Jackrabbit41 Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 So i am being given a 20ft light duty tilt deck trailer that my grandpa built years ago. I'm wondering about towing it with my truck. Obviously I wouldn't be towin cars with it, I'll used my dads Silverado for heavy loads but what's a safe weight to tow with my truck? Also, my homemade bumper is very high so I will need a big drop hitch, any recommendations? I have a 4.0, ax15, 4wd, ford 8.8. My bumper is very strong but only mounted to the frame using 6 grade 8 bolts that go into the stock bumper holes that are threaded. What I'll be hauling mostly is steel from the scrap yard and car parts. The trailer overall is 24ft long.i have no pictures of the trailer but here's two of my bumper and how high off the ground it is: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 With an AX-15 I believe the MJ was rated to tow only 2,000 or 2,500 pounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParadiseMJ Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 I'd be a little more concerned with the bumper mounts. How thick is the steel on the mounting bracket. Is it thoroughly welded through? The truck can handle it, but if the bumper mounts are just stock thickness I'd be leery about towing much more than a small utility trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnj92131 Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 To tow more than 2000 lbs, the factory required a frame mounted hitch, 4.0 engine, automatic transmission, heavy duty cooling, trans cooler, Dana 44 axle with larger drum brakes, a long bed, and 225/75 x 15 tires. Also required was a weight distributing hitch for a tongue weight over 350 lbs. When properly equipped with all these items - the factory max tow weight was 5000 lbs. With the bumper mounted trailer - towing limit was 2000 lbs. So with your bumper - you would be stuck with the same 2000 limit according to the factory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackrabbit41 Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 I'd be a little more concerned with the bumper mounts. How thick is the steel on the mounting bracket. Is it thoroughly welded through? The truck can handle it, but if the bumper mounts are just stock thickness I'd be leery about towing much more than a small utility trailer. the bumper mounts are the mates 4x4 diy kit which are 1/4 plasma cutted steel and I tied them into 1 inch thick flat stock that's also the shackle mounts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParadiseMJ Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Good to go. Sounds plenty beefy enough You could get an adjustable drop bracket, but a bit pricey. Get the truck & trailer together and level and size it up. A 4" drop should do the trick, depends on the height of the trailer. The only other thing is...trailer brakes...that's a long trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackrabbit41 Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 Good to go. Sounds plenty beefy enough You could get an adjustable drop bracket, but a bit pricey. Get the truck & trailer together and level and size it up. A 4" drop should do the trick, depends on the height of the trailer. The only other thing is...trailer brakes...that's a long trailer. ya I hope it has trailer brakes ahhaa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tex06 Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Harbor freight and Northern tool have cheap 6" drop hitches. Should be good to go with that. Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk Also, how did you wipe your license plate in that first pic? Kinda cool Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 To tow more than 2000 lbs, the factory required a frame mounted hitch, 4.0 engine, automatic transmission, heavy duty cooling, trans cooler, Dana 44 axle with larger drum brakes, a long bed, and 225/75 x 15 tires. Also required was a weight distributing hitch for a tongue weight over 350 lbs. When properly equipped with all these items - the factory max tow weight was 5000 lbs. With the bumper mounted trailer - towing limit was 2000 lbs. So with your bumper - you would be stuck with the same 2000 limit according to the factory. The "bumper hitch" with the 2,000 pound limit was the factory step bumper. My guess is that the OP's receiver/bumper is at least as substantial as any Class II hitch that was sold for the MJ. Ditto the mounting -- all the aftermarket MJ Class II hitches mounted to the sides of the frame rails with those same three bolts on each side that the factory bumper mounted to. That said ... the MJ (and the XJ) was never rated to tow 5,000 pounds with a standard transmission. The 5,000-pound tow pacjage was only with the AW4 automatic, with heavy-duty cooling system and an external tranny cooler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackrabbit41 Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 Also, how did you wipe your license plate in that first pic? Kinda cool Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk a camera friend did that for me. I usually don't care but he's good with photoshop and did that hhaa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnj92131 Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 To tow more than 2000 lbs, the factory required a frame mounted hitch, 4.0 engine, automatic transmission, heavy duty cooling, trans cooler, Dana 44 axle with larger drum brakes, a long bed, and 225/75 x 15 tires. Also required was a weight distributing hitch for a tongue weight over 350 lbs. When properly equipped with all these items - the factory max tow weight was 5000 lbs. With the bumper mounted trailer - towing limit was 2000 lbs. So with your bumper - you would be stuck with the same 2000 limit according to the factory. The "bumper hitch" with the 2,000 pound limit was the factory step bumper. My guess is that the OP's receiver/bumper is at least as substantial as any Class II hitch that was sold for the MJ. Ditto the mounting -- all the aftermarket MJ Class II hitches mounted to the sides of the frame rails with those same three bolts on each side that the factory bumper mounted to. That said ... the MJ (and the XJ) was never rated to tow 5,000 pounds with a standard transmission. The 5,000-pound tow pacjage was only with the AW4 automatic, with heavy-duty cooling system and an external tranny cooler. Eagle, I was not passing any judgement. I simply stated the factory required equipment and the factory towing approved limits. Yes, the published 2000 limit includes the standard transmission and the published higher tow limits require an auto trans (and other options). That said, many people have towed more than the published limits and gotten "away" with it. Quite sure I have done it once or twice in my driving life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParadiseMJ Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 88' 4.0 AW4. 231J, d44, I have a frame mounted hitch (not factory, made by krustyballer) 1/4" plate with all three bolts. plus a mounting hole through the shackle mount, I'm confident up to about 3,000 (tongue wt. about 250 with trailer brakes). it'll tow fine, stop fine) I don't have a weight dist. hitch...but I wouldn't really consider towing much more even with one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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