Towing 17MKE with V6 Jeep Grand Cherokee

[Flip94ta]

Colorados can typically carry several hundred more pounds than a Jeep GC though. I suggest adding the weight of your passengers, dogs, cooler and whatever else you will have in the tow vehicle, then add 60lbs for the weight distribution hitch. Next add the 760lbs tongue weight to it. Is it over or under the tire pressure/payload sticker amount listed in your door jam?

The Jeep’s have a shorter wheelbase, it’s not ideal for towing a camper with. A Durango, Ranger or Colorado would be a better choice if you want to stay small.

[Second Chance]

well, it’s looking more and more like my dream of a grand design is going to be squashed. a new vehicle is not an option and they don’t make much lighter. we thought a v8 hemi with a higher tow capacity for a jeep would give us more options. starting to feel like not. even the lighter weight tt from other manufacturers that weight the same as this are advertised as suv towable. guess not.

What you're up against is something a lot of first-timers have to learn: it's not about towing capacity but rather payload capacity to handle the tongue weight. Yes - towing capacity and total trailer weight are important, but you'll nearly always hit the payload ceiling before the max towing limit. Here's a handy tool that will work no matter what brand of RV you're looking at:

http://changingears.com/rv-sec-calc-...eight-tt.shtml

Rob

[Flip94ta]

And please, don’t believe the marketing of ANY manufacturer that says their campers are SUV towable. It’s just bad marketing. Take any published gross weight of the camper and multiply that by 0.12 That’s a real number close to what you can expect. You’ll find that this number often exceeds what the hitch is capable of on the SUV. If you like interesting lighter campers check out GEOPROs.

That formula above for my 2500RL is 7500lbs x 0.12 or 900lbs. I’ve measured 830-920 with a scale.

The formula for a 17mke xls is 6400x0.12= 768.

[Flip94ta]

Out of boredom I just went over to peruse some Geo Pros since my friends just bought one. They aren’t showing you the GVW on the site. So on the 20’ model add the weight to the CCC to get the real number. So 3258 plus 1042=4300lbs gross.

4300x0.12= 516lbs. That’s a reasonable number for the Jeep GC. They are nice, I recommend Rockwoods, we almost bought one and cross shop them as GD often.

[Stealth13777]

As the owner of a 17MKE, but not one of the new ones with the Murphy bed (which I believe adds some weight), I can tell you our trailer loaded was right around 500lbs tongue weight on the scale, *with no water. It also weighed right around 5k (I don’t have the weight tickets on me), and so I usually run with 1/2 tank fresh water to increase the tongue weight, which in turn makes it actually pull better.

I can also tell you that regardless of weight, it pulls like a big travel trailer, because it is the same height and width, and only a little shorter on length. You feel the wind resistance, and crosswinds, more than some of the other smaller ‘light’ trailers. I’ll compare it directly with the RPOD we towed previously. Totally different experience. That RPOD was a single axle 170, so one of the larger ones, but that trailer is more aerodynamic and only 7ft wide, and you could very much tell. I pulled the RPOD with a Colorado, and wouldn’t want to pull this trailer with that truck, even though it could do so.

Lots of words to say that it can be done, but you will be pushing the limits more than some are comfortable with. If you don’t mind watching weights and driving a little slower, you can probably be within your vehicle’s ratings and the Hemi will have plenty of power. But if you want to effortlessly drive 70mph with one hand on the wheel with your current tow vehicle, a different trailer may be in order.

[Flip94ta]

Odd that your weight is so low. Here’s another post of a 17mke showing 716lbs.

Edit: I can’t show you that post per our rules, but you can google it.

Your weight is so low you have less than 10% on the tongue. That’s not safe. That also looks like a weight you would see before battery and propane tanks are added.

[Stealth13777]

Odd that your weight is so low. Here’s another post of a 17mke showing 716lbs.

Edit: I can’t show you that post per our rules, but you can google it.

Your weight is so low you have less than 10% on the tongue. That’s not safe. That also looks like a weight you would see before battery and propane tanks are added.

Very much aware, as I stated. It was actually right at 10%. Fully loaded, on a CAT scale. Completely safe if you keep the speed down. Just two of us, we don’t carry a lot, although we have once. The water weight makes the difference in towing stability, although we have also added a heavier bed and more tools to the front pass through since that weigh when I was setting up my hitch. I also have weights from a recent trip loaded heavy, but we were moving, so I don’t think they apply to a vacation trailer.

Also stated that GD has changed the setup with the Murphy bed and it may have changed the distribution. Surprised if it’s that much, although I could easily see that 700lb weight with fresh water tank filled. Can’t see the post unfortunately.

It’s all good data. Yours could be like mine (but I seriously doubt it would be lighter), or on the heavier side. A better data point would be the Murphy bed style trailer versus mine.

*Edit* saw that post. The OP had 7**, and the second post someone had 580. Huge disparity for the same trailer.

It also looks like Grand design thinks the Murphy bed adds 50-100# based on the difference in their listed dry weight now versus mine.

[webdesigngirl]

Out of boredom I just went over to peruse some Geo Pros since my friends just bought one. They aren’t showing you the GVW on the site. So on the 20’ model add the weight to the CCC to get the real number. So 3258 plus 1042=4300lbs gross.

4300x0.12= 516lbs. That’s a reasonable number for the Jeep GC. They are nice, I recommend Rockwoods, we almost bought one and cross shop them as GD often.

Believe me, I looked at them first. The 54 x 74 beds on those aren’t going to hold our fat butts. We are used to king sized sleeping, but could settle for queen. So, at 54 wide that just won’t work for us. We are far from being teenagers or 20 somethings who are okay with being cramped up together. LOL. Also looked at R Pods, but at 60 x 74 the beds are too short for my very tall husband. He would have to sleep with his feet either hanging off the bed or propped up on the wall. We are in need of at least a true queen (60 x 80), which neither of those have.

Also been hearing a lot of concerns about the quality of product coming off the Forest River lines right now. Apparently with production ramped up and units in high demand, they aren’t doing much in the way of quality control these days. At least that’s what I’m hearing from people who recently bought a FR product.

[ejheath]

I purchased my 17MKE in October and picked it up in March. I towed it home with my 2020 Jeep GC. I also had a blue ox WDH. My RV dealer said it would be ok as long as I stayed close to home. Tow capacity on mine was 6500#. It was ok towing on the highway but struggled on bigger hills. Stayed between 50-55 MPH. Backing it into my yard which has a slight incline was VERY difficult. My tires really spun out. So I went right out and bought a 2021 Dodge Ram 1500 classic. Big, big difference. I think the numbers are over the 80% of tow capacity. If you are going to stay close to home you might be ok with a WDH.

Good Luck