V6 Towing 4500 lbs Trailer Question - Route

[4reshAir]

Gidday Lads and Gents,

I'll be towing 6 x 12 enclosed UHAUL trailer at the end of the year from Los Angeles to Raleigh, NC. But have a concern driving to Flagstaff, AZ.

I have two route choices from Los Angeles to Albuquerque, NM.

1. LA to Flagstaff, AZ via 40 (night in Flagstaff) then to Albuquerque.
2. LA to Phoenix, AZ via 10 (night in Phoenix) then to Flagstaff via 17 then to Albuquerque.

Towing about 4500 lbs altogether on winter road, would it be wiser to drive to Flagstaff directly via 40 (all day long climb) or climb from Phoenix to Flagstaff via 17 (couple of hours of climb)?

Please share your experience or expertise with me.

Thanks. :brushteeth:

 

[Martinjmpr]

Wow that's a heavy trailer for a V6. Do you have an external cooler?

It's been years since I drove the route from Phoenix to Flagstaff but my recollection is that it's a steep climb for a relatively short distance.

I think if it was me I'd take 40 all the way. It's a fairly gentle slope all the way up to Flag. Keep it in 4th gear and don't be afraid to shift it down to 3 for a long, slow climb.

Do you have a Scangauge or Ultragauge? I believe the newer Ultragauges let you monitor transmission temp. I saw my trans temp go all the way up to 260 pulling a 1,000 lb trailer out of Death Valley, but then again this was in July and the outside temp was 115.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Routing...

Of course, now I have to ask: Is there some reason you're going through Flagstaff?

Here's why I'm asking: If you're going through Flag, it makes me think your idea is to take 40 all the way to Raleigh.

With your heavy trailer, I wouldn't recommend that. You will have to go through mountainous areas in Arkansas and in Eastern Tennessee/Western NC that will be steeper than anything you'd hit going to Flagstaff.

I was stationed at Fort Bragg for 6 years back in the 90's and made several trips back and forth between NC and CO. Not only are the roads in TN/NC very steep, they are often filled with heavy, dense fog that can cause (and has caused) massive multi-car pileups.

Additionally, weather can be very sketchy in Eastern NM, the TX panhandle, OK and points east. Could be good, could be awful.

In fact, I'll go so far as to say I'd rather drive through a Colorado or Wyoming blizzard than deal with the glaze ice they can get on the roads further South.

If it was me, I'd take a more southerly route and avoid the mountains altogether.

If you take I-10 through Phoenix and Tucson, continue on to El Paso, then jump onto I-20, then take I-20 all the way to Atlanta, and then I-85 through Charlotte and Greensboro, you'll only travel about 80 more miles than if you took I-40 but IMO it will be safer, faster and easier on your vehicle.

Now, full disclosure: I've never driven I-85 between Atlanta and Charlotte, but from my recollection it goes through a low piedmont and not any real "mountains." But if this is a concern, then I can absolutely recommend staying on I-20 all the way to Columbia (where it ends) and then just taking I-95 North to Raleigh, jumping back on to 40 Westbound to get you the last 30 miles or so into Raleigh.

According to Google maps, even that route would only add 100 miles onto your trip vs. I-40.

Now, if time is no object and you want to be REALLY safe, you could stay on I-10 all the way to Jacksonville, FL. that would add about 5 hours and ~300 miles onto your total distance but it would keep you in warm, gulf-coast adjacent roads most of the way. It's probably also the "flattest" route you can take as once you get past El Paso you are either going downhill in Texas or running along the Gulf coast.

Just something to consider. I love route planning (can you tell?) and for a trip this time of year the weather should be a factor in your planning.

Good luck!

 

[TheTurboMRT]

I have the UltraGauge MX 1.3, and it monitors transmission temp on my 2007. Handy little tool to have, and very sleek interface. I mounted mine to the left of my steering wheel

20150708_202029_zpslgxe5bk0.jpg Photo by wildhippie666 | Photobucket

Wow that's a heavy trailer for a V6. Do you have an external cooler?

It's been years since I drove the route from Phoenix to Flagstaff but my recollection is that it's a steep climb for a relatively short distance.

I think if it was me I'd take 40 all the way. It's a fairly gentle slope all the way up to Flag. Keep it in 4th gear and don't be afraid to shift it down to 3 for a long, slow climb.

Do you have a Scangauge or Ultragauge? I believe the newer Ultragauges let you monitor transmission temp. I saw my trans temp go all the way up to 260 pulling a 1,000 lb trailer out of Death Valley, but then again this was in July and the outside temp was 115.

 

[wnelax04sr5]

id be less concerned about the power towing 4500, but more about the trans temp as others have mentioned and braking. does the trailer have electric or surge brakes? does your 4runner have a trailer brake controller? I'm not familiar with u-hauls but i assume they have some sort of braking.

 

[BOFFROAD]

This past weekend drove from LA to Flagstaff, then from Flagstaff to Phoenix, then back to LA. If were you I would take the 40 to Flagstaff. It is a long steady climb with few steep hills. If you went from Phoenix to Flagstaff there are many steep hills to where you would probably want to keep your speed down.

 

[kiwiyoda]

To add a note to what Martinjmpr had to say about I40 as you exit TN and head up into the Appalachians. IF you were thinking about going through there. It is steep in places, but your biggest concern would probably the lack of anywhere to pull off in the steeper areas if you did start to overheat. It can be 20-30 minutes between exits, and the shoulder is very narrow to non existent in places with a lot of truck traffic.

 

[alia176]

I vote with Martinjmpr, stick with I-10 and avoid all winter affected roads all together. Cool thing is that you'll be going with the jetstream and towing that giant wind sail of a trailer, I bet you'll be hauling ass on I-10. If you insist on going through Flagstaff, pick up a set of tire chains. I live on 7,000' and seen too many jack knifed trailers on snow/ice.

 

[blackoutt]

I'm not much help from LA to Pheonix but from there I would suggest I-10 clear through to Mobile then 65-85-40 to stay out of large elevation changes.

You must be trying to hit the grand canyon on your way through? Maybe lock the trailer up for a day and go see it then come back to your stuff later.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Also I drove through central New Mexico 10 days ago on icy roads and it was miserable. I was pulling a 2,000lb travel trailer and the snow and slush kept trying to pull me off the crown of the road. This was in 4wd with good tires (BFG AT KOs.)

I would avoid any possibility of that by staying as far South as possible.

 

[RPS13]

4500 lbs isn't bad. I do it pretty often (2500 lb car on an 1800 lb open steel trailer with about 200 lbs of tools). The V6 power isn't that bad 90% of the time, but you definitely can't use 5th gear. Luckily our trans will lock up in 4th gear, so just leave it there. At least for me, I was getting better gas mileage leaving it in 4th even at about 60-65 mph vs. 5th on flat open road without much wind.

The trailer will have surge brakes on it, so I wouldn't worry about that, especially if you have the larger sport brakes.

I would recommend an external trans cooler, as I haven't monitored my trans temps, but that thing seems to put off quite a bit of heat after a tow. I don't do much towing at low speed with the converter unlocked either, so it could be worse.


As for MPG, I usually average around 13-15 mpg on the computer keeping a pretty steady 65-75 mph, so around 12-14 mpg real world. 4th gear is honestly a bit short for highway towing, and 5th a bit tall. This is where something like a 6/7/8 speed trans would benefit. Being able to drop down just a tad and keep the engine happy and efficient could probably get 10-15% better fuel mileage when towing.

But it gets the job done overall... But I could always use more power (way more power than a V8 4th gen has!). It has me looking at BMW X5's with the 3L turbo. A tuner can get you about 380-400 ft-lbs of torque at the wheels at ~2000 RPM when you load it up. That'll pull pretty good! Or I could go full stupid and get a twin turbo 4.4L V8 and do about 550-580 ft-lbs of torque at 2200 RPM, but that's probably a tad overkill.

 

[jonesmw10]

I just towed a 4500lb+ 6x12 uhaul from Buffalo, NY to Rifle, CO. The V6 will handle it fine, no cooler was needed. Just keep it out of overdrive for the most part, so the trans doesn't keeping shifting between 3-4-5-4-3-4-5-4-3 etc etc.

The trailers have surge brakes, which the brakes on my uhaul trailer seemed crappy. Still didn't have an issue with stopping it, although I can't comment in regards to stopping it in poor driving conditions.

 

[blackfc3s]

I towed the same trailer and about the same weight 1400 miles from Omaha Nebraska to Spokane, WA. Just keep her in 4th gear and keep at 60 MPH. I only had problems when I went over the continental divide near Butte, MT. I average about 13 MPGs the whole way.


The v6 has the power. Just make sure you transmission keeps cool.

Here is a very cheap way to monitor your transmission temps
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/174257-torque-app-working-formula-tranny-temp.html

 

[DarenS]

Since you're going from LA to Raleigh, I would take I-10 until you hit Mobile, AL, then switch take I-65 to I-85 up to NC until you hit I-40.

This will take you south of the Rockies and south of the Smokies and as I recall, is relatively flat most of the way. I have driven cross country on I-10, I-40, I-70 and I-80. I-10 is the flattest route.

I drive the route between LA and ABQ quite often. There are some steep climbs on I-40 between Barstow and Needles. After that, it's a long slow climb to Flagstaff, then down again before you begin another long slow climb to ABQ. ABQ sits at about 5,500'.

You definitely don't want to get stuck in the weather through NM. The Indian reservations are responsible for clearing the interstate and some do better than others (or not at all!).

 

[4reshAir]

You guys are great, thanks for the wealth of information.
I'm at work so I'll make it quick but to answer some of your questions, I do have tranny cooler with app and I did not have a particular reason for picking I40 other than that was the shortest route.