Bimmer-Bob
New member
Some of you may have read or even contributed to my threads regarding my plan to tow my BMW to North Carolina from Southern California with my 4Runner. Or you may just be interested in our truck's towing ability, as it seems to be a topic that comes up regularly around here. Either way, I received a lot of good advice from fellow members on this forum, and thought it best to submit an after action report of sorts.
Background
I had to find a way to get two vehicles from Southern California to North Carolina. My wife couldn't drive because she just had a baby, so convoying was out. Additionally, I wasn't crazy about extra wear and tear on my fairly low-mileage BMW. I could've hired a shipping carrier to take the car, but I've heard too many horror stories, and my itinerary was indirect - I was going from SoCal to Oregon before heading to North Carolina, so the car would've arrived on the east coast a couple of weeks before me and I would've had to pay for storage during that time. I also figured that, being in the military, regular (often long-distance) moves were just part of my reality, so the cost of buying a trailer would be offset by the convenience of always being able to move my vehicles myself over the next 10 or 20 years. As a bonus, the ability to tow my car shorter distances for track days appealed to me as well.
The Route
My situation was a little complicated. Before moving, I had to go unaccompanied to New England for 5 weeks. My wife was due to have a baby any day, and in fact gave birth a couple of days before I had to leave. While I was gone, she went to stay with her parents in the Pacific Northwest. When I returned to SoCal, I would have to arrange the pack out of my house, then drive in tow to the PNW, hang out for about 10 days, then continue on to NC. My family would then fly east. This route would've involved a lot of elevation changes: on the 5 North alone, I would've gone over the Grapevine north of LA, then over Mount Shasta after the Central Valley, then the Siskiyou Pass at the CA-OR border, and then through the Coast Range on my way to western OR. On my way east, I would've had to navigate the Rockies, of course.
A last minute wrinkle arose that changed everything. When I picked up the trailer I had custom ordered (more info on that below) there was a problem: the manufacturer had built the trailer with standard axles instead of dropped axles, and further, the dealer had specified "no dove tail" on the build sheet. The result was that the loading deck was WAY too high, and the resulting ramp angle, even with 6' ramp extensions, was far too steep for my lowered BMW to clear. Luckily, the manufacturer took responsibility and offered to rush build a replacement trailer under warranty. Unfortunately, that meant I had to leave the BMW at a friend's place, drive the 4Runner to Oregon to see my family for about a week, then drive back to SoCal to pick up my new trailer, load the BMW, and drive east.
The new route would take me east on I-8 to I-10, all the way to I-95 North. As far as I know, this is just about the flattest route you can take across the country, with the only significant elevation changes occuring early on, through the Cuyamaca Mountains east of San Diego (a few 6% grades and max elevation around 4800 feet, I think).
The final route I decided on came out to 2,894 miles, not including stops for gas, food, and lodging:
The Truck
Tow vehicle is a 4Runner, of course. A 2014 SR5 Premium 4x4 to be exact. I know its relatively short wheelbase and V6 engine make it less than an ideal tow vehicle, so I set out to make what improvements I could. The first thing I did was swap out the stock P tires for LT tires. I went with BF Goodrich All-Terrains in load range C, stock sizes. For transmission cooling, I went with a B&M SuperCooler (#70264). For a little extra help with the load on the rear end, I opted for Firestone Coil-Rite air bags (#4135). Finally, for brake control I chose the top-of-the line Tekonsha P3, wired with the 3040-P adapter to make it completely plug-and-play. The tranny cooler and air bags were installed by The Truck Shop in San Diego, a Toyota truck specialist. They fabbed really neat metal flanges onto the tow hitch in order to mount the valves for the air bag hoses:
Really clean install; I was impressed.
Background
I had to find a way to get two vehicles from Southern California to North Carolina. My wife couldn't drive because she just had a baby, so convoying was out. Additionally, I wasn't crazy about extra wear and tear on my fairly low-mileage BMW. I could've hired a shipping carrier to take the car, but I've heard too many horror stories, and my itinerary was indirect - I was going from SoCal to Oregon before heading to North Carolina, so the car would've arrived on the east coast a couple of weeks before me and I would've had to pay for storage during that time. I also figured that, being in the military, regular (often long-distance) moves were just part of my reality, so the cost of buying a trailer would be offset by the convenience of always being able to move my vehicles myself over the next 10 or 20 years. As a bonus, the ability to tow my car shorter distances for track days appealed to me as well.
The Route
My situation was a little complicated. Before moving, I had to go unaccompanied to New England for 5 weeks. My wife was due to have a baby any day, and in fact gave birth a couple of days before I had to leave. While I was gone, she went to stay with her parents in the Pacific Northwest. When I returned to SoCal, I would have to arrange the pack out of my house, then drive in tow to the PNW, hang out for about 10 days, then continue on to NC. My family would then fly east. This route would've involved a lot of elevation changes: on the 5 North alone, I would've gone over the Grapevine north of LA, then over Mount Shasta after the Central Valley, then the Siskiyou Pass at the CA-OR border, and then through the Coast Range on my way to western OR. On my way east, I would've had to navigate the Rockies, of course.
A last minute wrinkle arose that changed everything. When I picked up the trailer I had custom ordered (more info on that below) there was a problem: the manufacturer had built the trailer with standard axles instead of dropped axles, and further, the dealer had specified "no dove tail" on the build sheet. The result was that the loading deck was WAY too high, and the resulting ramp angle, even with 6' ramp extensions, was far too steep for my lowered BMW to clear. Luckily, the manufacturer took responsibility and offered to rush build a replacement trailer under warranty. Unfortunately, that meant I had to leave the BMW at a friend's place, drive the 4Runner to Oregon to see my family for about a week, then drive back to SoCal to pick up my new trailer, load the BMW, and drive east.
The new route would take me east on I-8 to I-10, all the way to I-95 North. As far as I know, this is just about the flattest route you can take across the country, with the only significant elevation changes occuring early on, through the Cuyamaca Mountains east of San Diego (a few 6% grades and max elevation around 4800 feet, I think).
The final route I decided on came out to 2,894 miles, not including stops for gas, food, and lodging:
The Truck
Tow vehicle is a 4Runner, of course. A 2014 SR5 Premium 4x4 to be exact. I know its relatively short wheelbase and V6 engine make it less than an ideal tow vehicle, so I set out to make what improvements I could. The first thing I did was swap out the stock P tires for LT tires. I went with BF Goodrich All-Terrains in load range C, stock sizes. For transmission cooling, I went with a B&M SuperCooler (#70264). For a little extra help with the load on the rear end, I opted for Firestone Coil-Rite air bags (#4135). Finally, for brake control I chose the top-of-the line Tekonsha P3, wired with the 3040-P adapter to make it completely plug-and-play. The tranny cooler and air bags were installed by The Truck Shop in San Diego, a Toyota truck specialist. They fabbed really neat metal flanges onto the tow hitch in order to mount the valves for the air bag hoses:
Really clean install; I was impressed.
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