Moved 8,883 lbs Gross Combined Weight over 2,200 miles to Utah (First Post)

8,883 lbs Gross Combined Weight and 2,200 miles to Utah
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My cross-country move has fully solidified my decision to continue owning a 4Runner for the foreseeable future. This last January my family and I set out to find a state that fits our values and decided on moving to Utah. This move was not going to be easy as we were scouting our moving options. The distance between our home and future (hope to be) home was 2,200 miles. Most options were within the budget, but spending $5,000 plus to move everything across the country just seemed like throwing my money away. I’ve towed various U-haul trailers with different loads - mainly construction materials. So… I decided why not use the 4Runner to move my family, dog and personal possessions West. We decided that we were going to cram as much of our stuff into a 6’x12’ U-haul trailer and donate, sell, and discard everything else. Not a small task, but we accomplished it in conjunction with the trailer, 4Runner, car, and two Jegs 18 cu ft rooftop boxes. By the way, the roof boxes were great and totally worth saving $400-$500 each compared to Thule or Yakima. The main reason I’m here is not to drag out sharing my trip. Rather, it is to share the data and experience I’ve had with loading the trailer to around 4,040 lbs and driving for 5 consecutive days (7-10 hrs each day with about 7 playground stops for the kiddos). If you're interested in seeing this you’re more than welcome to visit our family channel on YT: Four Strong & Growing. My wife will be uploading our move videos soon.
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Here are the parameters and initial information for the trip:

-2016 4Runner SR5
-59,000 miles
-BFGoodrich K02 - 265/70R17 - New (filled to 42 PSI, 80F ambient air temperature) - Load Rating E 120 (Max load 3086 lbs at 80 PSI)
-7,500 lb 2” Ball Hitch with a 2” Drop
-U-Haul 6’x12’ trailer with surge brakes
-Unofficial Total Weight of Trailer = 4,043.5 lbs (didn’t have time to take it to a Cat Scale)
-Weight of Truck = 4,400 lbs
-Weight of Passengers and Dog = 383 lbs
-Weight of Full Roof Box = 50 lbs
-Estimated Gross Combined Weight = 8,883 lbs (4.44 Tons); 4Runner GCWR = 9,400 lbs (4.7 Tons)
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4Runner Modifications/Preparation:

**ScanGuage - SG2
Monitored Tire Pressure, Transmission Fluid (Torque Converter & Pan) and Water Temperatures
**Codes that worked for me from the ScanGuage website:

**TCT Code (Converter):
TXD 07E02182
RXF 046105820000
RXD 3808
MTH 00090005FFD8

**TPT Code (Pan):
TXD 07E02182
RXF 046105820000
RXD 2808
MTH 00090005FFD8

**TP Code (Tires):
TXD 822AF02138
RXF 546180004000
RXD 2808
MTH 001D0008FF6F

**WT Code (Coolant): Automatically Programmed on Gauge Screen
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Pre-trip Maintenance:

-Transmission fluid change 5 days prior to trip
-Oil Change 5 days prior to trip
-New Battery - (recommended by service) 4 years old and was at 12.2V fully charged
-Overall long-trip check by Toyota technicians to find anything else for precautionary purposes, result: none found.

Shoutout to the best Toyota Service managers I have ever dealt with since exclusively owning Toyotas for the last 11 years. They are Rick Cook and Rob Merando at Curry Toyota. They have been the most honest and helpful managers, no BS and respected my mechanical knowledge when discussing repair or diagnostic issues. Furthermore, they were more than happy to discuss with me at length about this trip. They were more than generous with advice and listened to my preparation work to figure out the best strategy for driving the 4Runner 2,200 miles and towing over 4,000 lbs.
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Loading Overview:

Based on recommendations in U-haul literature, as well as instructions affixed to the inside and outside of the trailer, the GVWR is 4,400 lbs. The unloaded trailer weighed 1,920 lbs. This means the maximum that can be loaded into the trailer is 2,480 lbs. An outside sticker on the front of the trailer indicated that tongue weight should be a minimum of 260 lbs and a maximum of 440 lbs. There was nothing in any literature that I found which explained whether this weight included or excluded the tongue weight of an unloaded 6’x12’. For my calculations, I assumed that unloaded weight was excluded from this parameter and was a recommendation for how much you should place at the front of the trailer to develop the correct downforce. I definitely struggled at U-haul to lift the coupler onto the ball mount. Subjectively, I would say it was around 70 lbs, when comparing it to 45 lb lifting plates. IF it was closer to 70 lbs and 440 lbs included the unloaded tongue weight, my estimated total tongue load would be 443 lbs, just a hair over the max. This also meant that I had about 11% of gross trailer weight on the tongue.

Next, I populated a spreadsheet program that I made to calculate total load weight based on all possession/boxes that I would place into the storage area. To properly use this spreadsheet I needed to weigh all of my possessions and record them. I did this by subtracting my weight from a bathroom scale with boxes or items in hand. Yes, this is tricky and time consuming, but I wanted to be absolutely sure the load would be balanced as best as possible and safe for my whole family to be passengers. Secondly, I hatched this plan far enough back that we had many boxes already packed months prior to place in storage to show our home to prospective buyers. This spreadsheet also calculated my 60/40 load split to prevent dreaded sway. An openly viewable link to my Google spreadsheet is at the bottom of this section. All of my data is still loaded in the sheet, but anyone interested in using it for yourself needs to make a copy to edit. The program has instructions on the side explaining how to input data into each labeled section and is programmed to turn red as a warning in several key locations. Those who are comfortable can modify some of the formulas and heading data to meet the needs of your specific trailer.

In addition, I thought it would be best to also place some of the heaviest items along the centerline within the front (60%) and back (40%) to reduce an uneven load. Keeping the trailer balanced front to back and side to side again gave me the peace of mind that it was as stable as possible. Lastly, I was concerned about leaving the tongue weight on the truck for 5 days straight. Those who are unfamiliar with U-haul trailers should know that there are no trailer jack stands on them. To alleviate this pressure I brought along a 2 ton jack which I used to remove the squat when reaching our temporary accommodations each evening. My measurements showed that the truck squatted 1.75” with a full load, so I only jacked it up 1.5” to ensure I wasn’t lifting the rear tires too high and reducing friction while parked. A tape measure was used to consistently monitor squat and make this adjustment every day. The jack was placed directly under the surge brake reservoir on the frame. Overall, I was very confident with this plan and setup before disembarking.

Trailer Weight Balance Sheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15h9DuSmaDpnsIFmG-5t28TOk6bK0H-VJ874TfIvtO3w/edit?usp=sharing

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Trip and Temperature Overview:

There was zero sway from the trailer the entire trip and crosswinds were barely noticeable. We maintained a highway speed between 60-65 mph. The posted limit on the trailer is 55 mph. I understand for a cross-country trip this is a rather slow rate of speed. At this point, I’m sure you can figure out why I did it. Plus, my wife developed the whole itinerary with this speed factored into our daily timing for stops. My initial planning factored in 8-10 mpg, so that I could estimate fuel costs/stops. However, I was astonished to see that from start to finish we averaged 13.9 mpg on the trip screen (Note: the fuel consumption calculator was zeroed out the morning we left and never touched until the final reading - I did not conduct any manual calculations to confirm and I don’t have any pictures).

Just the other day I did a leg from American Fork to North Salt Lake (about 37 miles) on a Thursday around 5:30 pm and there were three slowdowns. During this trip the computer was zeroed out while merging onto the highway and read at the exit off ramp. I maintained a speed of 68-70 mph in all normal flowing sections of highway and around 10-20 mph in the slowdowns. The truck averaged 25.1 mpg! Perhaps the 4Runner is happier being here too!

Transmission temperatures widely varied across the country as to be expected from most of my research using this forum. Throughout the trip the ambient air temperature range was between 85F-100F during the afternoons. For the most part, I did not see a significant impact on our average torque converter or pan temperatures. What affected the temperatures more were gear choice, headwind, and gradient. I will outline below what I saw most for temperatures on each type of gradient. Furthermore, the 4Runner was in manual mode for the entire trip (accelerating and decelerating). I mainly wanted to avoid having the transmission hunt between fourth and fifth gear, as this would roast the fluid. Avoiding varnish buildup was the main goal. Being in manual mode meant I left it in fourth gear for probably 97% of the miles on the highway. For probably around 62 miles uphill and downhill the 4Runner was in third gear. For the steepest section of the trip, heading into the Wasatch Mountains, it was put into second gear to maintain 55 mph uphill, third just couldn’t do it.

-On flat ground temperatures stayed around 175F-180F in fourth.
-Slight inclines (~2%-4% grade) temperatures were around 195F while in fourth; third was used on grades closer to 4% and temperatures would lower closer to 190F.
-Steeper inclines (5%-6%) it went up to between 220-238F in fourth, but dropped to 205-212F when shifting and holding in third gear. Second gear was used when the truck lost too much speed and temperature held around 212F (the only exception was Wasatch Mountains explained later).

We did have an interesting situation in mid-Wyoming where it was probably around 4% grade over a 5-6 mile stretch and a strong headwind. I had to stay in third for around 15 miles (maintaining 55-60 mph) because of the repetitive up and down sections. Temperatures dropped from around 235F to 195F for the rest of the stretch. What was also interesting was that the water coolant temperatures stayed a constant 190F while in third. Perhaps someone can explain why this happens in more detail to me. The engine is running at a higher RPM. Meaning more work is being done by the motor to achieve the same speed over the same distance compared to a higher gear. I would have assumed my water temperatures to have been higher, or I guess the answer could simply be that the cooling system was able to handle the extra heat load.

For the steepest section of the trip (~6% grade), going over the Wasatch Mountains between western Wyoming and Salt Lake, we were traveling through during the evening around 6:30pm and it was overcast. The elevation of the mountains and overcast caused ambient air temperatures here to be the lowest of the entire trip during that time of day at 76F. The much lower air temperature here most likely had an impact on transmission temperatures staying around 195F while being in 2nd gear at 55 mph.

The transmission and water temperatures mostly met my expectations, but I was a little nervous in Wyoming until I figured out that staying in third allowed the transmission to cool and the water temperatures remained stable around 188F-193F (ambient air temperature was around 93F). Lastly, water temperatures never exceeded 203F. We saw that on flat ground in western Nebraska where it hit an ambient air temperature of 100F around 1pm.
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Final Thoughts:

I hope this was comprehensive enough to be useful to any of you in the community. I will post pictures to go along with some of the descriptions above (note: my wife took the dash picture while I was driving). I welcome all constructive feedback and questions. I’d be happy to recall more of the trip for those who are interested. Thank you so much for reading if you’ve gotten this far! I know it was a lot!

Best,
Matt

Picture Index:

1- Full Length of 4Runner and Trailer
2- 2 Ton Jack Setup
3- Early Stage of Packing (Tongue)
4- Middle Stage of Packing
5- Middle Stage of Packing
6- End Stage of Packing (3 twins were packed early morning, no picture. 2 were placed on the right side and 1 laying flat on top)
7- Live photo of ScanGauge readings, ambient air temperature, speed, gear, RPM (western Nebraska)
8- Front Tongue Weight Instruction Sticker

 

Welcome to the forum. I love parts of Utah.

 

Welcome.

 

Comprehensive write-up. Tongue weight is the total weight the tongue is putting on the tow vehicle, inclusive of both cargo and trailer. etrailer has a straightforward how-to on using a bathroom scale to measure tongue weight here.

Congrats on a successful (uneventful) trip!

 

Do you notice more ‘road feel’ travel from the trailer to the 4 runner with that weight?

 

Little random vibrations and such I mean by this that come and go

 

Love this writeup. Thank you for taking the time to share with the 4R community.

 

This was a great read! Sounds like you had all the bases covered plus some.

 

Thanks for the resource! I was tempted to measure it with my bathroom scale, like all of my possessions/boxes beforehand, after driving it back from U-haul. Cautiously, I wanted to prevent an injury from lifting it off and back on the ball. It took the manager at U-haul and myself slamming the coupler onto the ball about 4 times before it would mount. I presumed it was going to be extremely difficult to repeat the process by myself, and I wanted to ensure I was fit enough to put 2,000+ lbs of possessions into the trailer and car a day before leaving.

 

What Part of New York you start at? and Welcome to Utah there is a lot to do here from camping, fishing, biking you name it

 

Where were you fleeing from? NY?

Several of us here have relocated to states more friendly to our views, I myself have moved a loaded 4R (nothing in tow) 2600 miles west seeking something more, and six years later back 2600 miles east after I realized I wasn't gonna find it in California!

Congrats on getting to a better place. Your notes were copious and helpful and weirdly interesting despite the nerdery involved!

 

Thanks for sharing that was super cool. I now have more confidence i made the right decision for towing my 3k boat a few times per year.

The level of detail you gave was super neat. I hope to visit Utah someday looks like a gorgeous state. Best wishes to you and your family.

 

nice post!

 

The trailer couplers are often overlooked when it comes to trailer maintenance (or it might have been damaged/abused by a prior renter). A little axle grease in the coupler helps keeps things loosened up. Definitely shouldn't need to slam the coupler onto the ball if things are working right.

 

Welcome from Arizona! Nice write-up.

 

First of all Welcome! Secondly, good for you getting out of NY. I recently did the same but am now in North Carolina. And lastly, thank you for such a comprehensive writeup. Good luck to you and the family in your new home.

 

It was an incredibly smooth ride! I was shocked how smooth. Before the trip, I almost decided to buy Timbren aftermarket bump stops, but I thought I would be okay with squat from previous loads. I didn't get any sounds or movement that felt out of place. However, you could definitely tell the trailer was attached. The mass did move the truck around the slightest little bit on damaged pavement, needing slight steering corrections. Also, going over bumps on main, secondary and tertiary roads were uneventful as long as we could spot the potholes, ridges, and gutters (Except south of Chicago, those roads were majorly bumpy - my speeds through some interchanges were 10-15 mph. I was going to blame it on those roads if anything broke down on the trip after that section - TERRIBLE conditions...). Overall, the highway was very stable too. Going over highway overpasses had no bucking broncho moments.

 

I was about 45 miles North or NYC, near Peekskill, and working in the LES of Manhattan. We are so happy to be here and it's everything we expected and more! We did a lot of research before we settled on Utah (we're here sight unseen in-person, btw). It's been literally manifest destiny to get here since 4th grade and my childhood obsession with dinosaur fossils, HAHA! Thanks for the warm welcome!

 

Thanks for the complements!

I was fleeing from a town near Peekskill which is 45 miles North of NYC and I was working in the LES of Manhattan. I was a lifer in the State until I just had enough. You only see about 1/4 of the craziness in the news of what happens on the streets in that city. I've had too many close calls with shootings, drugs, and general menacing. NYS in general is a good case study for how to protect your state from ever turning into that place; i.e. bail reform (really no cash bail), needle injection sites - funded by the government, and 'clouds' of marijuana smoke everywhere - not trying to offend anyone, but it's just not for me.

 

You are smarter than me. It took me 68 years to finally get the hell out. Worked in Manhattan for over 40 years. I can't get political here or I'll get spanked but lets just say it was bad but now after many years of one party control it's truly a crap hole. My wife of 45 years still insists on staying in NY not me, not any more. I can't stand the over crowding, traffic, crime high cost of living and miserable winters. I'm now in North Carolina and very glad about it.

 

Plus no more wife so win - win!!!!

 

I needed this post in the middle of last week, when I was trying to figure out what size drop to use for a 4x8 U-Haul trailer.

I ended up with a 2 inch drop. I only had to tow it 150 miles on mostly level interstate, but I had a similar, smooth towing experience. Thanks for all the detailed info. It will definitely help the next person who searches for info on towing one of these.

 

Glad it helped to reaffirm your decision! I'm not sponsored by ScanGuage, but I would definitely say it's really helpful if you plan to tow more or at greater lengths. Piece of mind for $165 is a bargain in my mind!

 

Hooked up, loaded, and rolling out first thing in the morning. I've towed a fair amount in the past so this is not my first rodeo, but in addition to the great perspective and advice @Myran0009 has shared here, I'll add one - don't trust the Uhaul site when it comes to recommended ball height. Visit a yard and measure it for yourself.

Setting my 'Runner up to tow for the first time and consulted the Uhaul page to determine ball height so I could calculate the drop required for my receiver. The site advised ball height of 18.5 - 18.75 so I purchased a 2" drop to get me in the range. I hooked up (pic below) and you can see the trailer is pointing to the stars and ready to launch. I checked my ball height and it was exactly at 18.5.

Too late in the game to find and buy a 3+ inch drop receiver before we leave so I'm hoping I don't see too much sway tomorrow. Also worth noting is that anything smaller than 6x12 doesn't have brakes (I got it wrong, I thought all their trailers had brakes and would have gone bigger to get the brakes given the distance of our trip).

 

New to the forum myself, 2022 SR5 Premium. 2nd 4Runner. Great write up. I have a 06 Wrangler towed several times. First time I towed it I did a hell of a lot of research to make sure I was good. It was a Dodge Ram. All went well. If you get a chance look up Matt’s Off Road Recovery South Utah and HeavyDRecovery ( Dave Sparks of Diesel ) Brothers ) in Salt Lake. Some good dudes with good youtube content. Enjoy Utah.

 

How did it go? Also, do you have a slight lift or larger tires? I can’t tell from the picture. Either way, U-Haul’s advice is wrong especially if you nailed the 18.5” height. Hope everything was smooth!!

 

That’s awesome!

 

Do you have a lift in yours? I have a stock 21 ORP with the Dunlops still.

I got this B&W 4 inch drop ball mount and it’s right 18” to the top of ball for me.

 

Thanks for asking. Everything went well - 1100 miles, no issues and no sway. I loaded the front heavy to push more weight towards the tongue and help mitigate the possibility of sway at freeway speeds and was able to cruise comfortably at 70-75 for much of the trip. Didn't get a chance to install the tranny cooler before the trip but kept an eye on temps with my Ultragauge and there was only one time/hill where I wished I'd had additional cooling. Ambient temps of 100 degrees and RCI skids that restricted natural ventilation around the transmission probably contributed.

 

This is awesome. I didn't knew there are 2 separate codes for Torque Converter and Pan since Scanguage site did not state it. So I just used one and named is TFT as stated. Wish scanguage site give more details on each code than saying "Alternate".