just like the subject line says. please post your trailering/towing helpful hints and warnings.

We're about to move 700 miles away (again) and are going to tow a 6x16 dual axle trailer or so behind my beater 22r extended cab pickup. I've read from a few places that the engine will handle it fine. I'm more concerned about YOUR experiences with towing, and the caveats you've come to find along the way.

Please keep this thread on topic, please only contribute with stuff that can -help- me and others.

Thanks gstwinners !

Towing sucks, if your truck is really in a bad way you might wanna do what I did when I had to move and had a crappy car. I rented a 20' box truck(Penske) had a muffler shop throw it on a drive on rack lift it and drove into the truck, packed all my crap in it and around it and went on my merry way!
Really towing that far on a old high mileage motor is asking for a breakdown.
Now I have towed camp trailers and motorcycle trailers and one thing for sure, people always cut you off and slowdown like you have bionic brakes and traffic lights turn into panic stops sometimes!

Quote from: mojonixon on June 19, 2008, 03:44:24 PM
Towing sucks, if your truck is really in a bad way you might wanna do what I did when I had to move and had a crappy car. I rented a 20' box truck(Penske) had a muffler shop throw it on a drive on rack lift it and drove into the truck, packed all my crap in it and around it and went on my merry way!
Really towing that far on a old high mileage motor is asking for a breakdown.
Now I have towed camp trailers and motorcycle trailers and one thing for sure, people always cut you off and slowdown like you have bionic brakes and traffic lights turn into panic stops sometimes!

yep. but right now a uhaul (or similar) truck is $800, and I have three vehicles to move, so that means another 3-400 for a dolly, then gas @ $4/gallon and about 8 mpg.

our trip down was actually 7-8 mpg in a uhaul, and i'm planning to resell the trailer for profit afterwards.

the truck is fine, it's 20 years old, but the maintenance is up to date and borderline obsessive.

most likely i'll be advancing the timing 3-5 degrees and running 93 octane during the trip, then retarding it again after i don't have 2200 lbs to drag along

trailers are cheap here, and much more where we're going. along with trucks. rednecks pay crazy prices for trucks in alabama

It will do it but not very fast and gas mileage isn't going to be much better than uhaul with that kind of trailer/load.  Be careful not to overheat you brakes, its not hard to do while towing with a smaller pickup.

I moved about the same distance, towing the biggest enclosed trailer uhaul has w/ my 3.4 Tacoma.  Uhaul said my truck was too small for the trailer (I checked online), so I lied when I set up the reservation and said I had a T100.  I think the reasoning was my brakes wouldn't be strong enough since my truck was under 3500 lbs. 

I had the trailer and bed loaded to the max, we still had to ditch some stuff last minute on craigslist and with a free sign by the side of the road.  I wasn't much worried about the engine, more the clutch.  But it did great.  A half ton truck or bigger would have been better, but ya gotta work with what you've got.  I mostly kept it at 60-65 and occasionally faster down hills on the 65mph interstate.  We hit some snow/ice and after a little fishtailing we made alternate plans to find a place to stay overnight.  All I've got to say is I'm never moving in the winter again unless maybe its cross town and I've got more time to do it.

My big tips would be:
-Take it slow
-Give yourself lots of room to brake
-Give yourself lots of room to change lanes
-Take corners wide
-make sure your tow vehicle is in tip top shape
-make sure the trailer is ready for the trip too (esp. bearings, tires, wiring, spare tire is good)

1. Go slow.  It's easier on the truck and will give better mileage.

2. Make absolutely sure your trailer lights are functional (brakes and turn signals).  This is a safety issue as well as a legal one.  I almost rear-ended a trailer on I-40 last month.  It was pitch black (no moon) and this trailer was wider than the truck pulling it.  It had NO lights showing and was going slow.  I came over a hill and almost didn't see it.  I swerved in time to miss it.  There was a similar fatal accident not far from here last year.  Also consider putting reflective tape on the back of the trailer to help others see you at night.  When you are going slower than the flow, traffic behind you needs all the warning it can get.

3. Pack carefully.  You want a little more weight in the front of the trailer, but not so much that you drop the back of your truck and endanger steering and headlight aim.

4. Think ahead -- anticipate problems.  Brake early and leave plenty of distance between you and the vehicle in front.

5.  Run tire pressures on the high side (trailer and truck) to better handle the load.

is the truck a 5 speed, if so you can use the tranny to help slow down, if not you can manually downshift wiht the auto, at the proper speed, for the same effect. w/o damage. just load the trailer properly, keep the tongue weight in check. and all will be fine. teh size of the trailer is not a big issue here. just tkae it easy, GL