How Do I Know If My Jeep Grand Cherokee Has A Tow Package?
The maximum towing capacity of the Jeep Grand Cherokee is 7200 pounds, but sometimes, a Grand Cherokee may not attain this capacity and give out.
This situation reveals an absence of the required maximum tow package.
So, if you own a Jeep Grand Cherokee and are contemplating towing substantial weight, how can you confirm that your Cherokee has a tow package?
To confirm that your Jeep Grand Cherokee has a tow package, look out for the features of a tow package. These features include a transmission cooler, the 7-pin trailer hitch, and HD Radiator. If these are present, then your Jeep has a tow package.
Does My Jeep Grand Cherokee Have Tow Package?
You can confirm a tow package in your Grand Cherokee by checking your build sheet.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee build sheet reveals the presence and location of essential components of your vehicle.
You can get the build sheet of your Grand Cherokee from any Jeep dealership. Alternatively, you can access the build sheet from the Jeep VIN decoder.
However, this would require using your VIN, so you better have it handy.
When the tow package is not present on your Jeep Grand Cherokee, the maximum towing capacity of your vehicle will be 3500 pounds even when you try different types of engines.
But when you have a towing package on, you’ll see your Jeep Grand Cherokee tow up to 7400 pounds.
How to Tell if My Jeep Cherokee Has a Tow Package?
You can discern that your Jeep has a tow package from the package’s distinct features. These features are the trailer hitch, an HD radiator, and a transmission cooler.
Conversely, an absence of these features indicates that your Jeep Grand Cherokee does not have a tow package.
Additionally, you can also tell if a Grand Cherokee has a tow package by the amount of weight it can haul comfortably.
Though a Grand Cherokee is a rugged vehicle, it relies greatly on towing packages to easily and comfortably tow large weights.
Therefore, a Grand Cherokee has a limited towing capacity of 3500 pounds without a tow package. However, this capacity extends to 7400 pounds with a tow package installed.
What Does the Jeep Grand Cherokee Tow Package include?
Jeep Grand Cherokee tow package includes a seven and four-pin wiring harness, also known as the trailer tow wiring harness,
Class III receiver, a full-size spare tire, load-leveling suspension at the rear side, heavy-duty coolers for the transmission and engine, and heavy-duty shocks, or springs.
Below, I explained in detail some features included in the tow package. Let’s explore them.
#1. Seven and Four-Pin Wiring Harness
The four-pin wiring harness connects brake lights, turn signals, and emergency lights.
They ensure maximum safety by making sure the lights turn on, raising alarms during emergencies, and creating awareness when you want to make a turn.
The seven-pin has almost the same functions as the seven-pin. The differences include: it has a 12-volt circuit for the brake controller in the Vehicle and an auxiliary power circuit.
So, if you’ll be towing a large trailer with reverse lights or electric brakes, use the 7-pin wiring harness 7-pin wiring harness.
#2. Class III Receiver
This component is beneficial in pulling cumbersome loads on the towing vehicle. Its towing capacity ranges from 3500 to 8000 pounds.
This class of receivers appears to be the best when towing boats, trailers, bikes, and even a cargo carrier. In short, it’s used for general towing, especially the 2″×2″ receivers.
You can find them on pickup trucks and SUVs. It also comes with trucks that have factory towing packages.
#3. Full-Size Spare Tire
Full-size tires are known for their unique strength and heavyweight. Those features make them stand out among other trims of tires like the donuts and compact.
Having such a strong tire as a spare is very good. It will help assist the other tires in bearing enough weight for the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
No matter the distance and speed, full-size tires are always good to go, unlike the donuts, where you must not exceed 80 km per hour due to their small size and high sensitivity to road bumps.
Another importance of full-size spare tires is that when you fix them on your vehicle, they don’t work like temporary add-ons.
#4. Heavy-Duty Coolers for Transmission and Engines
When the heat in the transmission gets higher than normal, the transmission will start malfunctioning.
This situation could result in the formation of vanishes, plates slipping off, clutches burning, and the hardening of the seals.
When all this happens in your Vehicle, the total performance will be badly affected.
That’s what the heavy-duty coolers are installed to prevent. First, they cool the transmission just like their name implies.
Then, they ensure that the transmission maintains a standard temperature.
When
engines burn fuel, they tend to make the amount of heat in them be on the high side. As a result, engines always have coolers that optimize the temperature at which the engine runs.
So when talking about temperature balance in engines and transmission, always leave it for the coolers.
Note that all those are included in a Jeep Cherokee because it’s of the trailer tow group IV. They can tow vehicles as much as 7200 pounds with the trailer tow and the right engine type.
For instance, the high-end SRT and Trackhawk trim come with advanced engines.
The Grand Cherokee SRT has a 6.4-liter Hemi V8 and a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine, while trims like limited, overland, and the summit have a rear-leveling suspension.
#5. Heavy-Duty Shocks and Springs
Springs help support the Vehicle’s load, and shocks absorb vibrations and compression during driving.
They pull the Vehicle together after entering a pothole or uneven road surface, thereby improving the steering handling. They also help the brakes in responding quickly.
What Jeep Cherokee Has a Tow Package?
Jeep Cherokee has a series of trims, but they differ. Some were designed to meet the needs of the off-road Drivers and the others for luxury.
So, not all have the tow package, and even those with it don’t still perform similar functions.
Therefore I’ve gathered information on Jeep Cherokee trims and model years with tow packages bringing them to your fingertips.
#1. 2019 Jeep Cherokee
This model year is known for always towing as much as 4500 pounds when equipped with the Pentastar engine and the trailer tow package.
It tows well once you use the required engine type on this Jeep Cherokee.
#2. 2020 Jeep Cherokee
If you consider enough strength and towing power, this vehicle is suitable for the job.
To put it at its best, employ the right engine type and its trailer tow package, and you’ll see this Vehicle tow a boat of more than 6400 pounds.
#3. The Trailhawk
The tow package is readily available on these trims too, and safely they can tow Vehicles of 4500 pounds.
Besides an impressive tow package, this trim is also a good off-roader, so you can count on its versatility.
#4. The Jeep Grand SRT
This trim of Cherokee is good as well. It has a specially built engine that can perform heavy-duty tasks with little effort.
A Jeep Grand Cherokee tows Vehicles of about 7400 pounds conveniently. The tow package it possesses complements this ability.
#5. The Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo
These trims can tow a maximum of 6200 pounds with the tow package. This Laredo may look like a guest on this list because of its outstanding beauty.
However, it is impressive at face value and in functionality.
#6. The Jeep Cherokee Upland
This trim can tow Vehicles of 6200 pounds without any cause for alarm only with its towing package and a 3.6L engine.
The vicious look of the Upland alone gives credence to its capability. So, with a Cherokee Upland, you can rest assured of a smooth towing session.
Final Comment
You’ll need the right engine type and a towing package for a Jeep Grand Cherokee to tow at its maximum. To know if your Cherokee has, you can check the second paragraph of this article.
If it has, ensure that all or most of the things stated above as features of a tow package must be present in yours.
You can’t compromise their needs.
