Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

Hi all,

I found a 1992 Jeep Cherokee Laredo for sale that matches the paint scheme on my boat perfectly! It is the automatic trans, 4.0L 6 CYL engine. My boat is a 1990 18' Bayliner Cobra on an escort trailer. Has anybody pulled a similar boat with a similar Cherokee? What can I expect as far as pulling, stopping, unloading, and loading? Best regards!

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

I towed my 21' Whaler with a 96 Jeep Cherokee Laredo...no worries.

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

You are in very good shape, that Jeep will be fine with everything except stopping so make sure you have brakes on the trailer, I think you will be very happy with that setup

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

I just bought an '04 GC with the same engine and all wheel drive....have not towed with it yet but it feels more than capable. I see alot of them at the ramp but I don't know (yet) how they do on the highway.

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

+1 for brakes on the trailer. My only concern is the short wheelbase of the Jeep. In a panic stop the trailer could push the Jeep around, sort of like the tail wagging the dog if you know what I mean. Been there done that, had a Jeep and it towed my 18 footer just fine until that day I had to do a panic stop. Boat and trailer were light enough, that legally it didn't need brakes but I probably wouldn't have been in trouble if it had them.

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

wheel base for a 92 is 101" the same as my old blazer which never gave a hint of problems. The newer cherokee has a 114" wheelbase which is close to what some pick-ups have. I have towed with a jeep CJ-5and it was a white knuckle chore but the wheelbase was only 83" and a very light vehicle much different than the Cherokee. I think your cherokee is factory rated to to tow up to 5000# and max of 500# tongue weight.

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

Open driver door and read the specs or manual. trailer brakes are a good thing.

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

I have towed 2 different wooden inboard boats over 20 ft. my 92 Jeep didn't even shift down from over drive on the hilly sections of 81 in northern NY state.How ever this new car at the time had a poorly assenbled heater box, a passenger door that didn't shut right,a
leaky water pump, new from the dealer. When I traded it 26 months and about 26,000 miles later the wiper mechanizm was sloppy,the FM side of the radio didn't work,The push button latch fell out of the tail gate.All this was on a basic design that had been on production for 11 years. I couldn't wait to unload it;but it was powerful and could get about 21 on the highway.Not bad for a box with a straight 6 that was designed in the 1960's.

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

You'll have no issues. I've towed my #3100 boat/trailer combo for years with my Cherokee with no issues. Braking has required some planning, but I found out last year that my trailer had no working brakes (which I had long suspected).

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

First of all, thanks to everybody that has responded to this thread. My trailer does not have breaks... "hopslover" mentioned that stopping requires some planning. I am assuming that means a longer stopping distance and paying attention to what lies on the road ahead. If that is all it takes, I feel confident using this Jeep as a tow vehicle. I will probably invest in trailer brakes though down the road. Thanks again everybody!

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

At a minimum give the brakes a good once over and adjust the rears real well, possibly upgrade the pads on the front(dont know what you run now). Have you had any of the typical jeep cherokee radiator/cooling/water pump issues? If not and depending on what kind of miles are on it you will. Just a fact with that timeframe jeep cherokees. Ive owned a number of them and they ALL had cooling issues of some kind. Just make sure the waterpump is in good order and watch for rad. leaks and you should be fine. Never had cooling issues with the cj's (4) that I owned but did with all the 90's circa cherokees I owned.

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

i know a few guys in my area that have pulled comparable boats with the same setup. id say it'd be fine.

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

towed my 1993 Ciera 2255 with my '94 xj limited, and went well, only had to do it a couple of time a year, i changed the gears from 3.55 to 4.10 but then had 31 inch tyres so was back to the equal of standard, also had 4 inch lift and all was good, but as stated i maintained the trailer brakes and it was all on country roads

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

Thanks for the suggestions Utahboatnut... I was unaware that cooling issues are typical for 90's Cherokees. This particular cherokee has 106k miles. Do you suppose that regularly replacing the water pump would prevent these issues? If and when the rad. starts to leak, will it be necessary to replace it, or will I simply need to refill coolant levels more frequently? Any info would be SUPER appreciated.

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

tybouff said:

Hi all,

I found a 1992 Jeep Cherokee Laredo for sale that matches the paint scheme on my boat perfectly!

Click to expand...

You are considering this vehicle because it matches your boat's color scheme?


Probably be better to have your doctor prescribe you some medication for your OCD......then you can search for a tow vehicle more objectively.

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

Biggest thing is the waterpump (in my experience) they do sell a higher flow unit which I found to be a great option when replacing. Yes just keep an eye on the rad. if it gets a bit low just top off as needed. I personally wouldn't reccomend the stop leak crap thats out there but thats just a personal opinion, it can sometimes lead to more problems down the road(heater core comes to mind) I also found that a good flush once a year was a great help, the prestone kit is about 5-7 bucks and takes all of 5 minutes to install as per the packageing. Power wise that is a great engine thats only getting broken in @ a hundred grand. I sold two cherokees (94-96) and both had over two hundred on the clock and ran great. I used a autozone replacement radiator in the 96 it was pretty reasonable, had a lifetime warrantee, took 1/2 day to do the changeout but was a cool runner after the new install. Just keep an eye on your temp guage and if it starts to display higher temps than usual its telling you its "that time". Good luck...

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

We owned one of those, they tow just fine. We never felt under powered or felt like the trailer was going to push us.

I now tow my 22 foot Axis with a 2007 Wrangler. Even though I am 800 lbs over the max tow rating, the Jeep tows fine and stops fine.

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

I have towed a 20' Four Winns on a single axle trailer, with both my 98 Grand Cherokee ZJ (4.0 six, Selectrac 4x4, 4 wheel disc brakes) and my 07 Grand Cherokee WK (5.7 Hemi, Quadradrive II 4x4, 4 wheel disc brakes). The older ZJ style Grand (93-98 model years) is similar to the XJ Cherokee (84-01 model years) but is a bit larger, heavier, has 4 wheel disc brakes and coil spring suspension in the rear, vs the Cherokee having leafs. And let me say this, when I bought the boat the trailer did not have brakes. The 98 ZJ Grand, even with 4 wheel discs, could barely stop that boat and trailer. Towing over 30 mph was dangerous. The next summer I put on a set of surge drums on a new axle I had made by Champion Trailers and it made all the difference in the world.

My advice to you is do not try towing that boat, with a stock XJ Cherokee, with no trailer brakes. It is dangerous, plain and simple. If you ever have to make a panic stop, the weight of the boat will push you right through a red light or stop sign. The cost of adding brakes is cheap insurance. The stock XJ Cherokee is a vehicle designed close to 30 years ago. The OE brake system is marginal for a loaded vehicle WITHOUT a trailer.

The 4.0 Six is capable of pulling that load and the AW-4 (Toyota built) auto trans is a good unit. The brakes like I said are a weak point, and the rear suspension is not capable of dealing with more than about 300 lbs of tongue weight without significant sag. Most people who tow often with Cherokees wind up replacing the rear leaf springs with heavier duty units. I put Air Lift air bags in the coils of my 98 Grand and it eliminated all the rear sag.

Modern Jeeps have much better brakes, my 07 WK Grand has great brakes and phenomenal power from the 5.7 Hemi. I can easily pass most of the traffic on the road while towing the boat. Stopping is no worries, but even with the much bigger brakes on the WK Grand, I would still have trailer brakes.

You can buy a whole system from Champion Trailers, Eastern Marine and other vendors. I had a new axle made with brake flanges and added 10" diameter drum brakes (at the time, disc systems were troublesome, they are better now). Since I put on the system, (back in the summer of 04) I only had to replace one wheel cylinder. Drums need more maintenance than discs, but they can work very well when properly maintained.

Re: Anybody Tow With A Jeep Cherokee?

I tote my 18 foot, 82 Four Winns with an 01 Cherokee. No worries. More than enough power. The only thing close to an issue is stopping. I can get a lil "push" when I make a short stop. I am considering adding trailer brakes. I think they will allevieate my "push" issue. You may want to consider them as well.