Towing Advice needed

I have to tow my turbo RX-7 to a storage unit. I am moving soon and my landlord's property maintainer needs the driveway space to store the beams needed to repair our current home's crumbling porch. I already have a U-Haul pickup truck and auto transport trailer rented for Thursday. I'm not used to driving pickups and I've never towed before. What sort of advice can you all give me, specifically with hills? I'm planning a route that avoids hills with stoplights on them, so that I'm not stopping halfway up a hill, but I can't avoid all of them. My town is rather hilly.

I know this is going to sound silly, but are you sure the truck has a hitch? I thought UHaul pickups usually did not.

Hills won't be a problem. They are only tough with a manual tranny, and I'm sure you are not renting a truck with a manual. Start slow, stop gently.

Do you have AAA? They'll tow it for free. If not, I'll bet you could hire a tow truck cheaper than renting a pickup and trailer.

Assuming you don't have a pull-through storage unit, remember to turn the towing vehicle's wheel LEFT if you want the far end of the trailer to go RIGHT when you're backing in. Towing novices are always huge fun for spectators; I know I certainly was.

yeah, now that you mention it, avoid backing up if at all possible! You could end up paying for whatever you do wrong, so why take a chance if you dont have to.

But i agree, low speed towing with a right-sized truck and automatic transmission isnt dramatic at all. Be aware of the added length when changing lanes, curbs when taking turns, and the extra weight when stopping.

AAA tows a short distance for free but in a big city it doesnt get you very far and it was $11/mile over the free limit last i checked. If you live in a tiny town it might not be a bad idea.

$11 a mile? they only get $4 in NY.

Like others said, you'll be using an automatic, so leaving a stop is no big deal. Also, avoid backing. In particular, avoid backing in any time-sensitive location. I know you're going to have to back into your driveway, unless it's a circle drive or you have conditions that let you turn it around on your lawn. Accept that you are going to block the street while backing, and know that that is okay.

When driving, square the turns more. That is, especially for right turns (and lefts that are comparably sharp) start at the leftmost edge of the lane, wait later to turn the wheels, and then turn them further than you normally would, to better avoid tapping the inside wheel of the trailer on the curb.

I found adjusting my mirrors so I could more easily see the tires on the trailer helped.

If you have an overdrive (O/D) button, turn it off, at least when the trailer is loaded. I usually leave it on when towing an unladen dolly, but the double-axle car transporter from U-Haul is heavy, so I left O/D off all of the time.

You're a GRM reader. They rent these trucks to anyone. It's not hard, you'll be fine, and it'll be really fun. I've rented or borrowed trailers perhaps a dozen times over the last five years. It's great fun.

It is just an RX-7. Rather than back the trailer, push the car as needed. I would not back the trailer into the driveway but rather push the RX-7 into the street to the waiting trailer.

Get a "come-a-long" of at least 2 ton capability.

You can use this to pull the non-running RX-7 up the trailer ramps.
Agreed, price out how much it will cost to have it towed, professionally.

A trick I learned when backing a trailer. Put your hand/s on the bottom of the steering wheel. Turn wheel in direction you want the trailer to go.

Forget about everyone else. If you try to hurry because people are waiting or you are blocking something, you'll make your situation worse. Just ignore the honking and take your time. Make 100 small adjustments until you get it right if you must.

Other than that, don't make assumptions. I have been stuck trying to go around a McDonalds for example because I assumed the parking lot was a complete circle. Try backing out around a bend in the drive-through lane! Towing this thing:

iceracer wrote: A trick I learned when backing a trailer. Put your hand/s on the bottom of the steering wheel. Turn wheel in direction you want the trailer to go.

Quoted for truth. Also, once you start backing up and the trailer starts turning, it will turn progressively sharper as you back up. You sort of have to add a littl opposite lock to maintain a steady arc.

go slow, think ahead and you'll be fine. Since you're renting the truck, turning off O/D is optional as long as you paid for the insurance!

Try AAA, but make sure its on the street, isn't race-y looking, and you have a good story.

I used to use them to move my stuff, but they actually started enforcing their policies which state it must be a registered, insured, otherwise functional street vehicle that has had a roadside breakdown.

They actually have a blacklist on my 66 Bonneville. I have to have it inspected by a AAA representative before I can get it towed again on my policy. Not kidding.

Most tow services don't care. They just want the hook pay and they won't say anything. But you get a driver who is in a foul mood (most of them) and they have to push it out of your driveway or crawl into a Sparco seat and figure out where the start button is, its pretty much a done deal. If they can just hook and drive, you're usually fine.

AAA basic only gets you towed about 5 miles, with every mile beyond that being something like $3-4 a mile. Found this out the other day as I wanted to get my Miata towed 41 miles to start swapping engines (from friends shop where we diagnosed to mine)

Upped the service and now have 200 mile tow range. Have to wait for next Saturday for the upped service to hit to get the Miata moved though.

RexSeven wrote: What sort of advice can you all give me, specifically with hills? .

Someday you may find yourself in a situation where you absolutely have to drive something big with a trailer behind it. Your buddy crashed his race car and you have to drive his g/f and equipment home or something.

This looks to me like an excellent opportunity to learn something. Hills are easy! Find a nice big parking lot and back it up a few times. Sometimes, every once in a while, in the real world, you have to back up. It's best to embarass yourself in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

If you can back up a small car with a 10 ft. landscape trailer on it, then you can maneuver a tractor trailer with ease if you adjust the mirrors properly.

Go practice.

Dan

backing up those longer uhaul car carriers is quite easy... take your time... but honestly based on my experience i'd get a tow dolly and yank the drive shaft before using a full trailer again... it's so much easier to load a tow dolly than a trailer especially if the car is a non runner (typically 2 people can roll a car up on a tow dolly (don't push to hard or it will jump over it and thats not fun (ask me how I know haha)

as mentioned earlier... take turns wider than you would typically (driver further out into the corner before you crank your wheels)... pay attention to your length... if you need to be in a certain lane to turn down the road don't wait... get over as as soon as it's clear/safe... it's a lot easier to get over when you aren't under pressure to get over NOW... recall your stoppers are doing A LOT more work to stop... drive like you do (or should) in the rain/snow... slow down early...

two things i didnt see above. remember to pull the car on the dolly backwards if it is a rwd car without a manual tranny and the driveshaft is attached. if you have manual tranny or no driveshaft .... pull on frontwards.

forget about hills. if you want to make an easy route try to make it with no right hand turns onto 2 lane roads. and try to make no left turns at intersections of moderately busy roads without a stoplight.

as for backing. doing it with the dolly only is easy. doing it with the car on the dolly sometimes isnt. make sure the wheel pads on the dolly are in the locked position when you start driving. the wheel pads are on a swivel on uhual decks so they arent locked into being parrallel with the dolly wheels.

I love spring because it means I can get the camping trailer ready to go, and then I actually get to TOW something. I really like pulling the trailer around. Makes me feel justified in having a 5500 lb gas guzzling pig of a truck.
Also, I really take pride in my driving, and towing safely is just not something that any schmuck can do. We go camping in the middle of nowhere, and me and my buddy usually try to out-do each other with who can back their trailer into the most remote, rutted, down-by-the-creek-in-the-trees spot.

Tips? -As stated, you won't have any problem on hills if you have an automatic. -Try to "square off" your turns. IE: drive the truck out farther (especially on right handers) then turn sharper. This will help avoid bashing your trailer into the curb.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I tried calling AAA to say my RX-7 had broken down, but when I told them the destination address, the receptionist immediately recognized it as a storage unit (even though I never mentioned anything about a storage unit during the call) and told me that AAA was cracking down internally on non-emergency tows.

I'm going to ask a local tow company tomorrow if and how much to tow, otherwise I'm stuck towing it myself. I will see if U-Haul will accept my AAA for a discount. I'm not 100% happy with the arrangement either but the first set of porch beams is due to be delivered this weekend, so I'm short on time.

I use road service fairly frequently. I have BP Premier Plus which gives me 100 miles of towing a passenger vehicle (nothing with DRW or commercial plates). Every now and then you get a **** tow driver who cares about having plates on the car. Typically they don't care as long as you give them a good story ("I just bought the car and it broke down" I usually use). AAA has RV coverage which will tow an RV assuming it has a bathroom in it, even with DRW. My buddy has that coverage thankfully. We used it to bring the abomination back to the warehouse. For less than $200 a year road service is worth it to me.

In reply to internetautomart:

What's a DRW?

Dual Rear Wheels.

~Alex

Make sure the mirrors are the widest part of the complete package. They usually are if you have towing mirrors. Remember the rule - If the mirrors fit - the trailer will fit. If you don't have them... get some. Even the E36 M3ty Peb Boys strap-ons. Visibility is huge.

Balance the load. Depending on the truck's tolerance... more tongue weight will keep the trailer from wagging but too much will make the trucks front aim at the sky. Most light trucks in the 150/1500 range can take 700lbs or so... a 250/2500 can do 700-1200. Spend time here if you are going a long way.

Trailer brakes. Have them.

Once you hook up - go to a parking lot and practice backing up by putting the trailer in the parking spots evenly. It will make you panic less when you accidentally turn down a blind alley and have to back into traffic to unberkeley yourself.