Considering a low milage 1999 V8 Cherokee in order to gain 3500# boat towing capacity while still retaining 4 down towing capability. Wondering if any forum members have tried this Jeep and have comments / cautions / etc.
I have a 96 Grand Cherokee and a 01 wrangler and love them both...It is a Jeep thing though... the go where you point them for the most part and you would be astounded where I have taken them.
We have a 1994 Grand Cherokee that came with the U295. It works. It serves us well as a towed vehicle. It was great in the snow in Montana. We keep it because it works so well as a towed vehicle.
We also have '97 E320, '01 Camry, and '00 Suburban. When we are at home, the Jeep is our last choice to drive most of the time. I thought we might get rid of the Suburban when we got the Jeep. After we got the Jeep and drove it a bit, we decided the Jeep would in no way replace the Suburban. The Suburban is far superior for towing a trailer, for comfort, and for capacity.
I had a 1996 GC V-8 and used it to tow a 26' trailer for a few years then towed it behind our moho for the next 8 years for 56K miles. Had 123K miles when I sold it to a relative and bought a new 2007 GC. The '96 was a great tow and towed vehicle. Very little trouble with it. Took it offroading and it never let me down. The '07 has been towed 20K miles without trouble and is a daily driver with 61K and has only needed recommended maintenance.
I've been driving jeeps of all kinds for the past 30 years and the GC kinda has the best of all of them when you consider its offroad ability, cargo capacity, ease of towing, comfort (mainly for the driver and front seat passenger, the rear seat is a little tight) and having a V-8. Mileage:not so great at 12/13 around town and maybe 18 on the highway.
I had a jeep Cherokee (not grand). I pulled it behind mine all 4 down and the only problem I had was I had the attachments for the tow bar attached to the bumper. I was driving in a town with particularly bad roads and hit a pretty big bump. It dang near took the bumper off of the jeep. I was able to repair without too much problem. The synopsis, no problem towing but don't hook it to the bumper (as not durable for the long term). I think with the above in mind you would be a happy camper.
I loved my V-8 '99 Grand Cherokee, passed it down to my son who later sold it to his cousin. The cousin (my nephew) just sent us a picture of the odometer passing 200,000. Great car, still looks good, is really comfortable and drives well with tons of power.
We towed a 1996 Grand Cherokee Limited for 10 years behind our coach, and it worked well. Then when we needed it to tow our boat it had plenty of power and capacity (7,600 lbs). Nice vehicle to ride in with our company and good utility vehicle. ^.^d
Have towed my 1999 Grand Cherokee only about a 1000 miles. Towed great and is easy to get into tow mode.
I've had it off road in SW colorado and it did OK, thou did easier trails, and is a comfortable enough ride on the street.
To date I have 215000 miles on it and all is well. Tommorrow I will head out to Colorado towing it from Minnesota with no qualms.
I have the 4.0 six, not the V8 and the Quadra Trac II transfer case with 4 speed auto.
Jon
Have a 01 GC V8. Towed all over the country, and used it up the goat trails of the rockies. Love it no problems towing(knock on wood) ;D