I am planing on trying to tow a 914 with my 2010 Tacome 4cyl without towing package. It has a Curtis frame mounted hitch with a 2" ball. I was going to rent a uhaul full auto trailer. I don't want to be pushing the envelope. It will be mostly highway driving. Thanks

IMO you will be pushing the envelope..and at freeway speeds no thanks ..take the back roads..Again JMO..
MikeC

Probably no problem on level ground. It's hills, quick turns and sudden stops that you will wish you had a bigger, heavier truck with big brakes and tires. The smaller the truck, the more the trailer controls you.

Suggest you borrow a friends truck.
You do not have the brakes, power of heft to tow a 914 even if it is flat towed.

I once towed a 74 Super beetle (flat tow) with 93 Ranger 4.0L V-6. IT SUCKED and I will never do it again.

I wouldn't hesitate to tow a 914 behind my 2006 Tacoma but it is a 4.0L V6 with the tow package.......but not with a U-haul trailer.....them SOBs look like they out weigh the car. A tow dolly would be a beter choice.

Joe, a 2010 2.7L Tacoma is not a 93 Ranger POS. They both have 4 wheels but the similarity ends there.

I believe any Uhaul dealer performing due-diligence will not rent you the trailer. They normally inspect the tow vehicle and calculate tongue weight, payload, blah blah.
you may be able to rent the dolly. Go online to the uhaul site and you can input the info.
If you are set on renting a full trailer I would consider also renting the tow vehicle from Uhaul, it will save wear and tear on your vehicle.

Shoot, we used to tow a 3500# sea ray behind my friends 4Cyl 87 toyota 4X4, with no trailer brakes! Not the best, young and dumb, but we never had an issue. I remember once trying to follow him on a camping trip in my other friends Hyundai (original one in 87) and the truck with the boat and camping gear out ran us on every hill !

I have done heavier. You really can't push the speed at all. Your trailer load must be properly loaded. Towed the SVR-PCA trailer with a Tacoma and when the load was wrong, the trailer wagged the truck at anything over 55.

I would only do it as a one time event.

I agree with Rob.

Your teener is likely over 2,100#'s and the trailer is probably 1,500#'s, so you're right at the limit of that vehicle "with" a proper towing package installed.

So make sure the trailer has a set of trailer brakes that work. Wouldn't suggest any trip without the trailer brakes working.

Secondly as Rob suggested the load must be distributed correctly.

Third, go out with the loaded trailer and try the brakes at various speeds so you know what to expect.

Fourth: Stay away from everyone and keep the speed down.

If you can stay away from hills, i.e., not the place to learn that your trailer is improperly loaded or that the brakes aren't sufficient. The surprises (of course)happen on the downhill sections.

I had a heavy trailer start to push my GMC pickup on a downhill section when the trailer brakes failed. I did gather it up, but just barely - the entire exercise was very scary.

Even with a flat terrain you will be pushing it. I just brought back a 914 parts car on a uhaul trailer from Northern Alabama (close to Chattanooga)...the first 20 miles coming home had a series of steep hills and switchbacks....glad I had my 2006 turbodiesel F-250. I don't think a lesser truck would have made it. The uhaul trailer itself will be a load on a 4 cylinder.

F250 Turbo's work great anywhere, you hardly even know there is a trailer back there.

Only negative is the cost of fuel and that is only going to bet worse.

Well Thank you all for the great input. The car is 175 miles away and I thought I could do it myself. However, I guess I might be in over my head on this car for now. All 4 tires are flat, don't know if they will hold air, I expect the brakes are siezed, and I think I will have to hire a flat bed to drag it out of the garage and deliver it. The outer rockers are totally shot and there are some holes in the inners. The fenders have rust also. The good news is the pans look solid, the hell hole looks solid, the battery pan is almost solid. Car has been in storage since 1989. It is all there, even the expected mouse.

I hope the car was a freebie. I wouldn't pay a flatbed to move it that distance.

Unfortunately not a freebee - With flatbed I will be in around $2200

Ouch.....sounds like some of my mistakes

Fuel will get worse, for sure. The good thing is I averaged 18 mpg towing the car back home. No gas powered truck will do that!

I own a V6, 4wd, 4 dr. Tacoma and have done it. Once, never again. Power to tow is there. It's the lack of adequate braking that scared me. A 4 cylinder would have neither the power or the brakes.

Well the mouse was cute.....

Hey wndsnd:

I have the simple solution for you: Flat tow the 914! The cost of the towbar should be about equal to trailer rental for the time you use it.

I flat-towed my 510 Datsun racer for years behind my STOCK 510 Datsun wagon (4 spd).

Currently, I Flat-tow my 914 Racer behind my Kia Sorento (Automatic) but am careful to downshift on hills to use more revs rather than spin the torque-converter.

I'm guessing your Toyota is Auto and this approach should work for you!!!

Best of luck,
Terry

Did you mean flat drag it?

Right, make sure the wheel bearings are good on the car before you start a flat tow.

The other alternative is to rent one of those jobbies where the car's front wheels are on the platform (Tow Dolly). That way you are only spinning the rear wheels of the car being towed.

I towed my Ford Taurus, with the 85 GMC diesel pickup, all the way back to Virginia and then back again using a dolly. They work great.

I pulled my 914 on a tow dolley from Oklahoma City all the way to Dallas, OR on my way to McChord AFB with my GMC Canyon 2WD 5 Cyl 3.5L Vortec engine. It has a hitch which helps but I had no problem at all. It was Jan 31 when I went through Alburque, NM when all the snow was still on the freeway in some places. Even through the siskiyou and grants pass my truck did just fine. Just make sure your vehicle can handle it and be safe. Your gross tow weight should be somewhere in your manual or you can find it online through google.

About 20 years ago I flat-towed a small car (VW Jetta) with a Jeep Wrangler, halfway across the country -- or rather attempted to. I knew it would be dicey but was a one-time thing as in your current situation.

The Jeep's power and brakes were not a problem at all. The short wheelbase however - whoa nelly. When we got sick of fighting the cross-winds we unhitched the VW and drove both cars separately the rest of the way. Fortunately that was an available option.

With the Tacoma I think you'd be OK with a 2-wheel dolly or flat-tow. I would be reluctant to attempt a 2,000+ lb steel trailer with a car on top...

A lightweight car trailer would solve the problem.

The Trailex CT-7031 aluminum trailer weights only 835lbs. Add the 2200lb teener and the total weight would be less than the 3500lb capacity of the Toyota Tacoma.

Maybe you can borrow one locally - hit up the regional PCA.

Before I acquired my Teener, I was at a local track day with my BMW M5. There was a 1980's BMW 635csi pulling a custom built trailer carrying a 914/6.

For the life of me, I cannot remember who it was.

The trailer was very lightweight and very clever. I heard that it was brought over from Europe by a returning military officer. The trailer used 4 small Renault/Citroen wheels/hubs (3 lug). The trailer was constructed of two "U" channels attached to the axles and tongue. The channels were both the surface to drive the car onto and the main structural component of the trailer. The design even retained the original automotive parking brakes. The scavenged parking brake handle was mounted to the trailer tongue and functional ... no need to use wheel chocks on the trailer.

Clever .... very clever.

Im not sure if David Lee is still offering those but it will easily pay for itself.
My own experiance is with an "95" Ford Ranger STX 4.0L /6 (with 400K miles on the OD ) With that setup I flat towed many a teener and never had a issue.

We flat-tow mine with a NA 2.5L Subaru Outback no problem. I say get a flat tow mount from RennMetal and a tow bar for a bug and you are good to go.

Will the 'RennMetal and Bug tow bar' arrangement fit a 914 with a stock front valance?


I've towed a 22 foot two axle trailer carrying 911s, 912s (and even a '99 VW Beetle) with my old '96 Tacoma (3.4L V6). Now, mind you,the Tacoma came with the factory tow-package and we had a TRD supercharger installed , so it could tow pretty much any type of Porsche behind it without too much trouble.

I am still offering the tow bar interface brackets, but don't want to get a hand slap for marketing here..............

thank you.....David Lee
www.rennenmetal.com

I think it will clear the stock valance but you can always ask the guy.
RennMetal

I have towed my 914 with both a U-Haul auto-transporter and the tow bar set up using a 2005 Tacoma V6.

I used to leave the truck (Auto) in 4th gear pulling the U-Haul rig plus car on hilly roads. Otherwise it was in and out of 5th all the time and it annoyed me.

The tow bar set up is awesome, I have the same one you all are talking about. It will hide behind the stock valance but you have to take it off to hook up the tow bar. I am thinking about a different valance set up that I can hinge somehow and pin it up when I need to hook up the tow bar and pin down for driving.

I checked out the site last night, and yep, need to remove the stock valance to install and again when towing. Thanks ...

Dave,

I also have an '05 Tacoma V6 TRD w/ tow pkg. I used to tow a lot in past years, but the Tacoma *seems* a bit wimpy for the U-Haul/car combo. When I recently flat towed my 914 to the paint shop with the Tacoma, I was surprised at the poor braking.......However the U-Haul has surge brakes which is sure to help a lot.

Andy

Andy, do you know what type of brake pads you have on your Tacoma? TRD?

I ran some 'high performance' TRD pads for a while but I found they didn't stop the truck very well - really had to stand on the pedal. I went back to the stock type pads.

My Tacoma is the V6, 4 Door, TRD model, 4x4 with the long box. I think that is pretty much as heavy as they get and I don't think the truck weighs 4,500 lbs. Flat towing my 914 I have never found the brakes to be lacking, but the truck is light and the momentum of a 2,200 lb car behind you, that you can't see except for when you are turning, can be reassuring. It lets you know that your car is still there.

To further make the point for flat towing. It is a one time purchase that is not much more than renting the U-Haul trailer.

On top of that, U-Haul equipment is notoriously poorly maintained.

Mark, I have the standard TRD pads.

Dave, agreed. U-Haul stuff is very poorly maintained. Ever since a wheel and hub came completely off a trailer I was returning (It happened on the freewy on ramp en route to U-Haul), I pop the dust caps of my rentals and check that they're packed with grease.

Andys

I hear this a lot from diesel owners however I always make 17 to 18 MPG with my smaller displacement gas v8 Chevy and Fords towing on the highway if I keep it at 65 MPH and see upwards of 21 MPG not towing. My little 4.6 liter F150 work truck was mpg champ! My 4.8 Chevy gets pretty darn good mileage for being a crewcab. It takes a trained foot however and need to know how to use momentum to your favor. Part of this is due to lighter weight nature of the chevy and ford work trucks I buy. They dont have many extras run on little skinny tires, sit much lower than HD versions with diesels, etc. Hualling a little sub 4500 lb trailer and car doesnt impact mileage that badly. I always laugh when some guy in huge heavy duty 4x4 diesel pulls up and thinks he is getting better mileage than my little lightweight 2wd small displacement V8 truck.

Im sure if I was hauling a big enclosed unit my mileage would suck! But for lightweight stuff my little V8 is very comptitive mileage wise. And I can use regular gas!

We have had F450s, Internationals and Hinos for work trucks and they all get the same mileage, loaded or unloaded, it's always shitty.

I get an easy 24MPG ..26 if i nurse it along..2004 cummins turbo diesel ...1 ton 4 door long box 4x4 ..with out towing of course

that toyota will have no issues as long as you have trailer brakes ..Dad does it all the time in the same truck

MikeC

we did a 2800 mile tow from colorado to san diego
southern route with a few small passes along the way
24foot enclosed trailer with about 7 foot ceilings (taller than average)
loaded with spares, tools, food, race gas, and extra tires for a 3 day event


4door, 3/4ton, long bed, 2wheel drive, 2003 HD dodge with a 6speed
a bit over 17mpg for the round trip. Thats actual mileage.... if your using your trip computer to calculate for you, then your numbers are optimistic.

the thing about a heavy tow vehicle is that those big trailer rated tires and 9000lb vehicle weight give a a bit of safety from having your trailer take over your tow vehicle.

I think that was really the point of this thread
tow with an undersized vehicle and when you least expect it or if any thing goes wrong.... suddenly your trailer is driving you off the road
(for example a rapid deflating flat tire, or emergency manuever)

I hate to say it, but towing is in my opinion one of those things where bigger really is better. I'd rather not face an emergency situation in the tow vehicle. I'd rather save any risk for the track.

Oh for got to mention ..Its has K/N filter, exhaust, and a chip.. and on the hiway,, bout 18mpg in the city

I have towed 3 different 914'swith my Tacoma and a UHAUL beast. Never an issue going downhill. With that being said she did struggle a tad in 5th gear going west on Mass Turnpike through the Berkshire Mts. Truck was never pushed by the trailer or any other issues. Yes its a V-6 and 4WD but its my tow vehicle and I wont hesitate to use it again if need be.

I'm currently towing my first 914 with a 08 Tacoma V6 on a uhaul trailer. Where's the best place to attach the safety chains from the uhaul trailer to the car??? I can't find a good place front or rear. Please help.....

Nice thought...until I get 18 mpg while towing through the mountains...and pass you and everyone else going up hill!.....which I have done on multiple occasions.

For day to day driving a small engine is great. However, for towing there is no substitute for the torque of a diesel. Also, don't forget that when towing a load my F-250 will outbrake an F-150 all day long. That makes a big difference for my towing comfort.

thought the Uhauls came set up for tying a car down ....pulled a truck from Montana with a Uhaul and the thing was rigged for a vehicle....o just read that again ...you mean where to hook them on the car ...wheels or suspension..Jmo

Honestly I haven't found a mountain that slowed me much when hauling sub 5000 lb load in the newer Silverado? I did 70 mph all the way over the grapevine. Passed plenty of others too. Brakes on the Silverado are awesome no lack of stopping power. The older F150 wasn't best for brakes but newer Chevy had no issue hauling trailed down to a stop quickly.

Again if you're towing big enclosed rig big diesel is the way to go but smaller v8 gasser can be very efficient when towing lighter loads. You'd also be hard pressed to beat cost difference of a diesel verses cheap v8 gasser too. I bought my Crewcab with V8 and tow package new for $19k! most are flex fuel e85 burners now too which makes fuel costs even less than diesel.

Big old heavy duty diesel to hual a lightweight 914 on open trailer is a bit of overkill in my opinion. Most of new modern V8s make excellent HP and torque and are even more fuel effcient now. They have awesome brakes too.

I have just took step down to a much less capable 2012 v6 jeep Grand Cherokee. 290 hp 260 ft lbs. I getting 24.5 mpg hwy on my commute over mountain roads. It burns e85 too which I get for 35 cents a gallon less than regular. I will be towing 4500 lbs which is less than ideal but I needed a true dual use vehicle that got decent gas mileage and was nice to drive. It will be interesting to see how it works. Most of my towing is flat to local ax venue. Only a couple longer trips. My long term plan is to lighten my load by moving to a 2000 lb race car and aluminum trailer.

i have towed alot...

a heavier truck the better, the longer the truck the better, the bigger the brakes on the truck the better.

power is not really the issue, it's controlling what you are towing. the weight on the trailer and load on it will push you around with a lighter tow rig. if you are going to use a lighter tow rig use electric brakes!!!! you can control the electric brakes separately and this can get you out of trouble that would turn out nasty if you use surge brakes.

even flat towing can get sketchy with a lighter tow rig because the towed vehicle will push you around under braking and cornering.

all that said, if you are experienced at towing you can minimize the risks and hazards while on the road.

just keep in mind you are towing a substantial amount of extra weight and you need to adjust everything you do while towing.

I towed my teener home with my 07 Frontier V6 with a tow package with no issues at all. My buddy has a small singel axle tilt deck trailer didn't even really notice it behind me. Just leave a good distance between vehicles and make no sudden movements. If the towing amount is more then 50% of the weight of the vehicle you need trailer brakes in most states/provinces. I tow a Boler trailer with the truck in the summer to go caming. And I usually use my truck to launch all my buddies boats because they have big 250-350's with campers on the back and you have to back down a steep curvy hill to launch you boat. Saw a ford ranger get pulled down the same hill by a ski boat that was 4 feet shorter then my buddies boat.. Like my fronty way better then the Tacoma I had, it feels and drives like a full size truck.

Those little Nissans are about 10% heavier than the comparable Tacomas. I'm not sure where on the truck the difference comes in but it's there. Probably spread out all over.