Any tips on towing a car trailer with a 23 Limited?

[Gary Fields]

I towed a U-haul car carrier and a 2006 Tacoma (4,250 pounds) from Colorado to Texas using a 2020 1500 with Hemi and 3.21 axle. Truck did fine but did have to find lower gears for some of the bigger hills. We stuck mainly to I-70, I-35and I-45 at about 67mph- seemed to be a sweet spot to drive at. Actually got 12 to 14.5 MPG. Even in the hot summer there were no engine temp or trams temps. One detail is to check the straps, lights, and tires on the trailer when renting. The first one they tried to give us had a visibly damaged tire and no tread on another.

 

[Gary Fields]

I noticed you said U-Haul aluminum trailer. The standard car carrier trailer they rent is not aluminum- it's galvanized. Trailer weighs about 1600 pounds . They are built like a tank, made to be used by amateurs and live to tell about it. Heavy steel all around. Oh, make sure the tied down straps are out of the way when you put the car on it. Don't drive onto the straps or you will need to jack it up to get them out- just something I heard about. Don't think about backing the cart onto the trailer. That puts the weight in the back. The trailer will wag back and forth like a dog's tail. Put the heavy end in the front.

 

[DanAR]

Yeah, after picking it up I now realize that. I thought I remembered from years ago that they had started renting a line of aluminum trailers but that was probably something else. Anyway I got the deed done OK and got back yesterday. The truck did fine. The air suspension worked really well. It was helpful in loading and unloading as I could raise the truck all the way up which tilted the trailer down at the back and with a couple of 2x6s pinned under the ramp ends the Mustang rolled up with plenty of bumper clearance. Then I dropped the truck back down. I had already picked up the boards in the picture below as they were sticking out in the roadway.

Towing the trailer down there empty wasn’t much fun as any speed over 49 mph it set up a vibration that created a sensation like being stuck in a massage machine. But with the car on it it rode smooth as silk. I stuck with around 57 mph all the way and my trip computer was showing 15.9 mpg empty and 15 mpg loaded. I haven’t checked it mathematically yet but from experience that is actually somewhere around low 15s empty and mid to lower 14s loaded. The surge brakes on the trailer seemed to work really well although I tried to brake gently most of the time and you couldn’t really notice them then.

 

[dhay13]

Nice. I bought a 2005 Roush Mustang December 26, 2024 and rented that U-Haul I mentioned earlier. Towed it from Columbus, OH to Pittsburgh, PA

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Is this just something you do or is this called for in the owners manual of other trucks besides RAM? I'm just asking because upping the octane rating when towing is new to me.

I towed a 3000+ lb boat with my 2010 Tundra and never had an issue using 87 octane. I bought the truck in 2010 but I don't recall reading anything in the owners manual about using a higher octane when towing. 3000 lbs isn't a lot considering the truck was rated to tow up to 10000 lbs.

I'll be towing a small motorcycle trailer with 3 motorcycles this summer from PA to Rapid City, SD so I guess I better plan on using 93.

Ride them. Towing takes all the fun out of getting to the black hills.

 

[Wellcraft]

Ride them. Towing takes all the fun out of getting to the black hills.

No thanks......way to boring riding through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and most of S Dakota plus we're going to ride over 5000 miles once we park the truck and trailer.