My wife and I are very seriously looking at making a deposit soon with Steve and the gang for a 2020 5'x8' Diamond in the Rough. One thing that concerns me a little is the towing capacity of my current tow vehicle. I own a 2015 Jeep Compass with 4WD and the 2.4L-4 cylinder engine. Everything I currently look to suggests that the maximum towing capacity of that specific vehicle is 1000lbs. With an approximate weight of 900lb for the trailer, am I pushing it? I dare not suggest to the 'boss' that we need a bigger vehicle after we buy the trailer because it's too much! I'm aware that Toyota Prius and Mazda Miata's have pulled these units. Maybe I'm overthinking things? If anyone with any direct experience with towing these units with a relatively small 4 cylinder can offer up some words of wisdom I'd appreciate it.
Thanks
Dont overthink it, people here think that you need monsters for towing. People think 4 cylinder car is weak or whatnat, look into europe, u will barely find anything with more than 4 cylinders.
I have a 2015 Sonata 2.5L and the towing capacity is 2600lbs, if a jeep cant pull that much i would really question the car.
Best you can do is call a dealer mechanic. My manual says "Not recommended for towing" (doesn't say its impossible), but when I opened the manual for the exact same car in Australia, the towing capacity was state as 2600lbs. So I gave them a call and asked if there is any technical difference between the two cars on the two continents and they confirmed that I should be good to tow with mine as well.
What does the owners manual state for towing?
Did it come with a factory tow package? (Is there a tow button/2” receiver?).
Also, is this the tigershark engine (DOHC)?
If both are yes, the you have a 2000lb towing capacity. With that said, I don’t think you’d have any issue pulling it anyway.
I pulled mine with a 1997 TJ manual with a 4.0L engine, no tow package, with ease. Now I use a 2012 Wrangler automatic, no tow package & I hardly notice it’s back there. I have pulled my 5x8 Woody in the Rocky Mts, no trailer brakes, & had no problems. I did pull over frequently to see if my Jeep brakes were getting hot, but never had any issues. Just shift to a lower gear rather than ride the brakes 😁 You won’t regret buying a teardrop!!
5X8 loaded. Only problem we had was getting the paper towel holder to stay inplace.
Don't know anything about the towing capacity of your jeep but our 4 cylinder 2016 Honda crv towed our Teardrop from Ontario to Vancouver and back with no issues last summer. Actually seemed a very easy tow up and down the mountains. Tracked straight with no waving and braked clean in a straight line.
Some of the best sleeps we've ever enjoyed and cooking off the removable outdoor table was a joy.
We have a 5x8 Diamond which we pull with a Toyota RAV4 (V6) - I would double-check your towing capacity on this.... the last outing of 2019 I weighed the trailer loaded and it came in just over 1000 lbs. I would think the Compass has a little higher capacity but I'm not that familiar with Jeep products. Good luck! We love ours and can't wait to get the cover off, do some spring cleaning, install the solar charging equipment I put together over the winter and get out there... after we come out of this pandemic that is.