Towing a UHaul trailer

I am moving from NM to SC in a couple of weeks and will be towing a 4x8 UHaul trailer, empty weight about 900#, I will probably have about 1000# hopefully way less. My taco is a 17 limited 4x4 with tow package, pretty much stock with bilstein 5100s. My cargo will be stuff the movers won’t take and clothing etc that I will need until the main shipment arrives.

Any suggestions, advice or tips? I did the reverse move 3 years ago, but the tow vehicle was a 13 T4R limited.

 

Tow using "s" mode. Will allow you to choose appropriate gear limit. Also use the ect button, it will allow the tesns mission to hold the gear it's going through longer.

 

Welcome to SC. Cant give you much advice on towing but we have quite a few members here in the upstate and low country.
Hop in the SC thread when you get here and if you need any help with moving... just holler at us.

 

Thank you. Luckily it’s a company move and the house is partially furnished. I will just need to find a good beer supply and home brew store near Goose Creek/Summerville

 

Awesome... we have a few people in the goose creek/summerville area.
Prayers for safe travel for you and the fam. @jhodge83 can prob give you a run down
on whats local.

 

Don’t tow in overdrive if automatic.

That’s a very light trailer and payload so I wouldn’t be worried about capability.

 

That weight is nothing for your truck. Just tow it and don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t even worry about towing in OD on level stretches of highway. If towing on hills, mountains long upward grades then take it out of OD.

 

If my beloved 2002 3.4L pull 4K lbs I’m sure your 17 can handle 1900. That was with a 6x12 u haul 1500 miles.

 

2015 off road - 6x12 Uhaul trailer. I had absolutely NO issues. Hardly felt it behind me.

 

I towed a 5 x 8 from AL to OR. Am I alone in my fuel economy being KILLED by towing this small trailer? I didn't think it was so much the weight as it was the wind drag from the boxy trailer. Maybe I did it wrong.

 

No, it does kill your mpg. When I towed my wife's car (about 6200 with car and trailer), my mpg went down to like 8mpg. The 6x12, I think (been awhile), made it go down to about 10-11. In mid summer with wife, luggage, AC on, I get only 13 mpg on the Highway anyways.

 

Second this.

My 1st gen 3.4 did 500+ miles with just under 4k lbs without an issue at all. However, the 6x12 utility had a hydraulic surge brake which helped big time. 1st gen taco front brakes are a weak link. I am sure your 17 will stop just fine. Also, which I am sure you already know - Load heaviest items closer to the tongue of the trailer and check the PSI of the tires upon pick up of the u haul.

 

Yeah my front brakes warped some on the move. I was surprised how well it handled.

 

Thanks for the responses, I’ll let y’all know how she does. Hopefully we’ll since I will be going pretty much downhill after I get to Texas, about 3,500 feet in 1600 miles.

 

Put it in S5, load your trailer with 60% of the weight in the front half of the trailer, get your tongue load to be about 10-15% of your total trailer weight, don't drive faster than 65mph.

 

I did a 2,500 mile round trip this month from Kansas to Las Vegas, pulling a 4x8 UHaul trailer with my 2018 TRD DCLB. Did not need "S" mode or ECT. Just took it easy down the western slope of the Rockies. Pulled like a dream and lost about 3-4 mpg going up the Rockies.

 

Here are the results: 28 hour trip over 2 days. I used S4 average speed was between 65-70. I lost speed going up the mountains in Alabama & Georgia. The tank mpg ranged from between 14 and 16 with best mileage at the beginning. I tried S5 but it wouldn’t hold speed, I was doing around 3k rpms in S4 at 65. Here is what she looked like at destination while still loaded.

 

I think it's wind drag as much as, or more than, the load until you get really heavily loaded. I towed a 5x8 cargo trailer from western NC to south Florida and back; loaded going to Florida and empty coming back. The trailer is 850 lb. empty and I had about 1000 lb. in it when loaded. Mileage going both ways was 14-14.5, towing in 4th doing 70 (2011 5 spd auto, 4L Dbl cab 4x4). I figured OP might have gotten better mileage because the trailer isn't as tall as the truck cab. My 5x8 is two feet taller than my truck and it is a V-nosed trailer. I was pretty disappointed in my mileage.

 

Win drag increases with speed. I would pull that load at 55-60mph Max. That is a lot of RPMs and plus the weight to pull and wind drag.