TOWING CAPACITY 02 Liberty Sport 6 cal

My 6 cylinder liberty with overdrive has a class 2 hitch but have never used it.

Looking to make a short tow, about 40 miles pulling a trailer that will
weigh 4000 to 4500 lbs. Liberty manual says 5,000 lbs is max however,
I'm wondering if this tow, (flat paved road) may be outside the realistic capacity
of the vehicle ?

Vehicle and transmission operating without problems. 142,000 miles.
Has a transmission fluid cooler.

Comments appreciated.

 

IMO it’s never a good idea to tow something heavier than the tow vehicle. Additional braking, cooling and load distributing hitch and more safety items may be needed for a safer tow.

 

What aggrex is saying is true, BlueGen. But having said that, go for it, take it easy, and be safe. Keep your speed down. Make sure you’ve got the basics like trailer brakes, and lights that work. 40 miles is the qualification here. If you need to pull a trailer like that regularly out on the open road, get a rig that’s meant for it. Preferably not an SUV, but a properly equipped North American pick up truck. Besides weight, you need a minimum wheelbase of 120” as a rough guideline. Short wheelbase vehicles like a Liberty and other SUVs are generally poor choices for towing anything serious.