looking to get a 61 gmc pickup to my house tomorrow and was wondering if there is a cheaper way of doing it besides a tow truck, i dont own a bigger truck so cant get a car dolly. any advise?
If we knew where Magalia was, we might know someone in the neighborhood. How much is the Tow? How much is a U-Haul or Hertz truck with a transport trailer? Is this it? http://maps.google.com/maps?q=magal...H4Dw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=***le&resnum=1
how much is the tow truck? and @ 30miles a tow truck is painless..they get it drop it off and are responsible for it while its on the hook.
check out tow companies in the area they want $150 to go 28 miles! all i got to tow with is a ford explorer so no dolly magalia is about 20 miles from chico
Do you have AAA? call em, tell them your broke down need a flat bed, come pick my truck up and deliver it to (insert your address). Might have to give the driver a little tip to look the other way on the registration. Cheap, easy and simple. If you don't have AAA maybe time to sign up! you get three free tows a year with AAA.
Some wrecker companies are getting to where they won't pick vehicles up like this for AAA nowadays.... It has to be a vehicle that is brokedown... Unless that Ford Explorer is a 4 cyl I would think it would pull a U-haul car hauler. I pulled a 16 ft. tandem axle trailer with a '66 Mustang from central AR to Nashville, TN and back with a Nissan Xterra with no problems. The Nissan had the V6 in it....
I agree, check the air in the rear tires of the explorer rent a tow dolly, magnetic lights on the rear bed rails of the GMC and take your time. s.
I wouldn't think the Explorer would be any more dangerous with a car trailer behind it.....might even keep all 4 wheels on the ground. Tim D.
Far as I know they won't rent the trailer if your using an Explorer to tow.. I may be wrong but I remeber hearing that over teh summer,,that there are some trucks they won't let you tow with. That may just apply to the trailers I don' t know for siure
Tell U-haul your hauling a pirus on that tow dolly, your truck will handle the pull if it's worth a ****
I had the jack*** at u haul not want to rent me a car trailer to tow a 68 impala, said my truck was not rated to tow that much weight. i asked him wtf he thought a 1 ton dodge 4x4 would handle, then told him to get corporate on the phone, yep towed that impala just fine! don't think he was to happy with me after corporate reamed him, but I guess he shoulda pulled his head outta his ***! i hauled a lot of cars and 20' boats with my 93 explorer with no problem ( just make sure you got trailer brakes!) power wise it was fine, stopping well that was another story. rent a tow dolly and like the others said tell them you are towing something small, tercell, vw, corolla. Little wing, nice article, there go the stupid people and lawyers again!
A few years ago we sold a '41 Chevy short wheelbase COE - I don't know if it had been a tractor or a baby coal truck or what - but the guys sent to pick it up came from Maryland with a Ford Explorer and a trailer to tow it back. Had too much weight on the tongue when they left, it must have handled terrible, but we never heard anything about anyone killed towing an antique truck, so... For the 30 miles, if you have a hitch, just rent a tow bar and get a set of Harbor Freight magnetic tow lights. You can probably get the harness adapter for them in Wal-mart for about $12 and HF has been putting coupons in some of the car magazines you can get the lights for like $10. The old U-haul towbars with the clips and stuff are made for these kind of bumpers, and it will mean less weight for your tow vehicle which means stopping will be a little easier. As long as the tires on the GMC are good you'll be fine, just take it easy, plan your route, and try to do it when the traffic is going to be light. Heck I've even lost tires on the towed car before and been okay. The key is it's only 30 miles - if it takes you two hours to go that far, so what?
How about starting a thread with a different ***le? (HELP with towing a vehicle in the Chico,CA area) That will get the thread noticed better. Unfortunately,I'm not up in the area to help you out.
Is it a roller? If its a roller get a 10 ft length of pipe and 14 ft log chain. Run the chain through the pipe and use a bolt 3/8 or larger to bolt the chain to the center of the front crossmember of the towed vehicle and to the center of the bumper of the pull truck. Even with no brakes someone can steer the towed car. As long as they keep fairly straight with you the pipe will keep you seperated. I once used a 10-20 truck tire as a tow bar just chained it to the center of the front bumper the car being towed and the rear if my pickup. Didnt even have anybody steer it. I know this isnt the most stylish method but it will work. Usually not against the law because their are no laws that apply. Just go slow and pull over to let ac***ulated traffic p*** by.It was quite common to see a vehicle pulled with a pipe and chain back in the day. A couple of years ago a pinion bearing went out on a tractor trailer gravel truck i was driving. A part of the bearing loged between the pinion gear and the ring gear snapped the pinion in two. We pulled the loaded 80000 lb truck with a chain and pipe back to the rock crusher.Kept the engine running so we still had air brakes. After dumping the load we then pulled the empty rig from Black Rock Ark 26 miles to a shop 6 miles east of Ravenden Springs . Why did we do it because a wrecker would cost $750.oo! You could also rent a tow bar and flat tow it. I have pulled many cars hundreds of miles with a factory tow bar. It is also a good idea to put about 500 lbs of weight in the bed of the tow vehicle. OldWolf
I've used that method many times. Ended up refining it and making a tow-pipe for emergencies. Welded a trailer hitch on one end of the pipe and a chain with double hooks on the other.
thats funny cause i have a 60 gmc i just had hauled home about twenty miles. didn't cost much, I think it was around 50 bucks, but i forget.
well 454 i must be getting ripped off, thanks for all the replies all. moving to wednesday to move it, if im lucky my bud dangler will help me out with a tow! i gotta make sure he likes my truck first.
Like 10 years ago I had a car moved 13 miles from one place to another. Just to get them to show up was $50, plus a per-mile fee so it cost like $75. I doubt it's gotten any cheaper. Some guys get $4 per loaded mile now. Also, chain towing is illegal in a lot of states, the towbar is legal and cheap to rent - was under $20 the last time I used one, plus a damage deposit - just tell them you're towing a '67 VW bug.
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