Does anyone tow their 19ft+ boat with a Jeep Wrangler 4 door, how does it tow? I am considering buying an extra vehicle to drive on the weekends and use it to tow my boat (Bass Cat Pantera Classic) around 15-20 miles to the lake. I though a Jeep would be fun to drive on the weekends, if it would pull my boat ok.
I appreciate any feedback and suggestions in advance. I would purchase a 2012 or newer, due to the newer engine design and increased HP.

Thank You!

Brian

I do not, but just yesterday I watched a guy pull his 21 ft skeeter out of the lake with a Jeep. He did not seem to have any issues.

We had a 2012 Jeep Unlimited and a Toyota 4 Runner both would pull my 18'6" without a problem. Braking may take a few more feet if you don't have trailer brakes.

Don't have a Jeep but think would do fine for conditions that you are describing and that size boat.
If you were going 100-200 mile trips that would be different.

Last Friday at Fork I saw a guy pulling a 20' Legend with a Honda Pilot (1st gen), that was a first for me.

I did. It blew the motor 3x before 50,000 miles. The last time I had it towed to Jeep, they said they were gonna have their engineering crew from Michigan do the work…and give me a lifetime power train warranty. I told them the Jeep now belonged to Freeman Toyota and they could give the warranty to them. I wasn’t gonna replace motors for the rest of my life. Biggest POS motor I have ever experienced. 3.6L


…..if it weren’t for the motor, I still have the jeep. It pulled a 18’8” boat really well, if you stayed out of 5th & 6th gears.

I had an AEV 3.5” lift with 35x10.50-18” BFG Mud Terrains. Pulled a couple of 3500’s out of mud with it too.

Thank You all! Steez what year was your Jeep?

2012 Sahara.

2012 was a rough time for motors, they replaced a head on ours under warranty. Never had trouble after that though.

Thank You Both! I will stay away from 2012's!

I had a 2007 and 2010. The 07 was a standard and it would not tow, it was not very pleasant.
The 10 towed my 21 ft pro craft, but my milage was less than 10 per gallon which was horrible.
I drove from Highland Village to Monticello and had to Gas up at the exit off 30. 18 gallon tank and less than 10 MPG is rough

That is tuff! I will be towing 10-15 miles 90% of the time, so gas won't be a huge issue.

Thank you!

I wouldn't unless it was one of the jeeps with the ecodiesel, those pull just fine. I believe they quit offering that engine in 2023.

seen a few pulling with the gladiators, are those different engines?

Nope and even more gutless due to the extra weight.

It will work short term but being a retired mechanic and knowing how this all works and the GVWR of a Jeep Wrangler; around 5200 pounds, based on my experiences with tow rigs, 6800 or better for a bass boat. Usually when the GVWR is as close as a Jeep Wrangler is to a bass boat one or two things happen, either cracked heads or a blown head gasket.
Another thing is you'll more than likely have to remove the spare tire as well to tow that cat or it will get into it and do damage probably to the Jeep and the boat.
I tow with a 2013 Ford F150 with a 5.0 Coyote motor under the hood and have covered some pretty large distances towing my ZX200 Skeeter since 2021 and have had zero issues. It runs a GVWR of around 6800.
We also own a 2015 Jeep Wrangler Willys Edition.