taco "too light" for a uhaul trailer?

I'm buying another car out of state and might not be able to get a temp tag to legally drive it home. I was going to rent a uhaul auto transport trailer. (the kind the whole car fits on, not a car dolly that lets the rear roll on the ground)

Uhaul says my taco is "too light" to use the auto transport trailer. Their site doesnt tell the empty weight of the auto transport trailer. I cant use a tow dolly because the car being towed is rear wheel drive. (g35)

any input on this? Of course the uhaul rep was fast to tell me I could rent one of their trucks to tow the trailer....

 

Borrow a friends full size truck (I got my buddy's 2004 Ram) swing by the Uhaul place pick up the car hauler that you want then go swap it to your Taco. Its not ideal but your truck should tow it fine. Thats how I got around their silly "rules" lol

 

I do a lot of towing. I own a car hauler as well have rented the uhaul car haulers as well. The ass meter tells me the uhaul trailer weighs 1/3 more than my own car hauler.

Why can't you put the car on the car dolly backwards. Its done all the time, you just need proper tail lights mounted on the front of the car. I've used tow dollys many times and I prefer them to the car hauler for long distances.

 

I ran into that with a full size van as the tow vehicle - wound up borrowing a trailer instead. U-haul trailers are heavy......

 

The towing vehicle should be heavier than the trailer gross weight to prevent "tail wagging the dog" effects. This is more of a guideline than hard rule, but may be UHaul policy.

 

Or just pull the driveshaft after you have it on the dolly. More work but no need for extra lights.

 

I helped a relative tow a car with a haul. The empty weight of the trailer was 2,000 lbs according to the tag on it. The surge brakes on them really suck. The damn trailer would bang hard into the tow vehicle when braking and then again when letting off. I swear it was going to rip the receiver off of the SUV. We had to apply the brakes while making a turn at speed and the trailer hit hard enough to slide the rear of the SUV. Never will I use a uhaul again. See if there is a trailer rental place near by that uses electric brakes. The only plus side of uhaul is that you can rent one on a one way rental. The other issue you have to watch is that when you go to pick it up, there's no guarantee that they'll have it.

 

When being towed backwards, the front suspension effectively sees negative caster angles, so the vehicle will tend to wander. You can lock the steering wheel by taking out the ignition key, but in some cars the steering wheel locks off-center.

This. Undo 4 bolts to separate the driveshaft from the rear diff, and secure the driveshaft to prevent damage. Just need to go prepared with jackstands, etc., since the G35 doesn't have enough ground clearance for you to get under it.

 

i read about undoing the drive shaft but i doubt i can do it as easily as others, i dont have many tools
it will be a 2 hour and 30 minute tow in bad traffic, i thought a car hauler was safer than a dolly? ive seen rear wheel drive cars on dollys and it looked sketchy. the car was weaving and swerving and whatnot
i dont know anybody with a larger/ full size truck so i might just spend the extra money and use the uhaul truck to tow it.

 

...it's literally 4 bolts. Swing it out of the way and strap it up. You can probably drive it onto the dolly and strap it down first then get under it. It's what I would do for sure, no sense in giving Uhaul more of your $$$.

 

Not only is the uhaul trailer heavy but the way the vehicle is positioned on it puts too much weight forward.

 

The Uhaul car haulers weigh like 2,200 lbs, they're heavy sum bishes. Add 3,500 - 4,000 lbs of car on top of that and you're very quickly approaching the Tacoma's listed upper limit.

 

I recently rented one, dont really feel it much unloaded. put a 92(sish) turbo automatic subaru legacy (about 3200lb, total 5400lb) on it and it definitely didnt seem to be too heavy up front. it sat about the same as my Tj on my own trailer. I had isues what so ever towing or renting it.

 

Till you rent the truck, and the trailer, and get the insurance, and buy the gas for 6-10mpg, you may as well have a towing company flatbed it for you. Sounds like it will save you five hours as well.

 

You actually worked on a G35? It's been a little while for me, but depending on model/packages, the heatshields/sway bar/subframe brace are all below the shaft. And getting enough leverage to separate the shaft and flange with the center pin inside the damper will be a pain on jack stands.

 

No, I just figured it was about the same as other awd or rwd cars. I haven't seen a car with heat shields under the ds before. First for everything I guess. Not enough room in there to unbolt it and push it to the side?

 

Why even deal with the Uhaul hassle? If I ever need a trailer, I just rent at my local places. Call around, ask if they have car trailers or just a 7k GVW trailer and you're set to go. Go get your car, tow it back carefully and done. Should only be a one day rental. /thread

 

The Uhual site states the empty trailer weight as 2210.
http://www.uhaul.com/Reservations/EquipmentDetail.aspx?model=AT
Car and Driver lists the weight of a G35 at 3450. Don't see why it wouldn't work. It isn't going to be like pulling a light yard trailer, but you should be able to get it taken care of.

 

i towed my old 240 for 4 hours with a car dolly (not with a taco). i put the front wheels down on the pavement. didnt have any issues. just make sure the steering wheel is locked. and i know the g35 will lock centered. (just had a 350, practically same car)

 

If you tow backwards on a dolly, make sure you not just rely on the steering wheel lock to keep the wheel in place. I used to drive a wrecker many years ago and saw first hand what happens when the lock breaks - the wheels will turn and you'll take out either the cars on the left or telephone poles, mail boxes or people on sidewalks on the right. I suppose the dolly will help keep the towed car in line vs having the rear end up on a sling (that how long ago it was, back when tow trucks used slings) but going around a corner will still force the front end to walk. Luckily I wasn't driving at the time, but the entire driver's side was wiped out hard by a telephone pole...