Problems with Uhaul

[Kyngfish]

Hey all - just looking for advice on how to handle this in the future. I have a 98 4Runner with the factory class III hitch. And they wouldn't let me get the flatbed trailer to haul a car with.

The car was a 1989 Honda Civic that I think weighs 2500lbs soaking wet. The dolly trailer worked fine, but i prefer the flatbeds for a lot of reasons, namely, they have brakes.

Anyone have any info or advice on this? I know some people on this forum have towed cars on flatbeds. No idea what happened there.

Cheers.

 

[4-Ripcord]

you went to the rare uhaul dealer that gives a $hit, lol.

When renting car hauler trailers I always tell them it's for a motorcycle, cant put those on a dolly and they are light.

 

[RedSled]

I beleive you have to look at combined weight, i hear the u-haul trailers are very heavy, so that probably put you over your capacity.

 

[Silver Supra]

I don't think anyone is going to rent you a flatbed to pull for liability reasons. I think you're going to either have to use a dolly, or find someone with a flatbed to let you borrow.

Do you have a brake controller, because without one the car trailer won't have brakes and you definitely want them with that much weight behind you.

 

[Kyngfish]

I don't think anyone is going to rent you a flatbed to pull for liability reasons. I think you're going to either have to use a dolly, or find someone with a flatbed to let you borrow.

Do you have a brake controller, because without one the car trailer won't have brakes and you definitely want them with that much weight behind you.

Most of those flatbeds have a system where the tongue is basically in two pieces. The top and bottom slide over each other, so when the car brakes, the top part of the tongue moves forward while the bottom stays in place. It's more complicated than that, but essentially it utilizes that forward motion to apply pressure to a braking system in the flatbed. I've rented the 6x12 enclosed uhaul trailers with that system and it's great.

 

[Silver Supra]

Most of those flatbeds have a system where the tongue is basically in two pieces. The top and bottom slide over each other, so when the car brakes, the top part of the tongue moves forward while the bottom stays in place. It's more complicated than that, but essentially it utilizes that forward motion to apply pressure to a braking system in the flatbed. I've rented the 6x12 enclosed uhaul trailers with that system and it's great.

I've used trailers with inertial braking and while they work, it really unsettles the truck IMO when the weight shifts forward to compress the braking actuator.

Yes, it works but I've never seen one on a car trailer and wouldn't want to try it.

 

[JohnMc]

I towed my daughters Ford Taurus wagon back home on a U-Haul trailer with my '99. The website said they wouldn't rent it for tht combination, so I jsut said it was a lighter car.

I just took it steady, careful, and slow. It was def. ponderous pulling 5000-ish lbs worth of trailer and car.

 

[tvpierce]

From the U-Haul web site:

https://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/Auto-Transport-Rental/AT/

- Must weigh at least 3,500 lbs. (curb weight), and must equal or exceed 80% of the combined weight of the trailer (2,210 lbs.) and the vehicle being towed (up to 5,290 lbs.).

- Must have a towing system that has a 5,000 lbs. minimum weight-carrying rating

(That second item seems specifically aimed at disqualifying anything smaller than a half-ton truck, or an SUV based on a half-ton truck.)

 

[gamefreakgc]

The U-Haul flatbed trailers weight well over 2,000 lbs on their own. Heck, the little utility trailers weight 1,200 lbs.

They won't let you rent it because 4Runners are not rated to tow the weight of a trailer plus a vehicle. Can it tow it? Yes, but they still won't let you.

 

[Kyngfish]

I've used trailers with inertial braking and while they work, it really unsettles the truck IMO when the weight shifts forward to compress the braking actuator.

Yes, it works but I've never seen one on a car trailer and wouldn't want to try it.

Lol. Fair enough. Didn’t mean to lecture you. And you may be right. They may not have that system on their car carriers. Turns out the uhaul guy put in my 4Runner as 1994 which is a 2nd gen. I believe their tow rating is 3500. I believe they would have let me do it had they put it down as 1998.

I have the tundra brakes on mine and I haven’t had a huge issue with hauling a lot of weight. I recently put an entire kitchen in an enclosed trailer and hauled it to the dump. The weight came in around what the car plus trailer would have been. But who knows. I’ll find out soon enough.

 

[phattyduck]

The UHaul car trailer does have surge brakes just like their largest cargo trailer.

If you put in your tow vehicle and the car you are towing, it comes out as acceptable on the website calculator. Sounds like you got the issue figured out though.

Take it slow, watch those trans temps and you'll be fine. I wouldn't do it regularly though!

-Charlie

 

[RedSled]

I wonder if your insurance will cover that in the rare case something happens, and you kill some people?

 

[Kyngfish]

I wonder if your insurance will cover that in the rare case something happens, and you kill some people?

Lol. What? No one is trying to exceed the stipulated ratings for the hitch or the car.

The car trailer weighs 2200 lbs. A 1989 CRX weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 2100 lbs.

2200 + 2100 = 4300. That looks like a 700(!!!) lb margin of error. I think everyone will live.

My question was why UHaul wouldn't give me the trailer despite the weight ratings seeming OK. Looks like they input my car as a 2nd gen.

Problem solved.

 

[Kyngfish]

The UHaul car trailer does have surge brakes just like their largest cargo trailer.

If you put in your tow vehicle and the car you are towing, it comes out as acceptable on the website calculator. Sounds like you got the issue figured out though.

Take it slow, watch those trans temps and you'll be fine. I wouldn't do it regularly though!

-Charlie

Thanks for letting me know. All things being equal, if it does have that brake system, I prefer it.