U-Haul 6x12 from Florida to New York

[Dinks219]

Evening guys and gals,

At the end of this month I’m making a run down to Florida (no towing enroute) to pack up some of my grandmothers belongings and furniture in a U-Haul 6x12 rental trailer. I’m figuring the weight to be around 4-5k. Anything special I should take into consideration? I’m the proud owner of 2013 1500 Sport crew cab. Obviously I’m pretty well within my limits and will be sure to load correctly. Anyone have any experience on how the U-Haul trailers do being towed they appear to Ben equipped with within surge brakes and are not compatible with any WDH.

 

[mtofell]

Was Grandma an anvil collector? 4-5K seems like a lot of weight for a 6X12 trailer. The trailer is probably around 2K. Furniture and other things shouldn't be much more than 1500#? Anyway, you should be good on weight.

It's somewhat tough to answer your question since we don't know what truck you have. All I see is "5.7 Hemi" next to your name. That could be anything from a 1500 with 3.21 gears to a 3500 with 4.10 gears. I've hauled a few Uhaul trailers and the inertia brakes work generally well. Load the trailer front heavy to keep weight on the tongue and help prevent sway problems. Even at 5K and 12% on the tongue you should be pretty far under the payload of the most limited 1500. There is also the question of how many anvils you are going to carry in the truck? Overall, you should be looking good but with a few more details we may be able to help more.

 

[Dinks219]

Grandma loves her stuff, right now it’s just furniture and some normal household stuff however knowing the “shed” she has stuff in and other items it could be god knows that. I figured on 4500 with the trailer being 2k and then factoring worst case senario to cover the bases. I don’t want to be that guy however I did write in the OP that it was a Crew 1500 sport although to be fair I left out the rear ratio. It’s 3.92 according to the vin decoder. I figured payload and trailer weight would be fine but as it is the first time I’m trailering anything long distance rather than around time I was wondering if there is anything I should know or do before the trip. Thanks for the input on the trailer and the brake set up!

 

[Dinks219]

@mtofell I also updated my profile to correctly portray my ride. Thanks for the tip.

 

[RoadRamblerNJ]

I dragged U-Haul's finest (sarcasm) 6x12 trailers from North Jersey to Roanoke VA twice and N Jersey to Knoxville, TN once. Loaded going down, empty coming back. Truck was loaded too, in & out.

If you load it right, tires and tire pressures are good, they follow you quite nicely. I forgot it was back there coming back empty.

Of course, I was pulling them with a '17 2500, 4x4, Crew Cab, Long bed with a 6.4 and 4.10 gears that empty, weighs about 3/4 of a ton more than your truck.

Pics are from 3 different trips. One of them (with the Quad) I had that sucker waaay over loaded. Just trying to show how they all sat relatively flat.

You should have no issues with your truck. Just tow smart, not fast.

 

[Dinks219]

@RoadRamblerNJ hahaha thanks that 3/4 surly doesn’t make that much of
A difference. But seriously thanks for the feed back. Also not sure if you know but when it comes to weigh stations that doesn’t matter as it would be below 10k right? That was the only other thing I forgot about.

 

[Hd74ica]

Tow mirrors needed?

 

[Jughed]

Pulled one with my wifes Pilot, with my old Mega and with behind a 26' uhaul box truck...

Your Ram will pull that thing with no issues. Put more weight to the front of it, keep the load even from side to side, and tie everything down well.

 

[Dinks219]

Is the width enough to need tow mirrors? I think it’s probally comparable to the width of my truck so I’m not sure. I saw some snap on ones that were recommended on a thread around here that were only like 40 bucks which isn’t to big of a deal considering I’ll only be towing very infrequently. However with 1100 miles or so of towing that will need to be done not sure if it would make it easier.

 

[mtofell]

I did write in the OP that it was a Crew 1500 sport

Shoot.... I never was good at that whole reading thing

Pulling wise with the 3.92 your are golden. Payload should be okay as well unless you just totally overload the truck with people and things. A buddy of mine has a similar truck but his payload is only 1070# due to all the "bling" that came with it. Since then, he's added a camper shell and a bunch of other stuff. The whole topic came up when he wanted to know what the light on his dash with an arrow pointing at a pickup bed meant (while towing his 28' travel trailer)

I think you'll be fine without the mirrors. As you said the trailer is no wider than your truck. Overall, your setup looks great but I definitely understand you making sure. Florida is a ways from New York after all.

 

[Dinks219]

@mtofell It’s all good sir. Thanks for confirming my thoughts after my research.

 

[averageguy]

@RoadRamblerNJ hahaha thanks that 3/4 surly doesn’t make that much of
A difference. But seriously thanks for the feed back. Also not sure if you know but when it comes to weigh stations that doesn’t matter as it would be below 10k right? That was the only other thing I forgot about.

You have to go through weigh stations there with a U-Haul trailer? Not here or anywhere I know of.

 

[Dinks219]

You have to go through weigh stations there with a U-Haul trailer? Not here or anywhere I know of.

I wasn’t sure to be honest first time trailering anything on interstates


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[Dinks219]

@mtofell

What is this light you speak of? I’m thinking it’s something simple and something I should know but it’s alluding me.


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[Pull Ya]

Anytime I tow ANYTHING the first thing I make sure I have is a good jack and not the one from the truck. Either a "pop bottle" or small floor jack will do fine. I've towed thousands and thousands of miles pulling trailers and boats and it's always better to be prepared for problems rather than relying on AAA or in your case U Haul to come out and solve a problem. I also carry a hand held Laser thermometer to check the temps of the hubs and tires. You can get them at Harbor Freight pretty cheap. I also carry a lot of other crap just cause I don't want to depend on someone else to solve my problems on the highway cause I wasn't prepared(but I'm old and just think that way) LOL
Jay

 

[Dinks219]

Anytime I tow ANYTHING the first thing I make sure I have is a good jack and not the one from the truck. Either a "pop bottle" or small floor jack will do fine. I've towed thousands and thousands of miles pulling trailers and boats and it's always better to be prepared for problems rather than relying on AAA or in your case U Haul to come out and solve a problem. I also carry a hand held Laser thermometer to check the temps of the hubs and tires. You can get them at Harbor Freight pretty cheap. I also carry a lot of other crap just cause I don't want to depend on someone else to solve my problems on the highway cause I wasn't prepared(but I'm old and just think that way) LOL
Jay

Great tip on the thermometer I’ll pack mine up along with some basic tools (and my case with my Cordless Impact and assorted sockets). I’ll probably throw my bottle jacks to and my jack block I made from a few 4x4s since I can’t get an appreciable amount of lift from the truck with the 5100s at 2.8 and the rear spring spacer.


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[McBroom]

@RoadRamblerNJ hahaha thanks that 3/4 surly doesn’t make that much of
A difference. But seriously thanks for the feed back. Also not sure if you know but when it comes to weigh stations that doesn’t matter as it would be below 10k right? That was the only other thing I forgot about.

Your hauling your own stuff. Your not a commercial truck!
No need to enter a weight station period. Unless it’s to catch a nap or take a ****.


I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 2500 4x4 C/C Off Road.

 

[McBroom]

Tow mirrors needed?

No


I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 2500 4x4 C/C Off Road.

 

[Dinks219]

Your hauling your own stuff. Your not a commercial truck!
No need to enter a weight station period. Unless it’s to catch a nap or take a ****.


I love my truck!
Blue Mule 18 Ram 2500 4x4 C/C Off Road.

Thanks for the tip, I did think I read somewhere whether your hauling commercial or personal that if your over 10001 gcvw you legally are required to stop in quite a few states not that this is the case in my situation.


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[Pull Ya]

You know the lug nuts are going to be different size than anything you would normally carry---I think it must be a rule or something----LOL
Jay