Cross country move with uhaul trailer.

Alright so we’re moving from TN to Oregon in a couple weeks, we sold almost everything in anticipation for an Alaska move (the spouse is from anchorage) but we settled on Oregon for the time being since my family is there and the money for both of us is better.

We’re renting a uhaul 5x8 box trailer which should fit everything we have to bring. Uhaul says it’s empty weight is 900lbs and I highly doubt we have even another 900lbs of stuff to put in it at this point.

In TW’s opinion,is there anything I should be doing ahead of the trip besides hooking up and hitting the road? Seems at 2000lbs or less the taco should do it easy.

General cross country move advise is always welcome as well.

 

You won’t hardly know you’re towing anything. Just do it and enjoy the trip.

 

Thanks, aside from showing the woman the ropes of towing for when she drives I didn’t think I’d have problems, but man some folks really poopoo the taco’s towing. I just figured those people came from 3/4 tons.

 

Look into getting something like a "scan gauge 2" to monitor transmission fluid temperature etc. You are going uphill a lot of the way.

 

That’s a good idea, it gets straight vertical going through The Rockies from what I remember. The uhaul box truck I rented from when I drove my mom out there for her move had me sweating.

 

On level straight a ways you can tow that light load in 5. When doing any uphill or upwards grades put it in 4. If climbing steep high mountains and the tranny is searching for gears you may want to go to 3.
I tow s 3500 boat thousands of miles a year without problems.

 

I think I’ll be fine even though I’m still gonna get that scangauge for peace of mind on the trip knowing I can check engine perimeters and seems like a decent investment regardless seeing as I’ll have the truck for hopefully 10 years. Its only got 7000 on the dash now.

Thanks for the advice on towing up a grade, only towing I’ve ever done is on flat ground with much more capable manual trans work trucks and I was instructed just to “keep it under 4K rpm and drive it like you stole it” when learning to tow trailers and such.

 

Lol 13 years ago I did WV to Washington state with the bed full and one of those trailers hitched to the bumper of my 1999 2.7 sr5. Did just fine

Well other than bending by bumper a little

 

Jeee-sus that’s a drive,I’ve made tn to Oregon 3 times now and I wouldn’t ask for any further than that.

 

Thanks I’ll keep that in mind, one thing I’m looking forward to is that TW has much more presence where I’m moving and the prospect of meet ups is a lot higher. Anywhere along I-80 you recommend in the area?

 

Wow thanks for that link, I’m definitely gonna try and hit the icbm and military museums on the way plus starved rock. We may shoot north a bit early to hit Jackson hole I think, unfortunately we have my dog (Aussie/husky mix) with us that kinda excludes us from Yellowstone proper although I promised the fiancé that we’d go back to visit it after the move.

 

Where in Oregon are you moving to?

 

Likely somewhere between Portland and Salem, more south of Portland really. Tigard, Beaverton or further down. I’m an Electrician and she’s a pharmacist so figured that would be a good spot to hit both cities in the job search but we will be subletting my sisters apartment near Cornelius during the 2 months she’s in Europe coming up for the time being. Once we start having kids though I’m gonna want to be looking at Bend or heading to Alaska.

 

Bend is nice
If your looking for somewhere between Portland and salem..... Wilsonville is nice. Canby is small but nice. When I say nice I mean they have some nice neighborhoods... and aren’t crazy expensive. If your looking at apartments... Wilsonville, Sherwood, and Tualatin have large apartment complex’s that are nice. Hillsboro and Beaverton are nice but expensive and getting hella congested...

Good luck on your trip

 

I don’t mind a commute so I’ll keep Wilsonville and Canby in mind. Thanks for the heads up on the other spots too I’ll be sure to look into them. I’d rather not do apartments but the housing market seems pretty hemmed up there so I’ll take what I get. I lived in Oregon first 12 years of my life but it’s changed a lot just from what I’ve seem visiting my folks every year.

Thanks for the good luck, I’ve always been in short supply lol.

 

Yea the housing market is a little jacked... to say the least in some areas. You can find diamonds in the rough but plan on getting in a bidding war

 

Just a word of warning, be careful making stops to check things out on your trip and leaving your dog in the car. Warm summer temperatures in a car even with windows partially open can kill a dog in 20 minutes and less. Every summer here in California a lot of dogs die due to being left in hot cars. Have a good and safe trip.

 

Oh you don’t have to worry about that, that dog goes where I go or I don’t go. Had to break it to the woman that Yellowstone was a hard no since dogs aren’t allowed off roadways or outside of the path to ole faithful. Anywhere I can’t take her is gonna have to wait