Cross Country Move

[josheaton]

Morning everyone. I have a question that I figured I'd ask here, so many knowledgeable folks.

My wife and I are moving from Louisiana to Oregon. We have a Ford F-150, an 1800 pound barbecue smoker trailer, a Cherokee WolfPup 18TO, and the largest U-Haul money can buy.

Originally I intended to tow the smoker behind the U-Haul (which I would be driving) and have my wife tow the barbecue trailer. I'm now thinking that it might be wise for me to drive the U-Haul and pull the camper. The ball is the correct size and the sticker indicates that it can tow up to 10,000 pounds. This truck has a V10 gasser.

The F-150 pulls the camper fine, although why would I put the wear and tear on my own vehicle for a 2500 mile drive. I paid 3,000 dollars for the U-Haul, why don't I use it? My wife is also very comfortable pulling the smoker, she pulls it all the time. It's almost like it's not back there, very different than pulling the camper.

My only concern (or biggest concern) is the overall length of the U-Haul plus the camper.

U-Haul - 36 Feet
Camper (hitch to bumper) - 23 Feet
Total - 59 Feet

Thoughts?

[Kaadk]

That 10,000 lbs towing with the u-haul, probably doesn't account for the 20,000 lbs of stuff you're planning on putting in the u-haul also. Loaded up, and a load on the ball, good chance you're beyond the capabilities of the U-haul. While you might not care about the excess wear and tear on the U-haul, you will want need to care about how comfortable/safe your drive is. White-knuckling it cross-country is not worth it to save a bit of extra wear on a truck that'll be towing either way.

[bcintx]

That U-Haul is meant to be loaded and pull a car on a trailer. You could always try it for a little while and if it doesn't work switch trailers. The only thing that I would be concerned about is the trailer brakes. Unless something has changed recently the U-Haul trailers all have surge brakes - so no brake controller in the truck.

[josheaton]

Originally Posted by bcintx

That U-Haul is meant to be loaded and pull a car on a trailer. You could always try it for a little while and if it doesn't work switch trailers. The only thing that I would be concerned about is the trailer brakes. Unless something has changed recently the U-Haul trailers all have surge brakes - so no brake controller in the truck.

Thanks, this is also another thing I forgot to mention. The whole purpose of the rig is to pull a trailer (maybe not a camper).