I have a 2010 screw that I will be using to tow a jeep from Houston to Colorado for a vacation trip in late July. My truck has the 4.6. Any suggestion. And no dumb jokes about my 4.6.

 

Well if is on a trailer then there should be no problem. If you use a bumper hitch on the front of the jeep make sure you are as level as you can be and whatever jeep says to do before you tow it. As for joking about the 4.6 I have the same motor and have towed a lot with it with out any problem. Just look at my avatar and you will see a mini excavator that I tow a little.

 

My trade-in was a 2003 SuperCab 4.6L 2v with 3.55 axle. I sorta inherited it from my brother who died last year. It was his city pickup - intended to look good but not necessarily work hard. The newer 3v should be much better.

Mine didn't even have the towing pkg, but I added the brake controller and tranny cooler. I towed about 5,000 pounds enclosed cargo trailer from west Texas to Phoenix with no problems except constant tranny downshifting for every little bump in the road. And where the speed limit was 80 MPH and 75 MPH on I-10, I cruised at 65 MPH. Coming back with empty trailer was not much different. The wind resistance gets you at any speed over about 55. And going southeast and east out of Arizona back to New Mexico has some pretty long grades you don't notice in a car, but they slap you in the face when towing.

That pickup was beautiful and had only 100,000 miles on it, but I wasn't satisfied with the towing performance so I recently traded it for an EcoBoost with a lot more towing power.

However, I wouldn't make that trip with out at least the tranny cooler. If your truck doesn't have the towing pkg, then I'd add the tranny cooler before you make that trip. Else you'll probably wind up buying a new tranny about half way up one of the mountain passes in Colorado. I did mine the easy way - had my Ford dealer add the stock tranny cooler from the towing pkg. But if you are the least bit handy, adding a big tranny cooler in front of the radiator is not a difficult job.

Even with the tranny cooler, I was still in the dark as to tranny temp. I couldn't figure out how to add a good tranny temp gauge with the short notice I had before heading out to Phoenix. In your shoes, I would definitely have a good tranny temp gauge before I drug the Jeep up any of the Colorado mountain passes. You want to know sump temp, or the temp of the ATF in the pan. Then 210° is your PAY ATTENTION temp, and 225° is your red line.

With the tranny cooler and tranny temp gauge, you shouldn't have any problems towing a Jeep into the Rockies, provided you realize that you'll get passed right and left by more powerful rigs when climbing any steep mountain passes. Just take your time, and pull over at any opportunity to allow faster traffic to get by you on two-lane roads, and stay out of the left lane on freeways.

Depending on where you're going in Colorado, you might want to take US 287 from Fort Worth to Dumas, then stay on US 287 to I-70 instead of turning onto US 87 in Dumas. That lets you miss the steep pass on I-25 at Raton NM/Trinidad CO. Of course if you're going to be going into the heart of the Rockies, you'll probably tow over worse passes than Raton.

 

here is a link to the towing guidlines by ford. How much does the jeep weigh? what kind of trailer are you using? I believe that if you are towing something that heavy then you need a tadem axle trailer with brakes. Or you could rent a uhaul car hauler that has the brakes built into the hitch assembly itself , hydraulic i think. I mean you didnt give much detail so there is alot of variables.

 

The Ford towing guides are very misleading. They assume your truck has the towing pkg (including tranny cooler), and there is nothing in the truck but one skinny driver. And they also assume that GCWR is your limiter and that GVWR is not a limiter. But with that understanding, they show the "tow rating" of a 4.6L 2v in a 4x2 at a bit over 5,000 pounds max trailer weight. With the 3v engine, the tow rating is a bit over 7,000 pounds. Add the 3.73 ratio and the bigger 9.75" Ford axle (replacing the 9" axle) and the tow rating climbs to a bit over 9,000 pounds.

The Jeep on a trailer shouldn't weigh more than 5,000 pounds, so with the 2V engine and without any heavy payload (passengers, camping stuff?) in the truck, you won't be overloaded. With the 3v engine, no problem unless you try to take half of Houston with you.

But yeah, weigh the wet and loaded rig on a CAT scale before you leave Houston. If you are overloaded over the GCWR or GVWR of the truck before you hit the road, then get rid of some weight before you continue. The GVWR is on the tire PSI sticker on the door jamb. For the GCWR, you'll need a 2010 Ford RV and Trailer Towing Guide. It varies from 10,400 to 15,100 pounds, depending on 4x2 or 4x4, 2v or 3v engine, axle ratio, and whether you have the 9.75" axle.

 

If your going to flat tow [tow bar] just make sure the jeep transfer case is in neutrel the main trans is in gear or park if its an auto and the front hubs[if equiped] are locked. if your going to trailer it you must have trailer brakes other than that enjoy the trip

 

I towed my brothers lifted screw on a pos dual axle car hauler pulled just fine and crammed a lifted tundra on a u haul trailer(its fun to cram it on but it fit ish lol) pulled from Tuscon to El Paso just fine. 4.6 3v with 3.31 gears.

 

How much does that mini weigh? Theres no way we could tow our mini, thing weighs over 10k...

 

I am not sure. I rent it three or four times a year as well as a little Bobcat and tow them with my truck all the time. I am in Ohio so there are no mountain passes or anything. I know the trailer has brakes and I use a Reese hitch to pull it with the round trailer connector. I have pulled it on I76 at 60 without a problem keeping way back from other traffic and taken my time.