I would like to start by apologizing for taking so long to post this and give everyone an update, especially since everyone was so kind and generous to give their thoughts and advice when I previously asked about towing a trailer from San Diego to Denver.
Initially, I was going to rent a closed U-Haul trailer, but when I did the calculations it put me over the limit of what the car could tow without trailer brakes, and I did not want to rent the smallest U-Haul that had trailer brakes, because it added too much weight and put me right at the limit of what the car is rated to tow with trailer brakes. So I actually ended up buying an open utility trailer.
The trailer I bought was pretty burly, but I did not want one of the cheap trailers that had tiny little tires and a crappy axle that were only rated for 45-55 mph. The trailer I ended up buying was a 5x8 Carson, had full size wheels and tires and was rated to carry 3,500lbs, well beyond what my car is rated to tow, plus there's no speed restriction with this trailer.
I actually weighed everything I was towing, and also factored in myself, the hitch, Thule rooftop box, a full gas tank, etc. Everything, with all of this included and the trailer was right below what the car was rated to tow without trailer brakes. (I had it all written down, but lost the paper in the move, so you'll have to take my word for it.)
As you can see in the pics, I didnt have the stuff piled that high in the trailer. I packed everything in Rubbermaid bins (yep, I weighed those as well when determining the overall weight). then I wrapped everything in a 20x30 tarp, and used trucker's hitches to secure it all. In the car I had all my valuable stuff like my laptop, monitor, other electronics, guitars, amps, and light stuff like linens, pillows, etc. The Thule box on the roof had most of my clothes in garment bags. The trailer had a lot of the heavy stuff; a big toolbox, books, all my outdoor gear, etc.
I used a bathroom scale to determine the tongue weight, and it was 170lbs, apparently within spec, since it was recommended to keep the tongue weight between 100-200lbs.
Towing was, for the most part fine, with no issues at all. I kept the RPM's below 3,000rpm 90% of the time, and maybe got up to 3,500 a couple times, and think I only hit 4,000rpm once because I wasn't paying attention. In california I had to keep the speed to 55mph by law because I was towing a trailer, but depending on where I was I averaged 65mph, getting up to 75-80mph on a few downhill sections. The ONLY time the car was NOT that happy was going over Vail and Independence Pass. The car did NOT like that climb up and over with the trailer. I went over those passes at around 40mph, and kept my RPM's around/below 3,000rpm simply because I didn't want to melt the CVT. It was slow and steady, but wasn't winning any races. Since getting to Denver I haven't noticed anything different with the car, and the CVT feels fine. I will say I never liked the paddle shifters, but they did come in handy going down hills and passes with the trailer, and saved my brakes for sure. That's the one thing I do miss from my old MT, was down shifting coming down mountain passes, and the CVT paddle shifters do a great job.
The other thing that blew my mind was my mileage. From San Diego to Vegas I averaged 24.3mpg. From Vegas to Green River I averaged 26.1mpg. And from Green River to Denver I averaged 28mpg. The hottest it got outside during the drive was 98 degrees Fahrenheit.
Oh, and I bought the trailer for $550 in San Diego, and ended up selling it for $600 once I got to Denver.
Initially, I was going to rent a closed U-Haul trailer, but when I did the calculations it put me over the limit of what the car could tow without trailer brakes, and I did not want to rent the smallest U-Haul that had trailer brakes, because it added too much weight and put me right at the limit of what the car is rated to tow with trailer brakes. So I actually ended up buying an open utility trailer.
The trailer I bought was pretty burly, but I did not want one of the cheap trailers that had tiny little tires and a crappy axle that were only rated for 45-55 mph. The trailer I ended up buying was a 5x8 Carson, had full size wheels and tires and was rated to carry 3,500lbs, well beyond what my car is rated to tow, plus there's no speed restriction with this trailer.
I actually weighed everything I was towing, and also factored in myself, the hitch, Thule rooftop box, a full gas tank, etc. Everything, with all of this included and the trailer was right below what the car was rated to tow without trailer brakes. (I had it all written down, but lost the paper in the move, so you'll have to take my word for it.)
As you can see in the pics, I didnt have the stuff piled that high in the trailer. I packed everything in Rubbermaid bins (yep, I weighed those as well when determining the overall weight). then I wrapped everything in a 20x30 tarp, and used trucker's hitches to secure it all. In the car I had all my valuable stuff like my laptop, monitor, other electronics, guitars, amps, and light stuff like linens, pillows, etc. The Thule box on the roof had most of my clothes in garment bags. The trailer had a lot of the heavy stuff; a big toolbox, books, all my outdoor gear, etc.
I used a bathroom scale to determine the tongue weight, and it was 170lbs, apparently within spec, since it was recommended to keep the tongue weight between 100-200lbs.
Towing was, for the most part fine, with no issues at all. I kept the RPM's below 3,000rpm 90% of the time, and maybe got up to 3,500 a couple times, and think I only hit 4,000rpm once because I wasn't paying attention. In california I had to keep the speed to 55mph by law because I was towing a trailer, but depending on where I was I averaged 65mph, getting up to 75-80mph on a few downhill sections. The ONLY time the car was NOT that happy was going over Vail and Independence Pass. The car did NOT like that climb up and over with the trailer. I went over those passes at around 40mph, and kept my RPM's around/below 3,000rpm simply because I didn't want to melt the CVT. It was slow and steady, but wasn't winning any races. Since getting to Denver I haven't noticed anything different with the car, and the CVT feels fine. I will say I never liked the paddle shifters, but they did come in handy going down hills and passes with the trailer, and saved my brakes for sure. That's the one thing I do miss from my old MT, was down shifting coming down mountain passes, and the CVT paddle shifters do a great job.
The other thing that blew my mind was my mileage. From San Diego to Vegas I averaged 24.3mpg. From Vegas to Green River I averaged 26.1mpg. And from Green River to Denver I averaged 28mpg. The hottest it got outside during the drive was 98 degrees Fahrenheit.
Oh, and I bought the trailer for $550 in San Diego, and ended up selling it for $600 once I got to Denver.
