Hi, Test drove this jeep today and it seemed to be a little sloppy in the front end. Tended to drift a bit. This was a V8 with the full time 4x drive with
110K miles. Is this typical for these vehicles? Any problems that are known to this year/model? I want to use it mostly for trailering a boat (not yet purchased) in the 17-20' range. Opinions are welcome. TIA TomCTomC did pass the time by typing:
Frankly, if your going to trailer a boat you should get a truck or a full sized SUV. It's not horsepower but rather mass and wheelbase. Although with a Class III or IV load leveling hitch you will probably be fine. Backing a trailer of any size with a short wheelbase takes a LOT of practice. Durn things are twitchy and swing fast. :)
The slop could be a worn steering damper, bushings, or simply the tires.
I've towed a travel trailer at 4000# with a 97 GC . Longest trip was
6,000 miles. Backing up does take some practice. I always recomend trailer brakes. You must properly balance the traler and get the hitch weight right or the trailer can sway-dangerously.For the drift I'd check the track bar and the ball joints. Seems like the track bar lasts about 100K and costs about $150.
Is it possibly to buy a 2 ton trailer that *doesn't* have brakes ? Scary. I've got one of these ( 2.7 ton GVW, weighs .46 ton) - lovely little twin axle braked 8'x6' box trailer. Very stable, even behind the TJ (I limit the payload to 1/2 ton). The loading ramp and sides are very useful.
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