HDJ81 tow capacity

[gerg]

I towed my 5000# trailer with my fzj80 and it was very stable. I had lock up in 3rd gear I never towed in OD. The tranny cooler is a must otherwise you will cook it in short order. I also used synthetic tyranny fluid. Even unlocked in 2nd pulling huge hills my tranny never got above 215f. A year later when I sprung a leak comming home from work I bypassed the cooler for a week till I replaced the hose. Just in traffic in town not even pushing it hard my tranny temps easily got above 230f with little effort without the cooler. It was quite an eye opener. All auto trannies should have a cooler in my opinion.

 

[AirheadNut]

I'm not sure that trailers are necessarily balanced differently (not 100% sure what you mean)
Physics doesn't change from down under to NA. Vary the trailer balance much away from having about 10% down weight on the tow ball gets ugly real quick. Too much weight to the front, or too much weight to the rear is a recipe for carnage.
In Australia if gross mass of the trailer and load is over 750kg, (1650#) the trailer has to be braked.
HDJ80 in aus are rated to tow 2500kg (5500#) braked trailer (think horse float, loaded with two fart bags) I think it changed to 3500kg in late model 80's with the bigger brakes.

There's 80s all over Australia that have towed horse trailers and boats with no tranny cooler and stock tranny for 25years. Admittedly we don't have mountains like in Colorado

I definitely agree with airheadnut on having a brake controller and electric brakes if you're towing regularly, and learn how to use the brake controller to actively brake the trailer

I guess I should clarify: in some countries in Europe the accepted towball weight is 4-7% of the total trailer weight, allowing small vehicles to tow rather large loads. To compensate the maximum towing speed is something like 90km/h.

As far as braking is concerned, from what I have read brakes are required on all trailers that weigh more than 750kg (~1600lb) with a load in Europe, Australia, and other places. The 18ft trailer I mentioned has a GVM of 3175kg (7000lb), and has no brakes.

In the US there is no lower towing speed limit (unless designated by a manufacturer) and relatively heavy trailers can have no brakes. That is why towing capacities are generally significantly lower here than elsewhere.

 

[gerg]

I would never tow without trailer brakes. Any kind of a serious stop and you find out very quickly how heavy that trailer is.

 

[vwluv10338]

Around a 1,200 lb trailer, 3500lb boat dry, 60 gallons of gas. Not a whole lot of fun to tow and I wouldn't want to take it up any steep hills. I found that pulling it out of the water in low gear makes a big difference.

 

[Lumpskie]

Hey @vwluv10338

Are you running any increased fuel or boost? Also, are those 315? I'm just trying to figure out what my rig would be like towing roughly 5000#. So far, all I've towed is a little trailer for wood hauling...

 

[vwluv10338]

@Lumpskie

It's bone stock engine wise except for a 3" exhaust and yes it's on 315's. I just got my MMP group buy turbo in the mail today. I plan on getting that on with an EGT gauge and see what it looks like and then my intercooler build and custom plenum will get work done before I touch the fuel

 

[HoJo 61]

I will add my 2 cents as an European.

Max towing capacity without trailer brakes = 750kg. Anything heavier requires trailer license.
With brakes 3500kg
Max speed limit 80 KM/H

J8 series, even J4 series Cruisers are rated to tow 3500kgs at max here in Finland.

 

[Sarmajor]

HDJ81's are rated to tow 3500kg's(7700lbs) in NZ (braked trailer) or 1500kgs non braked (3300).

I tow 2880kgs (braked) behind mine all over the country and it has never missed a beat, it's a 96 24valve, but my old 12 valve did just aswell, just not quite as quick

Nothing in NZ can tow more than 750kg without brakes. Well maybe the farmer can tow his s*** trailer between farm gates but that's about it.
My factory towbar came with a label stating 3500kg braked and 750kg unbraked.

Can't really understand why they can sell a huge trailer without brakes when you can't put anything on it.

 

[BDA130]

Thanks for the advice gents! I ended up ditching the trailer idea but I'll keep all this in mind for the future.