Tundra on Towpig duties: Cross-country move from CA-IN

We are about to embark on a roughly 2200 mile cross-country move for a position that i was promoted to recently and I figured it would be kinda neat to document it here. This whole move mostly focuses on my trucks towing capability and it getting us there. All of our house items have been taken by the movers, but the jeep and small odds and ends that were left are being moved by us. This trip will be my fiancé and I, with my dog taking up most of the back seat.

Here are the details:
Truck: 2016 TRD Pro, slight mods.
Trailer: Brand spankin new PJ Trailers B5202 model with 5200lb axles. This is the extra wide version with an 103" deck for my full width axles on the jeep, rear facing ramps(which is an upgrade) 2ft diamond plate dovetail, winch plate, but most importantly.... 1/4" drive over fenders!
Jeep: 85' XJ with all the bells and whistles
Starting point: Long Beach, CA
Ending point : Evansville, IN
Total miles: ~2200miles
Trailer weight: ~3000lbs
Jeep weight: ~5300lbs
Total weight: ~8500lbs
Route: Mostly I-40 to I-35 to I-70
Plan: Travel 3 days with 2 stops.

Now, I am not new to towing by any means, but this whole trip has me a bit nervous since it's the longest distance I have ever towed on a new truck and trailer. I will use this experience to make a determination on what else my truck may need to tow this combo since I will be using it to go wheeling.

Pics of the setup:


Pic of the jeep all wrapped up and ready to roll:



To be continued.......

 

You'll be good. I've towed my 4runner on my 20ft trailer several thousand miles around the south west here without any troubles. Just picked up a 24ft x 8.5ft 10k enclosed today(San Bernardino) for more hauling duties and I'm pit stopped 1/2 way back home. As long as you have a good hitch and a good brake controller the Tundra tows very well for being a 1/2 ton.

 

Nice man, the Tundra should handle her just fine. Be safe! & keep us posted.

 

Looks like you have it all dialed in Luis. Like the fact that the trailer has rear drop down jacks so you can load or unload when unhooked if necessary. Have a safe trip and take pics along the way. Just interested, what line of work took you from CA to IN ?

 

It will be great to see how your trip goes. Lets us know when you get near Denver. (Oh, remember to turn off the lights when you leave CA)

 

Thank you for writing this up. I bought my tundra to haul my cherokee to the trails, and am looking at a very similar trailer. Haven't even put a hitch ball on mine yet. Looking forward to reading your reports. Safe travels.

 

Congrats on the promo! Indy is a cool town; reminds me of Denver before Denver grew out of it britches. And with lower cost of living there, you'll be able to get a monster of a house too

Looking forward to more pics and info. Drive safe.

 

Yep, still stick michellins and controller. I am not sure why people complain about the factory controller, works just fine towing this big load.

I work for the company whose emblem is on the front of your truck. I am an engineer for them and I am moving to one of our manufacturing facilities.

Thought about, but were from Kansas City originally and are going to stop by and see my soon to be here nephew. At least we hope he's here when we drive by. Also, going to crash on my mom's spare bedroom for the night so we don't have to pay for a hotel.




So more updates:
We got on the road today at 5:20ish this morning. Not too shabby since we're targeting leaving at 5, but my fiancé likes to leave stuff to pack till the very end.......

On the road, we saw a bunch of side-by-sides and dirt bikes. We kept wondering why everyone was headed out this weekend, but then it occurred to me that King of the Hammers is this week. I am pretty bummed I won't get to go this year, I've been the last 5-6 yrs.

Anyway, on the way up I-15, we got SERIOUS winds. They put a message out to tell semis to park on the road and it was on all the LED boards. We pushed through, but the tarp couldn't handle it and shredded. I am kind of impressed since they were saying 45-50mph winds, so the tarp had no chance. When we were ripping it off, I noticed the following:





So yeah..... now I get to replace that. Yay......

I taped that sucker up and off we went.

From there, truck has towed PHENOMENALLY!! Not even exaggerating. It really sucks up the grades, but it's to be expected with 8500lbs behind the already 6k+ lbs truck. If people say the truck doesn't notice, then they aren't towing actual loads. I set the tongue pretty good and the trailer is just glued to my ass end. Even in crosswinds and headwinds, it's been towing great. I've actually had more trouble keeping the truck itself in the lane from the winds than worrying about the trailer. This truck is a giant wind sail!

On the bad side, 8.4-9 mpg sucks....

I'll update more later today. Plan is to get to Albuquerque NM and stay the night.

Here are some random pics:

 

At least you have great weather for now. Be safe !