"Car Carrier" for cross-continent transport?

tyr_shadowblade

tyr_shadowblade

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2006
Messages
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Hey Y'all,


In a few weeks I plan on relocating about 2000 miles West of here, and will be renting a truck for the move.

Problem is, I've got a good car I'd like to take with. Selling it and buying another is a non-option.

Was originally thinking I'd contact with an Auto Transport company, but have been hearing some horror stories . . . lots, actually. Did a bit of research, and discovered that the very best companies will take the job -- for over a thousand dollars -- but can't guarantee that they'll be able to pick it up the day of my move. They say "within 3-5 days." AND, after pickup, car will be delivered in "7-14 days . . . but we guarantee it'll get there within a month."

Well, as I'm spending all I can afford on this move, have no-one here I can rely on for assistance, and do not want to be paying to rent a car for 2-4 weeks or rely on taxis, I decided to get a "Car Carrier" trailer (NOT a dollie) to hook up behind the moving truck.

I have mixed feelings about this. I've driven trucks before, and that's no problem. Driving 2000 miles shouldn't be a problem either -- it's all highway in pretty much a straight shot. Thing is, I've never hauled a trailer before for any great distance (more than a few miles).

Car, trailer, and truck will be fully insured and the company has a good reputation for solid equipment and roadside assistance -- so that's something.

Question: if any forumites have trailered a car cross country behind a (low visibility) moving truck, have you got any advice for me?

Thanks.
 
Dude...G&G!!!! :rolleyes:
 
Ken C. said:
Dude...G&G!!!! :rolleyes:
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Sorry no. But, watched a comedian tell about driving one. He said he and his buddy couldn't see S!!! behind them so they'd just start sssssssssssssloooowly start driftin' into the other lane. Gave those that were paying attention a chance to get out of the way...the others? Well they figured that they were doing a sort of 'public service' thinnin' 'em out. What ever your approach good luck and have a safe trip.
 
Do you have a problem with me moving this to G&G? Please, do tell.
 
It shouldn't be that big of deal. just take care to park where you can do a straight shot out. Be careful, don't try to rush, and use plenty - o -turn signals.

You'll be fine, it will be a great adventure!
 
I can give you a crash course in towing a trailer,if you have questions PM me and I'll give you my email to answer questions.Hopefully,your getting a truck big enough to handle both loads,normally,unless your moving tools or machinery,your not going to be loaded to capacity,that's good.Try to stay within a couple mph of the traffic your running with,most rentals are governed so they will top out about 60mph.Try to keep at least 4 to 5 seconds behind the vehicles in front of you,that keeps your distances about right for stopping in a panic situation.Be aware of everything around you,use your mirrors,a lot,try to keep track of vehicles esspecialy small cars and motorcycles so you don't lose them in a blind spot to your right or left.For the most part,if the truck is big enough,after a few miles,you won't even know that you have a trailer behind you,but pay attention to it.Things like running off on the shoulder are 10 times worse with a trailer behind you,I've probably seen more accidents because of it than just about anything else.
 
Towing down the highway isn't bad if you can stay out of heavy traffic and construction zones. You'll have more issues off the highway maneuvering sidestreets and parking lots. The simple solution there is to stick with truck stops for refueling and try to find hotels in smaller towns or suburban areas instead of trying to get off in a big city if you want to stop overnight. Some areas were laid out for large trucks, others weren't, just pick your spots and avoid the trouble.

Prior to going anywhere adjust your mirrors, and figure out where your blind spots are by having someone walk from behind your vehicle and up along side of it. You will probably find that most cars disappear for a second as they come along side of you when you have the mirrors adjusted to see your trailer (they end up outside of your peripheral vision, and below the line of sight in the mirror)
Hopefully the truck with have a normal mirror and a convex mirror below it. I have this set up on my truck and have them adjusted so that one mirror pretty well picks up what the other can't, eliminating any blind spots except for directly behind me. Between that, and always turning to glance back along side the truck you will be safe changing lanes.

Your trailer should have some sort of braking system for a load this size. Probably electric which means there will be a controller inside the cab of your tow vehicle. Be sure to get familiar with it before leaving and adjust it so that you are comfortable stopping. Some are more sensitive than others, but all have to be adjusted for the weight of your trailer, and how well the brakes work on it. Since your weight will remain the same for the whole trip you won't have to mess with it after the initial set up.

Be careful in how you secure your car on the trailer. Hopefully someone will show you how. You want to have it secured so that the suspension is compressed so that the car can't bounce and rock on the trailer. This will keep the trailer stable and make it tow much better. Letting the suspension on the car and the trailer both move leads to erratic side to side rocking that can cause roll overs and loss of control.
 
+1 on what the other guys said. I moved from WA to CO, over some pretty good mountains, in a Budget truck (I think it was an 18 or 20-footer) towing a car on a carrier. After the first 100 miles or so, you won't even notice. Like Matt said, do think ahead whenever entering gas stations or hotel or fast food parking lots. Trailers are a bitch to back up unless you have some experience (I learned this the hard way, twice). And watch for bumps or uneven lanes on the highway. Once a trailer gets to fishtailing, it wants to take the whole truck with it, and it can be a scary thing. So go slow, watch your blind spots, and drive cautiously, and you'll be fine. Oh yeah, and bring some music, those rental stereos blow, hard. Thank god for Ipods...
 
Thanks for moving this to G&G.

Well, I'll be driving a 15' truck that will be mostly empty -- I could probably fit all my stuff in a cargo van, but they don't rent cargo vans and the 10' trucks don't come with a hitch. Truck will be very light -- too bad I couldn't just drive the car up a ramp into the back of it (that's a bad idea, right?). Trailer does have brakes and lights. Do not think there is a controller that I'd have access to, as rental equipment needs to be pretty much idiot-proofed.

Thanks for the advice about not pulling to the shoulder . . . I had not considered that.

Motel? I plan on sleeping in the cab at a truckstop for a few hours . . . maybe twice.

Rental company will hook trailer up to truck, but you've got to drive the car onto it and fasten it with straps & chains yourself. The online guide said not to put the straps anywhere near the suspension. Compressing the suspension sounds like a good idea, but -- stupid question -- what's the best way to do that?
 
Most rental trailers only have surge brakes,they aren't actually wired to the tow vehicle,it's not the greatest setup but it works and it's foolproof.The fact that the truck will be pretty light isn't great but the truck should be plenty heavy enough to handle the weight of a car and trailer.Usually the tie downs that they have on newer trailers go over the tires,it's pretty simple,if you want to remove the bounce from the suspension and add some extra security,invest in 2 ratchet tiedowns and find a hole in the frames stubs or on the front you can probably go over the frame stubs and using the ratchet tiedowns pull the suspension down,you usually don't have to tighten it a lot,just enough so it doesn't bounce.What kind of a car is it?
 
The other thing about pulling off the shoulder,while that isn't a good idea,that wasn't quite what I meant.I was reffering to driving off the road at cruising speed,you know what happens in a car or smaller vehicle if you do it and then try to come back on the road safely,with a truck and especially pulling a trailer,it's something that you really don't want to do if you don't have experience driving a truck.
 
I drove a U-Haul (can't remember the size... 17' maybe?) from Florida to Massachusetts towing my car on a trailer, including driving past/through Washington DC and NYC. It's really not a big deal... like they said, you stop really noticing it after the first hour or so. I always made sure that I pulled into an empty section of a parking lot so as to not have to back out, and didn't have any problems with that. Most rest areas have special places for trucks/RVs, and those make good parking spots for moving trucks hauling cars.

Good luck with the move! :thumbup:
 
beau5278 said:
Most rental trailers only have surge brakes,they aren't actually wired to the tow vehicle,it's not the greatest setup but it works and it's foolproof.The fact that the truck will be pretty light isn't great but the truck should be plenty heavy enough to handle the weight of a car and trailer.Usually the tie downs that they have on newer trailers go over the tires,it's pretty simple,if you want to remove the bounce from the suspension and add some extra security,invest in 2 ratchet tiedowns and find a hole in the frames stubs or on the front you can probably go over the frame stubs and using the ratchet tiedowns pull the suspension down,you usually don't have to tighten it a lot,just enough so it doesn't bounce.What kind of a car is it?
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Good call on the surge brakes, I forgot about those (mostly because I hate them).
If that is the case and it probably is, be sure to figure out how the overide works on the surge brakes before going anywhere. You have to lock them out before backing the trailer (which is why I hate them)
 
I've never driven a truck/trailer for any significant distance, but I drove a large dumptruck and chipper for a tree service.(I believe it was a Chevy 6500) that weighed about 12,000 lbs dry and the chipper (Woodsman XXX) weighed yet another 12,000 lbs. The truck was about 10ft wide and if it was any bigger, I would have needed a CDL to drive.

Anyway, my tips are that you just always check your mirrors because you will have large blind spots and also become familiar with the length of your truck+trailer so you can merge/pass easily. Try to see if you can rent a smaller trailer before your big move so you can practice backing up and manoveuring the trailer with only your side mirrors, remember that the trailer goes the OPPOSITE way that you turn. Like others have said, you'll hardly notice the trailer after a few miles, and you'll be a trailer driving champ by the end of your 2000 miles trek.

good luck and be safe
 
beau5278 said:
What kind of a car is it?
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'99 Camry XLE V6, unladen weight just over 3000#.

Car has been well maintained and a number of components have been replaced, including sensors, relays, motor mounts and flex pipe. Plus it runs well. Don't want to buy a new (used) car that'll have a bunch of unknown issues and need several thousand dollars worth of work.

Driving it cross-country is a non-option. There are minor issues with the tranny and motor that should not be a problem for another 3 years of city traffic -- but the stress of 2000 mile roadtrip would probably kill it.

I've had a couple of good cars that were great for driving 25 miles back & forth to work with an occasional 100 mile roadtrip -- but a few 1000 mile roadtrips up and down the East Coast was too much strain on them.
 
I drove a UHaul and towed my Jimmy behind in one of those things that you put the front wheels in. I drove 1600 miles and over the Rockies. Backing it was a problem (at least for me :)) and I thought afterwards I should have gotten a trailer to haul behind.

Driving wasn't really a problem. I took the interstate and since the UHaul had a limiter I didn't do much passing, just pretty much stayed in the right lane and did 65.

Chad
 
tyr_shadowblade said:
'99 Camry XLE V6, unladen weight just over 3000#.

Car has been well maintained and a number of components have been replaced, including sensors, relays, motor mounts and flex pipe. Plus it runs well. Don't want to buy a new (used) car that'll have a bunch of unknown issues and need several thousand dollars worth of work.

Driving it cross-country is a non-option. There are minor issues with the tranny and motor that should not be a problem for another 3 years of city traffic -- but the stress of 2000 mile roadtrip would probably kill it.

I've had a couple of good cars that were great for driving 25 miles back & forth to work with an occasional 100 mile roadtrip -- but a few 1000 mile roadtrips up and down the East Coast was too much strain on them.
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Yea,I just wondered what size car your talking about,3000lbs isn't a bad load at all.I'll look at my Mom's Camry in the morning,but I'm sure you'll be ok,even if you only go over one front frame rail to tie the suspension down and I'm almost sure you'll find a tow hook on the rear that you could use to tie the rear down.If you don't want to spend the money for a couple of ratchet tiedowns and you have a couple of buddies to help you,you could probably get away with a couple of GOOD motorcycle tiedowns to compress the suspension.Just have your buddies sit on the front of the car while you snub the tiedown,then do the same in the rear.Problem with that is,if they work loose on your trip,it won't be as easy to tighten them back up as it would if you use the ratchets.
 
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