Towing my Tacoma on a trailer for a long move

Unsure about Texas but temporary tags do not simplify registration and insurance requirements here in Virginia (unless you're talking about no-tag and just rollin' with it.)

 

I would drive it. Only about 5-600 bucks in gas assuming you can get 16MPGs with those tires. Maybe you have a friend that's into road trips and would enjoy doing it. I most certainly would (and am - driving a Tesla for my buddy NJ to FL) for my friends!

 

I have never worked for a company that allowed hauling personal effects with company vehicles (aside from luggage). Every company I worked for also explicitly banned towing personal trailers on company trucks. They don't like complicated liability questions.

I would sit down with the travel/expense folks (or whoever manages relo's for your company) and hammer out exactly what can and can not go on the company truck. Everything else needs to be moved separately or put into storage, and really the company should have footed the bill for the lesser solution, temporary or no. Whatever they dont pay for, save the reciepts, as it might be worth itemizing your taxes this year.

 

Bought a car hauler to move from NC to TX because UHual gave me the same line. Intended to sale afterwards, but found I use it frequently to move large/long items. Moved my Taco with a Tundra, no issues. Also use to haul a tractor, building materials, long poles... Many 1/2 ton trucks have adequate towing capacity and if you watch the your weight it can work. I was close to my limit, but managed to stay within. Great thing with a car hauler is you can center the load precisely to manage tongue weights and pulling manors. Pulls better than my much lighter camper trailer.

 

I towed mine from California to Ohio a few months ago. It was... overloaded, to say the least. Got a little squirrelly at over 65 since it was loaded heavy to the rear... and had a blowout somewhere in Utah...

You can do it if you have an ACLB or a DCSB. DCLB is too long for U Haul's car hauler.

Can't comment on using a full size truck to tow it because I used a U-Haul 20' box.

33" tires are going to be close on the car hauler. I had stock 31s then and the straps barely fit but as you said you can get extenders.











Try driving 3000 miles like this, goddamn dogs were up my ass the whole time.

 

Looks like you had proper supervision

 

Always

 

The way to filled up that Tacoma is too damn funny. The setup you used would be my go-to option.

How much it was to rent that combination?

 

Thank y'all that have commented. I appreciate the pointers and also the pictures, gives me some food for thought from here until my trip takes place.

 

Oh shit man it was crazy. The truck was like $3900 and the trailer was $500. I pleaded with my wife to just sell everything but she fell for that trick when we moved to California 6 years ago and she wasn't having any of that again. I debated buying a shitty used box truck and then selling it after the move, debated buying 2 trailers and towing them behind the Taco and 4Runner and selling them after the move... Ultimately I just bit the bullet and rented the fucking truck. At least it's a tax write off.

 

Sort of related, I didn't want to get a hotel on our 3.5 day trip across the country because I was worried the exposed shit in the bed of the truck would get stolen while we slept.

So... We slept in the drivers seats of our respective rigs... the first night (somewhere in the Utah high desert). It was awful. I lay across the bench of the U-Haul with one dog on the floor and the other on top of me. She slept sitting more or less upright in the drivers seat of the 4R.




After that first night I dug a tent and air mattress out of our shit and we camped the next two nights on the side of the road and left the dogs in the cab of the U-Haul.

 

Why didn't you just rent a larger moving truck? No hitch on the big ones?

The trailer setup with all that weight in the back looks sketchy AF.

Congrats on not spewing you and your shait all over the interstate somewhere.

 

Rent the trailer from some other company, Hertz, Budget, Penske, United or any other. F U Haul!

 

Cost went up exponentially with size.

Yeah it was sketchy but I was confident I could get her done.

U-Haul actually was the cheapest of the big name rental companies. And every single one was way more expensive going west to east than east to west.

 

I can relate, but from a tad more comfortable position, the Tundra/Taco combo in my previous post was our first trip, then flew back for the the “big trip”. Our night in AL somewhere in a state park - for the same reason “couldn’t lock up the open trailer” on the second Taco.

BTW, I do recommend adding the trip insurance if using UHaul. I was side swiped by a truck in a Loves; one call to UHaul and not an issue…they took care of everything.

 

I wanted to give y'all a season finale to the thread and show how I ended up making the trip. Uhaul website is a different story to in person Uhaul, so before I gave up on the idea I went to the store took my hauling truck (Chevy Silverado 500 V8 8' bed) and told them I needed to haul my 4wd 2021 Tacoma.

They set me up immediately without any issues or questions about weight. I did, however, had to buy bigger straps because the ones that come with the trailer are too small for my 255/85s. Nothing Amazon wasn't able to provide. I did get full insurance on the trailer.

Here are some pics of my trip when I stopped at gas stations and initial setup. I filled my Tacoma with stuff and also in the bed. The Silverado had no issues pulling it. I averaged 13mpg on my trip from Beaumont, TX to Toledo, OH at approximately 1,200 miles. I always kept an eye on the transmission temperature but the truck was comfortable the whole way. Now my Tacoma is safe and sound in storage until Spring when all the salt has been cleared from the streets LOL.

 

What straps on the tires did you end up getting to fit? Looking to do something similar as you.

 

Okay i could be wrong, but IIRC i saw a youtube video where a dude towed a taco on a uhaul trailer. The problem was that it was too long. It fit, but it was a little janky