Renting car trailer [Archive]

nkopper

10-14-2005, 10:21 AM

If everything works out Monday, we will be moving to St. Louis in the next few weeks and I will need to rent a trailer to transport my Camaro since my dad sold his last year. I did a search, but didn't come across any answers. Can anyone confirm that a '69 Camaro will fit on a UHaul, Penske, or other brand of rented car trailer? Both local rental places said that a '69 Camaro is on the excluded list for their trailers. If I cannot find a suitable trailer, I guess I'll look into transport companies, but I'd rather pull it myself if possible.

Nathan

Steve1968LS2

10-14-2005, 10:45 AM

Wow.. a '69 is not THAT big.. I wonder why it would be excluded???

I think I moved mine once on a Uhaul full trailer..

Happyfunballs

10-14-2005, 10:48 AM

Where abouts in STL?

toxicz28

10-14-2005, 11:41 AM

A '69 Camaro will fit on a uhaul trailer. I towed mine home from NC to NY on one.

Ackattack

10-14-2005, 12:05 PM

I moved my 01 Formula on a Uhaul trailer. I don't see a problem with a 69 camaro....i'm sure it's lighter and has more ground clearance.

6'9"Witha69

10-14-2005, 12:13 PM

I have moved mine on both the full Uhaul and 2 wheel Uhaul Trailers. The only crap they gave me was for pulling it with my 62. Said it wasn't powerful enough and didn't weigh enough to pull a car. Morons . . . If they only knew what I know.

nkopper

10-14-2005, 12:17 PM

Actually, all Camaros are on the excluded list. The only thing I can think of is that most are too low and might scrape?? They won't rent the trailer to me if I tell them a Camaro is going on it. I might have to tell them I'm pulling something else.

Happyfunballs,

My job would be in Maryland Heights. I'm flying down Monday to finalize the deal, then we'll start looking for a house. Don't know where to live yet, but I imagine it will be on the west side somewhere.

Nathan

Ummgawa

10-14-2005, 12:41 PM

I used a Uhaul to transport a 69 Camaro from Oklahoma to Georgia, no problems or exclusions...It was last summer.

ssdeuce

10-14-2005, 01:18 PM

I used to Uhal to pull my 69 Nova home.

southernfriedcj

10-14-2005, 01:53 PM

Add me to the list. I moved a Camaro on a U-Haul trailer.

Jim

kman67rsss

10-14-2005, 02:06 PM

tell them its something else, like a ford ranger.

myclone

10-14-2005, 03:32 PM

I used to rent a uhaul trailers before I bought my own trailer so FYI be sure to purchase their "insurance". Hopefully you wont need it but when I inquired about how much the trailer cost to replace just out of curiosity their response was "$5k". Since the insurance has a max of $10k should you wad everything up in an accident at least you wont have to pay an inflated replacement cost for their POS trailer and will get a few dollars to put towards fixing your vehicles.

FYI II,
Try to get a newer trailer from them if you can. Their old ones were 99% steel and weighed well over 2K lbs not to mention the POS surge brake actuating mechanism has a mind of its own as to if/when it wants to apply the trailer brakes. The newer ones are lighter and hopefully the surge mechanism wont be worn completely out so at least youll be able to stop the rig with minimal seat pinching excitement.

4MuscleMachines

10-14-2005, 04:11 PM

I have rented U-haul trailers so many times I have lost count. Last time I rented one I towed a 69 Camaro almost 1800 miles. The all the units are good but try to get the later ones since they are all alum. You can tell the difference since the older ones have orange ramps instead of alum ramps. They are very nicely balanced and I really do not feel their weight when I tow with my Armada. I stated I was towing a 69 Camaro and was told it was not problem. They have a database where they look up the vehicle you are using and the one you plan to tow. Here is a pic..

toxicz28

10-14-2005, 04:18 PM

FYI III, Reserve it on their web site. Camaros are on the list there.

awr68

10-14-2005, 05:11 PM

4MMM, that looks like a much shorter and lighter trailer than the one I got from Uhaul when I brought my 68 camaro home. The one I rented was one of the older units and I swear you could have safely put a tractor on it! It worked but damn it was heavy duty...good thing I had our 1 Ton van to pull it.....

BRIAN

10-14-2005, 05:21 PM

If you need a shipper try Tim Stears. Nice people to deal with and beyond reasonable. With todays gas prices a wagon from CA to NY cost $1150. 518 842 9770. Tell them Brian from NY with the Woody sent you.

There is actually a number for U Haul that lets you search their data base to se who has what trailer. Supposedly the car trailers just keep getting bounced from one location to another and aren't owned by the actual dealer? That was what I was told.

ssdeuce

10-14-2005, 07:35 PM

The trailer pulled nice too

Neil B

10-15-2005, 02:16 PM

I did this a few months ago. The UHaul transporter worked great, but I did have to get a little creative because my '69 sits pretty low. I got the galvanized trailer, which is wider than the orange painted trailers. To get the car on, I extended the ramps a few feet using the ramps for my 4-post lift. I had to place wood blocks at various points on the trailer to get the subframe to clear the raised lip on the inside edge of the trailer deck (the lip between the deck and the open section in the middle). The front spoiler had to be removed to clear the front of the trailer. There was plenty of header clearance and it towed like a dream. After you do it the first time, it's pretty easy. Just be aware that if your car has been lowered, the subframe will likely not clear the trailer so have someone watching.

cad

10-15-2005, 02:50 PM

I towed my uncle's 67 GTO from Omaha to Colorado Springs on a UHaul. The tongue is short and that car was heavy, so it was a little scary towing above 70mph. My H&H hauls a lot nicer at higher speeds.
I would still recommend it though, if you need to rent....make sure to get those wheel straps tight!
AND, throw on an extra strap or 2 of your own just in case...

Here's my 2 cents....try buying a trailer instead...renting will probably be at least $200. You could find a decent used one for $800-1000. AND, you could tell the wifey that you can also use it to haul some of the furniture, too.

Do get the insurance...if you have State Farm, I can tell you that the liability insurance on the tow vehicle covers the trailer if it should have an accident. That will only pay for damage that the trailer causes. It won't pay for the trailer.
"Comp" insurance on my trailer is $34 per year for replacement of the trailer.

cham

10-15-2005, 04:50 PM

You kind of have to go U-Haul. I am a rental mgr for Penske and they wont let us rent the trailer by itself. Too many idiots putting land yachts on the trailer and hooking it up to a Geo Metro. Kept killing people. If you rent a truck your all good tho, I towed 2 states with my 69 camaro on one.

Pzary3233

10-15-2005, 05:26 PM

ssdeuce

10-15-2005, 05:58 PM

TPI Monte SS

10-15-2005, 07:00 PM

My only gripe with U-Haul was the company itself. I called them one week before I was scheduled to pick up my '88 SS from the owner on Long Island and made a reservation to pick up a full trailer here in NJ. Well, the day before we were supposed to get the car, they called and said there were no full trailers available, but they could give me a dolly. Hell no! We needed to tow the car across the LIE, over the Throgs Neck Bridge, and then over the George Washington Bridge into NJ. For all the locals, they know these roads are absolute hell and filled with maniacal drivers. There was NO WAY I was gonna put the car on a dolly and have some jackass plow into it.

So, they told me I should try to find something out on LI - wait a minute, if I made a reservation, why do I have to call?? Well, I did the search on my own and found a U-Haul dealer 1 mile from where the car was. I called them up, and they confirmed they actually had a full car trailer on the lot. So, we had to swing by there first and grab it, then get the car. Of course, since it was a one-way tow, I had to pay double! Ah well, hopefully that's the only time my car has to be on a trailer.

69rs

10-15-2005, 07:35 PM

What are you using for a tow vehicle? Or what do you recomend? I remember looking at UHaul for towing my firebird to memphis last year and with my K1500 Z71 GMC they said I could rent a trailer. I was kind of surprised as I would not be very comfortable with towing my car with my 1500 series truck even though it has a "towing package"...

I've towed cars, boats, motorcycle and various other pieces of equipment with a 1500 4wd pickup and Suburban. I've pulled in mountains and on long flat highways and never had any trouble. What have you experienced that makes you uncomfortable? I guess bigger is always better for a tow vehicle, but I don't think a fullsize 1500 is too small. :dunno:

myclone

10-15-2005, 09:15 PM

What are you using for a tow vehicle? Or what do you recomend? I remember looking at UHaul for towing my firebird to memphis last year and with my K1500 Z71 GMC they said I could rent a trailer. I was kind of surprised as I would not be very comfortable with towing my car with my 1500 series truck even though it has a "towing package"...

The above is an adequate tow rig so you shouldnt have any issues. Dont tow in OD if youre in a mountainous area though (your trans will thank you).

RedAddiction

10-15-2005, 09:35 PM

I have used a u haul trailer to tow a lifted extended cab silverado a couple hundred miles. If it can handle that then it can handle a camaro.

CarlC

10-16-2005, 08:33 AM

If you're using the orange painted version, and the car is not totally lowered into the weeds, it should work fine.

If you have headers there may be a clearance problem on the LH side. The license plate mounting plate may interfere since it mounts just inboard of the LH ramp. The trailer design is good except for this minor flaw.

I jacked the tongue of the trailer up a bit and the tire on the truck and trailer while loading in order to help undercar clearance. It worked fine.

Drive the trailer for 20-30 minutes and re-tighten the front straps.

I towed with a 2005 1500-series 4-door 5.3L Chevrolet truck and it worked very well. 103* air temperature going over the Grapevine at 60 mph. without a gripe, with good stability, works for me.

Ralph LoGrasso

10-16-2005, 01:52 PM

What are you using for a tow vehicle? Or what do you recomend? I remember looking at UHaul for towing my firebird to memphis last year and with my K1500 Z71 GMC they said I could rent a trailer. I was kind of surprised as I would not be very comfortable with towing my car with my 1500 series truck even though it has a "towing package"...

My Tahoe feels much better when towing than my Dad's '04 F150. You can really feel the trailer when towing with his truck, even though it's got something like 100 more hp and tq over my Tahoe, and is rated to tow an extra 1k lbs or so. I wouldn't be worried about towing with your 1500 at all.

moparguy

10-16-2005, 02:20 PM

They let me tow my 70 Charger RT on one! I have my own trailer now though! :)

cad

10-16-2005, 06:40 PM

I towed with a 2001 Z71 K1500 ext cab.

Bill Howell

10-16-2005, 06:54 PM

Two things
1) Do not tow with a 1/2 ton without trailer brakes! Really should have them anytime.
2) Be sure to balance car on trailer. I always measure from the bottom of the bumper to the ground before loading, then once loaded, balance car back and forth until the bumper is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches lower. Plenty of tounge weight then.

cad

10-16-2005, 07:03 PM

The UHaul I used had very good surge brakes.
Where is it stated that any type of car is excluded?
That doesnt make sense...what do they care so long as weight is correct?
Here is what I found on uhaul.com:

Capacity

Max load: 4,000 lbs.
Gross vehicle weight: 6,000 lbs. max
Empty weight: 2,000 lbs.

Features

Easy-access loading ramp
Tilt-out fender allows vehicle door access
Ratchet-operated tire straps
Vehicle security chains
Automatic hydraulic surge brake

Advisements

Your towing vehicle:

Must be equipped with a hard top if it is an SUV. U-Haul does not allow any type of sport-utility vehicle not equipped with a hard top to tow U-Haul equipment.
Must weigh at least 3,500 lbs. (curb weight), and must equal or exceed 80% of the combined weight of the trailer (2,000 lbs.) and the vehicle being towed (up to 4,000 lbs.).
Must have Class 3 tow hitch (5,000 lbs. minimum weight-carrying rating)
Must have 1-7/8", 2" or 2-1/8" hitch ball (5,000 lbs. minimum)
Must not exceed maximum allowable hitch ball height 25"
Must have external mirrors on both sides
Must have fully operational lighting
Auto transport lighting must be operational at all times, day and night, loaded or unloaded
Maximum recommended speed is 45 MPH
The vehicle being towed:

Must not weigh in excess of 4,000 lbs.
Must have a maximum outside-to-outside tire width of 79.25"
Note: outside tire width over 75" must use late-model U-Haul Auto Transport (identifiable by silver galvanized color).
Must have a maximum wheelbase (distance from front axle to rear axle, usually posted on the driver's side door jamb) of 133 inches.
Low-hanging equipment on the vehicle being towed such as spoilers, air dams, ground effects, etc., may be damaged by contact with the Auto Transport during loading and unloading. Make sure there is enough clearance for these items.