Grand Wagoneer Series III Towing Capacity Disappointment

GrandOldWag said:

Hey Guys!

My wife and I just bought our GW Series III in Midnight Sky with the Blue Agave interior and so far we love it! I have a question about the towing capacity. Our GW has the heavy duty towing capacity package and we were told that our vehicle can only tow 8360 lbs. That is way off from the 10,000 lbs that Jeep said it can tow. What is keeping our GW from being able to tow closer to that 10,000 mark? Is it the air ride suspension or the larger 22" wheels or both?

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Every manufacturer advertises their vehicles at the max towing capacity (when properly configured). The key is “when properly configured”.

The reality is that very little of the vehicles that are made and sitting on the lots will be able to tow the maximum.

Most of the times you will need to order it from a dealer with the proper options so that you can tow at their maximum capacity. With that said you should not tow anything within 10% of the max.

I want to say the max tow rating is on the wagoneer as well, not the grand although I don't think it's significantly less.

What are you towing?

Look at page 224 of your manual. Only 4 of the potential 14 different configurations of Wagoneers and Grand Wagoneers can tow 10,000 lbs. They are the following


Factory Max Tow
Wagoneer Series 3 4x2 with 3.92 rear axle
Wagoneer Series 2 4x2 with 3.92 rear axle
Wagoneer series 2 4x4 with 3.29 rear axle (although me dealer tells me that is a typo and should be 3.92, axles should be same as in Dodge Trucks and Dodge Trucks don't have a 3.29)
Grand Wagoneer 4x2 with Max tow package (don't tell you what the rear axle is).

Some Wagoneers can only tow 7K lbs.

Tareyton said:

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This is exactly what I needed. Thanks Tareyton!
I special ordered my GW so it would have the options I wanted. Mine is the 6.4L 4x4 Max Tow so I don't understand why my dealer said it can only tow 8260lbs. It should be able to tow 9860lbs. Maybe I need to go physically check to make sure it has the Max Tow package. I just assumed that since it was on the window sticker it must be on the vehicle. Either that or my sales person was wrong. What can I physically look for on the vehicle to make sure it does in fact have the max tow package? I think I remember the package including a removable tow hook or something.
Thanks again for the responses everyone.

Just a heads up to everyone who might be looking for their trailer tow rating weights. My chart was on a different page than Tareyton's. Mine is on pages 206 & 207 but it was still under section "Starting & Operating" so go to that section and flip the pages until you find it.

Tareyton said:

Look at page 224 of your manual. Only 4 of the potential 14 different configurations of Wagoneers and Grand Wagoneers can tow 10,000 lbs. They are the following


Factory Max Tow
Wagoneer Series 3 4x2 with 3.92 rear axle
Wagoneer Series 2 4x2 with 3.92 rear axle
Wagoneer series 2 4x4 with 3.29 rear axle (although me dealer tells me that is a typo and should be 3.92, axles should be same as in Dodge Trucks and Dodge Trucks don't have a 3.29)
Grand Wagoneer 4x2 with Max tow package (don't tell you what the rear axle is).

Some Wagoneers can only tow 7K lbs.

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Plus to get to 10,000 towing cap. you will need the 6.4L ENGINE

Tareyton said:

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curious why they don't list WS1 4x2 with 3.21 Axle Ratio and its tow ratings?

Mine Series 3 tows great.... but my god .. what a pig in gas mileage.

Andy3510 said:

Plus to get to 10,000 towing cap. you will need the 6.4L ENGINE

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All GW models do, correct?