Towing with U-Haul car hauler

Going tomorrow to pick up the e21 about 100 miles away. I've always borrowed trailers from buddies but this time I rented a UHaul car hauler to pull with the V6 4Runner. I've done plenty of towing (boats, car trailers, etc) but on borrowed trailers I've always been able to adjust the load position for tongue weight.

WIth the UHaul it looks like the wheel straps require that the car be pulled all the way forward on the trailer. Since this is a pretty short car, that seems like it's going to put well over my 500lb tongue weight limit on the 4Runner.

Should I bring my own straps and tie-down more centrally, or put the e21 on backwards, which should put the front wheels right over the rear axles (by my estimate) and give me a more reasonable tongue weight?

Take your own straps and put it where you want.

You are correct that the trailer is made to secure the car in the frontmost position. I don't think there is even any way to secure a car midway safely on that trailer. When we towed my MGB on one it looked almost silly, like you should put a second car or at least an ATV on the trailer to take up the extra room.

I would load the car however it is easiest and not worry about the tongue weight.

SEADave wrote: You are correct that the trailer is made to secure the car in the frontmost position. I don't think there is even any way to secure a car midway safely on that trailer. When we towed my MGB on one it looked almost silly, like you should put a second car or at least an ATV on the trailer to take up the extra room. I would load the car however it is easiest and not worry about the tongue weight.

yeah, my only concern is that the 4Runner has the "weight carrying hitch" (e.g. it's attached by 2 bolts to the rear crossmember) rather than the load-bearing hitch setup (which can take 750lbs+ tongue weight). Guess I'll take a tape measure and figure out where the front axle would sit exactly.

uhaul trailers are beasts too. Completely overbuilt for what most of us need them for.

Even some (but not all) of their tow dollies are monsters.

I was really impressed with the UHaul trailer the guys brought to pick up my Model A. But then, that was a shell with no motor, so weight was negligible. Hell, the trailer probably weighed more than the car.

They list the trailers at 2100lbs (which is just barely less than the car I'm picking up @2300lbs or so, hah...)

I would be a little concerned with it all the way forward. Like was suggested earlier....I'd take straps and load it where you feel it will work out best.

If the e21 is anything like an e30 coupe, its very close to 50/50 weight dist. Does not matter which way you drive it onto the trailer.

I used to work for U-Haul. I highly recommend just loading the car the way the trailer is designed to take it. If the wrong employee having a bad day sees you they can blacklist you from ever renting from U-Haul again for improper use of equipment; if anything actually happens to the trailer they will sue you into the ground for it too. U-Haul is a pretty evil corporation and they will screw you any way possible.

Also, E21s have near 50/50 weight dist, so put it on the trailer however is easiest. Loading it backwards will make no difference whatsoever. Is there any reason you didn't go for a dolly?

SlickDizzy wrote: I used to work for U-Haul. I highly recommend just loading the car the way the trailer is designed to take it. If the wrong employee having a bad day sees you they can blacklist you from ever renting from U-Haul again for improper use of equipment; if anything actually happens to the trailer they will sue you into the ground for it too. U-Haul is a pretty evil corporation and they will screw you any way possible. Also, E21s have near 50/50 weight dist, so put it on the trailer however is easiest. Loading it backwards will make no difference whatsoever. Is there any reason you didn't go for a dolly?

good to know. Also good point on the weight distro. It should be pretty close to 50-50.

I didn't get a dolly because I'm not sure of the condition of the rear wheel bearings on the car. Plus it's already using two dry rotted spares on the front and two really old "emergency" e30 wheels on the back. The car has been sitting for 7 years. Otherwise, I could have borrowed the dolly that we picked it up with (drove 10 miles to my buddy's house in WV), except he needs it to tow his rallycross car the next day.

Plus I just prefer towing a trailer to a dolly when doing highway tows. Usually I can just borrow one locally but my friends all seem to have sold theirs recently for some reason

I used their trailers twice. I thought the front wheels fell into slight indentations? I had no issues.

SlickDizzy wrote: I U-Haul is a pretty evil corporation and they will screw you any way possible.

I am waiting to see what happens once I town a boat behind one of their trucks

In reply to irish44j: You need to tow with the wheels all the way up to the stops. The liability associated with a wreck and not doing it properly would be disastrous if there was a failure (even if not directly related to your driving).

Not sure what the air dam height is on the e30, but on my e39 I had to put 3x 3/4" pieces of plywood under the front tires so it would clear the front tire stop on the uhaul car carrier (4-6 inches). Oh, and the fenders come off easily on the trailer so you can open your door when the car is all the way up.

On my e39 I had to load it on a hill so it would lessen the angle that the ramps made in order to not let anything drag on the ramps/trailer while loading. You can do this or get some 2x6 pieces to put under the bottom of the ramps.

These trailers are severely overbuilt, and do a great job (assuming the tires are in good shape).

eebasist wrote: These trailers are severely overbuilt, and do a great job (assuming the tires are in good shape).

I can only guess they assume you will be loading a 5000 pickup onto their trailers.

I once saw a Fiat 500 (original) that could barely keep it's tyres on the frame, It's super narrow track had the rubber just sitting on the inside edges of the trailer.

eebasist wrote: In reply to irish44j: You need to tow with the wheels all the way up to the stops. The liability associated with a wreck and not doing it properly would be disastrous if there was a failure (even if not directly related to your driving). Not sure what the air dam height is on the e30, but on my e39 I had to put 3x 3/4" pieces of plywood under the front tires so it would clear the front tire stop on the uhaul car carrier (4-6 inches). Oh, and the fenders come off easily on the trailer so you can open your door when the car is all the way up. On my e39 I had to load it on a hill so it would lessen the angle that the ramps made in order to not let anything drag on the ramps/trailer while loading. You can do this or get some 2x6 pieces to put under the bottom of the ramps. These trailers are severely overbuilt, and do a great job (assuming the tires are in good shape).

angle and air dam height isn't going to be a problem. This is a stock e21 320i that sits like a 4x4. I'm not concerned at all about the trailer or loading the car, my only concern is tongue weight since my 4Runner has a 500lb max (though of course the listed capability is always far less than the real one.)

mad_machine wrote:

eebasist wrote: These trailers are severely overbuilt, and do a great job (assuming the tires are in good shape).

I can only guess they assume you will be loading a 5000 pickup onto their trailers. I once saw a Fiat 500 (original) that could barely keep it's tyres on the frame, It's super narrow track had the rubber just sitting on the inside edges of the trailer.

I had that issue putting my GT6 onto a buddy's open-deck car hauler. We had to strap it down with extra straps side-to-side since the wheels just barely got onto the trailer tracks and if the car jumped a few inches to one side it would have "fallen in"

Did you already reserve the trailer? I'm a bit suprised that they would let you tow the BMW with the 4runner. In my experience, the tow vehicle/ towed vehicle matchup that they will allow is very conservative, and if their computer says no, they say no. My brother tried to rent a trailer to a full size regular cab late '80's Chevy truck with his '03 Quad Cab Dodge Ram Hemi. They said no, but said yes to my '04 Quad Cab Nissan Titan. For that load, either truck was well within it's factory rating. Do check the tires. On almost all of the many Uhaul trailers I've rented, there was at least one tire that was real low. I also say you should load it as the trailer was designed. Just make sure you have the proper height tow bar. If the trailer sits too far nose down, that adds a lot to the tongue weight.

I once used one of these to tow a Jetta III a similar distance behind a straight 6 WJ 2WD. I booked a dolly online, and wasn't offered the hauler, but the store didn't have a dolly available. I loaded the Jetta front first, and don't remember having any problems. My route was pretty flat, but mostly driven at freeway speeds.

Actually, the only problem was that the guy who was unhooking the truck cranked the front on the trailer so far up before releasing the ball that he started to pick up my Jeep. I don't normally tell people how to do their job, but he seemed to be on his way to picking up my truck and dropping it.

I have the same truck as you now, and I think the 4Runner is far more stout than the WJ. I would just do it.

mad_machine wrote:

eebasist wrote: These trailers are severely overbuilt, and do a great job (assuming the tires are in good shape).

I can only guess they assume you will be loading a 5000 pickup onto their trailers. I once saw a Fiat 500 (original) that could barely keep it's tyres on the frame, It's super narrow track had the rubber just sitting on the inside edges of the trailer.

None (and I called a E36 M3load) of the U-Haul sites would rent their car trailer to me not because of my truck's capacity (Silverado 1500) but because the MG Midget wasn't listed to fit on the trailer properly (track width too narrow). If the computer says no it means no, dammit.

Damn trailer Nazis.

fasted58 wrote: Damn trailer Nazis.

At least you weren't trying to use a Ford Explorer, (Sport Trac or otherwise) to tow. Or worse, that you weren't in line to do so behind someone in a Mercury Mountaineer, and in front of someone in a Mazda Navajo.

In reply to fasted58:

While I absolutely agree that U-Haul is an evil corporation, these regulations were born out of people renting the wrong trailer or loading their cars improperly and then suing U-Haul when something went wrong. I don't know if you've measured a U-Haul auto transport, but I don't doubt that a Midget would be too narrow to get on...there is a big gap between the wheel rails.

As a former employee I can also testify that if you knowingly rent equipment to someone with false towing data you can be fired on the spot. In a sense, that computer is your boss and employees are audited yearly on their transaction data. That's how I got fired...because I approved a refund to a guy whose truck started pissing brake fluid three blocks away from our store. Turns out that U-Haul considers refunding that $19.95 rental fee a fireable offense, even if it made the difference between losing a customer forever or keeping that customer. When I applied for unemployment they claimed I stole the money myself.

The loophole is that their auto database is pretty incomplete and fudging models or years can generally get you the trailer you need...but if anything goes wrong and they find out you're totally liable.

SlickDizzy wrote: In reply to fasted58: While I absolutely agree that U-Haul is an evil corporation, these regulations were born out of people renting the wrong trailer or loading their cars improperly and then suing U-Haul when something went wrong. I don't know if you've measured a U-Haul auto transport, but I don't doubt that a Midget would be too narrow to get on...there is a big gap between the wheel rails. The loophole is that their auto database is pretty incomplete and fudging models or years can generally get you the trailer you need...but if anything goes wrong and they find out you're totally liable.

There was one employee (car guy) at the local U-Haul store that suggested plugging in another vehicle but he became antsy when the other employees overheard parts of the discussion. No doubt I coulda made it work but it wasn't worth the hassle or getting somebody in trouble.

Times like these I regret selling my old car trailer but there will be another... maybe aluminum this time.

All of my g bodies have been brought home on u haul trailers. Got to say they pull nice and are overbuilt but in a good way.