Is UHaul right?

UHaul says that I cannot tow a wagon with their equipment because it won't fit on the trailer. Is this right?

Trailer says no wider than 75" and max wheelbase is 133"

I thought the wagon fit inside these numbers...



I need to get Pat's wagon to JAX and am looking at options...


EDIT: here is the site... http://www.uhaul.com/Reservations/EquipmentDetail.aspx?model=AT

did you try a tow dolly?
how far (time wise) is ray from you?

Not a fan of 2 wheel dollies and RWD cars. that and the rear overhang is HUGE on these things. Could leave the fronts on the ground....

Did you try telling them that it's not a caprice wagon?

I hauled that 93 carcass home on the hooptiest, most home brew'd car dolly ever made - with no problems whatsoever.

Uhaul is closed 'round these parts on the weekends. Only checked online.

rob, budget will rent it to you, but you have to rent their truck. the whole package will run you $300+

how far are you from ray?

He's about two hours.

I helped a buddy put a 69 Cadillac De Ville convertible onto a U-haul some time ago. It fit, but the doors would not open after you got it on. Hauled it with a U-haul truck from PA to HOTlanta with no issues.

80" wide and 103" wheel base. No problemo!!!

Our wagons are 79.9" wide and 115.9" wheelbase according to WIKI.

so it will fit, you may just be doing some dukes of hazard action getting out.

I hauled the one I mentioned for 3 hours, and your roads are significantly better than ours. Just make sure you pull the driveshaft.

Krzdimond wrote:

UHaul says that I cannot tow a wagon with their equipment because it won't fit on the trailer. Is this right?

Trailer says no wider than 75" and max wheelbase is 133"

I thought the wagon fit inside these numbers...



I need to get Pat's wagon to JAX and am looking at options...


EDIT: here is the site... http://www.uhaul.com/Reservations/EquipmentDetail.aspx?model=AT

The probelm more likely is that the combined weight of the trailer and Pat's car exceeds the capacity of your tow vehicle. If your pulling with the wagon. that's 5,000 lbs.

Used a UHaul dolly to pull the Caddy back from Freds. Just drop the driveshaft first. Overhang on the Fleetwood is longer than the wagon and had no issues. Would have preferred to have dolly brakes but Savanah to Jax is mostly flat so you should be alright. Just don't tell UHaul what your pulling. Say it's a Chevy Cavalier.

Be careful loading it as the UHaul dollies are JUST wide enough. Sort of had to sqeeze the Caddy's front wheels between the fenders.

Bill

You are towing a Geo Metro. wink, wink.

It is going to be TIGHT. wheels might rub on the fenders.

Crunching some numbers and it looks to be more cost effective to drive it down and follow with the Buick. (18mpg each)

OR, take the G8 down (27mpg) and bring Pat and his new boss up here and they can drive the Caprice south

i should be coming Georgia round about noon on the 24th...maybe earlier if i can. fyi!
usually comming down I 95 but if i can be of service...let me know...

stop by anyway... I have free coffee and a water hose....

Krzdimond wrote:

stop by anyway... I have free coffee and a water hose....

Ian needs to be hosed down prior to entering the state of florida......

Like Bewber mentioned, it's important to pull the drive shaft. My limited understanding is that otherwise the output side of the tranny will be turning but without lubrication because the pump is on the input side.

Joel (sherlock 9c1) and others here could likely explain it better and more completely than I.

I hauled a 94 Fleetwood on a uhaul trailer with no problems.





And a 94 9C1 on the same day...





Uhaul thought I was towing a 97 Cavalier.

well, that settles that.
back in 01 i rented an open utility trailer from them. they refused to rent it to me (uhaul wont rent trailers to soft top jeeps) so i had to call a buddy to come bring the trailer to my house with his old f150. i forgot about doing it on the sly and i returned the trailer with the jeep. when the manager started flipping out, i told him that the pickup had broken down and i was simply returning the trailer with the jeep. he cooled down. i'd say go with that. tell them your pulling a chevy celebrity wagon.

I wasn't going to mention the full sized wagon, was just worried it wouldn't physically fit. I see that it does.

No matter, looks like I'm driving down due to cost. 150 miles @ 18MPG (that's what the Buick gets) is 8.33 gallons. Even at 3.75 a gallon, that's $32 in fuel. Trailer rental is $104.

Trailer rental is $55 a day if you drop it off where you picked it up. Just means you're hauling it one way empty is all.

John P., BigWagonGuy trailered a Caprice wagon from Toronto to Rochester, NY. on a U-Haul (I think). The trailer had fold down fenders, so you could open and close the doors of the car easily.

I was told by U-Haul in '08 that a B wagon is too big for a car trailer or dolly though too.
Good Luck Rob.

Mike

Can't they hitch hike to your place??

nick

phantom 309 wrote:

Can't they hitch hike to your place??

nick

Have you seen the movie "deliverance"? Hitchiking in these here parts ain't smart.

I ain't squeeling like no pig

buickestate wrote:

I ain't squeeling like no pig

you won't need to worry,. you got a ugly mouf boy,.

Nick

gee thanks I guess...

Oh, they will fit


I told them I had a 95 Cavalier (sounds close to Caprice ). If it does not have a drive train, do not tow it with the front on first! The weight dist. was off and the trailer swayed so bad Lynol almost lost control several times.

Also, be careful with dollies. Make sure that you have EVERYTHING you need to keep the car secure (including the chains). My brother was towing his old civic back from Arizona to MD using a dolly from Budget. They did not provide him with the chains, only the cloth straps. He lost the car somewhere in Colorado. Didn't realize it for a hundred some odd miles. The car was in a ditch totaled.

LMFAO He seriously didn't feel the car leave the trailor? That must have been funny to witness and then see the drive keep on a going.

I was kinda thinking the same thing.


Sucks though. Big time.

Imagine how much it would suck if you were behind him.
This is why I never follow trailers or trucks loosely loaded with stuff, unless I have to.
If I have to, I lay well back. Too much chance flying or rolling objects.

I've had my Demco Car-Caddy about 8 years now. Love the thing....sadly I use it often. Since I had the weird fetish for GM X-cars for years, a tow dolley was a requirement. Ha!

I've towed all over Texas with it, picked up a car in Tulsa Oklahoma a few years back. My longest tow was in 2009 when I pulled it up to New Jersey and lugged my purple Iroc-Z back. That's 3400 miles, round-trip. Towed the 79 Vette on it a few times, and a '77 Caprice. It's just a useful tool!

With no suspension, you do feel and hear it boucing around back there when empty, but loaded up it pulls very smooth. Only pain is as mentioned, on a rear-drive car you have to yank the driveshaft, and loaded it's hard to back a car up.

I always use both the chains and the straps. Never once felt a car was going to come off.

THe only vehicle I've not been able to fit on the dolly was my wife's 1996 Suburban. Her fuel pump went out at her office, and I tried to put it on the dolly behind the Custom Cruiser. The Burb was too wide. Most likely a good thing because I think towing it might have hurt my 307-powered Cruiser...










- Mike

If i had to run empty for more than 500 miles, i,d figure a way to strap it to the roof rack,.
i did 900miles round trip when i went to get the palamino, but i had the conversion van, and the roof was a bit too high.

Nick

phantom 309 wrote:

If i had to run empty for more than 500 miles, i,d figure a way to strap it to the roof rack,.
i did 900miles round trip when i went to get the palamino, but i had the conversion van, and the roof was a bit too high.

Nick

My dolly is WAY too heavy to put on a roof.

81X11 wrote:

phantom 309 wrote:

If i had to run empty for more than 500 miles, i,d figure a way to strap it to the roof rack,.
i did 900miles round trip when i went to get the palamino, but i had the conversion van, and the roof was a bit too high.

Nick

My dolly is WAY too heavy to put on a roof.

really?? two guys can't lift it?

nick

phantom 309 wrote:

81X11 wrote:

phantom 309 wrote:

If i had to run empty for more than 500 miles, i,d figure a way to strap it to the roof rack,.
i did 900miles round trip when i went to get the palamino, but i had the conversion van, and the roof was a bit too high.

Nick

My dolly is WAY too heavy to put on a roof.

really?? two guys can't lift it?

nick

I believe it's around 650-700lbs. Demco Kar Kaddy 3. Does not have the surge brake option, but does have the tilting feature, and auto steer. It's STOUT. Pretty sure it'd crush a roof.

-Mike

1993 Roady-man wrote:

LMFAO He seriously didn't feel the car leave the trailor? That must have been funny to witness and then see the drive keep on a going.

He was driving a big Budget truck on an icy road. He could feel the truck's rear wheels loose traction. He said he thought that's what he felt when the car came off. Hard to be sure. His room mate who he was moving with had a lot of belongings in the car, including his wallet. Budget was at fault since they failed to provide the proper equipment (chains) and the equipment that they did provide was faulty (the straps that failed). They were lucky nobody was hurt. Regardless of how "funny" it may have been to watch, I would not want to be driving behind a car on a dolly when it decides to come off. The car was retreived by police and towed ~150 miles to Denver where my brother was staying after noticing that the car was no longer there. OH! And this all happened at night, so I really wouldn't have wanted to be behind them. Took the cops a while to find the car in the ditch too.


Then again, it was only a civic

Mike,was the dolly exspensive?Sure looks like its paid for itself many times over!

Flasheroo wrote:

Mike,was the dolly exspensive?Sure looks like its paid for itself many times over!

No, bought it used.

Tow dolly can be found around $1k new. I'm sure you could find it for 300-500 used if you spend some time looking, if not less if you go for one that doesn't look great.