944J

I have a 6cyl jeep grand cherokee with the tow package, but apparently my jeep isnt heavy enough to tow my 944 back from long beach?

Has anyone towed their 944? Do I need some kind of mack truck to do it?

Spidey944

I used my f150 V8 to tow mine when I bought it. My buddies Toyota Tacoma couldn't do it without struggling, and it has more torque than your Jeep i believe. Good luck!!

sillbeer

really? these things weigh less than 3000lbs less the trailer!!!

josephsc

IIRC, the regular Grand Cherokee doesn't have much umph to it -- maybe a tow capacity of 3500lbs. A 944 on an aluminum trailer is probably around 4500lbs. Also, if you use a Uhaul car trailer, those things are hefty. It's 2000lbs. The V8 Grand Cherokee would be another matter though.

It also depends on the engine size. I use my Ranger truck to tow up and down the coast. It's got 4.0L V6, which takes it to a towing capacity of 5660lbs -- and I struggle going up the Grapevine -- get a running start. The 3.0L V6 ranger truck only has a tow cap of 3700lbs, which isn't good enough to tow a car on a trailer.

82-T/A

I towed an 84/944 on a two-wheel dolley with my 2002 Ford Crown Victoria LX and a class-4 trailer hitch. I had NO problems at all towing the car, with the exception that the steering wheel lock didn't work and I had to tie the steering wheel with a rope. Once that was solved, I didn't have any problems. I towed the car from the northern outskirts of Orlando, all the way to Fort Lauderdale doing about 65 miles an hour.







Your Jeep should have no trouble. The Toyota Tacoma couldn't tow it because it's a girly man's truck!

DarylJ

No, you need something that can handle 2600-2800- lbs plus your trailer. A 6-cyl Jeep just won't do that.

I tow a 7200 lb RV travel trailer with my 4.6L F150. It's OK mostly, but a bit rough on the hills. I'm pushing about 240 HP (at the motor). I'm guessing your jeep is way south of 200. That's going to be real ugly to deal with. Its probably rated for under 3000 lbs capacity.

V2Rocket

My Aerostar with the same 4.0 V6 in the Ranger tows the 44 just fine. Fully loaded (both cars) too.

944J

thats a nice gold 951... more pics?

944J

According to wikipedia I've got 190 hp (142 kW) & 225 lb-ft. The tow dolley wasn't too heavy, but the uhaul computer said that the 944 would have ground clearance problems...

Maybe I can find another place to rent a tow dolley. Or how much do they cost?

944J

its rated for 5000 lbs with "distributing" whatever that means... without distributing it's 2500lbs but the same hitch receiver is rated 5000 on the v8, so its a matter of engine power and transmission strength I think? I was going to buy a class 3 hitch receiver but when I looked at it it was the same thing as whats on the car allready... so the issue that uhaul said is that my jeep weights 3750lbs and the 944 weighs 2900lbs so the 944 + trailer is too heavy for my jeep to tow. or a lighter trailer?

so the solution is to fix that darn hard metal pipe coolant pipe or rent a tow dolly from somewhere else...

any ideas?

josephsc

The Uhaul database isn't very accurate. I normally tell them I'm hauling a mid-80's Honda civic when renting a Uhaul trailer. The ground clearance isn't an issue unless your vehicle has been lowered.

944J

I agree, but I'd hate to end up flipped over on the 101 or 405... so you think I should rent the tow dolley?

where else can you rent a tow dolley?

how much do they weigh?

Oddjob

I used to tow my 944 track car on an 1800 lbs steel trailer with my regular jeep cherokee sport, 4.0 I6. It was rated for 5k lbs, and my car, trailer, spares, etc weighed all of that plus some.

Trailer has electric brakes, so I had to install an electric brake controller in the jeep. And I did have an equalizer hitch (weight distributing) setup, which is really the only thing that made it possible. W/o it, the jeeps headlights were pointing at the sky, and braking would be a concern.

Would take a good bit a time to get up to speed from a stop, but it would handle 65-70mph ok.

Oddjob

Yes, ran into the same problem with Penske when renting a trailer to tow a 944 years ago (before I owned my own trailer). Had to lie to them about what type of car I was putting on it.

M758

I used a 4.0L Jeep Cherokee (non grand) to tow my 944 race car for a time. It worked ok in town and 55-60 mph on level ground for short distances. I was ok towing maybe 50 miles one way. I got a bigger truck to tow farther. It will work if you are in bind and need to tow, but as a tow vehicle it will leave you lacking. It used had brake controller in the jeep and towing the car on my trailer it was pretty much a requirement. I never used a weight distributing hitch, but just placed the car on the trailer to get the right load on the hitch. I never had and sway problems either. The biggest issues were it too time to stop and I strugged to reach 70 mph on the hwy. I always had to watch for over heating. It always towed to where it needed to be, but never with any comfort or margin.