anyone towing with a mid 90's grand cherokee?

[89sandman]

picked one up this summer to use for my tow vehicle, have just about got the new trans done and will be using it the first time this weekend. how do they do in a couple of feet of fresh? a lot of times the parking lot we ride out of has not been plowed, have got studs and chains. do you tow with the overdrive turned off? how does the all wheel drive do? this was the main reason i wanted the cherokee, figured best to always be in 4 wheel heading up in the winter here is always an adventure!!! anything i should look out for? has the 318 and will only be towing 1 or 2 sleds so should have plenty of scoot. any problems with only chaining the rear wheels?

 

[bparks]

towing with jeep

i have a 97 grand cherokee and 96 the 97 has all wheel drive goes better throw snow and tows pretty good just did not like long mountain passes in colorado but most normal towing works great love the jeep. the 96 has selectable four wheel and sucks in snow and towing i dont know why the all wheel drive goes better on bad roads but it does . you should like the jeep to tow with i do good on gas and will tow two sled like not there .

 

[800 RMK]

I use the G/f's 98 JEEP GRAND 4.0L at times, We use it in the summer to pull a 17' Bayliner too. 2 place aluim. trailer in the winter. I usually turn the O.D. off when pulling. After pulling with my truck, and then using the jeep. The toys look awfally close behind ya.........lol

 

[eyeles rmk]

My wife had a 95 jeep Grand Cherokee. We towed twice with it. Both times the roads were icy and nasty. Both times I had to slow down to about 5 mph. The trailer had a tendency to pull the back around. Two place trailer with one sled in the middle. I liked the thing otherwise.

 

[team2]

Also used to have a driveable 94 Grand Cherokee with the v8 and that thing was awesome...You could bury it in the snow and still drive right out...Unfortunately never got to tow with it as I was going to put a new hitch on it and a cold air intake but the tranny went out and now it is parked out back...

Anyone want a brand new in the box K&N Cold Air Intake System for their 93-95?

$150 shipped

 

[Rixster]

My dad had one when i was 16 or 17. I used it to tow 2-3 sleds all the time. It went pretty good. Seams like it was a 3 speed automatic with over drive? I dont remember ever getting it stuck. We were off road a lot to get to our cabin. had about 1 mile of dirt road that was NEVER plowed to get to a parking spot.

 

[polarisfornow]

i had a 98 grand 5.9 limited and loved that thing. they tow pretty decent for just 2 sleds or whatever as long as its under 3k Lbs. when i had mine i had an inline 2 place and that was the best towing combo i have ever owned in terms of comfort and drive ability.

 

[Gimpster]

My wife has one I can't get her to give up. We have towed a lot of stuff with it and no issues. It has the 4.0 engine in it. Pulling a load I would kick out the overdrive up hills. Only thing I do is set the drive band a little tighter than spec when servicing the transmission and when we first bought it I turned up the valve body pressure over the stock setting. This tranny is just a glorified mopar 904.
The transfer case has a viscious coupling in it. If you are not in 4x4 and notice it jumping while turning on pavement, or even a slight tug like it is in 4wd when turning and not in 4wd, the transfer case fluid is dirty and is making the viscious hang up. When I worked on Jeeps back when these were new, they recommended quadratrac fluid in the transfer case. I cured many of these units from the viscous from hanging up by changing the fluid, take it out in 2wd and turn doung figure 8's on pavement for a while then draining and refilling the transfet case fluid again.
The wife's jeep is starting to do this again. I went to the jeep dealer to get quadratrac fluid and they would not sell it to me saying the new 7176 ATF from mopar is what needs to be in it. Thinking they were wrong I tried it. It is not the right fluid for the viscious in the transfer case, believe me. It did not cure the problem. Next time I go in to get fluid I am not telling what it is for and getting what I want. It will cure the problem with the right fluid in it.
We have pulled a two place trailer with heavy longtracked thundercats on the trailer a lot of time and even my 4 place open trailer. Had to be carefull on the mountain with the 4 place as far as braking needs to be anticipated. Also when I raced Legends cars, I had a semi enclosed trailer we pulled for trips that races were around 100 miles away. Pulled it with the Jeep. The car alone weighed 1100 lbs and the front of the trailer was packed in it's enclosure with tool boxes, jacks, fuel, spare tires, parts and so forth. Jeep pulled it great.
We run the Quaker semi-synthetic oil in it and it has over 250,000 miles on it now. At 60,000 miles it had new pistons put in it under a jeep warranty piston recall
This is about all the issues we have had with the unit chassis wise. They are known for breaking wiring where the doors open (inside the big wire harness rubber boot) so the power windows quit working. I soldered in a short piece of wire in each wire there to keep down the flex so the wires don't break again so soon. Also known for rear wiper motors going out. If you need one of those I have 2 spares.
Hope this info helps, air filter and oil changes and go.... good unit.

----- Gimpster -----

 

[Mafesto]

If you have to tow with a midsize, Grand Cherokee is far & away the best option out there.
Obviously a full size will control the mass of the load better, but a GC with Quadratrac
and good tires is as surefooted as a damned billygoat!

Off topic, but with no trailer, I would prefer a GC over any other vehicle of any size on ice.

 

[KFD070]

Towed 2 sleds on a tilt deck all last year with my 1997 Jeep Cherokee. 318 has excellent pulling power. Better than the 4.6 liter in my 2005 Ford 150. Traction in deep snow, such as parking lots, was not great but the tires were all seasons and about 50% worn. Got it stuck in the parking lot twice last year. Up hills you should always take it out of overdrive. Tranny cooler or not you risk frying then tranny when lugging up hills in overdrive. The all time 4 wheel drive is great on ice and snow but............these things are PIGS on fuel!!!!!!!!

 

[Rixster]

Your talking about the FULL SIZED grand cherokee right? Not the smaller mid sized that they changed to some time in the nineties.

 

[Gimpster]

Your talking about the FULL SIZED grand cherokee right? Not the smaller mid sized that they changed to some time in the nineties.

gimpster

 

[snowrunner]

What year is it. They made some changes in '96 but they are all good. I've had my '95 grand for about 10 years and love it. I pulled my 2 place trailer anywhere I wanted to go. With the right tires, it blasts through the powder up to the sno-park. I had to get a fullsize truck after picking up an enclosed trailer but did pull it for a season before getting the truck. I did alright but 40ish was the max on the hills and a little scary going down. Most V8 ones come with the all wheel drive and you don't even notice it. Probably the best all around rig I've owned. I've put mine through snow, sand, rocks, muds and it just keeps ticking.

Tracy