you might consider.

1. Hummingbird

This great travel trailer checks in at 1,545 lbs to 3015 lbs. It has a fiberglass roof, tinted safety glass windows. You get 26-inch wide entry doors. A 25.6-gallon fresh water tank. You have vinyl flooring, a picnic table, a two-burner cooktop. It is a wonderful trailer and super light, which is going to mean you aren’t maxing out that towing capacity even when you are looking at the real weight. It sleeps 4.

Click here to see more.

2. Airstream

This RV trailer has dedicated sleeping space, a convertible dinette space, a kitchen that comes with all the essentials, and an on-board restroom. It has added safety features such as carbon monoxide detectors, in addition to standard fire extinguishers. It sleeps 4 people and has 2-floor plans that come in at under 3,000 lbs. It is a really attractive and very well equipped option.

Click here to see more.

3. The Coleman Lantern

This trailer is great, but is definitely on the heavier side, with the lowest weight floor model coming in at 5,754 at the dry weight. It sleeps up to 10 people, has power stab jacks, a power tongue jack, and is prepped for 4G LTE wifi. You are really going to be pushing the maximum towing capacity, and you are going to need to have the higher engine configuration, but it is a really beautiful RV.

Click here to see more.

4. Aliner Ranger 10

This trailer weighs in at 1590 lbs and has a standard gross weight of 2500-3000 lbs which would come in way under the towing capacity. It has some great standard features including refrigerator, dual propane tanks, off-road wheels, 4 stabilizer jacks, and it looks really nice.

Click here to see more.

5. R-Pod

The R-Pod has a dry weight of 2,338 lbs in the lightest configuration, which would if you take the average amount of cargo into mind, be well within the towing capacity of your Cherokee. It has 36-gallon holding tanks, and they have thought of your pets with the pet-friendly frame-mounted utility hook & food/water bowls. You can relax with the LED interior lighting, and you have your privacy thanks to the tinted safety glass windows. There is also the option of a bike rack. There’s a water heater, a Thetford toilet, and a refrigerator, and a two-burner stove.

Click here to see more.

What kind of hitch can you use with a Grand Cherokee?

There are a number of different hitches that you can use with a Grand Jeep Cherokee. A frame receiver hitch or a round tube receiver hitch would work perfectly.

What's the payload of a Jeep Grand Cherokee?

The payload of a Jeep Grand Cherokee is going to depend on the configuration that you have, but it ranges from 1,237 to 1,987 lbs.

Conclusion

There are a lot of great trailers out there that meet your requirements, and which you are really going to enjoy. All of the data that you need in order to make a safe choice when it comes to your choice of a travel trailer is available, so you just need to do your due diligence and make sure that it all adds up.

The numbers that the manufacturers give you are tested and are definitely designed to make sure that you have the safest possible experience. Going outside the parameters that you are seeing may not necessarily affect you the first time you do it, but why gamble? You are not just taking a risk with your safety, but with that of others around you as well.

Hopefully, the above data has provided you with some food for thought, and some good options that will help you to find the trailer you have been looking for. Have a great time.

 

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6 Comments

  1. These pop ups ad from gummi are fucking annoying while trying to read your article
    Make them stop I’m looking at an article about weight capacities of a Hrand cherokee pulling a Rv
    Why the hell do I need an obnoxious repetitive Marriott add popping up!!

  2. I am looking at a limited v6 with the trailer package, so it should tow 6200 lbs, you show the tongue weight as 350 lbs, is that a mistype where it should say 620 lbs, or is that correct?

    • I think the article is inaccurate. Payload is largely determined by the suspension. If you get the tow package it comes with “normal” suspension (vs “eco” without the tow package). And 4×4 gives a little higher payload, too – indicating they bump up the suspension more.
      I did some builds on Jeep’s website and payloads range from ~1100# to ~1400#. Subtract passengers, fuel, and other weight to get the tongue weight capacity – roughly.

  3. I just discovered your side I think it’s amazing. We have pull trailers for 13 years started a little later in life. The issue now is I drive an Audi Q7 which has a state of towing capacity of 7700 pounds however you cannot use any type of a weight distribution of stability system. Sway scares me to death the fifth wheel was so stable but I’ve already experienced running without the weight distribution hitch no fun looking at purchasing another tow vehicle I purchased a 22 foot our pod 196 and wondering what you might think about that it’s been very frustrating. I am afraid to pull on the ball with just a sway tab bar. To the advertisements it’s part of today’s world on the Internet and yes it is frustrating but people don’t need to be rude.

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