Need some advice, towing car across country

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ramstein

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I've got a 2012 express 4wd with 3.55 gears and a 5.7. I leveled it with bilstein shocks and have 275/65/20 toyo open country at2 tires on it. So i need some help from you guys. I've never towed anything big (biggest thing was a motorcycle and trailer) before and I plan on pulling my girfriend's car (2012 hyunda elantra) fully packed with all her stuff from PA to CA, and my truck with have a full bed of my stuff. Aside from her car, our stuff isnt heavy (clothes, home items, etc), we move every few months with our jobs and need to bring everyday items with us where we go. I know I'm going to have to step up from my small class 3 hitch I have thats rated for 6000 lbs, to a larger class 4 rated for 10,000 lbs. I am going to have to rent a trailer, either a flatbed one or one of those two wheel dolleys from uhaul. I think I'd rather go with the flatbed just to save the wear on her tires. My questions are, would I need anything to stiffen the rear suspension, do I need a sway control or weight distribution hitch, and would I need to step up to a bigger hitch if I only use the two wheel dolley trailer? Any other advice would be appreciated too. THANKS!!
 

smurfs_of_war

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With an open flatbed pulling that little car, sway control and ditribution hitch isn't a must have item, but if it fits to pick up even a cheap pro series with bolt on brackets, it would make your trip a lot nicer. Since you do this often, it would pay for itself. A small amount of sway control is inherent in the bars. Not as good as the purpose built sway control, better than nothing.

I would point out though, check the requirements for each state you go through. Each mayhave different requirements for a distribution hitch. For example here, most provinces require a distribution hitch for anything over 500lbs tongue weight. Also, strictly speaking- your classIV receiver would require the same.

Most sway is caused by three things: improper loading, excessive speed, and wind forces be they natural or from passing rigs. An open trailer is not terribly prone to sway from the latter, so that should give you some direction :)

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troutspinner

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That Elantra curb weight is about 3k lbs. Tongue weight of a Dolly is about 300 lbs.

You are not going to need anything special. I did this exact thing 20 years ago with my Mom's Cavalier and I used my small 4 Cylinder Toyota 4WD pickup from Pa to Az and had no issues.
 
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ramstein

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That Elantra curb weight is about 3k lbs. Tongue weight of a Dolly is about 300 lbs.

You are not going to need anything special. I did this exact thing 20 years ago with my Mom's Cavalier and I used my small 4 Cylinder Toyota 4WD pickup from Pa to Az and had no issues.

WOW! That must have been quite the 4 banger haha! Thanks for the advice. I'll look into distribution hitch or sway control as I have some time to prepare for this. I actually dont do this often but it may end up being that I do it every few months due to our jobs. I have a hard time driving more than 18 hours by myself, I can't make her do it too, thats too risky for me.
 

Long Islander

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I tow regularly , youll be fine. Its not a closed trailer so sway isnt a big deal.

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14hemiexpress

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I tow regularly , youll be fine. Its not a closed trailer so sway isnt a big deal.

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What he said.

As long as the car is loaded properly not to far forward not to far back and youll be good to roll.
 

Ratket

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keep in mind.. all the stuff in your bed isn't heavy.. but it adds up fast lol. You will be fine though
 
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ramstein

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Thanks for all the thoughts and opinions, it'll definately help me out when the time comes. One more question, regarding tow/haul mode. Is it neccessary/beneficial to use it? I have a superchips flashpaq and can flash it to towing mode, would I be better going that route? From my understanding the tow/haul button changes around shift points and thats it?.......
 

smurfs_of_war

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It locks the torque convertor quicker and keeps it locked longer. Holds gears a bit longer. Reduces slippage and heat. No reason not to use it. It will save your transmission.

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granite14

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wow, I'm surprised about the no sway comments. We used a uhaul car hauler flatbead in 2000 with my wife's Corolla, pulling behind a uhaul truck, and the sway was bad. I could only go 45 at times when pickups with boats and other trailers were hauling past me at 75mph.
 

14hemiexpress

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wow, I'm surprised about the no sway comments. We used a uhaul car hauler flatbead in 2000 with my wife's Corolla, pulling behind a uhaul truck, and the sway was bad. I could only go 45 at times when pickups with boats and other trailers were hauling past me at 75mph.

The only time I have ever had sway on a car trailer is when I had pickups on a 16ft trailer and had way to much tounge weight due to the fact I couldn't load it over the axles with the length of the truck. If you keep the weight over the axles and not to far forward or to far back you shouldn't have any sway issues.
 

markyfly

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wow, I'm surprised about the no sway comments. We used a uhaul car hauler flatbead in 2000 with my wife's Corolla, pulling behind a uhaul truck, and the sway was bad. I could only go 45 at times when pickups with boats and other trailers were hauling past me at 75mph.
I'd be tempted to blame the sway on the big uhaul not the trailer.
 
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