Towing cross country with a B2300, my experience.

[85_Ranger4x4]

I suspect the U-haul trailer was more at fault than the truck. I did a similar trip a few years ago from Saskatchewan to B.C. and crossed the Rockies near Jasper.

I had a 12' (or was it 14'?) tandem axle U-haul trailer with surge brakes being towed by my 4.0L Ranger. The trailer wasn't very full, I just wanted to keep dirt and snow off my belongings and that was the smallest they had. Even with an empty trailer it felt like I was hauling the whole house. I burned nearly double the gas I would empty and the wake behind passing trucks was not my friend.

Last weekend I towed a 3000 lb 18' fifth wheel (just 200 km to get it home) and it handled way better than the crappy little u-haul. If I could start at the bottom of a hill doing 100km/h I could often keep that speed all the way to the top. Mileage was way better too, maybe a 10% drop rather than 50%. I was still forced to slow down on steeper hills but so does anyone who isn't towing an empty tent trailer with a 1-ton.

That is one thing I noticed hauling my Ranger to the exhaust shop about 10 miles away.

That little 3k(?) bugger pulled just hard as if not harder than my 5-6k tractor. With the Ranger I am dragging a brick, the tractor is just a small radiator and two rear tires through the air and a lot more iron.

 

[Will]

Yeah, frontal area is the enemy, not weight. I've been shouting that for 10+ years on this forum.

Once you accelerate the weight to highway speeds, it's like Newton's First Law--it wants to keep on as it is. Dragging a sail behind you has nothing to do with mass and everything to do with the size of the sail.