How to Tell if a 2012 Jeep Liberty Can Safely Tow a Small U-Haul Trailer
Question:
Can I tow a 6 x 12 UHaul cargo trailer with automatic hydraulic surge brakes with my 2012 Jeep Liberty? Could someone please explain to me the tongue weight and the maximum cargo weight inside the trailer? I need to move cross country from FL to CO, and there will be some uphill grades involved as well. Any assistance is much appreciated.
asked by: RL
Expert Reply:
I'd be more than happy to help out! The best places to find all of our towing information will be in the owner's manual for your 2012 Jeep Liberty as well as the trailer manual and/or the website (which in your case is U-Haul).
According to the U-Haul specs the 6 x 12 trailer weighs 1,920 lbs when empty - this means this is the weight when you'll go to pick it up. The trailer has a max load of 2,480 lbs which means you can load cargo up in the trailer up to this weight. Finally we have the gross vehicle weight of 4,400 lbs which is the empty weight plus the weight of all of the cargo when loaded to the max (1,920 + 2,480 = 4,400).
When we look at your owner's manual it stats your 2012 Liberty can tow up to a 2,000 lb trailer but if you have the Trailer Tow Package from the factory your vehicle can tow up to a 5,000 lb trailer when using a weight distribution system (which we'll get into in just a moment). So right out of the gate your Liberty will only be able to handle that 6 x 12 U-Haul trailer with 80 lbs loaded up unless you have the Trailer Tow Package - in this case you can load the trailer all the way up to the 2,480 lbs and you won't be overloading your vehicle.
Vehicle manuals make tongue weight sound confusing but basically a properly loaded trailer will have a tongue weight that is 10-15% of the loaded weight of the trailer. So if you were to load the trailer so it weighed in at the max 4,400 lbs your tongue weight needs to be 440 lbs - 660 lbs. Attached is a helpful article that goes into a little more detail about this.
If you do have the Factory Tow Package then you'll need a weight distribution system to safely tow the U-Haul trailer. For your application I recommend the Blue Ox 2-Point Weight Distribution # BLU45FR because it meets your specs, works with a surge coupler that the U-Haul trailer uses, and it doesn't break the bank.
If you don't have the Factory Tow Package then you'll either need a different tow vehicle or you'll want to look into renting a box truck from U-Haul instead and either having a second driver for the truck and your Liberty or also rent a trailer to pull your Liberty behind the truck.
Hope this helps out! Let me know if you have any other questions.
