03 Jeep Grand Cherokee- towing specs & curb weight

[johnpsully]

I'm getting ready to perhaps buy a new travel trailer that measures 27ft.(max is 30ft.) and has a DW from the factory of ~5K lbs. I verified that my Jeep has a class(group) 4 hitch and it is also 4WD. The manual tells me that I can have 750lbs of tongue weight and tow up to 6.5K lbs(GTW). Now here is the tricky part :D...
GCWR is 10.5K lbs(that is both Jeep and trailer weight combined) and one must use a weight distributing hitch to go up this high I assuming. What is the curb weight of this Jeep unloaded? If I add that weight to the say 6K lbs that the trailer will weigh after loading her up then I can't exceed about 4.5K lbs on the Jeep. Either way I'm going to push the envelope of the GCWR- 10.5K lbs http://jeepgarage.org/images/icons/icon11.gif. Sounds like I'll be maxing these specs out and have to move up to a 3/4 truck/pickup perhaps. Anyone tow a trailer this big and heavy and get good results? Let know what you think.....
Thanks :eek:John in Roseville, CA.

[johnpsully]

What does the WJ stand for the Jeep model too?

[Scottina06]

www.wjjeeps.com will have the answers needed.

The WJ is just the model designation with ChryCo. W=the Grand cherokee and J is the generation(99-04) the newest Grand Cherokee 05-10 is the WK for instance

[mountian goat]

i have a 04 wj with the I-6 in it,anyhow i towed my 5000 pound grandprix on a car dolly for 1900 miles, with no problems just keep her out of over drive.. i am also going to atempt to pull my 3/4 chevy 1900 miles behide my WJ, i will be about 700 pounds of the max towing specs.. good luck hope this helped

[vicpick58]

John, if your dry weight of your trailer is 5000 lbs that is completely empty, no water, no propane, nothing. By the time you add all that stuff your actual weight will be much more.

I had a trailer that weighed about 5500 lbs empty, I took it to a scale loaded it weighed a little over 8000 lbs. My Dodge 1/2 ton truck was only rated at around 7500 lbs towing capacity. I ended up having to unload some of my gear and about half of the 100 gallons of water that my trailer held.

I personally would not recommend using a WJ to tow such a large trailer around the mountains or northern CA. A short wheelbase vehicle like a WJ is much harder to control a trailer with than a heavier longer wheelbase truck.

Also I am not sure if the Jeep has a pre wired harness to plug the brake controller into under the dash, like most trucks have.