Towing Issues: towing a jeep w/ a jeep, jeep grand cherokee, jeep laredo

Question
QUESTION: Hello,
we have a 1998 jeep grand cherokee and a 2005 jeep grand cherokee (V6). We are moving across the country (from nevada to new york) this next month and want to tow the 98 behind the 05. My husband is very unsure that the 05 will be able to handle this task and no one from jeep or anywhere else seems to have a good answer to agree or disagree. We were planning on renting a trailer to pull it on to get all 4 wheels off the ground.

the 05 has no issues, and has about 54000 miles on it.

any advice, and your opnion would be greatly appreciated.
thank you,

ANSWER: Robin,

You have to find out your towing capacity for the 05. This information should be in your manual and possibly on the tow hitch. You should also be able to get good information from the trailer rental company.

Donald

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank you for your response. this a bit confusing (gvwr), (gcwr), hitch type,(
max gross tongue wt.) ????? Looking at the owners manual it doesn't define
4wd from awd. which the towing vehicle is. If my a.w.d. is considered a 4wd
then the specs on my owners manual read, 3.7L/ 4x4/ gvwr 5,900 lbs/ gcwr
8200 lbs./ hitch type II/ gtw 3500 lbs/ max tongue wt. 525 lbs. Now if you
can tell me if my 2005 awd 6 cyl jeep laredo can tow my 1998 4wd jeep
laredo accross country with a small family inside either on trailer or on all
wheels you truly are the expert. Thank you so much for taking the time.
Robins husband Fritz.

Answer
Fritz,

After looking into it i think that you would be pushing the limits of your jeep. You probably could get away with towing a short distance this way, but across the country is not advisable.

I am basing this on the specifications I found here:

http://www.carsdirect.com/research/specs?cat=6&make=JD&modelid=132&acode=USB50JD

Donald
Beaverton Towing, Inc.
Beaverton, Oregon
503-644-3533