Towing your Jeep vs. Driving it

longarmwj

longarmwj

New member
So I came across a build thread on here where the towing your Jeep to the trail VS. driving it to the trail discussion came up. It got me thinking, where do you stand on the debate.

Personally, I am a fan of driving to the trail. My WJ used to be my daily. No AC and 8 MPGs was getting super old, and put a hurting on the wallet, so I picked up my WK2 as a daily. Now I have always driven my WJ to any trail head I've ever been to, and I've never had to tow it home, but I can understand the desire for a trailer too. The only time I would really tow my Jeep (surprisingly, the WK2 could actually tow it perfectly easily), is if I were to make a voyage across country. Say to Moab or something. The ride would be a whole lot more comfortable :cheesy:

I'm curious to hear people's opinions on this!
 
If I intend on going a few hours or more away I will tow mine in if I'm going to actually be wheeling. Reason one: I was running a stock d30 with 35's and if I did break something to the point where I couldn't drive it home, then at least I had a means of getting it home. Also because having to get towed a few or more hours back home could be very expensive. Reason two: I could bring more stuff for a weekend trip/ camping and the whole family. With that said, Most of our trips consisted of an out and back with a mild trail and a hike so obviously driving the jeep in was part of the fun. If I had some heavier duty part and spares I think I would push the trailer/ no trailer debate a little further. It's security for me.


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If I wanted to drive a RAM 2500, I would buy one. The whole notion of trailering a Jeep is just silly to me. Yeah, you'll get the guys who'll come on here arguing about breaks and being able to get home but out here, we don't have off-road "parks" and I'd be more concerned with getting back to pavement let alone getting back to a trailer and that can be 100 miles away. As far as ride comfort goes, I build my Jeep to be more comfortable than stock and I HAVE driven clear across the country, wheeled for a week and then drove back home again and would do it again.
 
My thoughts are, after the meeting place, its fun to run in a convoy. You get a lot people looking and giving thumbs up. It must look pretty cool. The other thing is, most trails dont return to the point you started. So you have to worry about getting back to your trailer instead of just airing up and head home. It can add to an already long day.

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wayoflife said:
If I wanted to drive a RAM 2500, I would buy one. The whole notion of trailering a Jeep is just silly to me. Yeah, you'll get the guys who'll come on here arguing about breaks and being able to get home but out here, we don't have off-road "parks" and I'd be more concerned with getting back to pavement let alone getting back to a trailer and that can be 100 miles away. As far as ride comfort goes, I build my Jeep to be more comfortable than stock and I HAVE driven clear across the country, wheeled for a week and then drove back home again and would do it again.
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You'd go back to the east coast to wheel? I call bs. ;)


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To me it's like trailering a nice bike to get it to the 'pretty' part of the country you want to ride in. It's missing the point in my opinion.
 
To me, half the fun is getting to your wheeling location in your jeep. Even if it is just highway miles, gas station stops, etc...I just love being in my jeep in general :thumb: And really, there's no better feeling than wheeling the crap out of your rig, then airing your tires up and just driving back home, kicking up dust all over the road :yup:
 
Mike_JK_Houston_711 said:
To me, half the fun is getting to your wheeling location in your jeep. Even if it is just highway miles, gas station stops, etc...I just love being in my jeep in general :thumb: And really, there's no better feeling than wheeling the crap out of your rig, then airing your tires up and just driving back home, kicking up dust all over the road :yup:
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HTown convoys are the best. All the radio banter is like we're all riding together.

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I would much rather drive it ........ after all I am bound to make more than one stop if on a longer trip to camp , run a trail , hike , or even heaven forbid stay overnight in a hotel along the way .. driving it there is half the fun even when the mpg isn't the greatest if you factor in towing a loaded trailer those mpg are gonna be just be about the same............. and any longer trip I happen to go on the trail isn't going to end in the same place it started and why would I want to backtrack in order to continue on to the next place .... I try to make my plans so run one from its end find the trailhead for the next and plan it so once I head out from home I make a loop one trail to the next while circling my way back to home ..........................
now if all you have access to is off road parks or that's all you want to wheel in I say fine go ahead pop it up on that trailer and tow away ..of course since my rig is my d.d. and only means to get about so if It breaks I gotta fix it or upgrade it regardless of where I am and I doubt I am alone when it comes to that fact ..
 
The other thing that makes no sense to me is how much a tow rig + trailer costs. For the money, there's a LOT of quality parts you can buy for your Jeep to make it perform on the trail AND make it more comfortable and dependable.
 
wayoflife said:
The other thing that makes no sense to me is how much a tow rig + trailer costs. For the money, there's a LOT of quality parts you can buy for your Jeep to make it perform on the trail AND make it more comfortable and dependable.
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This. Guys want to trailer their rigs so they spend $40,000 on a new truck and trailer? I don't get it
 
Mike_JK_Houston_711 said:
To me, half the fun is getting to your wheeling location in your jeep. Even if it is just highway miles, gas station stops, etc...I just love being in my jeep in general :thumb: And really, there's no better feeling than wheeling the crap out of your rig, then airing your tires up and just driving back home, kicking up dust all over the road :yup:
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Kyle7R said:
HTown convoys are the best. All the radio banter is like we're all riding together.

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This.

Driving the jeep is just awesome. I do worry about breaking things, but that's why I try to keep a nice oh shit cushion specifically for the jeep. As time goes on, my build plan will take care of the majority if weak points, and make the likely hood of a trial break less and less likely. But it will always be a possibility. I just try to keep my head while wheeling, I dont have anything to prove to anyone. I'm just out there because I love it!

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wayoflife said:
The other thing that makes no sense to me is how much a tow rig + trailer costs. For the money, there's a LOT of quality parts you can buy for your Jeep to make it perform on the trail AND make it more comfortable and dependable.
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As for mileage, you'd have to consider the cost of the truck, trailer, and the mpg you'd get, too. A gasoline engine will get poor mpg towing, and if you bought a diesel for better mpg, diesel pickups cost a lot more up front. Then you have to buy a tag and insurance for an additional vehicle, too. Something to think about.


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The whole reason I bought a Jeep is to have a rig that will take me where I want to go and have fun along the way. If I wanted to have to tow a vehicle that would take me on offroad adventures I would've bought a Razor. Every mod I've done and the mods I have planned are to make my Jeep comfortable, capable, and reliable. The only towing I want to do is an offroad trailer behind my Jeep. 😎

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I'd never trailer my Jeep. As others have said, half the fun is driving it to the trail and/or convoy with other Jeepers.

I bought my Jeep to drive at it, not watch it in the rear view mirror while driving.


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wayoflife said:
The other thing that makes no sense to me is how much a tow rig + trailer costs. For the money, there's a LOT of quality parts you can buy for your Jeep to make it perform on the trail AND make it more comfortable and dependable.
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Very good point that I haven't thought of. Touching on your other point too, my WJ drives and rides better then factory. I've driven it all over the place and have taken it to multiple states, and like others have said, prefer to drive it anywhere possible. Its enjoyable to drive, even with no AC (windows down and 75 mph :cheesy: ) and grabs a lot of attention. There aren't many built WJs down in my neck of the woods lol.

The ONLY way I truly see a trailer benefiting you is if you have a rollover so bad that driving it any further then to the trailer isn't remotely possible, which I've seen. However a properly built rig, and more importantly a proper line, would prevent that from happening.
 
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