Towing

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nc211

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Question for you experienced towing guys: I'm about to move to Chicago, and thinking about towing our 07' Mazda 3 behind the 4runner (05' V8 - oem weight dist hitch). I'm thinking either a dolly or full trailer from uhaul. I believe the Mazda is about 3200 pounds fully loaded. Any suggestions or advice on if I should do this? I have the option to have it shipped via car carrier, but they say it could take two weeks to get their (driver won't go unless his trailer is full). If I do this, will I be stuck at 50mph for 800+ miles? Or can I get up and go at normal speeds of about 70mph?

thanks all!
 
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nc211 said:
Question for you experienced towing guys: I'm about to move to Chicago, and thinking about towing our 07' Mazda 3 behind the 4runner (05' V8 - oem weight dist hitch). I'm thinking either a dolly or full trailer from uhaul. I believe the Mazda is about 3200 pounds fully loaded. Any suggestions or advice on if I should do this? I have the option to have it shipped via car carrier, but they say it could take two weeks to get their (driver won't go unless his trailer is full). If I do this, will I be stuck at 50mph for 800+ miles? Or can I get up and go at normal speeds of about 70mph?

thanks all!
Click to expand...

Your T4R will tow it fine. I don't know enough about UHaul products to know if the dolly has brakes. If it does then that'd be my choice. I wouldn't use the dolly if it didn't have brakes. As far as 50mph is concerned: Good common sense says slower is safer. I have towed up to 75-80 when the highway is smooth, wide and semi-uncrowded with no issues. Start out with 50-60 as your limit and if it feels good and as you gain experience bump it up a little. IMHO the 50mph speed limit is a speed derived by the legal department at UHaul. With that said if you crash and the prove you were haulin' ass it gets complicated...

1st choice would be to ship it if you can be away from the Mazda for a bit.

:cheers:
 

You should be fine with your V8. I've towed a 24' 7" Malibu Wakesetter with my '05 V8 SE. Granted it took some time to get up to speed but I had no problems after that.

IMHO, you'd be better off towing it yourself. Just make sure you get the correct lights to put on the back end of the mazda and you're set!

Doug
 
IIRC, Uhaul will not let you tow a car with your 4Runner. They have some kind of weight restrictions (for YOUR car, not the car you
 
Uhaul has specific requirements to use either the dolly or trailer. They can be found at uhaul.com.

For example the dolly,
* Must weigh at least 750 lbs. more than the vehicle being towed
* there is a max weight of the towed car depending on front / rear wheel drive.

http://www.uhaul.com

Don't see any problems with hauling you car with a 4Runner
 
d_clark said:
Uhaul has specific requirements to use either the dolly or trailer. They can be found at uhaul.com.

For example the dolly,
* Must weigh at least 750 lbs. more than the vehicle being towed
* there is a max weight of the towed car depending on front / rear wheel drive.

http://www.uhaul.com

Don't see any problems with hauling you car with a 4Runner
Click to expand...

Also says:

-- Maximum recommended speed is 45 MPH
 
nc211 said:
Question for you experienced towing guys: I'm about to move to Chicago, and thinking about towing our 07' Mazda 3 behind the 4runner (05' V8 - oem weight dist hitch). I'm thinking either a dolly or full trailer from uhaul. I believe the Mazda is about 3200 pounds fully loaded. Any suggestions or advice on if I should do this? I have the option to have it shipped via car carrier, but they say it could take two weeks to get their (driver won't go unless his trailer is full). If I do this, will I be stuck at 50mph for 800+ miles? Or can I get up and go at normal speeds of about 70mph?

thanks all!
Click to expand...

Some general things to keep in mind regarding towing in your situation:

- Towing your Mazda with a tow dolly or open trailer in winter may literally Sandblast the front of the Mazda.
Any stones or anti-skid material on the road will be fired by the 4Runner's tires right at the Mazda.

- If you have no prior towing experience towing at 70 mph is not the best idea.
Towing the kind of weight you want to tow (5K+)requires a very GENTLE Touch with SMOOTH lane changes
and PLENTY of Distance to STOP or REACT to driving situations.
It is all about keeping the tow vehicle and trailer UNDER CONTROL.

- If you have not Towed a trailer in the winter on ice and/or snow covered roads you might want to think TWICE about doing this towing trip, period.
While your 4Runner might have great tires that can handle winter road conditions a UHaul trailer is gonna have all season tires and probably worn ones at that.
Ice or snow on the road is going to make for a very dangerous situation.

- If you exceed the limits of the UHaul equipment (weight wise) or flat out violate the rental agreement are you willing
to face the legal consequences if you have an accident?
Will the insurance you have on the 4Runner cover the UHaul trailer if you violate the rental agreement and total the trailer?
If not, do you have the financial resources to pay for the UHaul trailer out of your own pocket?

- Speaking of insurance on the 4Runner, do you have enough insurance coverage in case you have an accident while towing?
Towing accidents have been know to cause more damage and injuries than just a single vehicle.
If you have the state minimum coverage on your 4Runner you might want to forget about towing the Mazda yourself.

- Last time I checked, UHaul equipment does not support the use of Weight Distributing hitches and sway control devices.
That combined with winter driving conditions and a towing novice is not the best combination.
Add to that the distance of 800 miles which is not a simple tow across town.

- There are potential legal risks, financial risks and risks to your own health and well being.
You have to ask yourself, Is it worth it to tow the Mazda yourself?
In the end, you are the only person who can answer that question.
 
RE Towing

Back in August I towed my daughters 99 Honda Accord 4 door with a dolly from UHaul and had 0 issues. I have an 05 V8 2 WD and it performed beautifully from KCMO to Asheville NC.
Yes Uhaul will allow you to rent a dolly I even rented it on line and picked it up after the movers came not sure where the poster got his info.
Also note that UHaul is the only company that will allow you to rent the dolly without a moving truck, I checked Budjet, Penske ect.... Trust me I move every 3-4 years with the Army
 
thanks all for the comments and info! Armyguy, your info was what I hoping to hear. I know that drive, very well, as my family use to live in KC. I've done that drive from Wilmington, NC to KC several times, always a whiteknuckle run through Ashville "beautiful though". I was worried about how the 4runner would handle the extra towing weight in those hills.

I'm not a novice in the world of towing, as I've towed several boats up and down the eastern coast line over the years. I've never towed a car though, but not worried about my abilities. However, charlier is right about the potential damage to the Mazda's front end via the road debris. I wanted to tow the Mazda for two reasons: 1- the car carrier method will take up to two weeks before delivery in Chicago. 2-we could use the extra space to put our plants and stuff, as the movers won't take them. But, I'm not willing to risk tearing up the flawless paint on the Mazda for it. Plus, we'll be going straight through to Chicago, with 3 cats in the 4runner, which will be hard enough to do. The added level of concentration required to tow the Mazda with us, I think will be a bit too much.
 
nc211,
If you use the dolly, you will find that the front sits high enough that any debris hits the undercarriage. Oh you will find that in good driving conditions that 75 mph is a breeze, you have 0 dog tracking seems pretty stable. I opted for he dolly only because fuel was 3.80 a gal and the 2 tandem trailer would have set it to high and I would have had to contend with wind buffeting. Oh and you are leaving NC for Chicago? You must be Blago's replacement?....lol
 
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You will be safe to tow either with a dolly or the auto transport. I am partial to the AT as it is a real nice piece of equipment, has its own brakes and 2 axles for stable towing. The drawback is the extra weight (partially offset by the trailer brakes). Dollies put all the braking on the 4R and are difficult to maneuver, esp. when backing up.

UHaul lists the trailer weight at 2000 lbs. add the 2900 lbs for a Mazda 3 and you are right at the safe limit. The 4R weighs 4500lbs and you will be towing 5000, that means the tow vehicle is 90% of the combined trailer weight, which is within UHauls safety guidelines. Just make sure you tow the Mazda with little gas in the tank. Be sure to check your tires and run them at the max sidewall psi.

From my experience, I towed an '08 Rav4 about 35 miles no problem with an AT. One thing I did was to reverse the orientation of the ball mount from a drop to a slight rise. That way the trailer sits level. You can go 65-70 mph with no problem except to the fuel economy.

For sandblast protection, Duplicolor makes a product called SHIELD that sprays on and washes off with soap and a pressure washer. For 7.99 your front end wll be protected.
 
Peformance wise, there's no issue. I've never towed a car with my 4Runners but HAVE towed a 3,000 lb + camper (in addition to numerous bass boats) with my '90 V6 3.0L, my '00 V6 3.4L plus my '08 V6 4.0L. Just be sure to give yourself plenty of braking distance.
 
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