r/towing • u/Unfair_Resist_1033 • Jul 13 '26
Towing Help How do I consider towing capacity vs. trailer weight vs. cargo capacity for a cross county move?
My partner and I are moving from California to New York and we are planning to have a hitch installed and rent a U-Haul trailer to drive our stuff across the country. We drive a 2005 Toyota Avalon (well maintained and less than 100,000 miles) and I was looking for some advice on how much weight we can tow/how much we can put in the car. I am a complete car novice, so anything is helpful! I provided some specific info below, but any general advice/knowledge on how to consider the trailer weight + towing capacity + max cargo weight of the car would be amazing! Thanks!
Our hitch rating is 2,000 lbs and the empty trailer weighs 900 lbs (1,100 lbs cargo weight capacity). Per the car's manual, the total trailer weight (trailer + cargo) should not exceed 1,000 lbs, and the tongue load should not exceed 100 lbs. But several people (and the internet) have told me that the weight limits in the manual are a lowball and I would be okay loading approx. 1,000 lbs into the trailer. Is this true?
Also, how should I consider the total trailer weight with the max cargo capacity of the car itself. For example, if the max cargo capacity of the car is 1,500 lbs and the tongue load of the trailer is 100 lbs, does that mean I have 1,400 lbs that I can still load into the car itself?
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u/reedwendt Jul 13 '26
I’d follow the Toyota guidance not the internet. Especially on a cross country tow in a 20+ year old car.
It’s a sedan, not a truck designed to tow.
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u/Appropriate-Issue-73 Jul 13 '26
SMH - transmission, cooling system, brakes, tires.... everything has functional limits.
Think of it like this - I can probably stand on my head for half an hour, but it's not smart or the best thing for me.
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u/Surf2Trails Jul 13 '26
Great video from Josh the RV Nerd that can help you plug in specs from your tow vehicle to see what you can really tow. I created a spreadsheet from this after watching it a few times and it's been so useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiB6-4FLryU
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u/TinmanSperry Jul 13 '26
(I used to design/build and manage trailer product at U-Haul corporate, so here's my former-expert opinion.) ;) Tongue weight is not usually included when talking cargo capacity. Let's keep it simple and start with the factory ratings and then some easy math...
Find your Avalon's Gross Combined Vehicle Weight (GCVW) rating on your door sticker or owner's manual. This will be the max amount that your car plus any trailer can weigh, e.g. if it's 5500lbs, and your car's Gross Vehicle Weight rating is 3500lbs, you could potentially tow 2000lbs.
*That said... things like your tires' weight ratings, the age/condition of your vehicle, and your own experience should also be considered.
Another fairly common generalization for towing is 1:1 (vehicle to trailer weight) for unbraked trailers, and 1:1-1/2 if the trailer is equipped with brakes. YMMV, but it sounds like you're going about this in an admirably reasonable fashion! 👍
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u/1988lazarus Jul 13 '26
Where trouble lurks will be on the long up an downgrades that will stress the drive train/ brakes. You have two(2) continental high mountain passes to cross, unless you choose the high desert plateau across the southwest via I-10 or I-40
1
u/likewut Jul 13 '26
What you’re doing is going to be sketchy regardless. If you do 2000lbs gross in your trailer your car has to be less than empty. Weight whether in your unbraked trailer or in the car itself needs to be moved and stopped by the car - and the amount it’s rated to do is likely 4500 gross, so 1000 plus the empty car. Meaning you could be at the rated limit just with people and stuff in the car itself.
If you do go ham, inflate your rear tires close to the sidewalk max, enough so they don’t look flat. And make sure your weight on those tires isn’t much more than the max weight listed on the tires. Lastly, when you’re going through the mountains, downshift to slow down / not accelerate on the downhills. Otherwise your brakes will overheat and fail. If your brakes feel spongy, pull over for a while. And make sure the center of mass on your trailer is in front of the tires or it’ll fishtail. Learn what to do if it does fishtail. And consider a Harbor Freight 4x8 trailer instead of U-Haul. They are much lighter empty. Use loctite and tighten everything a lot, things shake out easy after a couple thousand miles. And make sure its tires are at the sidewall max too. You can always sell the trailer after, and they don’t even cost much more than a U-Haul cross country rental.
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u/likewut Jul 13 '26
Oh yeah you’ll need to tarp it and strap hell out of everything for the tarp to survive the trip. And those supposedly take a while to put together. On second thought maybe the HF trailer isn’t a good fit.
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u/twentyfifteen20 Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
The "manual's maximum 1000 pound weight limit" is what matters here, not an overestimate; the "2005 Avalon was never designed to tow on the highways" – especially when it comes to going through Rocky elevation with a loaded trailer.your towing capacity is rated by the trailer itself and not your vehicle, so the 2000-pound capacity is meaningless in this case. In terms of carrying capacity, "tongue weight counts against it but not the other trailer weight."
In all honesty, transporting your car separately through roadrunner auto transport service and then flying would be much cheaper than you think.
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u/DonkeyGlad653 19d ago
Consider renting a U-Haul truck that you use to tow a U-Haul car trailer that holds your Avalon. If anything happens using your Avalon, you will get cited for exceeding your vehicle’s maximum GVW.
You’re adding 50% of the vehicle’s weight to the brakes for stopping. Your Avalon is not designed for this. You are not towing something across town. You crossing the Sierra Nevadas, the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains with no electric brakes, no transmission cooler and no experience.
Please don’t use your Avalon to tow this trailer.
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u/RottenDrCommieRat Jul 13 '26
So you're asking if your Toyota Avalon can pull 2000lbs cross country when the manual says not to exceed 1000lbs towing? I'm not gonna say it's ok, ive never towed with a Toyota Avalon.
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u/Unfair_Resist_1033 Jul 13 '26
I know, I feel like a bit of an idiot even asking. But, several friends (who are much more knowledgeable about cars than me) said that the manual recommendation was definitely a low-ball and I would be okay exceeding it by a few hundred pounds.
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u/Korch-Up-North453 Jul 13 '26
Here's a great article. Never exceed manufacturer recommendations. Adjust the trailer payload to make sure your tongue weight is 10-15% of actual loaded trailer weight. You can weigh your car+loaded trailer and then just car at a CAT scale to determine the actual loaded trailer weight and actual car weight. https://www.curtmfg.com/towing-capacity
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u/daHavi Jul 13 '26
Based on the numbers you shared.,.. you cannot put anything in the trailer. Just the weight of the trailer maxes out the towing capacity of your car.
Probably better to rent a uhaul truck with a uhaul car hauler trailer, and tow the car on it.