trailer it, tow it? Or not.

I have a lead on a S-120 for about $1,500. It would be a good companion to the S-112 I have now.

Problem is getting it home. It's about two hours away and some steep, windy grades to travel. I only have a Toyota Tacoma Prerunner with six cylinder. I'd have to rent a trailer, which is no problem. But is the Tacoma strong enough to trailer or tow the S. Seems borderline to me, and was wondering what you guys would do. Thanks ahead of time.

C-john

You never mentioned if your Toyota was a manual or auto, to me that makes a difference. If you are pushing the limits of your truck and it has an auto, it is not worth it as you will likely take a lot of life out of the tranny just to save a few bucks. If you have a manual though the truck could probably handle it if you take it slow.

A larger tow vehicle certainly does offer more control over the load but when I was younger and dumber I would rent 20ft car trailers and tow cars home with my '88 Nissan 4 banger, auto, even did that in the snow a few times!

Pick-ups are NOT good towing vehicles unless weight is placed in the box as well as tonge load. The weight of the tow vehicle should be 1.5x the weight of the load. Yes I know you can get way with less, but the 1st time someone cuts in front of you and slows, its all over. I have seen it too many times. Some time all vehicles are a total loss. even with brakes on the towed load (which anytime exceeds 2000 lbs are required by law in most states). Be safe do it right or pay someone else to. All it takes is a little gravel or sand, and the load will push the towing vehicle into a jacknife.

I agree, the tow vehicle should weigh more than the combined towed weight. My Ram 1500 weighs about 5500 with the cap and job box in the back, my trailer is rated at 5200 max and it has both axles equipt with electric brakes and the truck is properly equipt. I would rent the larger truck and trailer to haul it home, money well spent.
When I go to the Nationals is the only time I go away from that rule, as my Yellow 48 KB-2 weighs 3200 and the trailer with Rusty on it is 4600, but I have the YellowKB-2 set up with the same electric brake controller that is in my Ram. By itself the yellow truck's brakes will put you in the windshield and with the trailer's brakes it stops great. I set my tongue weight at 12% of the load.
Bill


See you at the Nationals.

Tow it with the Toyota. Rear brake on toyotas are larger than domestic. I tow up and down the north shore of Lake Superior no problem and there are grades of 7% that are 5 miles long. The yota is not a powerhouse on going up the hills but it will certainly do the job and 2 hours is a pretty short jaunt. My own binder I towed home from Minneapolis area to Ontario.

My Tacoma with the V-6 should handle 5,000 lbs., according to the manual. The S-112 outback is 5,400 G.V.W. The S-120 I want to tow/trailer is gonna be close to that. So I'm 400 over not counting the trailer. Not too bad.

Matt 110 raises the most concern. My Tacoma is automatic and I can see how this tow would stress the transmission. It's those up and down hills getting out toward Placerville. For those not familiar with Cal., you're getting into the Sierra foothills pretty good when you're out there. Not flat like where I am.

U-haul doesn't show it on the computer. I won't want to bs them on this. I might put a note on Craiglist and see if somebody wants to make a few bucks.

Getting older now and not the "God hates a coward" kind of guy I used to be. Still....if Windigo can do it....!!

The GVW is NOT the weight of the truck itself; that's the TOTAL maximum weight of the truck and any load you put on the truck, as recommended by the manufacturer.

IIRC, an L-112 was around 2400 pounds empty; the 120 will be a couple hundred heavier. So figure around 3000 pounds for the truck Your towing capacity will be the weight of the load PLUS the weight of the trailer.

I just purchased a really good quality electric brake controller from Camping World. The instructions show various settings from light weight trailers up to trailers that are about 40% heavier than the towing vehicle. My F150 weighs 5009# and is rated (by Ford) to tow up to 11,500# if properly outfitted. So I'm having trouble accepting the don't haul anything heavier than the tow vehicle. I don't plan to haul anything that weighs 11,500#, but I will be towing my IH (3420#) on a trailer that is about 1200# +/- and I think that as with anything we do, it will require a lot of planning and reserved driving techniques, even if the weight exceeds the weight of the towing vehicle. When you see trucks pulling RVs or various trailers out on the road and they seem to be creeping along, they are just being careful with a lot of tonnage. Can't say as I blame them at all.

Properly outfited, means weight distributing hitch with brakes and sway bars. things most do not have on their own or rented trailers. The biggest problem, and where most get in trouble, is in a panic stop, the weight shifts to the front, the rear comes up and gets pushed by the following load into a jacknife. See it happen all too often. A 5th wheel or gooseneck that puts weight right over the drive axle (and may be a few lbs onto the steer) is a different animal and is another way to be "properly outfitted". Unless I am mistaken, what we are talking about here is a "bumper pull" (rear hitch) tandem axle trailer, and these should not exceed the tow vehicle (or even equal it) without a weight distributing hitch with spring bars and sway control.
Just the other week I saw a family loose all their property and car (truck) trying to "do it themselves" with an old horse trailer over-loaded behind a pick-up. While they had stuff in the pick-up box, it wasn't enough weight to keep the rear end where it should be, it ended up with the pick-up upside down with the trailer on top and belonging all over the road. I don't know if anyone was seriously hurt, but the truck and all their belongings were a total loss.

I brought my tilt tray after sliding thru a round about with a tractor on my fully equipped trailer and just missing a car it was the best thing I did as now I cart my stuff around without having to worry all the time.

Get someone to pick it up its a lot less stressful.

Here are some picks

[Good point, I hate u-haul for this! THey have a program on their computer that tells them the weight of your tow vehicle and if the combined weight of the the trailer and vehicle on the trailer exceeds the weight of the tow vehicle it is no dice. I'm not talking gross weight either, they just compare the empty weight. So if your truck weights 4000LBS and the truck and trailer weight 4500LBS, they will not rent you the trailer. They don't even consider the manufactures tow rating, when I went there I pointed out that my truck WAS rated for what I wanted to tow but they said they had to go by their system!

That is because your truck rateing was based on either a 5th wheel, goose neck or weight distributing hitch, the U haul trailer is not equipt for a weight distributing hitch, so the safe amount it can handle is less. Max rateing require a lot of stuff that most don't have.