Need advice... SHIPPING THE 4RUNNER FROM CHICAGO TO HOUSTON!

[MICA4R]

Hey guys,

Like all of you here, I take extremely good care of my T4R. Unfortunately I have to ship my rig to Houston, am not going to have the time to drive it.

I wanted to know what I should do to preserve my rig when its handed over to the truckers. Is there anything I need to look out for?

Is there any area of the rig I need to protect?

They are putting it on an open air tractor trailer and will have the 4R for 5-7 days! :dammit:

... I hope everything goes well? Thanks in advance for the tips!

Andy

 

[SMEE]

I had to get my vehicle shipped down to MS from PA when I first bought it. When it arrived, the exterior was filthy, and needless to say I wasn't very happy. My advice to you is 1) take as many pictures of the exterior as possible, before you hand it over (especially the corners and potential areas that could be damaged easily). 2) Write down your mileage (so if they joyride it, you'll know). 3) Take mental notes, or write down, your personal settings, ex: how you keep your drivers seat configured, radio channel that you last listened to, A/C settings, and of course personal belongings that you have inside the vehicle. Changes to these settings would indicate they took it for a joyride, or did something unprofessional. Hope this helps.

 

[Reata]

TRANSPORTWRAP - Protect your Vehicle During Auto Transport with Plastic White Vinyl Wrap

 

[MICA4R]

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to pull some of the fuses on the radio an AC so I know for sure that they are going to mess around in the car.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

Unless you pay a lot of money to upgrade to a higher end carrier with enclosed trailers your vehicle will get very dirty. The drivers pick up and drop off cars all over the counrty when they deliver your car. They may have to unload and reload it several times. They are often careless with hitting them with the tie down chains because they are in a hurry. The best you can do is request the top front position if it is a 2 level truck. If it is on top oil from other cars will not drip on it. Do not let them deliver the car at night because you can not see any damage in the dark. Once you pay them they do not care if they damaged it or not and will not reimburse you. I had a car delivered to Arizona several years ago. It came at night and the nest morning I saw damage on the spoiler from oil dripping from another car. I had to pay cash when the car was delivered and after that they did not care at all. It also had a small ding in the hood probably from a tie down chain hitting it. My car went to many out of the way states before it finally got to Arizona.

 

[MICA4R]

Thanks! 03 runner really appreciate the tips...

 

[zerowkul98]

I ponied up the $$ to have my 67 Mustang shipped in a closed container. Peace of mind.

 

[Jerrydog]

Companies like mayflower will put your vehicle right in the back of the trailer for a price, it was comparable to open transport when i did it from CA to NH back in the late 90's. I drove it right off the loading dock into the back of the truck and they put the cross bars in front of it and above it and stacked furniture and boxes in with it, came out as perfect as it went in.

 

[MICA4R]

Thanks!

 

[MidwestT4R]

Hey, I was driving south on 53 by Woodfield Mall and saw a dark grey 4th gen sport on the back of an open air carrier with a mixed bunch of cars. Heading south like me.

For the briefest of moments I thought, "He sent it already!"

 

[MICA4R]

Nah, Not yet. It goes out next week. I live downtown right now (they probably will take 55), I'm looking forward to open land in TX! Although will definitely miss the Chicago Summers (best summer city in America)! & definitely NOT miss the Winters.

 

[MICA4R]

PIC & VIDEO of the 4runner on the rig.

Pic of the 4runner. Safe and sound top row 1st spot.

In the video you can see how the shocks were compressed. Compressing those shocks that much over the course of 2500 miles could not have been good, but, non-the-less it drives and feels the same.

<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/owN4V__mdQo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[daka320]

Good that it arrived without any damage. A buddy of mine takes care of a wealthy dudes house and cars while he is gone. Had his Mercedes McLaren transported from Cleveland to Phoenix. They did over $100,000 of damage to the car!!! Smashed the hood and some other stuff. Of course he just called his lawyer to take care of it. Those companies even mess up the expensive cars!!!

 

[MICA4R]

Good that it arrived without any damage. A buddy of mine takes care of a wealthy dudes house and cars while he is gone. Had his Mercedes McLaren transported from Cleveland to Phoenix. They did over $100,000 of damage to the car!!! Smashed the hood and some other stuff. Of course he just called his lawyer to take care of it. Those companies even mess up the expensive cars!!!

I guess its all relative, the 4runner practically broke the bank for me. But if you are Ballin' then it ain't all that.