Towing a Minivan

goxner · 08-29-2006, 07:59 PM

Using our 2005 Titan, with BT, we plan on towing a minivan down to Florida. The minivan, empty, has a curb weight of just over 4,300 pounds. Additional weight will be the tow dolly. The truck just turned over 10,000 miles and I am wondering if I should do anything with the tranny and/or rear end fluid-wise before we start the 1,200 mile tow to Florida. I'm already running Mobil 1 Extended in the engine. A bit off-topic perhaps, would like opinions of tow dolly vs flatbed trailer for towing the minivan. Wife is totally against two of us driving, therefore the towing.

Apprecieate any advice or insight.

Gary
New Jersey

thclimer · 08-30-2006, 07:49 AM

Gary,

Even though your truck has over 10,000 miles I believe the towing breaking still applies (not to exceed 50mph for the first 500 miles of towing). I’ve got just over 4,000 miles on my truck and close to 400 miles of towing. On the interstate the 50mph restriction is demoralizing watching everyone else scream by, but I keep telling myself its good for the truck and I’m getting better gas mileage. You will not have any problem towing the 4,300# van with the Titan. I did change my rear differential oil after about 250 miles of towing, the plug did have the normally mentioned glob of very fine particles on its magnet and the fluid was gray/black colored and still somewhat translucent. I replaced it with AMSOIL synthetic 75W-140. Sorry I don’t have any experience with a tow dolly.

Wiscdave · 08-30-2006, 08:52 AM

You'll have no problem going 75 mph all the way. A good flat bed is going to add weight. If you have a decent tow dolly you'll be set.

*ramtitan* · 08-30-2006, 11:51 AM

what he said^

**konigfritz** · 08-30-2006, 02:47 PM

You should be fine. If you haven't changed out your rear diff fluid, you may want to before you leave. FULL SYNTHETIC 70/140

Quartz · 08-30-2006, 04:01 PM

My father was an antique car nut and as his heath declined, I started towing vehicles nearly every weekend for him. I’ve towed many cars including antique Model T’s, a 48 Studebaker, my son’s Chevy C-2500, and my father’s little POS Isuzu pickup. Thclimer and Konigfritz have made good comments about the break in and speed. I’d follow their advice. I’ll just chime in on the trailer vs tow bar.

I used a flat double axle trailer to haul the T’s, Studebaker, and Chevy. The Isuzu had a tow bar and I have hauled it with the bar and on the trailer. I’ve also hauled my mother’s Oldsmobile on a dolly. (I should mention that my father owned the trailer and dolly, my experience with rental trailers and dollies is limited)

If I were towing another vehicle 1,200 miles, I’d use a trailer. I’m not a fan of tow bars. The disadvantage of the trailer is that it adds some weight, but the Titan can handle it, and there are several advantages to using a trailer.

First, the trailer will have brakes and you’ll need them to stop all of that weight behind you, especially if the roads are wet. Rental trailers use surge brakes and you wouldn’t have to install an electric brake controller. Installing a brake controller is very easy, but a good one will cost between $100 and $200.

Some vehicles tend to wander when they are on a tow bar. It is usually more annoying than anything else but it gets worse as you go faster and in windy conditions or if you put some cargo in the minivan. My experience is that a trailer tends to track better than a vehicle on a tow bar and you can move the vehicle forward or backward on the trailer to adjust tongue weight.

One thing that should not be overlooked is the tranny on the minivan. Many vehicles can’t be towed any distance without damaging the transmission. The owners manual for the minivan should provide this information. A trailer will make sure you don’t damage the minivan.

A middle of the road option might be to rent a dolly from U-haul. You can put the front wheels of the minivan on the dolly and eliminate the transmission concerns. I’ve used dollies in the past and never had problems with the towed vehicle wandering. Another advantage is that most rental dollies also have hydraulic brakes although you only have brakes on two wheels with a dolly.

FireCapt103 · 09-01-2006, 05:54 PM

Having just done this on Sept 29th, I must say - go with the CAR HAULER, not the 2 wheel dolly.

My lil' bro is shipping out from Pope AFB to head to the sandbox. So a friend of mine and I made a roadtrip from Memphis to go pick up his stuff. Roughly 740 miles each way and we had a tight schedule. Left Monday around noon Memphis time, stayed over in NC on Monday night and left shortly after dinner time on Tuesday for the return.

Due to the cost of a one way rental ($560+tax), I decided to haul the car trailer out and back. A local rental was $49.95/day. So, I "locally" rented it for 3 days.

Going out empty it was as if we weren't even towing anything. Barely noticed the ~2000# trailer.

On the way back, the Titan performed like a champ. Plenty of power for passing, accelerating, etc. Cruise set at 75 - 80 on the flat and straight parts, no problem. Even coming up through the Smokies from NC to TN was no big deal. The Escape was FULLY loaded with his stuff. A bunch of boxes and a 32" tv to boot.

Most trucks of this size can't seem to get out of their own way going uphill with a load behind them. The Titan, however, suffers from no such problem.