[notyetanowner]

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone knew the towing capacity of a CJ-7, the average of the years. I'll be (hopefully) towing my Harley Ultraclassic (about 850lbs) and some furniture cross country in an enclosed trailer. I was wondering if a CJ-7 would be able to handle this, and maybe you have suggestions or stories about towing in a CJ. I don't have the trailer yet, so I'm open to suggestions for this too, such as double axle, auto-brakes, etc. Thanks for the help!

[84 400]

hmm never towed with a cj but do have some experance with towing in general. brakes are nice to have but on a smaller trailer not neccicary however since your going cross country they would definatly be nice to have. also i am not sure on the load capcity of the rear leafs on a cj. you might want to consider helpers in the back but then again i would not know. a tandom axle would help spread the load better as well. what size are you going for. wish i could be more helpful but i have never done it with a cj. my uncal used to tow a 17 foot bosten whaler withh his cj and the rear would sag down quite a bit. anyway i know some of these guys have towed with theres and they should be able to help good luck

[Oily]

Some CJs have an 8, some a six. You do not specify what you have.
I recently got my first Jeep, a CJ7. I needed to transport my Fiero so I tried the CJ out with my tow dolly. Not a comfortable tow. Weight was not the reason.
The hitch coupling on a dolly is on a very long "neck". This places the dolly wheels way back there. The same I suppose as the wheels on a long trailer would be. Steering was a fight. I think because of the short wheelbase of the Jeep. I ended up using my truck.
I suggest a test tow of any trailer you are thinking about buying. Also a test tow of it loaded before deciding if you want to use your Jeep to tow accross country. Steering characteristics are always more difficult in a panic stop. On any vehicle/trailer combination. Even a quick slowdown can throw one out of control. I think trailer brakes are a must, towing with a Jeep. I think trailer brakes are a plus on any trailer. Something you may not ever need but if you do, you really do.
By the way, I bought a 5X10 tilt utility trailer. Didn't think I would want brakes on such a small trailer. It was available with brakes so I asked about retro-fitting mine. I forget the cost but it was unreasonable to me. I found out I could have gotten the brakes in the first place for just over $100.00 more.

[4XGore]

I wouldn't worry about 850lbs. I have pulled over a thousand pounds with my 7. I would be more worried about the length of the trailer. Somwhere on this forum someone has answered this question before. I don't know how to figure it, but there is a ratio for the trailer to vehicle pulling it. If your rig is in good shape and strong I'm sure that it can handle pulling a motorcycle. My father pulled a 12' trailer full of roofing tin halfway across Texas with a 4 banger S10. The headlights were shining up in the trees and he didn't go over 30mph but he made it.

[Indy]

2000 lbs/200 tongue. It's not the ability to move you need to worry about, its the ability to control the trailer and stop that's the concern. I've towed around 2k with a jeep and the short wheelbase does poorly trying to stop, go downhill etc. If your trailer is fairly long and packed with weight, you would probably be happier finding a pickup.

By the time you have a tandem axle trailer, bike, and furniture loaded you will likely be well over the 2k rating.