13XLTEco

Anyone ever rent a 6x12 tandem axle enclosed cargo trailer from U-Haul ? I am wondering about how heavy it was fully loaded with furniture and household goods and how heavy was the tongue weight. Probably gonna have a washer and dryer, a king bed, a queen bed, a gas range and micro/hood, a large Kenmore fridge/freezer, some end tables, etc. U-Haul says it cannot gross over 2500 pounds. I am moving my Mother from Marion IN to Jonesboro AR. Just trying to hear about others' experiences towing these trailers. I assume it will have surge brakes because the online info says they all have 4-way flat connections. I am pretty sure I towed a loaded one a short distance but up a very steep large hill a few years ago with my Ranger but it might have been a 5x8. It was tandem axles also.

Anyone have any similar experiences with the big U-haul enclosed cargo trailers or other companies ? Thanks.

Ricktwuhk

Yes, they are all surge brakes.

Your understanding of the weight is not correct. Trailer is 1,920 pounds empty, you can load 2,480 pounds into it, for a total of 4,400 pounds gross weight.

With 13% on the hitch, that would be 572 pounds hitch weight, exceeding the 500 pound limit without a weight distribution hitch. To stick at 500 pounds, only 3,846 pound gross weight should be reached, limiting the cargo to 1,926.

It is essential that you properly load the trailer. You should be able to look up weights of the items you are loading.

https://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/6x12-...ler-Rental/RV/

jeffinthebag

It's only 5 foot inside. Not sure if you can stand up a refrigerator/freezer in it.

13XLTEco

Thanks guys. It has a really long tongue and tandem axles pretty much centered. Not sure it will be 13% on the hitch.

Ricktwuhk

You don't want much less. 10 - 15% to maintain safe conditions.

Georgia Terrapin

I've used U-Haul a lot of times recently -- 5x8, 6x12, car hauler -- hauling broken-down cars to the shop and helping my son relocate a few times for college and job changes. Here's a short thread from last month where I posted some stats: https://www.f150forum.com/f82/u-haul-6x12-specs-447638/

I never weighed the trailers. I have a tongue scale, but I just didn't use it. They always pulled easily, in the city or on the highway at speed (limits are 70 mph here). I think it's hard to overload them, given their limited size, so you probably won't exceed the maximum tongue weight. If I did exceed it I couldn't tell by the way the truck and trailer sat or by the way the pair drove. (Overloading won't break the hitch, but it could affect handling.) Each time the trailer was empty in one direction, and jammed full, front-to-back, top-to-bottom, in the other direction. Just be careful about not overloading the bed at the same time, because you might exceed the payload capacity for your truck.

Only on the last tow did I have a proper hitch height. U-Haul gives you a wide range to work with, but all their trailers are manufactured to an 18" ball height. They have a video somewhere on their web site. You can measure yours from the ground to the top inside of the receiver tube. Mine was 17", so I bought a new ball and ball mount with a 1" rise (to reach 18") and a 10,000 lb. weight limit. For the first time it sat nice and level. Watch for torque -- that 10,000 lb. ball had a larger shaft and required 450 ft-lbs of torque to install.

Also, I don't have tow mirrors. Because the U-Haul is narrow (the walls don't spread as wide as the wheels), I didn't need them. I bought some clips-ons for the last tow, but I have mixed feelings about their effectiveness.

Good luck!

sholxgt

I towed one with a friends Tacoma loaded with furniture and it was completely fine. Even with the small Toyota. They tow very easily because they aren't very tall.

It worked out better to rent one in FL and drive it one way to SC, but I also have my own tandem axle enclosed trailer. Mine tows much larger since it's 7' tall and built like a tank, but even mine is just no big deal. And definitely does not need over 10% tongue weight to maintain complete stability. I put over 30k miles on mine over 2 years delivering fixtures for a small business. Shared driving duties with the wife and never had an issue. The small tandem axle trailers are extremely stable.

That's why U-haul will rent them to anyone with a drivers license and a pick up truck.

Eric Kleven

6x12 is no problem. Drug one back from Denver to MSP full of my wife's stuff. Combo weight was about 9.600lb, 3,060 on the trailer axles, 3,160 on the rear axle, 3,400 on the front.

Pretty sure the u-haul trailers are designed for the 'lowest common denominator' and are biased pretty heavily towards the tongue. She has a lot of books, so it was kinda dense on the floor, and spread out. not a problem with handling at all.

ifallsron

With terrain variations, it seems to be 8-9 hours and significantly down hill. Maintain tire pressure. Drive like the wind.

Flamingtaco

That's a negative, ghost rider!

ALL U-Haul trailers, both open and closed, including car haulers, have the axles just rear of, or at the deck centerline. If you do not load heavy forward, you can end up with a pretty light tongue. I think the 'lowest common denominator' is the fact that they specify a max speed of 55mph. Pretty unusual to get into trouble with box trailers of that size at that speed, even if you've got only a hundred pounds on the tongue. The car haulers are a different matter, but you'd have to load the engine towards the rear to not have good weight on the tongue.