I have no idea about hauling things. However, when you mentioned uhaul, I had to chime in. Be REAL careful with the uhaul trailer. I have heard nothing but horror stories about unsafe uhaul vehicles. Just make sure you're not buying something that's gonna a lose a wheel on Route 66.

Have a safe journey.

 

My family used to pull a 1000 pound+ pop-up camper with a 1985 Toyota celica.

We took that car on many, many trips. I imagine that if an old under-powered celica can take that on.. you shouldn't have a problem.

1.What would be the best hitch for this long distance tow.
- One that is rated for 2000 pounds or more.

2.I'm looking to pull no more than 2000 pounds, but how heavy can the load in the car be?
- 2000lbs is the max weight with the tow package

3.Is it possible to severly damage my patriot attempting this trip from simply towing that much weight for that long.
- probably not.

4.Will this void the warrenty.
- No, as long as you don't pull more than 2000lbs

5.Should I change to synthetic oil.
- Sure, but won't make a big impact

6.Will a K & N filter help.
- Will not make any difference. Maybe 1-2 extra HP, if that.

7.If nesecary how often should I let me jeep rest.
- If the transmission overheats.. the patriot will auto slow down. At least this is true for the CVT.

 

Personally, I would sell everything I don't need and ship the rest back. That would make the trip cross country more enjoyable and make a couple stops along the way. Get to see a few things and enjoy the trip. Plus, you are probably going to be very over the vehicle maximum towing and capacity limits. That trailer weighs just under 1000 lbs on it's own. That plus your stuff and then filling up the inside of the Jeep itself may make for a very heavy total load.

 

Looks like you got lots of help here...I'll stand back. My question is....WHY IN THE HELL WOULD YOU WANT TO MOVE FROM HUNTINGTON BEACH????

Great place...great weather.

 

California - great place to visit, not so much a great place to live.
( I live here; I know)

weather would be the last thing to stop me from moving. :icon_rolleyes:

 

I used to tow a 2100 lb pop-up long distance with a wrangler (2000 lb tow rating) and a 150 hp minivan (2000 lb rating). I have towed 1000 lb long distance with my Patriot (no problems).

Some of this is redundant to previous posts but:

- 2000 lb (or better) rated hitch. Either "1 1/4 or "2 receiver is fine, just make sure install is correct, and in future inspect regularly for things like corrosion.

- Be confident of the overall trailer weight and keep the tongue weight to no more than 200 lbs if possible. Dont go too light on the tongue weight either... I think the guideline is 10-15% of total trailer weight.

- Trailer brakes. Hopefully the trailer will have them. Make sure they work. Not critical for flat land towing (go gently around curves) but I highly recommend it especially for hills if you're towing 2000 lbs. The Mopar tow harness does not come with a connection for electric brakes, but U-Haul trailers might have surge brakes that dont need an electrical connection

- Don't overload interior. I'm not sure how the tongue weight counts against the Patriots GVWR. It helps that only 2 people are in the car.

- When hitched, make sure trailer sits level fore/aft. If it isnt level it adversely affects the handling dynamics (like when braking). I see a lot of trailers that are way nose-up or nose-down. Makes me cringe.

 

Wow great reply everyone, thanks for the help

The Uhaul Trailer is at 900pounds which leaves me with 1100pounds for packing we may have around 600 pounds in the car after 2 people 2 dogs and a few items that would normally fit in the trailor awkwardly.

As far as leaving huntington beach goes I have to make the move for family health reasons, ill be back soon enough to HB!

 

Looks like you got good answers so I will just say good luck and try to enjoy the trip. Get off the interstate everynow and then and take the scenic routes

 

I have the 2.0 and have towed a 270lb scooter on a 300lb trailer,
and I'm not sure I would want to tow more. I have over the years
towed a number of things with a number of different vehicles.
Some advice I can offer -
Keep your rpms up - I use the auto stick when towing, don't let it fall
below 2000rpms, ideal would be 24-2500

Down shift, don't cook the brakes, a slow pumping action to burn off
speed.

Make sure you make the load heavier in the front, you don't want the
tail to wag the dog.

If for some reason oscillations occur, hold the steering wheel steady, do not
compensate, and don't hit the brakes.

Good luck with your move, slow down, and relax, white knuckle towing
ain't fun.

 

I saw Uhaul and wanted to chime in also. I would be extreamly carefull with the Uhaul trailer, especially that long of a drive. I would inspect the toungs locking mechanisim before and check in often.

My mom rented a 5X10 to move stuff last week to her new house and drove 350 miles. Within this trip I met up with her and we were in the turn lane for the freeway and the trailer came off and we spent about 10 min getting it back on with cars rushing past. There was no locking pin. It had this screw cap mechanisim that you tighten onto the hitch ball which lossened. Good thing we were not on the freeway when it happened.

Good Luck and have a safe trip!

 

Thanks!, Sorry to hear about your Uhaul experience. I had a bad one too, 4 years ago the parking break engaged on a 5x8 Trailer my girlfriends Liberty was towing. We didn't notice untill 2 miles after until we finally felt the loss of power and a funny smell....From this point on I have been very carefully inspecting their equipment. Luckly most Uhaul's have 4 or more 5x8 trailors.
Well I just installed the mopar Trailer light wiring that came with the tow package and installed the "invisible hitch" ordered from e-trailer, I just got in today! Both were a sinch with 2 people. Fit great and it did not rub on my muffler like others have had issues with. Can't wait to test it out tomorrow. Going to Uhaul to fit a trailer to see how the riot performes. ..

 

Isn't the Pat only rated to tow 1500?

 

1000 w/o trailer prep
2000 with Trailer prep, Which includes oil cooler, and trailer light wiring.