2014 CX-5 Touring - Towing Smallest U-Haul Trailer

Moving daughter and grandbaby 400 miles next week. They'll be in their car and I'll follow them by myself in my CX-5. For now it's just clothes and lightweight stuff going with them. Household items will be moved later by a moving company. Thinking about using the smallest U-Haul trailer (4' X 8') to make the move easier. Trailer weight is 850 pounds and the stuff we'll load will probably be less than 600 pounds so I'm under the 2000 pound stated towing weight limit. Factory installed OEM hitch. Any problems with this plan?
Thx for any feedback!
Bill
 
Moving daughter and grandbaby 400 miles next week. They'll be in their car and I'll follow them by myself in my CX-5. For now it's just clothes and lightweight stuff going with them. Household items will be moved later by a moving company. Thinking about using the smallest U-Haul trailer (4' X 8') to make the move easier. Trailer weight is 850 pounds and the stuff we'll load will probably be less than 600 pounds so I'm under the 2000 pound stated towing weight limit. Factory installed OEM hitch. Any problems with this plan?
Thx for any feedback!
Bill
I believe the towing limit on gen-1 CX-5 in the US is 1,500 lbs. So your setup should be at about the limit and just don’t try to load too much in the U-Haul trailer. Drive smoothly like a grand mom to avoid the sudden heavy load to the transmission. Check the ATF level before the trip, and if I were you, I’d consider an ATF drain-and-fill to the transmission after the trip if the ATF has never been changed. The same on rear differential and front transfer case gear lubricant if you have an AWD.
 
yrwei52: If I read the manual correctly, the limit for my '14 2.5L is 2000 pounds. I used to tow a pop up camper (with another much bigger vehicle) so I tend to drive very gently when towing. BTW...we're heading to Fort Worth so will be up in your neck of Texas.

erhayes: Agreed!
Bill
 
Moving daughter and grandbaby 400 miles next week. They'll be in their car and I'll follow them by myself in my CX-5. For now it's just clothes and lightweight stuff going with them. Household items will be moved later by a moving company. Thinking about using the smallest U-Haul trailer (4' X 8') to make the move easier. Trailer weight is 850 pounds and the stuff we'll load will probably be less than 600 pounds so I'm under the 2000 pound stated towing weight limit. Factory installed OEM hitch. Any problems with this plan?
Thx for any feedback!
Bill
I don't think the 4x8 trailers have surge brakes. At least for the 2nd generation, the towing capacity is 2000 lbs with trailer brakes, 1000 lbs without brakes.

If you don't have additional braking, you'd want to drive very conservatively. I would't want to caravan with the other car unless they trailed and let you set the pace. In other words, if you drive behind them, I wouldn't try to keep up.
 
yrwei52: If I read the manual correctly, the limit for my '14 2.5L is 2000 pounds. I used to tow a pop up camper (with another much bigger vehicle) so I tend to drive very gently when towing. BTW...we're heading to Fort Worth so will be up in your neck of Texas.

erhayes: Agreed!
Bill
Yes, towing capacity for gen-1 CX-5 is indeed 2,000 lbs.!

Welcome your daughter and grandbaby moving into DFW area. Fort Worth is a beautiful city to live.
 
murky: I'm assuming that the trailer will not have brakes so understood about driving conservatively. I'll let them lead and I'll poke along at 55-60 mph.

yrwei52: Actually, this may be the first step to my wife and I moving up that way too. Retiring fully this year and all of the family is up that way so we may sell our house in San Antonio and move up that way. Looking in the Aledo area for properties. We'll see what happens...
 
A CX-5 tows beautifully. It is more capable than you can imagine. Your U-Haul at 2000 pounds will be cake. Leave it in drive and let the computers do the work. It will be fine. The 2.5l version is rated at 3960 lbs overseas, WITH trailer brakes and a 62 mph speed limit. It surely can. I can monitor trans temp with a ScanGauge. It runs 205F at 80 mph and 205F at 62 towing 3372 pounds of RV, if you set the cruise and let the trans shift for itself. That trip included two 6% climbs, one 7% and one 8% climb. Each were between 3/4 and 1 mile long. Shifting manually and forcing higher RPM, I saw a peak of 215F trans temp. That trip was 140 miles 1-way. I have trailer brakes and an inertia-based brake controller.

I will recommend a trailer with surge brakes and limiting the speed to 65, if the trailer tires are rated that high. Without trailer brakes, 2000 lbs is a good limit. As a test, I pulled a friend's ~2500 lb. boat and it was no challenge to the brakes over a 10 mile test run.

I am assuming you will tow with gentle, patient hand and LOTS of following distance. You also *must* do enough weighing to ensure you have more than 10% of the trailer weight on the tongue.
Three hundred fifty pounds makes my rear sag about 1.5 inches.
 
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Do you really need a trailer? Load what you can and ship the rest via USPS or UPS or FEDEX. Or, ship it on the truck. Not worth towing with all the questions on brakes no brakes, change transmission oil, keep far back, etc. Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
I have a 13 CX5 FWD Manual 2.0 and have towed a fair amount with it. Mostly light, low profile like open trailer w yard waste or kayak trailer. Last fall I towed a rented light tower which pushed the suspension limits. It is heavier than it looks but it was only 20 miles or so.

The one time I rented a Uhaul box, I think is was 5x10, for a trade show. Loaded it up heavy and realized the CX5 wasn't cut out for pulling it the 200 mile drive through Boston traffic. Not a big deal for me since I took my truck for that job instead.

You have the bigger engine, more appropriate transmission and as you say a light load. You will be fine if you use a good amount of common sense. Yes, load it slightly tongue heavy. If you are in hilly areas, consider manual mode to keep the engine in the higher powerband. Expect your gas mileage to be in the mid teens for the trip depending on the amount of hills and highway (wind drag).
 
ColtX-5: Thx for ur input and the videos. I had seen the 1st one and the 2nd one scares me. Gotta mentally rehearse "Foot off the gas! Don't brake!" Will load what little heavy stuff toward the front of the trailer for sure.

CX_FIVER: Yeah...moving crib and play stuff...too bulky to go in the car...so we'll try a trailer.

rjdee2: Hopefully the 2.5L will be up to a light load 400 mile tow. I'll report back with result.
 
PITA to park, etc. Maybe you can make it without a motel stay and get gas at truck stop type places where they have room.
 
ColtX-5: Thx for ur input and the videos. I had seen the 1st one and the 2nd one scares me. Gotta mentally rehearse "Foot off the gas! Don't brake!" Will load what little heavy stuff toward the front of the trailer for sure. .......

My pleasure!

I don't often tell what I've towed with it because it's a heavy load. I towed a lot of boats when I was young and stupid, most that out-weighed my Datsun (with drum brakes) by a good margin. My Dad was a good coach, too, so I learned to be gentle, smooth and patient. The videos weren't meant to be scary as much as cautionary. Bad stuff does happen if you are not careful and prepared. Still, I am hugely impressed with the towing ability of my AWD CX-5, and the rig's stability in gusty winds. It tows my R-Pod far better than I do, actually. It is not the heaviest thing I have towed, but it is the biggest, with the largest sail area, by far. I am holding onto to that initial anxiety as a hedge against complacency.
 
Well, I (over)loaded a 5X8 uhaul, and stufffed my FWD, 2015 CX5 full! I know I had at least 2500 in the trailer, and maybe another 300 in the back for my little jaunt from Bakersfield, CA to Billings, MT! (a short 1500 miles) My CX didnt even blink! As others have said, leav it in drive and let the car decide when or if to shift. As I recall, I was getting 19~20 mpg rolling along at 65mph!
 
I'm curious what you were hauling that weighed 2,500 pounds in a 5x8.
I'm planning on using this exact trailer to move, should be under the 1,800 pound rated capacity.
 
I'm curious what you were hauling that weighed 2,500 pounds in a 5x8?
I'm planning on using this exact trailer to move, should be under the 1,800 pound rated capacity.
Well, most of the weight was all of my tools. To be honest, I dont really know what the actual load was, but I also had 2 3X8 desks, 2 full dressers, a double wide wood file cabinet, and 4X8 kitchen table stuffed in there! (It was a real pain, having to take them all apart!!) The portable dish washer and washing machine as well.
Just want to say just because you can doesn't you should.
This, I can not arrgue with in the least!! If I had the money, I would have used a u haul truck for the load, and put the CX on a trailer!
 
I'd rent a truck and put the CX5 on a trailer. Saves your vehicle and lowers your stress. JMO.. Ed
I’d checked the cost once for a U-Haul 17’ truck with a car trailer, they’re not cheap! From Dallas area to San Jose would cost me $2,500 one way! And if it’s the other way around the cost would be $1,000 more because more people are moving out of California.
 
They are way overpriced for sure. By comparison, a 5x8 will cost about $20/day to rent without any extras (Uhaul has about 4 upsell screens that you have to click through).
 
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