Uhaul car carrier

[Wings06j]

I'm planning on towing a Toyota highlander on a car carrier behind my ranger. I'll be pretty close to the towing limits both in terms of what the car carrier can do and what the ranger is rated for. Uhaul won't let me reserve online, I think due to the weight of the highlander compared to the weight of the truck. Trying to see if anyone has towed similar or has a better idea for one driver to move two cars long distance. Thanks.

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[ControlNode]

I think the biggest issue will be tongue weight. The U-Haul car carriers put the cars/truck right to the front edge of the load area to anchor the tires against the stop. Easiest way to sure would be to use a Weigh Safe hitch with the tongue weight scale built in. I would not pull my wife's Jeep with a U-Haul car trailer, ended up buying myself an open car trailer that allows me to move the Jeep where I need it and still properly secure it.

I've used a U-Haul trailer to move my daughters 86 Civic Si before I got my trailer brake controller or trailer. I'm not a fan of how that trailer acts behind the truck. But the surge brakes do allow for me to pull that load without the electric brake controller. Electric brakes feel way better and being able to manual activate if needed is a good safety feature IMO.

 

[JasonTremor]

Not sure about your location, but our local Home Depot has Penske truck and car hauler rentals and are competing with the local UHaul locations. Most of those car haulers are limited to a 5k lb vehicle.

Edit: I second the comments about the load distribution on those types of car haulers. Much easier to work with if you are pulling behind one of their box trucks.

 

[JimG_AZ]

I would say that the best way to find out is to do a test tow. Do you have access to the Highlander now? If so, tell U-Haul you need to move a Mazda Miata or a 2-door Honda Civic. Rent the car hauler for one day and give it a try.

 

[Cabose-1]

U haul trailers are crap for properly balancing a trailer. You will be putting a lot of tongue weight on the truck. Jason tremor might be right in saying tonuse another car trailer. On the other hand if thats all you have. Be safe, drive slow, lota of distance, plan your trip with plenty of time and just act like your driving miss daisy.

I have my uncles car trailer to tow cars. Can place the car towards the front or rear, whatever to balance trailer. U haul not so much. Surge brakes are fine. Just balance is way off. Just be safe about it if you really have to do it. You can do it. Just be safe, take it slow.

And as always, use a

GEN-Y HITCH

 

[canyonslicker]

Maybe back it on the trailer to relieve tongue weight? Not preferable but perhaps a solution.

 

[JimG_AZ]

In what way is the balance on the U-Haul var hauler off? Is there too much tongue weight, or too little? Interesting thought on the Gen-Y hitch. I'm not sure how it will help here. I would not be at all surprised it he is looking at @ 600+ lbs of tongue weight, which would mean weight distributing hitch territory.

 

[canyonslicker]

Might have to fold and tape the side mirrors in..

 

[ctechbob]

In what way is the balance on the U-Haul var hauler off? Is there too much tongue weight, or too little? Interesting thought on the Gen-Y hitch. I'm not sure how it will help here. I would not be at all surprised it he is looking at @ 600+ lbs of tongue weight, which would mean weight distributing hitch territory.

They're built to err on the side of caution, so they have high tongue weight. Always better to have too much tongue weight than too little.

I pulled my 03 V6 Accord to the shop on one. Truck did fine, but that Highlander is another 1200#, it would be a lot of weight on the rear of the truck. Short distance, I'd do it, but driving long distance? Don't think I'd recommend it.

As memory serves, when I tried to rent the trailer and put the Accord in as the towed vehicle, it wouldn't let me reserve it either. I put in a Civic and it did. Whether that was based on the truck or the trailer, I had no idea, but I wasn't going far and didn't expect any problems, and the UHaul dealers never check anyways.

 

[Frenchy]

If it hasnt been mentioned already chances are it is the track width of the tires causing your problem. How so? The Uhaul auto carrier is designed for small cars and SUV's. Not full size SUV' and trucks. That is most likely your problem.

 

[JimG_AZ]

They're built to err on the side of caution, so they have high tongue weight. Always better to have too much tongue weight than too little.

I pulled my 03 V6 Accord to the shop on one. Truck did fine, but that Highlander is another 1200#, it would be a lot of weight on the rear of the truck. Short distance, I'd do it, but driving long distance? Don't think I'd recommend it.

From just looking at the pic, you can see the effect the tongue weight is having on the Ranger. You really need a weight distributing hitch to tow this type of load. To the OP, your best bet may be to pay someone to ship it. This will be costly. In August 2021, it cost me @ $1900 to ship a classic 1951 Ford F1 pickup from Omaha to Phoenix. If you still really want to do this with the Ranger, you will probably need a car hauler flatbed trailer. If you have cash in the bank, and a place to temporarily store a trailer, I would check the used market for a trailer. Flatbed trailers have very good resale value, and as long as you buy it for market price, you should be able to sell it when done for what you paid for it. A decent flatbed car hauler will let you properly balance the Highlander on the trailer and let you use the weight distributing hitch. You will need to hook up your electric brake controller.

 

[Wings06j]

Thanks for all the feedback. I've found if I select one of the u-haul trucks it will let me add the trailer with the highlander on it. I also compared dimensions between the highlander and the trailer and it looks like it fits. The weight rating for the trailer is good as long as I don't max out the Highlander on cargo. I think the issue according to UHaul is that my Ranger being the tow vehicle is less than 80% the weight of the trailer plus Highlander. The tongue weight does have me concerned though as several of you have pointed out. Is there any way to calculate approximate tongue weight without renting the trailer and actually loading it? I can't find the Highlander weight per axle.

 

[JimG_AZ]

Thanks for all the feedback. I've found if I select one of the u-haul trucks it will let me add the trailer with the highlander on it. I also compared dimensions between the highlander and the trailer and it looks like it fits. The weight rating for the trailer is good as long as I don't max out the Highlander on cargo. I think the issue according to UHaul is that my Ranger being the tow vehicle is less than 80% the weight of the trailer plus Highlander. The tongue weight does have me concerned though as several of you have pointed out. Is there any way to calculate approximate tongue weight without renting the trailer and actually loading it? I can't find the Highlander weight per axle.

Keep in mind that UHaul will charge you a mileage fee for the truck. It can really add up if you are going a long distance. To get the tongue weight, if you have a truck stop near you, they should have a CAT scale. The CAT Scale has 4 scale plates on it so you can easily get the tongue weight, axle weight, etc.

 

[Dereku]

I used a U-Haul car trailer to tow my ranger and f150 in the past. F150 barely fit and probably was not allowed but it worked. Highlander should fit fine. Might he beyond the limits of the tongue rating.

 

[ControlNode]

From just looking at the pic, you can see the effect the tongue weight is having on the Ranger. You really need a weight distributing hitch to tow this type of load. To the OP, your best bet may be to pay someone to ship it. This will be costly. In August 2021, it cost me @ $1900 to ship a classic 1951 Ford F1 pickup from Omaha to Phoenix. If you still really want to do this with the Ranger, you will probably need a car hauler flatbed trailer. If you have cash in the bank, and a place to temporarily store a trailer, I would check the used market for a trailer. Flatbed trailers have very good resale value, and as long as you buy it for market price, you should be able to sell it when done for what you paid for it. A decent flatbed car hauler will let you properly balance the Highlander on the trailer and let you use the weight distributing hitch. You will need to hook up your electric brake controller.

On the Ranger Ford does not have a weight they recommend WD for the Ranger. On the F150 any trailer over 5,000lb WD hitch is recommended. I'm not saying it won't tow better with WD, but I've had no trouble without one on my Ranger with almost 7,000lb RV back there and tongue showing 700-720lb from loading and at various stops. I was not going 70mph with that on there for sure, but at 55MPH it was good on dry roads while in the rain 40-45MPH was better.

Keep in mind that UHaul will charge you a mileage fee for the truck. It can really add up if you are going a long distance. To get the tongue weight, if you have a truck stop near you, they should have a CAT scale. The CAT Scale has 4 scale plates on it so you can easily get the tongue weight, axle weight, etc.

I've only seen the axle weights and GVCW numbers from the CAT scales I've been on. Yes, you can calculate it, but you have to go across with and without the trailer to get the weight difference with and without the trailer. Subtract the trailer axle(s) weight from the total difference to get tongue weight. Still way more work than just using a hitch with the scale in it. I'm not saying to skip CAT scales though, they can show the weight on each axle of the truck, and you can make sure your truck's load is not overloading the axles, not too hard to overload the rear axle. To me, the price is well worth it for insuring everything is within the ratings of the truck for safety.

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