Towing a uhaul trailer 100 miles

[snowyredenvoy]

well after moving approxamitly 200 lbs of furniture in a double axled 6' by 12' trailer, My Envoy sagged and didnt handle very good...I am thinking after I have my lift and tahoe rear springs (Not Z71's) and rear Air ride rights, Also the Pcm for less tune, I will never sag again and will have better pickup. lol For some reason I cannot stand when a Truck saggs, drives me nuts! Anybody got different rear springs? Hows the ride? Towing?

 

[djthumper]

So you have bags now? I don't know why you sagged so much unless you have bags and it didn't adjust properly.

 

[snowyredenvoy]

No, I have coils.

 

[mika]

Then you rear shocks and coils have seen better days, I pull a 1000lb camper whith about an extra 350lb inside, the TB loaded with 250lb of wood 2 dogs which add up to 200lb food acouple of 24's of beer 2coolers and a canoe up on the roof, I have no sag or lack of pick up and go.

 

[DocBrown]

These trucks have soft, cushy suspensions, built more for ride quality than doing real work. I could not tow my travel trailer without a weight distribution hitch. In the case of your box trailer, I'm guessing that you put the load to the front of the trailer which put more on the tongue. If you have to do that again, position to load over the wheels or to the back of the trailer to level everything out. Its better to have the tongue slightly down than up from level. Up will can cause sway issues. Not fun.

 

[snowyredenvoy]

I mean i thought the weight was distributed evenly throughout the trailer, But how do you have no sag? Cause of the lift? I will be adding the Tahoe springs and hopefully that will beef up the rear end without being very rough on the road. The ride is bouncy and van like right now... lolI love off road trucks and thats where I am headed
3in suspension lift, Tahoe rear springs, Bilsteins up front, Proccomps out back:wootwoot:

 

[BarnieJekyl]

I have a totally stock 2005 and towed the exact same U-Haul trailer to New York City when my daughter moved there....Loaded it down and dragged it from N VA to NYC....Rode and shifted fine...appx 60 miles per hour and absolutely no sag....I was impressed how it towed and ran.....

 

[Sparky]

I towed the same trailer with my TB, completely stock. I had it around half full of stuff, and also had stuff loaded in the rear of the TB (things that I didn't want bouncing around in the trailer like my computer). It didn't sag much, just dropped a tad but it towed just fine. I don't see why your Envoy would have sagged a lot with only 200 pounds in the trailer

 

[Ghoster]

I too have towed that exact model trailer with my TB. It was loaded with mattresses and box springs, so it wasn't very heavy, maybe a few hundred pounds. I had no sag in it at all. Seems like maybe your springs are shot, or you had more weight than you thought in there.

 

[snowyredenvoy]

Shocks are for sure shot I just noticed they never got replaced... But I will be replacing Springs wil Z71's now so I wont have to look at the sag. Plus the procomp shocks. Everything suspension wise is being replaced including lift minus front springs. Wish i had pics... To dark out. But, i am i was just not impressed. I mean I felt the trailer way a couple times esspecially on ramps but I regained control easily. Yea it sagged About that maybe a lil more. Just wierd cause they never towed anything with the voy befor i got it.

 

[IslandRunner]

your suspension must be shot, I hauled a 8'x16' car trailer with about 1500lbs on it when I was stock from Mich. to NC with no problem 70-80mph on I-77.

 

[jimmyjam]

seems to me like a 6x12 for 200# of furniture is overkill. 200# is nothing. i'd guess you had too much tongue weight.

 

[snowyredenvoy]

I should have gotten pictures, But the new suspension will be test on my ski boat trailer. That thing weights a ton lol.

 

[TonyT]

I towed the same trailer with my TB,

Dumb question. How is the visibility with the stock mirrors with that UHaul trailer?

 

[deekster_caddy]

Easy quick test - measure height to ground on your trailer hitch. Find a 200 lb person to sit on the rear bumper. Measure drop in hitch. Now you know what a 200 lb tongue weight would look like. If its okay (1-2 inches max) chances are your load wasn't as balanced as you thought (very common).

 

[deekster_caddy]

I should have gotten pictures, But the new suspension will be test on my ski boat trailer. That thing weights a ton lol.

Trailer weight does not equal tongue weight.

 

[navigator]

Trailer weight does not equal tongue weight.

I had always heard that for best towing the tongue weight should be around 10% of total trailer weight.
Other bits I have read recommend between 9%-15%.
If you have a 1500lb trailer the tongue weight would likely be less than a 3000lb trailer to tow well.
I'm unsure what my 18ft bass boat weighs, I would expect 3k wet total would be close.
It is on a single axle trailer and the tongue is really heavy, I would expect around 300lbs.
I can lift it if needed but I have to man up to do it.
It tows just great behind my TB, except when taking off, I rarely know it is back there.

 

[Sparky]

Dumb question. How is the visibility with the stock mirrors with that UHaul trailer?

It wasn't bad. it did get in the way a little but I also have those round wide angle stick-ons on the outer corners of my mirrors as well.

 

[TonyT]

It wasn't bad. it did get in the way a little but I also have those round wide angle stick-ons on the outer corners of my mirrors as well.

Thanks. If I do need to pull the UHaul trailer it will be on a 1000 mile trip with four lane divided 99% of the way where I'll be in the right hand lane all the time anyhow. Rural two lane the rest of the route. Mostly flat Canadian prairies with a few, 4 or 5, river valleys to go through. I've been that route recently so I'm not too concerned.

Now to see what controller is in the vehicle, I think it's the factory controller, and test the trailer wiring plug.

 

[deekster_caddy]

Now to see what controller is in the vehicle, I think it's the factory controller, and test the trailer wiring plug.

most of the uhaul trailers have surge brakes, no controller required. You might want to check with Uhaul on that one for the size trailer you are renting.

Personally I don't like surge brakes. Yes, they work, but they are the 'wrong' way to do brakes, and can make backing up impossible at times.

 

[TonyT]

most of the uhaul trailers have surge brakes, no controller required. You might want to check with Uhaul on that one for the size trailer you are renting.

Personally I don't like surge brakes. Yes, they work, but they are the 'wrong' way to do brakes, and can make backing up impossible at times.

Ahh, you're correct. I'll be renting the 6'x12'. No sense in renting anything smaller. I'm glad I commented. One less thing to concern myself about.

As far as surge brakes and backing goes yikes. That could be a problem at both ends. This end only 20'. The other end a short gravel farm lane about 60' or 80'. And I have just about zero experience with hauling a trailer. Hmm, although I did as a teenager for dad's construction company. I don't ever recall thinking about taking corners a bit wider than normal. Ahh, the idiocies of teenager hood. Probably not a big deal with a 12' or 14' trailer though.

 

[Sparky]

I have never towed anything until I towed that Uhaul trailer. Going forward was pretty easy, I just took turns slower and a little wider. It was actually my dad who hopped a curb with the trailer and he's towed many times lol I sucked at backing it up however, took me several tries to get it in my parents' driveway

The surge brakes aren't bad on these for backing up as they really aren't that strong, at least at lower speed. I backed it up my parents driveway (slight incline) and it moved easily enough.

 

[C-ya]

Now to see what controller is in the vehicle, I think it's the factory controller

There may be a controller in there, but it didn't come from the factory. The wiring is there from the factory for a controller, and the trailer plug is there. I had some corrosion on my ground pin that necessitated taking the plug apart to clean it.