When I search towing threads I mostly find threads about towing something with a jeep, I'm probably overthinking this subject but it doesn't hurt to ask. My dad has a new car trailer he wants to take to the lake house for storage and I'm staying down there for a week after the 4th so I thought "if I'm already towing the trailer and staying for a week, then I might as well take the jeep so I have something to cruise around in". Right now my TJ is sitting with half doors (I don't have uppers), the top is folded down, and I have a LJ spidershade on it (which has been awesome with our daughter riding in the back). What would be the best setup for the jeep and is there any tips or tricks for a short 2.5hr trip to minimize any potential wear/tear or mess from towing. Since I don't have upper half doors I figured that towing with the top up is a no-go, I could put the full doors on it but I really don't feel like it. Some of my overthinking comes from towing boats and the entire cover on or cover off argument, but I realize that a TJ is made to drive at high way speeds where a boat isn't designed to drive 75mph with a cover beating against it. Any tips or tricks from the pros on here, I know there's a bunch of you guys that tow a lot more than I do and have way nicer rigs so this has to of been a discussion at some point.
Best Option for Towing My TJ
- Thread starter dmbeck
- Start date
I flat towed a CJ-7 for many years with top up and half doors and no issues. I towed it that way on a car hauler trailer several times, also with no issues. Its really the same as driving down the road with top up and half doors - no big deal.
Unless you're going to hit some hard rain, you don't need to do anything really. Many folks drive Jeeps with tops off/down at highway speeds all the time without any issue. My only recommendation is that if you have the softtop folded down to make sure you secure it or use the cover/boot to keep it from flapping/bouncing around, which can potentially cause some damage (though unlikely). Alternatively, you can put the top up and just run with your half doors too - won't cause any issues (though when I'm inside the vehicle, I prefer to open the back window to prevent the buffetting that can sometimes happen).
Thanks for the comments, I've always thought that towing with the top up, windows in, and no uppers would maybe create a parachute effect inside but I have never tried it. As long as there's no rain in the forecast for the drive down I'll probably just take the top off and set it in the garage, that's the only thing I could see flapping in the wind and marking the paint, plus I don't plan on putting it up so what's the point of leaving it on.
I think you are fine either way. Have you never driven around with the top up before? I don't see that its any different.
I just pulled my jeep about 2 hours going 75 with the top down with full doors and nothing happened. The only reason I brought the doors was the high likelihood of rain on the drive back. I brought my windows and closed everything up before heading back.
Maybe I should have strapped the top down just in case. At least with driving it around and it moved you would be more likely to notice it versus on the trailer. How fast do you plan on going?
I figured I'll just cruise at 75, I don't have anything to be in a rush for on this trip.
The rain held off so I just pulled the top up and left all the windows out. I ran 75-80 the entire way with 0 issues, I definitely overthought this process. I think coming from towing boats and the cover/no cover debate had me messed up. The weather wasn't the greatest last week so I didn't get the cruise in the TJ much but I did get an awesome 3 hour drive home on Sunday morning. Weather was around 75 degrees and no humidity, I had the top down, radio up, and enjoyed the hell out of my morning.
