Towing small trailer cross country with 4banger

I drive the base model 2020 tacoma, and am about to move cross country. I don't have a lot of things, but I need to bring a table, mattress, two bikes and some other odds and ends.

Can my truck handle towing a small UHaul for over 2,000 miles, or is it worth it to ship these items instead?

 

Yeah. It’ll be fine. Just dont be afraid to take it slow and use the RPM band.

 

I towed a 1968 Chevelle on a car trailer, with my previous four-cylinder standard Tacoma from Maryland up the East Coast. The thing never even broke a sweat.

 

do you have a tow package? and what is the weight of the trailer? just curious..

 

Yep, I have a hitch installed for my bike rack. And the empty trailer weight is 900 lbs. With my belongings in it, I'm estimating it will be around 1,500 lbs.

 

It's rated for 3500 lbs, it's fine. My 5 lug used to tow that quite often. You will be slow though and bad mpg if your going past 65mph.

 

I also have a camper shell on my truck, which will be loaded up as well. Not sure if this makes a big difference

 

It's not going to be fun, but as long as your weights are under the limits it'll do it.

 

If you are under 3,000 lbs total (trailer, cargo in trailer, cargo in shell) I think you will be fine. Your fuel economy will suck and you should take in slow, but you'll be ok.

 

Any risk of long-term damage to the transmission, since it’s so far?

 

You should be fine. I’ve made multiple trips between NC and Chicago towing both a loaded Uhaul trailer, and a vehicle on a full trailer. I went through the NC/TN mountains and KY hills with the uhual and the WV turnpike when towing the car. Use ETC mode the very moment you start the vehicle to help with the load. You may be slow, that’s fine. Let people pass you.

I have a 2016 2.7L 4 cyl. All of these trips were several years ago. I’ve had no issues in 4 years of ownership.

 

Thanks! Yeah the mountains are what I worry about. I’m from NC, so I’m used to incline, but I’m going to be making my trip from Oregon to Florida where there’s a lot of steep grades that drag on for miles

 

I understand. It was the same thin in transition states like KY when I made these trips. Again, you should be fine. The 4 cylinders are loud because they love to stay at 4k RPM or higher when towing so be prepared for that. It does not mean there is an inherent issue. But if you're making a trip that long I don't imagine there is a terrible rush, especially this time of year when random snow storms can pop up in the midwest, so if you are having second thoughts about anything along the way, just find a rest stop and check everything. Enjoy a nice picnic or go see a scenic vista while you wait for the truck to settle back down for a few minutes.

Be safe and happy travels!

 

Oh, one last thing, I don't have Toyota Safety Sense on my vehicle, but vehicles that I've driven that have adaptive cruise control can sometimes be quite aggressive when preemptively braking. Not good when trailering. May be worthwhile to disable that for the duration of the trip.

 

Can you do it sure. It is however worth it to do some cost comparisons. I have used Household Moving Company | U-Pack twice in the past (Upack's Relo cube). Mainly do to the weight of the items and it was late fall early winter. Think large loaded tool box and other shop tools and supplies. I think I was actually over weight but the guy who picked it up said as long as he could get it on the truck he was ok with it. I did tell him what side I thought might be the heaviest. If I towed a trailer it would have been with my 1996 F-150. I have also used a Uhaul 5x8 cargo trailer with only light weight items (maybe 300-400lbs tops). The gas mileage loss was substantial. I remember it was 5-6mpg loss ( normally 300-325 miles between stops reduced to about 240-250 miles between stops). This was with a Tacoma Dbl Cab offroad A.T w 4.0 from Seattle to So.Cal with plenty of mountains and wanting to maintain 70mph. I needed an extra day due to all the fuel stops. The wind drag is what killed it.

 

You could drive WFO for 10k pulling that trailer with a 2.7. It won’t be fast but it won’t hurt it. I’d put a trans cooler on it though.

 

Jeezus. Ignore everyone questioning whether your pickup truck can tow a 1500 lb trailer cross country. It's not a corolla.

Place the heavier items towards the front of the trailer.

 

Load it up and go. Truck will be fine

 

I have seen people in Corollas tow some crazy shit

Truck will be fine, like everyone said, the obvious loss of MPG, take it easy, yadda yadda.