[Kirby]

Thanks for the information. My experience towing my 23ft, 5000lb trailer from Minnesota to Colorado and back was good (around a 1000 miles each way). I found a legitimate role for the paddle shifters when ascending or descending the mountains or long up or down grades. Pulling a trailer with a Jeep is a little more intense than just driving. The stopping distances and some of the wind issues play a definite factor. What I noticed most is the suction I feel just prior to being passed by a semi. It sucks you around a bit but not too bad. My milage tended to be in the 13 to 14 range driving between 55 and 65 mph. This past weekend I drove without my trailer from Minnesota to Ann Arbor, Michigan - a 600+ mile trip and got 30 mpg which made me happy. I found the accelerating with a trailer easy with the diesel. It has lots of guts. It tends to be a little less responsive if you step it down at 60mph while trailering. When going 60mph I felt it worked better in 7th gear rather than 8th. Using the paddle shifters helped maintain the lower gear.

 

[Casper2]

I target 20mpg and speed up or slow down to accommodate...... It ends up being about 58mph. Its a Limited 4X2. and the trailer weighs in at just under 3500.

 

[lou]

Towed a 24 foot travel trailer, Harmony 26FBS, weight under tow about 5,400-5,500. Used load distribution bars, towed nicely. Generally stayed below 65 on a trip to South Jersey from Massachusetts, and return, total miles about 700 under tow. Got 14.5mpg on the way there, 13.5 on the way back. I drove a bit faster on the way home, being more comfortable with it, plus on the leg down there was a lot of traffic on I-95 in CT that kept our speed down, well below 55 for a lot of the time.

I think if I tried for 70 mph, I might be able to get 13mpg. If I was happy with 55-60 mph, she might just out 15 mpg. She has power to spare. Up really long grades the coolant temp would rise, the needle going to nearly 3/4 of the way to full hot, but would fall right back down once we were back on a flat section or downhill. Normally it sits below the halfway mark. Outside temps were not very high - about 80 degrees. AC was on, never had to turn if off.

Oil temp stayed at 235 or below, trans temp peaked at 197, usually stayed at 195. Tire pressures 37 or 38 all around. Trailer pressures 62 psi, all four.

There are no good towing mirrors that I can find for this car. The universals barely let you see down the side of the trailer, and vibrate/blur the whole time while driving over 20 mph.

This was a first time tow for me with a travel trailer. I bought the Mopar trailer brake thinking it would be the best choice. That thing is crap - it is a progressive time based model, has no inertial sensor, and models with similar (in)capabilities can be had for $30, rather than the $105 I shelled out to the dealer. Once I figured out it was not what I wanted, I bought the Prodigy P2, mounted it via velcro on the top left of the dash - where I can see it properly - and it worked very well. Wires can mostly tuck behind the trim panel.

Anybody want a Mopar elec brake controller, just let me know!

- Grandee

 

[lou]

Wow, I was ordering the Moper Brake controller too. It hasn't come in yet and I was going to cancel the order. Thanks for the heads up!!!

 

[kaulaiemed]

I'm towing a 25' that weighs about 6500lbs loaded. I spent a little time at the scale to get the torsion bars on my hitch set up just right. It takes a lot of spring to get enough weight to the front so the rear isn't overloaded. With three people in the vehicle I am right at the GAWR front and rear. There are no problems with power. I do find the temp gauge climbs quite quickly on hills and am anxious to see how it performs on long mountain passes. Stability is OK but not great. Semi's running along side on the freeway really suck it around a lot - much more than the pickup I used to use. Mileage is about 13 mpg for me but my trailer has a lot if frontal area.

Hello,
I am considering to buy a GC for towing of 6000 lbs RV trailer. Have you resolved the heat issues with your GC?

Thank you

 

[Phil C.]

Hello,
I am considering to buy a GC for towing of 6000 lbs RV trailer. Have you resolved the heat issues with your GC?

Thank you

There are NO heat issues with the GC Diesel. Diesels are designed to run hot.....if you lug the motor, EGT temps will get high but, please note, the motor will shut itself down if you go outside normal parameters. I have not read ANYWHERE that a GC Diesel has shut down due to an overheating issue.

 

[lou]

Mine never ran hot either. At 5200 mi now (since labor day). Really solid vehicle.

 

[mountain_gal]

We were really surprised with the rapid rise in temperature when pulling a relatively small travel trailer up a 6% grade. Reading this and other forums has convinced us that this is expected and that nearing but not crossing into the orange section of the temp gauge is "normal" operation. (Now why can't that just show that in the Owner's Guide!!!). Anyway, I contacted Chrysler for temp ranges and finally received an official response. I thought I would post it here since I know that many are using their Scan Gauges to get actual numbers.

=========== copy from e-mail ============
Thank you for contacting the Jeep Customer Assistance Center.

According to our records, your vehicle was equipped from the factory
with the following:

8-Speed Automatic 8HP70 Transmission
3.0L V6 Turbo Diesel Engine

The temperature gauge shows engine coolant temperature. Any reading
within the normal range indicates that the engine cooling system is
operating satisfactorily.

The gauge pointer will likely indicate a higher temperature when driving
in hot weather, up mountain grades, or when towing a trailer. It should
not be allowed to exceed the upper limits of the normal operating range.

Low end of normal 130 °F
High end of normal 252 °F

Engine oil and transmission fluid temperatures are typically 20 °F
hotter than the engine coolant temperature.

 

[RobbWood]

My 2014 Ecodiesel GC tows 3,000 lb travel trailer much better than my 2012 Liberty did. Added weight of the GC and the diesel pulling power is sweet. We're real happy with it.

 

[kayakmike]

This is our new tow setup. Did a trip to the desert a few weeks ago. We were close to 7000 lb. Hardly felt the trailer. Engine started getting warm at the highest point (~3600 ft).

 

[Parry]

There are NO heat issues with the GC Diesel. Diesels are designed to run hot.....if you lug the motor, EGT temps will get high but, please note, the motor will shut itself down if you go outside normal parameters. I have not read ANYWHERE that a GC Diesel has shut down due to an overheating issue.

I disagree that there are no heat issues with the diesel. Pulling close to capacity up long grades will cause it to run to the brink unless you gear down and cut your speed way back. It must be managed and is a white knuckle experience. Power is not the issue. Heat is. Experienced it many times and my driving style is not the issue either. Outside of pulling up long steep grades with a close to capacity load the GC Diesel is flawless.

 

[Mpgtow]

I disagree that there are no heat issues with the diesel. Pulling close to capacity up long grades will cause it to run to the brink unless you gear down and cut your speed way back. It must be managed and is a white knuckle experience. Power is not the issue. Heat is. Experienced it many times and my driving style is not the issue either. Outside of pulling up long steep grades with a close to capacity load the GC Diesel is flawless.

Parry
Wondering if you used a scan gauge or similar to review what the actual temperature was reading ? I'm sure it was close to that orange mark, but was it in range of previous post of 252 degrees max? Just curious how accurate the idiot gauge is?

 

[urbangirl211]

We are towing a North Trail 22FBS with our 2014 JGC Summit Eco-Diesel. So I guess you can say the interior is 22 feet, but overall, from tip to tip, it is 30 feet. My questions to all of your are what are you using for your hitch system? And because the Jeep has Trailer Sway Damping, are you still using sway bars? We have been using both weight distribution hitch and bars and sway bars and still getting sway. We've had different people look at our setup, make adjustments, but still have sway. Someone told us today because if we have the Trailer Sway Damping, we shouldn't use sway bars so we tried that, but that's no good either. Getting very frustrated. Just want to be able to pull with confidence. FYI, our trailer weighs 4700# so even loaded (and we load pretty light because we're mostly weekend campers at this point), we should easily be accommodating the 7200# towing capacity for the 4 x 4.

Also, a dealer told us today that we have to put the vehicle into towing mode before towing or we will ruin the transmission. We could't find what he was talking about on our dash. My husband uses the paddles when we're towing our trailer. Do you know of such a mode?

 

[John E. Cutler]

We have a 2014 Diesel Grand Cherokee with rear wheel drive. I towed my 3000 lb sailboat on a 1500 lb trailer on a round trip from Houston to St.Petersburg, Fl a year ago February. It is a single axle trailer. No problem with sway. We got 19 MPG towing the trailer at 65-70MPH. JEC

 

[Terex]

We are towing a North Trail 22FBS with our 2014 JGC Summit Eco-Diesel. So I guess you can say the interior is 22 feet, but overall, from tip to tip, it is 30 feet. My questions to all of your are what are you using for your hitch system? And because the Jeep has Trailer Sway Damping, are you still using sway bars? We have been using both weight distribution hitch and bars and sway bars and still getting sway. We've had different people look at our setup, make adjustments, but still have sway. Someone told us today because if we have the Trailer Sway Damping, we shouldn't use sway bars so we tried that, but that's no good either. Getting very frustrated. Just want to be able to pull with confidence. FYI, our trailer weighs 4700# so even loaded (and we load pretty light because we're mostly weekend campers at this point), we should easily be accommodating the 7200# towing capacity for the 4 x 4.

Also, a dealer told us today that we have to put the vehicle into towing mode before towing or we will ruin the transmission. We could't find what he was talking about on our dash. My husband uses the paddles when we're towing our trailer. Do you know of such a mode?

Is your tongue weight within range?

 

[Volvite]

I used to own a 2008 Nissan Pathfinder w/ 5.6L V8. It would pass anything on the road but a gas station. This spring we bought a Jayco JayFlight 28BHS with a dry weight of about 5200lbs and total weight not to exceed 7200lbs. My Pathfinder would only get 7-8MPGs when towing, even down hill. So over memorial day weekend I borrowed my brother's 2015 Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel and towed my trailer from Utah to Yellowstone. Average mpgs there was 14.1. I towed the trailer with my Pathfinder on the way home and only got 7.


So after my experiment I ended up buying a 2015 Overland EcoDiesel myself the last weekend in May. Family has a big reunion at Mount Rushmore this summer and I look forward to using my new Jeep. I have some weekend trips planned local first just to work out any kinks but I don't expect to see any. No picture of my Jeep and trailer but I should after the upcoming trips.

 

[urbangirl211]

As far as I know, yes. But we are going to try installing the Hensely hitch system later this week and hope that makes all the difference.

 

[Casper2]

Perhaps you should rent a U-haul or borrow an equitable trailer in order to eliminate the trailer..... or if possible have someone tow yours with another vehicle. My trailer is very similar to yours and no problems. I don't use a sway bar. How the trailer is loaded, tire inflation, the amount of water being carried and on coming traffic can make a difference but I'm sure you are familiar with all of that.

 

[MFD]

Do you have the self leveling suspension?

 

[Volvite]

Do you have the self leveling suspension?

Who was your question directed too?

I do have a 15 Overland with the Diesel and it does have the self leveling suspension. However when you set up your WDH you need to turn the self leveling suspension off.