Anyone used a U-haul on their car? - Page 2

charleskieffner · 03-31-2008, 04:05 PM

oh and heres a little tip................be it penske or u-haul or any RENTAL company, they rent units and at specific mileage they are pulled from service for service. if yer paying a service guy dirt expect to get the same service. all rental companies are guilty as hell of this. check the exact units you are getting before signing contract. note ANYTHING FUBARED. ask them to repair or replace with another unit. if they dont go around the corner to other guys. neither penskes nor u-hauls units will be perfect. ask me how i know. once they are on the road they get the service thats obvious, the service that is required and not much more. it is simply a UNIT NUMBER.

check tires DUH!

on way home slam the brakes and see if they work.

one of my moves was from phx to l.a. when i transferred with garrett corp. had the fullsize overhead cab from u-haul. damn thing would barely go 55mph and it was a fight to keep it in its lane the entire trip. this unit was beat to death about 50000 miles ago and they still let it be rented.

i came back to phx with a penske in no better condition with the brakes about to go to the floor and the master cylinder was full. doesnt matter whose it is its RENTER BEWARE! you have renters rights, read the small print. if you dont know ASK THEM! by law they cannot release an unsafe vehicle or trailer. but it happens just like dumbass pilots pistol having an accidental discharge in the cockpit! goofy kaa kaa happens. and when renting yer at the bottom of the food chain!

JeremyD · JeremyD's Garage

I'd do the blue painters tape way before tring to secure a blanket or bra or anything that can move and beat your paint into oblivion. If you are driving your p-car you notice - if you are doing 65 in your tow trailer even 20 miles with a wet, gravel encrusted wet blanket is a lifetime.

Great point on the bearings - no matter what U-haul says - every stop - put your hand on the wheels (slowly to see if they are hot to the touch) - better yet - get a $50 infared therometer and check bearings at every opportunity. Monitor the temps.

That said - for a local move U-haul is fine and cheap - any distance and I would go with budget or Hertz Penske - don't tell them it's a porsche - I think all the moving companies think all porsche owners are attorneys or something and won't rent to you.

If your car is lowered you might neet to extend the ramps or be selective where you load/unload - a majority of the trailers are designed for normal cars, not low slung sports cars.

rbuswell · rbuswell's Garage

Be careful of some price switching. If you're getting a set price, confirm it and get the confirmation number and hopefully you won't have a problem.
Also if you're renting via an 800 number, make sure you call the local outlet to be sure the unit is there before you commit to a trip that can get sideways pretty quickly if the trailer isn't ready.
As mentioned earlier, go over the entire rig very carefully to make sure everything works BEFORE you leave. There was several things wrong with the one I rented and UHaul sent me to a repair center to get some problems like lights not working etc. fixed. Make sure you allot enough time to get that done when you pick up the rig.
Make sure you have a good helper to guide you onto the trailer. It's actually pretty harrowing if you haven't loaded one before.
They didn't want to rent it to me at first when I told them it was a Porsche but they finally figured out that it would fit and not be too light.
Check to be sure you have a UHaul center that will be open when you return it. You could end up paying more even though it wasn't your fault they were closed.

vash · vash's Garage

the horrors.

when i moved from texas to california i rented a penske. great piece of equipment, but i didnt have a bunch of bbs friends offering great advice. checking the equipment is key. i got a flat tire on the trailer @ CAGE (or gage) and figueroa (i dont know the spelling?) in LA. my socal friends can attest, i am lucky to be alive. i called penske help and told them my location. the lady on the phone said, "oh schit!" when i told her where i was. i dont know if it is east LA or compton, but i thought i was a dead man. i had a car trailer and all my belongings parked in an empty lot next to a gas station. i dropped a college friend nearby and got lost. i loaded my sig and waited all night until a fool showed up to change tires (it took 9 hours for the guy to show. all night!). i drove away and fell asleep at the grapevine. the guy had to change two tires! i got solicited by street hookers, offered crack cocaine, asked to sell some cocaine, offered a blowjob for crack cocaine...i thought it was the last night of my life. i was going out shooting.

check your equipment, have a cell phone, have a pistol

renting a trailer is scary business. most folks dont know how to trailer. i didnt.

crxnug · 03-31-2008, 05:22 PM

I have towed a few times using uhaul trailers, From experence make sure to check all the bolts on your trailer hitch bar for tightness before heading out. always use extra straps as the uhaul straps can slip off the wheels over bumps and tend to get loose over long trips, make sure your parking brake is on and car is in gear. For protection for the car never use a car cover only on your car. Though i found a great way to protect it , i used Glad press and seal sealing wrap, It comes in rolls and sticks to your paint. it took me 4 rolls to do the car then i used a car cover and used rope and bungee cords to wrap the car cover to take any looseness, the sealing wrap protects the paint from any movement of the car cover.

efhughes3 · efhughes3's Garage

This is very timely and good info for me, as well. I'm making the move to the San Diego area the first of May. I'm pretty sure I'll have a new aluminum trailer by then, as I've been pretty focused on the whole weight thing. It's not an option on a rental, I don't believe, but I'm getting the air dam up front for a little protection.

spyderman · 04-01-2008, 07:24 AM

OK not only has this thread been very informative, but I'm laughing my butt off as well. I wasn't stressed before I submitted this thread, but I am now.

All good tips, thank you very much. I'll be calling around to find the largest U-haul center around, so I have a shot at getting a newer truck and trailer. Thank god my girlfriend will be in a chase car.

les_garten · 04-01-2008, 07:44 AM

Hello,
One additional tip. I use two 6 foot pieces of 1x12 to help me get onto the ramps of the trailer. Kinda a ramp to the ramp.

davisriley · 04-01-2008, 07:47 AM

I guess thatI just got lucky. Trailer was in good shape, truck was in great shape, everything ran perfect, and I had no issues in a 1300 mile trip. Booked online, but I did check that unit was available 10 days, 1 week and 2 days before. I think the guy at the rental place was just happy to not have to have me call anymore. Good luck. O yeah, the trailer was so small behind the truck that the only time I saw the car was when I made a sharp turn. I was waiting to stop and get gas, and find there was no 911. But, all made it safely.

charleskieffner · 04-01-2008, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vash

the horrors.

when i moved from texas to california i rented a penske. great piece of equipment, but i didnt have a bunch of bbs friends offering great advice. checking the equipment is key. i got a flat tire on the trailer @ CAGE (or gage) and figueroa (i dont know the spelling?) in LA. my socal friends can attest, i am lucky to be alive. i called penske help and told them my location. the lady on the phone said, "oh schit!" when i told her where i was. i dont know if it is east LA or compton, but i thought i was a dead man. i had a car trailer and all my belongings parked in an empty lot next to a gas station. i dropped a college friend nearby and got lost. i loaded my sig and waited all night until a fool showed up to change tires (it took 9 hours for the guy to show. all night!). i drove away and fell asleep at the grapevine. the guy had to change two tires! i got solicited by street hookers, offered crack cocaine, asked to sell some cocaine, offered a blowjob for crack cocaine...i thought it was the last night of my life. i was going out shooting.

check your equipment, have a cell phone, have a pistol

renting a trailer is scary business. most folks dont know how to trailer. i didnt.

god that was good! yep the 1800 help me penske/uhaul are just wonderful phone numbers to have in your pocket. they respond like a luke air force base combat air patrol dont they??????hahahahahaha

another tip if you have problems and this is on the top ten list of how to survive baja..........if you have any problems get the rig as FAR AS POSSIBLE OFF OF THE ROAD! changing flats etc. w/semis whipping by at 85 95 mph is a sure way of meeting yer maker. get it the hell off the road. friend of mine killed at alamo lake az. with a broken down truck years ago. broke down vehicle died in roadway, dark night, van came around corner and nailed him dead. dying aint no way of living!

JeremyD · JeremyD's Garage

I spent new years eve in a parking lot in phoenix waiting for U-haul to come and fix the lights on my rental truck - Good times - at least I could see the fireworks from where I was parked.

lateapex911 · 04-01-2008, 09:35 AM

Sorry to dump on uhaul, but EVERY time I've been dumb (or forced) to rent from them, there have been issues, usually it's the item NOT being there.

So now I call, get a price, then I call Hertz, penske, et al, and get their prices. Then the negotiating starts. But Uhaul never gets the contract anymore, sorry. been burned too many times. Also, I request a low mileage truck...and I find they honor that request at the better companies.

I moved from LA to CT, and all the companies wanted 4K for the truck/trailer combo. I had just moved To LA from CT two years earlier, and it was 1800. Hmmm. Turns out rates vary like a commodity. So, I did some research, found that more people were moving TO Vegas than anywhere else close, so I got the rates form the Vegas companies. Half the LA companies. Including a flight from LA, and the 6 hours or so, I saved thousands. So, if you find the prices exorbitant, shop around and be creative.

Load backwards and get the tongue weight right. Also, see if the trucks have governors on them. A 55mph governor makes for a long trip on a 70mph road.