3/4 or 1 ton CJ7...that could tow?

SHINTON

SHINTON

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Location
Triad area of NC
Wide open topic here...and possibly could be reclassed as chit chat but put here for couple reasons:

1st...assume opposite for the moment, taking a std tow vehicle, like say a reg cab pickup, 3/4 ton or 1 ton...lift it etc say running 37" BFG M/Ts or so...where do we cross the line and it becomes not really safe to tow? (I have seen lifted duallys, crewcabs, etc still towing but assume at some point you have compromised the items that made it a tow rig?)

So that would be one topic/discussion/makes this tow rig related...

Then the flip side of this question is my subject:

What got me thinking about this was seeing the nice metal scrambler tubs in a magazine/catalog this weekend...and it got me thinking what would it take to make a cj7/8/whatever, scramblerish rig into a "safe" tow rig / PLAY toy?

In this case I would be willing to sacrifice the trailability to gain the towability...

My first / early thoughts on this and the parts I would want comments on, (as well as enhancements and suggestions)


Frame = again, you can order new ones but not much reason not to build a "custom" frame if/as needed.

Axles...not much not to use a set of full size axles from a 3/4 ton or 1 ton application... Detroit in rear, arb or elockers also considered...

Springs...ah this is the gotcha I think for towability. My assumption is you could either use, 1 ton leaf packs, front and rear...or have a custom set of springs made with this application in mind? Weight will be "slightly" less than a similar reg cab pickup, but not dramatically so? Less worried about my RTI score vs tow ability, locked front and rear it will go "lots" of places offroad anyway...

Ok...so with that in mind...we have wheelbase...scramblers are 105-110ish right? reg cab pickups are same (w/ short beds)...maybe another 10" for reg cab long beds...

What else am I missing that makes it a "good" towing vehicle? I assume a good cage in this case, tied into frame will give it all the needed strength vs a vehicle with a "roof"

350/granny low 5 speed, 205 tcase...

Towing....a camper? I am sure we could easily get away with towing a pop up...my question is could we build one reliable and safe enough to tow 6000lbs travel trailer? (Brakes on the camper, brake controller in the Jeep)

I have eyeballed the Jeep Unlimiteds for this same reason, but Jeep is still rating them at 3500lbs and I wonder if that is not more due to 6 cyl not to mention coils springs, and d44ish axles

Toyota FJCruiser is rated for 5000lbs...

Jeep Grand Cherokees are up to 7000ish lbs (similar wheelbases)....

I know the normal reasons why we dont haul jeeps on trailers behind 1/2 pickups/zjs, etc...

Anyway, would love to get like minded brains chewing on this....my reasons behind this would be nice to have a convertible at the beach when I tow my camper down there...not to mention the ability to trail ride some too.


and yes...a used H1 is a possibility, I was "watching" a gas powered/350 version with 18k miles last week or two with buy it now of 35k...really not that unreasonable compared to buying a new tow rig....
 
Before I even got to the end of your post I thought you should get an H1. So there ya go..get a Hummer! One of my good friends used to have a nice white one with tan leather interior. I drove it once around town and felt like a Rock Star. Get an Alpha...that way you can get a Duramax and Allison trans.. :D
 
there was a H1 for sale up here not long ago, not sure if it sold, but i think he was asking 30k for it.

as far as the scrambler idea goes, it sounds good on paper atleast,. would seem to be plenty fine for a small camper/pop-up.. but not sure how much campers weight, 6000# seems heavy to me.
 
I think a lot of it depends on the amount of lift and the size tires you put on it. If you kept it to like 33's and 4-inch lift or less, it would work, based on the fact that you're designing this vehicle with towing in mind, and keeping a *specific* towing application in mind, not thinking that it will tow whatever you want to hook to it. Good that you are planning on a decent wheelbase.

If you just want full convertible, you could buy a nice 1975 and older Blazer or GMC Jimmy, which would weigh more than a Scrambler, and would make a 1-ton GM axle swap real easy.

I have towed this much weight with my 1990 K5 - 106.5 inch wheelbase. It worked, but could have used more rear spring (or a weight dist hitch). Towing with my Burb was way different - because of the extra rear spring and wheelbase (and smaller tires), I couldn't feel the trailer trying to move the tow rig around like I could with the K5. I think if you have this type of vehicle set up right and can use a weight-distributing hitch with sway control, it should work.

For rear springs, get whatever springs ride nice when not towing, and then add airbags to the rear to use when towing. Set it up so the airbags don't get in the way of flexing (or don't get damaged when flexing).
 
Take an F150 4x4 short bed, rip the body off, weld on scrambler body mounts. You are done. I would not want to build a custom frame that would be towing 6k. Get a couple things out of line and your rig is wasted. Use an existing frame and drivetrain and all you could end up with is a crabbing scrambler. You probably wouldn't even need to lift it to fit the 33's. You could also look for an earlier F250HD and get a better towing setup that still fits the wheelbase. About the worse thing you might have to do is shorten the back of the frame so that the bumper isn't 10 inches past the back of the tub.

edit: It wouldn't be a rock crawler, but you could end up with a perfectly capable trail rig that will pull your camper where you want it.
 
thecarman said:
If you just want full convertible, you could buy a nice 1975 and older Blazer or GMC Jimmy, which would weigh more than a Scrambler, and would make a 1-ton GM axle swap real easy.
Click to expand...

Ok, now your just messing with me, heh (for those that don't know I sold my 72 GMC Jimmy a couple years ago when getting more hard core)

Mentioned getting another one of those to the wife but the answer was a solid NO! :D

Figured I had a better chance of slipping a CJ by her..but prob the best chance will be the H1. (Or if Jeep "mans up" and sticks the v8 in the new 4 door wrangler)

Sam
 
SHINTON said:
Ok, now your just messing with me, heh (for those that don't know I sold my 72 GMC Jimmy a couple years ago when getting more hard core)
Click to expand...

Man I didn't even think about that - that's funny! :)
 
Not sure I'd do this, but at the DR a few years back... Donavan was broken at the rock ledges on SchoolBus.... during the "repair", we hear something rattling like a mutha... getting closer....

Finally we see a F350 (PSD!, 4x4, SRW w/ 3' bed, camo'd, bumpered, winch, lifted, locked, & 38"-39"s) coming up the trail! WTF over? Driver says he got bored and decided to wheel the towrig... trails were "too easy" for his well built Jeep... he pulled the rocks & ledge at an IDLE and off he went...

Wasn't your average FS rig (you know, 20" of lift to clear 35"s), but I'm not sure about towing with it either! IMHO, "C" range tires have no business on 1ton towrigs. Interco does make some "E" range tires that might do well under a heavier rig too....
 
We towed my zuke when it was on 31s w/ 4" lift etc. upto paragon with dustins H1, we used my lifts 6x12 utility trailer so ~were were about 4k total trailer weight. It towed 'ok' we held 65 most of the way. I'm not sure what year his was or if it was turbo'd or not and im sure that would play into it.. But inho your not gonna be happy pulling anything with a gas hummer. They are very heavy vehicles to begin with.

I think your full size truck plan would work, you could easily get a 1ton rig to tow well and do fairly well offroad. Biggest different is you'd have more engine/tranny options. Reguardless the bigest thing would be to know your limits so your not stuck with a broken tow rig..
 
If you want to play offroad and tow, buy a duece. They'll amaze you at what they can do offroad. Be sure and buy some earplugs though.
 
And skip the automatic locker for a tow rig...
 
Personnally, I like to keep the tow rig and trail rig separate. These are two activities that have different requirements, and a single vehicle to do both will require comprimises that may make it do poorly at one task or the other.

Now if you really want to do it, forget an H1...what you are really talking about is a Unimog.

awww.dansunimogs.com_images_1550xzl.jpg
 
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