Jimny & Towing (is there a mod to allow 2WD Lo Range)

Hi, I need to pull 800kg on a 270kg empty weight braked trailer, so 1070kg total mass. The load is a small builders machine - so none of the issues with wind loading you would get with a caravan. I have a few steep hills in one area (worst is 25% - or 1 in 4). Limits on what tow vehicle I can buy are the following. 1) the need to fit the vehicle in our garage - (vandalism). 2) I do only small local journeys - generally about 5 miles, so this rules out a modern diesel. (Another option for me might be a Skoda Yeti) . I doubt the loaded trailer would go beyond a 15 mile radius ever. The machine is by no means moved daily, much of my work is general landscaping / tree work.

For the one off steep hills would it be possible to modify a Jimny so that I had low range but still 2WD. I gather that there are vacuum operated front hubs. My thoughts are to either turn off the vacuum to them, or to fit the manual front hubs spoken of on here. Thus I would have 5 high speeds & 5 lower range speeds (a bit like a tractor or older JCB) If this is even poss what would the manual hubs cost. Sorry i do not own a Jimny, so am green in this. I gather some owners change to manual hubs because the vacuum system can be troublesome
I read the Jimny is popular among highland game keepers, & one ha unofficially towed 2 tonnes uphill!!!
The yeti only has 5 or 6 speeds & seems much more complex all round.
Thanks for any ideas, Pete

www.bigjimny.com/index.php/forum?view=topic&catid=7&id=61532

Here is a link for two wheel low as for the other information someone more clever will be along shortly I'm sure, hope this helps

The thing with towing limits is all round safety. It will tow much more than recommended weight
but the thing to consider will the brakes etc be up to the job?

You can legally tow 1300Kg ish. on the road (with brakes obviously)

My VIN plate gives a max train weight of 2720kg and a max vehicle weight of 1420kg, so 1300kg for the trailer.

Possibly later cars might be different.

Legally you can tow 1300kg with a Jimny if the trailer has brakes as mentioned above. You can also legally tow half the curb weight of the vehicle with an unbraked trailer so nominally 550kg, this is more than what the hand book and indeed suzuki say but by the same token theven hand book puts the braked trailer limit at 450kg unless otherwise stated in local legislation so don't worry about that.

Your next issue is your driving licence type as certain younger licences place limits on towing without an additional test.

As for 4x2 low I have it on my car via manual hubs. You do not get a full separate set of gears from low range, low third is roughly the same as high first and a half low second is marginally lower than high first etc. Now that can be altered with a different gearset in the transfer box, look at rock lobsters, but not a simple thing to do. With a standard transmission 2x4 low is not really suitable for road use as you are topped out at about 30 mph in low 5th but you have to be stationary to switch up into high possibly useful up in the mountains but not really practical. Also I have often towed my medium sheep trailer at full Jimny capacity up 1in4 and 1in3 inclines and never run out of gears in highso long as I have some momentum, the only thing I use low for is climbing out of our drive hill starts where I can stop on level ground and for reverse manoeuvres where the low speed control is beneficial.

So in conclusion with what you are looking at doing I would say a Jimny is going to be ideal.

As someone who uses a Jimny for towing very regularly, I can confidently assure you a Jimny will be absolutely fine with those sort of loads. You shouldn't need 2wd lo for driving up a steep hill but it will help you pulling away if you have to stop. It is also very handy for manoeuvring.