Towing Advice Needed

[Eagle7]

My son, who has no towing experience, is planning a move from Iowa to Ohio. He plans to rent a moving truck (U-Haul, Penske, etc), and is wondering how to get his std transmission Camry moved. As I see it, his options are: tow bar, tow dolly, or trailer. All would be using the rental truck to tow. What advice do y'all have for him?

Thanks,
Marty

[zchris]

Having done this from Texas to Massachusetts, I would say a trailer is best. If you have to back up with a tow dolly or tow bar, you best be one talented driver. I used a tow dolly and getting gas for the truck can be tricky. Or a hotel stay with a parking lot that is tight for space. A trailer is easy to back up.
Chris

[Steven McWilliams Jr]

id go with an open trailer. The first time I towed, I was bringing my racecar to the track on a friends open trailer, it is easier to see the back of the trailer b/c you can use your rear view mirror, thus making it easier to back up and merge.

Where in Ohio is he moving? I'm going out Lima, Ohio August 20th for school

[raffaelli]

I once moved from NY to Palm Beach, then later, moved back. Both ways I used a 17 foot Uhaul with a two axle trailer. No issues.

[rhygin]

yeah... prolly a trailer. I did dolly deal when I bout my now ITA car and it was a bit weird. UnHaul tailers are REALLY heavy...

Best advice that I got, and I still do not like trailering, was to go slow , stop VERY early, and wide turns!
BB

[Matt93SE]

1. don't get a normally aspirated Uhaul. The 500 miles from Tulsa, OK to Houston, TX I drove one was the worst 500 miles of my life. 24' box truck with a 16' trailer and we couldn't go over 50 the entire way. not to mention it got 3-4mpg. ugh. the heater was also stuck on broil and it was over 100deg that day. Needless to say, we had several things to say with Uhaul when we got to Houston.

I'd recommend spending a couple more bucks and going with something else if they try to give you a beater uhaul. we were getting passed up and down hills all day long by Penskes and Ryders with AC and cruise control.

that said, get a trailer, not a tow dolly. much easier for a rookie to pull because of the backing issue. another option is the "hire a friend" approach. not sure if there's an airport near either end, but maybe he can throw a few bucks at a friend to drive the camry there and serve as roadside assistance if the truck has a problem.. then fly him home.

for the cost of renting a trailer 1-way, it may only be $50-100 more to do that and I'd feel much safer in every aspect if that were me. (then again when I was moving $100 might as well have been $100,000 cause I didn't have it!)


advice for pulling the trailer...
1. check tires.
2. check tie downs.
3. check lights.
4. check them all again before leaving.
5. after 5 miles, pull over and check it all one more time, incluing trailer ball/linkage for loosening.
6. check again after 50 miles and every time you stop thereafter.

the 5-10 minutes you spend with that will greatly outweigh the nightmares of losing/wrecking a trailer or having 3 flats in less than 50 miles like I did last month.

Last thing is to plan the trip timing (and throw in time for delays!) so that he's not driving in/around Chicago anywhere near peak traffic. I hit Houston traffic at 5pm on a Friday in that uhaul and wish I'd have just pulled over for dinner and waited it out.

[joeg]

Having towed in all kinds of weather and terrain conditions with each of your options, assuming $$ is a consideration, he would be fine with the Dolly.

[EV]

Get a bigger truck, and put the car inside.

Load the stuff in the front half, fill the car with stuff, then call a tilt bed wrecker, put car on tilt bed, raise tilt bed, and back up to moving truck.

[mgyip]

1. don't get a normally aspirated Uhaul.

As a rule, don't rent anything from U-Haul, especially not one of their trucks. Their fleet is one of the oldest and most poorly maintained on the road. Their trailers aren't much better BUT they're built like a small Sherman tank so, thankfully, they don't require much maintenance.

My personal preference is Ryder but they don't rent trailers. Budget's fleet is better maintained and their trailers, while just as heavy as U-Haul, seem to be better as a whole. If possible, get a turbo-diesel truck/van - most rental fleet gassers are woefully underpowered to a fault.

As already noted, a trailer is much easier to manouever than a tow dolly - in any case, it still requires a second set of eyes, especially for a first-timer. It's not rocket science, just very different than driving a car.

I like Bill's approach - rent a nice 24' straight-truck, stuff the Camry inside and just drive the truck. I drove a 24' Ryder from Atlanta to DC last year - I was impressed with the cleanliness of their vehicles - if only the seat weren't designed for you freaks of nature who are over 5'7" tall...:D

[keilysmith]

My trailer has a flat 4-pin connector, so I can not comment on that card. Man, I used to tow trailers with my F-250 was taken round with a 7-pin (I think), but I had the trailer brakes. Is this your little Scamp trailer brakes electric trailer? If yes, a simple adapter does not work. You want to install a brake controller in your driver and the wire to a round connector.