tires and wheels advice on car transporting

[rdeeble]

just bought a nice looking project car in Oregon (its body straight and ready for paint) and need to get down there to transport it to seattle. Any advice on transport?

uhaul has a flat tow dolly (4 wheels) for $60 a day that hooks to a tow hitch. The project car has glass removed so im thinking maybe i can tape it up with thick cardboard and a strap a car cover over it.

any advice would be greatly appreciated. rd

[bcthomas122279]

I've gotten super cheap shipping through uship.com

[ricortes]

For a tow dolly you your towing vehicle should seriously out weigh the '02. Uhaul may not rent you the dolly if it doesn't. Since the car is much lighter then stock you may want to tell them it is a stripped roller.

Bring rope or something to lock the steering wheel. You will be towing the car backwards and on an '02 the tail will be seriously high to the point where it may oscillate wildly from side to side. Plan on doing the double nickle anyway to keep things safe. If I do it again, I would consider putting a stick from window to window and tying it to the steering wheel.

The tow dolly will probably have lights built in so you won't need anything else. Make sure the '02 has four good tires as you need them for rolling up the trailer, clamping to the trailer, and the fronts for rolling home.

Good luck

Rick

[BMWonly]

I usually rent a full trailer (instead of a dolley) from Uhaul for about $50 a day. To me that's the easiest and safest to haul a car home.

Not sure if cardboard and a car cover will survive a long freeway trip ??? If the headliner needs to be replaced anyway, you might want to leave the car open (I have torn a headliner that way before).

Dieter

[ArdenK]

How many miles is it? AAA offers 100 & 200 mile memberships with 4 tows, 1 tow pays for the membership.

That's how I'm getting my E21 parts car home tomorrow.

[Frenchee]

just bought a nice looking project car in Oregon (its body straight and ready for paint) and need to get down there to transport it to seattle. Any advice on transport?

uhaul has a flat tow dolly (4 wheels) for $60 a day that hooks to a tow hitch. The project car has glass removed so im thinking maybe i can tape it up with thick cardboard and a strap a car cover over it.

any advice would be greatly appreciated. rd

Perfect timing.

I had the same problem . I had to tow 2 disabled 02's this weekend.

I called UHAUL. They were going to rent me a trailer for 54$ a day. So you can toss the car on there and not have to use a dolly. all 4 wheels fit on it.

They were CRAZZY picky about what truck I will be using and when they had to enter the box for "vehicle getting towed" they couldnt find a 2002 1971 so she said she couldnt rent it. I was like are you kidding me!? The closest she found was a 1977 320i !

I got a friend to tow one with his flat bed. Then on craigslist there are some cheap companies that can do it for you. it gets expensive when its long distance. In town is cheap. 40-60

[jgerock]

I reserved a tow dolly from U-Haul several years ago to transport an '89 Acura Integra from FL to VA. After I installed a Class III hitch, my dad and I drove his 2002 F150 pickup down and tried to get the dolly the next day from the local U-Haul place. The counter told me they didn't have one to rent out (even though I reserved it in plenty of time and I called in advance of my trip). What a crock. They told me nobody had turned one in so I couldn't get one. It reminded me of the Seinfeld episode about Jerry trying to get his rental car.

I called all kinds of U-Haul phone numbers until they found another place 25 miles away that had (2) readily available! We wasted 1 entire day waiting to find another method, so we drove all the way back on a Sunday (from Tallahasse!). Got home about 2am on a Monday, turned the dolly back in and went to work at 8am. I'll never do that again.

When I bought the tii, I shopped around on the web getting quotes and found out the racket on transporters. The drivers basically only get a percentage of the full fee (you must decide what it is!) and the broker gets the rest. Some only deal with cash, so be ready when the car arrives. I ended up using Blue Star Auto Movers and they brokered it out to a nice guy in Richmond, VA who used his Dodge van with 2-axle trailer.

[ricortes]

I reserved a tow dolly from U-Haul several years ago to transport an '89 Acura Integra from FL to VA. After I installed a Class III hitch, my dad and I drove his 2002 F150 pickup down and tried to get the dolly the next day from the local U-Haul place. The counter told me they didn't have one to rent out (even though I reserved it in plenty of time and I called in advance of my trip). What a crock. They told me nobody had turned one in so I couldn't get one. It reminded me of the Seinfeld episode about Jerry trying to get his rental car.

I called all kinds of U-Haul phone numbers until they found another place 25 miles away that had (2) readily available! We wasted 1 entire day waiting to find another method, so we drove all the way back on a Sunday (from Tallahasse!). Got home about 2am on a Monday, turned the dolly back in and went to work at 8am. I'll never do that again.

I should complain about UHaul too. Drove ~120 miles to pick up tow dolly in city where the '02 was. They refused to rent me the dolly because I didn't have paper work on the BMW! I couldn't get the paper work and back before they closed. 240 mil round trip in a 13 mpg truck for nothing. Use anyone but UHaul. I ended up using a local rental shop and it was hassle free.

Rick

[rdeeble]

WOW! this is great thanks for all the responses.

First off I already decided to use a full flat trailer as the dolly method seems a little sketchy. I figured it would be easy to grab a uhaul in oregon but now im rethinking.

I will tell you this about Uhaul. They are a pain in the ass. When I inquired about renting a trailer they said no problem then asked what I would be towing it with. I told them a Ford Explore - THEY RESPONDED THEY WOULD NEVER RENT ME ANYTHING WITH AN EXPLORER BECAUSE FORD HAS NEVER APOLOGIZED FOR THE FIRESTONE/ EXPLORER INCIDENT - can you believe that??? They said it was company policy and they could work it out with any other car even a different kind of Ford and it had nothing to do with safety it just simply a corporate feud.

12 years ago I drove across the entire country at least 4 times touring w/ my band in Ford explorer and uhaul trailer...

thanks for the tips!

[P.E.R.]

Safest method-rent a double axle car carrier trailer from U-Haul if you have the correct tow vehicle. I have towed my Tii many times with this configuration behind by suburban. Worth the $ 70/day. Foolish to skimp on the trailor.

[jgerock]

Safest method-rent a double axle car carrier trailer from U-Haul if you have the correct tow vehicle. Foolish to skimp on the trailor.

I agree. The on-line U-Haul reservations make you enter the tow vehicle. My dad's F150 is the base 2WD model with V6 and 5-speed. It barely qualified as a tow vehicle according to U-Haul (with a compact car). If I do another trailer trip, I will certainly use a full 2-axle trailer - the dolly was kind of scary driving thru the construction zones on I-95 and also when empty, bouncing all over the road.

Then again, I may just pay some good friend(s) to go along with me for a road trip using their rig.

[BarryA]

you have an open time frame to pick it up) you might consider watching Craigslist for a single axle tow dolly (I've seen several for $300-$400 in central CA), buy it, use it and resell it - if it's your dolly, you eliminate all the hassles of dealing with either U-Haul or a local rental yard, and you get to decide whether your tow vehicle is adequate.

Several years ago, I needed to pick up a rolling shell from 2002 Haus in SLO, but NO one would rent me either a trailer or tow dolly, because my 65 El Camino was on all the insurance company provided "approved tow vehicle" lists as either a "compact pickup" or as a Chevelle "compact passenger car" (3700 lbs, 350 V8, class II reciever hitch, etc - 'compact' my arse). I borrowed a tow dolly from a neighbor and brought it back to Sacramento with NO issues. If I had room to store one, I'd own a tow dolly just to have it when I need it.

[jgerock]

You mentioned buying a second-hand dolly. Good idea if you have the room to store it. I keep my VW towbar down at my parents house because I don't even have the room for it here. Then again, I don't have anything to connect it to! LOL.