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.