Towing with a U-haul
- Thread starter Dave Sherman
- Start date
As far as I know those U-Haul car haulers use surge drum brakes. These are manually adjustable brakes & if not adjusted regularly they won’t stop well. Not self adjusting like disc brakes. I have 12” surge drums on my boat trailer and properly adjusted they stop 5,040 lbs of boat & trailer very well.
Something else I have that is very handy is a Sherline tongue weight scale. This helps if you know how much the load is in getting a safe tongue weight. VERY important in safe towing!
Something else I have that is very handy is a Sherline tongue weight scale. This helps if you know how much the load is in getting a safe tongue weight. VERY important in safe towing!
GON
$100 Site Donor 2024
Yes, you are correct on that. I only had to drive a few miles, and made the decision it was less risk to drive the few miles than have a disgruntled forklift driver be directed to drop the car, turn it around, and reload. If I was going a longer distance or interstate traffic I likely would have took the risk of having the driver drop and reload the vehicle.
We tried to ship a car to California a few years ago (four, I think) and checked with all of the shippers that we could find. It turned out that NONE of them are actually shippers, they're just brokers that want to charge a huge price for shipping but put the shipment out for bid to those fly-by-night shipping companies and profit the difference. None of them had an control or liability over the shippers that they subcontract out to. The car was brand new and in perfect running condition but they still wanted about $3000 to ship it so in the end we just drove it out to Cali.
Regarding U-haul, the last time that I tried to rent a car trailer from them was to move my 1953 Wiley's M38A1 Jeep about 50 miles. But U-haul REQUIRES that they be able to look up the vehicle and determine if it's too heavy for their trailer and they also wanted to know what kind of towig vehicle I was going to use. They couldn't find a listing for an M38A1 jeep so they refused to rent to me. Call U-haul and ask about the vehicle that you want to tow and the pulling vehicle before you start making any detailed plans. Their trailers are HEAVY and I don't think that your towing vehicle will be adequate for that car and their heavy trailer.
GON
$100 Site Donor 2024
U Haul has a tool on their website to determine if the tow vehicle and the towed vehicle is a match. As you point out, some older vehicles may not have specs that the computer can access to validate of the setup will work. One can do their own due diligence to determine if what is being transported meets the weight and other limitations of the uhaul auto transporter.
You are spot on on the brokers in the auto transporter industry. Very dirty business. One can bypass them in numerous ways. One, as mentioned earlier is Uship. I have had multiple cars transported by owner operators using Uship.
I buy enough vehicles I maintain an account with centraldispatch.com, the firm that all the brokers use to find a owner operator to transport the vehicles they are brokering. I can track what owner operators are working what routes at any given time, and if they have space on their trailer.
Some key words one should consider putting in their listing if one lists a vehicle for transport on Uship:
-No Brokers
-Car is ready for pickup between this and that day, at these hours
-Car can be delivered between these days at these hours
-No additional items are in the car, it weighs the weight it came out of the factory with
-The car runs, drives, rolls, steers, and brakes
-The car has no aftermarket modifications
And if you receive any of the following questions on Uship, especially if you post the above- run away from the vendor:
-I have a driver in the area, lets book it
-Lets agree to a price in the comments/ question section- instead of the vendor placing a bonafide bid
-Will you be placing any personal items in the car (you already answered that in the listing- vendor is just trying to get you to bite at a cut and paste question).
Anytime someone says they have a driver in the area is always a con man, always.
One can't be in a hurry with Uship. After placing an listing to transport a vehicle, the brokers all place quotes and ask cut and paste questions. One must ignore these. In time, a owner/ operator with space will find your listing place a quote with reviewing.
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Yeah, of course the show was fake and it was just advertising though.
That was their attempt at advertising? lol.. to show inept people breaking people's property when they shipped it with unprofessionals.. wow.. that really doesn't accomplish a great ad campaign, i'm just sayin..
EDIT: @2strokeNorthstar just making sure you know I'm not making fun of you at all.. just laughing at that show..
Solid points. The show was pretty garbage from what I sawThat was their attempt at advertising? lol.. to show inept people breaking people's property when they shipped it with unprofessionals.. wow.. that really doesn't accomplish a great ad campaign, i'm just sayin..
EDIT: @2strokeNorthstar just making sure you know I'm not making fun of you at all.. just laughing at that show..
Huh? I've towed close to 4300 pounds on mine.
And I thought you said it had a tow bar. Why do you need ANY tow dolly?
No clue on towing however I’d get a quote or two for auto shipper. Guessing it is cheaper than costs of DIY over 1800 miles. 1800 miles in rental truck sounds miserable….
According to their website, 3900 pounds for an RWD is the maximum load for the dolly. As I said in the first post, I thought the rumor was you had to tow with their equipment. I wouldn’t have a problem using the tow bar if U-Haul doesn’t freak out.
How would they know what you were using the truck for after it leaves the lot? As long as it doesn't exceed the truck's weight limits, it should be ok.
I used Intercity to move a '17 Continental in '19 from NM to NJ. Worth the extra bucks to get enclosed transport with Ferrari care. In fact, it shared the ride with one.
Not worth doing it myself by flying to, driving it back or towing it with something open air. I've towed cars on 200-mile trips on U hauls but that was with low value cars.
If this antique is worth anything spend the money on a carrier who is top rated.
Not worth doing it myself by flying to, driving it back or towing it with something open air. I've towed cars on 200-mile trips on U hauls but that was with low value cars.
If this antique is worth anything spend the money on a carrier who is top rated.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
I wouldn't be flat towing or using a dolly with a 76 year old car. Tires, bushings, wheel bearings, etc. Not worth the risk of a breakdown.
If it were me I'd drive your RAM to AZ and rent a Uhaul car hauler trailer to tow it. Tell them it's for a 1997 Lincoln Continental. It only weighs a few hundred pounds more and is 1 foot longer. A 1947 Lincoln has a 125 inch wheelbase and you can go up to 133 inch wheelbase on the Uhaul trailers.
I towed my sand rail from Oregon to Phoenix last December, told them it was for a 1997 VW Golf.
If it were me I'd drive your RAM to AZ and rent a Uhaul car hauler trailer to tow it. Tell them it's for a 1997 Lincoln Continental. It only weighs a few hundred pounds more and is 1 foot longer. A 1947 Lincoln has a 125 inch wheelbase and you can go up to 133 inch wheelbase on the Uhaul trailers.
I towed my sand rail from Oregon to Phoenix last December, told them it was for a 1997 VW Golf.
Thanks, I'm starting to think the car hauler is the way to go. While dad has towed it many times before with the tow bar, there is the matter of some old tires on it, having to connect the surge brake to the car brakes, having to remove the front bumper to attach the tow bar, and I'm not even sure the registration is current to be legally flat towed. It's not driveable at the moment (it does roll), so renewing it could be tricky.
So it seems I may have a little snag. The weight of the transporter and the weight of the car would be at the 6500 pound capacity of my truck. If I go through the hoops on U-Haul's site, a 1947 Lincoln is one of the choices, but when I put in my truck's info, it says "not recommended". Put in a Ram 2500 and it passes. If I take Nick's suggestion of telling them it's a 1997 Continental it passes, but that's a 3700 pound car, not a 4300 pound car. I also have a quote from an auto carrier, but it's $3000. At that rate, it would probably still be cheaper to fly out, rent a transporter and a U-Haul truck and tow it back.
Are you concerned that Uhaul won't let your rent it if you say it's a 47? Or that its at the capacity of the truck? The automakers are pretty conservative in their tow ratings in the U.S. for liability reasons, so if you're at the max capacity, you should be fine.
GON
$100 Site Donor 2024
A COA is to find someone with a centraldispatch.com account. It will cost $30 to list the Lincoln. I was on Centeal Dispatch and saw a lot of trucks departing California heading East with empty space. I am sure some of these trucks will be going east through Phoenix. Getting a unused space on one of these trucks is the key to a low price. Most vehicles on these trucks are "must move" contracts, where the vehcile has to be picked up and delviered in a certain time window. You do not have that constraint- just wait for a truck heading east with empty space.
As always- I will strongly suggest to never deal with a broker. A liar, thief, or killer are much more honorable than a broker that specializes in auto transport.
GON
$100 Site Donor 2024
Generally, that is correct. The forklift driver loaded it that way, and I only had 15 miles to go, so it was safer to tow this way, than to have a angry forklift operator reload the vehicle.
Note tongue wait and other issues with how to place the load. Front loading a vehicle typically is the default way, and much nore often than not the right way. But other factors can play a role.
