Weigh in

[RandyCarol]

Was just at the dump getting my decal and drove onto the scale, my 2 door weighs in at an even 5600 pounds with everything in it including me and a full tank of gas. That seems heavy still, but a little better than I expected. Anybody else weigh their rig?

[MattJ]

I am so glad you posted on this topic! I have really been wondering about this. My JKU has AEV bumpers, Metalcloak skid plating, five 35" tires, a roof rack, a roof top tent, 40 pounds of water in bumper tanks, plus another 80 pounds of water in side mounted tanks. Last weekend I had four other people in the vehicle with me and so much gear we could barely close the tailgate.

How much is too much? I think the "cargo capacity" of a JKU is 1,200 pounds, but that is reduced by all of the after-market products, right? So 200 pounds of skid plates would reduce my cargo capacity to 1,000 pounds, for example.

Questions I'd love to get answers to:

1) Where can I weigh my JKU?

2) What are the risks of pushing the cargo weight limit? Besides poor gas mileage and worn-out brakes, what else could go wrong?

3) What is the solution? Engine swap to Hemi and new axles?

[pirahnah3]

That seems probably about right considering the axles, tires, skids, and whatever else you have added.

From the Factory
Curb 3,879 Lbs.
Gross weight 4,900 Lbs.

For any that are not sure the difference, I borrowed this definition from the interwebs

A car's gross weight is its curb weight plus the weight of its driver, passengers, and cargo. A car's gross vehicle weight rating (abbreviated GVWR, but often confusingly listed as just gross weight) is the manufacturer's recommended maximum loaded weight. The vehicle's maximum load is the GVWR minus the curb weight.

[Frank]

Which is just crazy . My CJ-5 is listed at 1989# to 2103# depending on where you look. Where did they hide 2k more Lbs. Totally crazy , right? FjR68

[pirahnah3]

All those new fangled gadgets Frank, ya know gotta have those sensors and such for letting you know you might need to put air in a tire or something lol.

[MattJ]

OK - I put my Jeep on the scale. 5,800 pounds. And that is without any people or cargo besides my standard tool kit that lives in the Jeep. So is that too heavy? I wasn't able to figure it out from the stickers that are on the driver door panel. Advice appreciated!

[beaker]

OK - I put my Jeep on the scale. 5,800 pounds. And that is without any people or cargo besides my standard tool kit that lives in the Jeep. So is that too heavy? I wasn't able to figure it out from the stickers that are on the driver door panel. Advice appreciated!

That GVWR is the max weight rating....

[BlackNBlue-ISH]

You’ve got a combined GAWR rating of 5975 lbs. as weighed, you are at 5800 lbs. All passengers and cargo should not exceed 850lbs, so with all your mods, you can now only accommodate an additional 175 lbs.

This does not take into account the changes you’ve made to potentially increase load capacity. Such as stronger springs, upgraded shocks, both of which potentially allow the vehicle to handle a greater load, while maintaining similar safety characteristics.

To accurately figure out if your vehicle is still safe based on weights alone, you’ll need to know why the vehicle GAWR is limited to those values. What are the failure points? Have these things been addressed on your current build?

Don’t worry about it too much. Keep your build safe, either using your own intelligence to design and build components, or someone else’s research and development. If you feel your vehicle is overloaded, make changes.

[MDSRACING398]

Only rear major issue is if you get pulled into weigh station [nice fine] or if cause accident and investigated could be liable for over weight. Your already over manufacturers spec. Whether upgraded or not.

[MattJ]

Thanks guys! I should have mentioned in my initial post that I have an AEV 3.5-inch DualSport SC suspension system with frequency-tuned, progressive rate springs, Bilstein 5100 shocks, a Tom Woods driveshaft and the AEV high steer kit. So hopefully that helps manage the extra load from the other upgrades.

I'm also going to talk to a couple of dealerships that do custom JKU builds and see how they think about this topic. It never came up in my conversations when I paid someone to install my upgrades. It was a topic I started wondering about on my own.

[MDSRACING398]

Your missing the point here! Suspension isn't the issue well to a degree. The axles themselves are only made to carry X amount of weight. Bend, break, bearing failure, ball joints, brakes that are engineered to stop X weight etc. Are they over engineered with a fudge factor built in yes but..... Do I see it as a huge issue no except the brakes. But you asked for an answer.

[Marky]

You’ve got a combined GAWR rating of 5975 lbs. as weighed, you are at 5800 lbs. All passengers and cargo should not exceed 850lbs, so with all your mods, you can now only accommodate an additional 175 lbs.

How much do you weigh?

GVWR includes the 850lbs for passengers and cargo, but is specific to the tires listed. GAWR is what the axles can handle. Curb weight on a stock JKU is around 4200-4400lbs. Then they invite you to load it up with 850 pounds bringing you to 5250 which is still within gvwr and gawr with a safety factor, which you've spent with modifications. The point is, assuming you've upgraded your wheels and tires, you're effectively at your safe maximum without even getting into the vehicle. As pointed out by others, your upgrades do make a difference and help bring you back into a safe zone, but it becomes difficult to evaluate since it's done piece meal.

[BlackNBlue-ISH]

That’s a personal question Marky!

Honestly don’t know, the only time I’ll ever go figure it out is when I’m ready to buy a trailer and tow rig and need to know how much the combination of jeep/trailers weigh.

[Marky]

Just to add to this, think of your Jeep as an engineered system that has a rating. While upgrading some parts may make a difference here and there, what is important is how it all works together. A given part on your Jeep might help to support 10,000 lbs in another system, but how that part works in your system and what it is connected to will determine the overall rating for your Jeep. Some upgrades may provide a positive ripple effect while others may not. It's hard to tell.

[MattJ]

OK - I removed the roof top tent and the bazooka cargo tube. That takes me back down to 5,500 pounds, with 200 pounds to spend on myself and recovery gear before I hit the 5,700 pound GAWR. If I don't eat for two days, I can bring my hi-lift jack and ball joint service kit with me on all future BSJ trail runs. I promised Don I would always have a ball joint press with me from now on . . .