Towing question

[mwood65]

I have a pick-up bed trailer I pull to the dump about once a month.


My 74' Cherokee is very dangerous to drive pulling the trailer because the highway to the dump is curvy and when going around curves the Cherokee front end feels very light and it gets to swaying back and forth to where it's hard to steer and keep it on the road.


The trailer is less than a 1,000 pounds when loaded and it has almost no tongue weight (poor design) with it at a thousand pounds you can still lift the tongue by hand one handed.


I have to drive like 40 mph just so it don't get dangerous - low speeds it's ok but at 55 it's deadly.



Is it:
the trailer tongue weight? I can't believe putting more weight on the ass end would make it better...
Does the Cherokee just need new springs or shocks OR both?
Are Cherokee's just crappy at towing?


What do you guys who actually have towed think? I know the Wagoneer's were known to be towing beasts and the Cherokee is basically they same platform......

[rang-a-stang]

I don't have a ton of towing experience but one time I was towing a Uhaul for my son (in the wife's Pathfinder) and the tongue weight was really low. Maybe even a little negative? That trailer was all over the road. Towing the same trailer later, but with the weight moved way forward and it felt planted. Maybe you can add a little tongue weight and try it?

[jsinajeep]

Mike, you need more tongue weight. You need at least 10% to 15% of the gross trailer weight on the tongue.
If your trailer GROSS weight is 2500# you will need 250# to 300# of tongue weight.

[Tanker]

Please get more tongue weight before you become extinct. If you do have a thousand in the bed then you need 150 to 250 on the tongue. These SJs can tow just fine.There are videos out there showing the tongue weight and trailer wag. The only bumper pull trailer out there that does not need tongue weight is in the mind of the tower. Try borrowing your sons weight set and add about 200lbs. to the tongue. Then you can fix the trailer when its empty.

[mwood65]

Mike, you need more tongue weight. You need at least 10% to 15% of the gross trailer weight on the tongue.
If your trailer GROSS weight is 2500# you will need 250# to 300# of tongue weight.

Haha, it's the truck bed trailer I bought from you way back, it already has the whole "V" between the frame rails behind the hitch filled with concrete. Not sure how I can put more weight up there.
Maybe I just need to win the lottery so I can buy a new trailer.


Gonna buy a ticket tomorrow, one should be enough to win?

[mwood65]

Guess I can weld on a verticle steel pipe up front and slide some steel weights onto the pipe till I get the right amount.....

[jsinajeep]

Haha, it's the truck bed trailer I bought from you way back, it already has the whole "V" between the frame rails behind the hitch filled with concrete. Not sure how I can put more weight up there.
Maybe I just need to win the lottery so I can buy a new trailer.


Gonna buy a ticket tomorrow, one should be enough to win?

Ok,but yes you do need more weight toward the front of the hitch, not back by the bed.

[WT77]

Rather than add weight to the tongue, why not move the trailer axle back a bit? Just a thought.

[jsinajeep]

Rather than add weight to the tongue, why not move the trailer axle back a bit? Just a thought.

He has a J truck bed as a trailer

[rang-a-stang]

He has a J truck bed as a trailer

Really?!?! You are towing a J-truck bed with a Cherokee?!? Why no pictures?! I feel slighted for not seeing this sooner! I do not care if it is a rusty beat down barely recognizable bed, pictures must happen.

[jsinajeep]

Really?!?! You are towing a J-truck bed with a Cherokee?!? Why no pictures?! I feel slighted for not seeing this sooner! I do not care if it is a rusty beat down barely recognizable bed, pictures must happen.

I miss stated that. It should of been a "P/U truck bed".

[rang-a-stang]

Ah. Copy. Fair enough.

[mwood65]

He has a J truck bed as a trailer

It's not from a J Truck, it looks like an old dodge truck bed with big rounded fenders.

[mwood65]

Thanks guys, Health has been bad lately and haven''t been on much but you guys are always here to help when needed. I appreciate it, Thank You.



I will find a way to add weight to the front end.


I guess what was happening was the trailer was wagging hard and it caused the front end of the Cherokee to sway back & forth bad.


I was to busy trying to keep it on the road and not crap myself to ever look back and notice what the trailer was doing...



The front end would sway back and forth violently and you couldn't even steer it hardly. I was thinking something wrong with the Jeep, didn't consider the problem was the trailer swaying bad.


i need about 3-4 pieces of railroad rails about 2' long?

[babywag]

a utility type box loaded with steel, sandbags or bricks?
big water tank(s)
moving the rear axle

wags and cherokees NEED good tongue weight they aren't great tow vehicles to begin with due to short wheelbase.