Wanted: Somebody to tell me I'm a fool for wanting to do this...

Not with a 4 banger!

 

I have a 4-banger S-10. I've recently come into a 16' car hauler. I have a hitch, and the trailer has electric brakes.

A dude on Craigslist put out the call to find someone to haul a car from Kansas to Detroit, and bring another back to Kansas.

I'm thinking about doing it for cash or trade, and if it works out, maybe doing it for a living.

Somebody please tell me I'm a complete idiot for considering this in the first place, especially with an S-10.

Has anybody tried to make a go of doing this for a living? BenD - got anything to add?

I'm out of work right now, and this seems like something that would not only bring in money, but also could be something that could be traded for parts, etc.

~Jason

 

You wont get too far with the 4....

 

With a four cylinder S10? It's a good thing you're out of work, because it's going to take LOTS of time. My 4.3/5 speed S10 probably has enough power to make it tolerable, but I'd still want a full size truck for the job.

 

here is a good bit of information. I had a 98 s-10 with a 4 cylinder, 5 speed, I hauled a 10' utility trailer with a T bucket that was disassembled from lansing to the middle of illinois and back, about 1200 miles total, the best part.............................with it in 5th gear wide open, and I am not kidding about the wide open part, my foot stayed on the floor for the better part of this trip, I was able to muster 62.5 MPH the entire time, by the time I got back I am sure my little 2.2 had shit left for rings, needles to say, I got rid of that truck!
dont even bother hooking that trailer up, you'll be out a truck if you do.

 

Everyone is telling you the 4 won't handle it. That's a minor issue compared to the lack of brakes. The S10 won't handle an emergency stop with the trailer pushing it, even unloaded. Your life isn't worth the few bucks you might make hauling the cars.

 

Forget your life. How about the lives of any you would run into? You'll be exceeding the gvrw of that truck considerably, not to mention taking responsibility for this other guys car.
Ignorant doesn't know any better.
Stupid knows better but does it anyway.
Which are you?

 

If you really want to do this, I have a friend (Hember) that just put up his suburban for sale and it's got all the trailer hauling stuff built in.
r

 

As mentioned above, the trailer- even EMPTY will jacknife ya if a sudden stop was done....It also would not get ANY mileage if it would pull the cars at all on the trailer......Not mentioned was the possibilty of being ticketed by the DOT police..in Missouri they actively observe such things as even a FULL SIZE pickup and trailer and enforce the regulations and FINES....aggressively.

I see the problem you have,but what a guy has to do is just rent an adequate truck to do the job and add that into the transport charges...
it will be cheaper as they insure the truck and load for you and believe it or not the large truck will beat the S-10 on mileage!

 

I did this.

Not for work, but I used an '88 S-10 4.3 to tow a wood deck trailer with a 2400 lb car (no trailer brakes). Towed from CA to NY and then to northeast tracks for a couple of years. Well the truck was supposed to tow 5000 lb, what could happen?

On more than one occasion I had that rig push that little truck right through intersections, etc. Forget panic stops, you are just along for the ride at that point. Huge sway problems also. I was the idiot.

I'd never tow again with anything less than a 3/4 ton. No way.

 

I hauled a Corvair on a single axle trailer with my 4cyl. S10... I only went a few miles and I cut through as many neighborhoods as I could... 10-15 mph.

The block or two I had to be on a major road was scary. The term "Wag the Dog" comes to mind. I had a guy in front of me so that there would be as few surprises as possible.

So put me in the somebody telling you group too.

 

Okay! You're a fool for wanting to do this ... !! There; feel better, now??

Actually, all the stuff has already been said. Better if you don't even think about it.

 

I'm glad somebody said it before I read this!

 

If you were to go to U-haul, they wouldn't rent you a car trailer unless you had a 3/4 ton truck. This was because of lawsuits.

 

Buy a used 3/4 ton dodge extended cab truck with the diesel....should get 15-20 mpg or so and you can put a cap on the back and sleep in it if you want to keep expenses down! I used to have a website that was like a board for people that wanted stuff moved and what they would be willing to pay....sorry I can't remember it and didn't save it,but a guy could find stuff that needed moved all over the country to where you wouldn't have to deadhead much. you could feasibly do it(obviously not with the S10),just be sure you are properly insured also!

 

Check the insurance cost to see how dumb it is!

 

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When I was 17, I pulled my dad's 16' car trailer 45 miles one way to pick up a flatbed for his new truck. I went up and back once with no problems, considering the trailer weighed in a just over 2000 pounds, and the first bed I picked up was wrong so it had to go back.

The next day I was pulling the empty trailer down the road, and the weight shifted on the axles somehow putting the weight on the front axle, causing the damned thing to fishtail like nobody's business.

Next thing I knew I was spun around backwards and my NEW 1991 Nissan pickup was slapped up against the guardrail going the other way. The trailer snapped the ball off at the base and continued onward and made a right turn, running off the road and through a barbed wire fence and about 100 yards out into someone's pasture.

My 1991 Nissan was a total loss, as it smacked both the front end AND the back end up against the guardrail.

The bottom line? I learned 2 things:

1. Never pull a load with a vehicle that isn't designed to pull a load that size.

2. Safety chains should NEVER NEVER NEVER be just looped over the hitch ball.

Always remember, its just like wearing spandex - just because you can doesn't mean you should.

 

You are a fool for wanting to do this.

 

holy shit man. . . an s-10 aint, by design, meant to do anything CLOSE to this...

IF, and i mean IF you intend to do anything like this for a "living" consider the following things you will need to be legal.

first, you are going to need to obtain an interstate DOT operations number which is required to be legible from no less than 20' away displayed on both sides of the power unit (pickup) along with those numbers, many states mandate you display your VIN #, home terminal location (city where you live and have the vehicles licensed in) and depending upon what you are hauling, also an ICC #

keeping with the DOT situation, you are going to be required to maintain a log book to be kept current to within the last 4 hours or last change of duty status... you cannot drive more than 11 hours in a row without then needing to take a 10 hour "off duty" time, and without a sleeper unit you are going to more than likely run into a DOT cop with a hardon wanting to see your hotel recipts that match the time and location you logged for your 10 hour off period. need a single state cab card, fuel and road use permits and registration for EVERY state you intend to operate in...
and hey, lets not forget road and fuel taxes, 49 state reciprocity, canadian licensing and permits/customs bonding if you intend to go into canada, and keeping the IRS pleased with quarterly tax payments.

insurance is a friggin MUST!!! bobtail for when you are not dragging a trailer around, and combination vehicle/load liability insurance when hauling, not to mention freight/load loss coverage...

an LLC or some form of incorperation papers are also damn near a must these days... one fuckup and you loose more than just the truck and trailer...

chew on a few of those things and remember, if they (IRS, DOT etc) find you are involved in interstate commerce without this stuff??? shit, i'd rather deal with satan himself

 

Wow, how did you get to be the second post in your own thread?

 

I think its a great idea! I would suggest a double axle trailer, you can haul a lot more.................

 

Mustang Monthly some years ago published photos of a guy pulling a concours restored Mustang in an enclosed trailer with a S-10 (I think), or at least what was left of it after a passing tractor trailer's wake blew the rig off the road & onto its side. Wasn't pretty!

 

I wouldn't do it either unless I got a heavier truck. We had a lady that killed her thirteen year old daughter last year trying to pull a bobcat behind a geo tracker. She lost it trying to slow down for a curve that was at a bottom of a hill.

 

the only bad part about that deal is:

the kid died and not the mother... had the mother died that would have been called cleansing the collective IQ pool of wisconsin

 

terrible idea, actually a very stupid idea. Like it was said, you can pull just about anything, but stopping it is fucking impossible. I haul for a living, and on a weekly basis i almost shit my pant from some fool pulling out in front of me and trying not to eat there car. Not to mention if the DOT pulls you over you will definately be getting fucked, in the local jailhouse. Just act like you never had the idea, yeah you can make money at it but do it right.

 

Trailer brakes help. ALOT

 

Tough way to make a living, I did it for awhile. Fuel costs, vehical repairs, INSURANCE, permits, ect,ect don't leave much for you after all that. Not enough money to pull one at a time, got to pull several vehicals at once and have enough jobs to eliminate dead heading to make it pay. Easy enough to get away with it if your doing it illegally
but if anything goes wrong (accident) you're screwed. If you decide to try don't even think the S -10, I personally wouldn't do it with anything but a 1 ton duelly, even with a 16' flat. After 500'000+ miles with my duelly I made one trip with a 3/4 ton single tired truck. Went right back to the duelly after that trip, a trailer whip I know I woudn't noticed in the duelly put me in a ditch with the single tired truck (got lucky, kept it upright and didn't hit anything). Once you lose traction with the rear tires your going for a ride and no matter how carefull you are bad situations come up, I want all the traction and brakes I can get when they do.

 

Hey, I make my living driving a 26' flat bed straight truck. It ain't the most gloriious job in the world, but I do get to see the pride of the highway. Everyday I see 1/2 ton pickups loaded to the hilt with camping supplies, pulling a travel trailer with the kids bouncing around inside, sometimes there is a ball hitch on the back of the trailer so you can tow that 16 ft. alumacraft fishing boat. It can be done but I have to fight my way through these underpowered idiots just get home safe everynight. Do us all a favor, leave the transport jobs for the pros. Sneaking your new rust repair project home via the back roads every once in a while is fine, but don't risk the lives of everyone on the highway just because you want to make a few bucks.

 

frt+rear sway bars too...


but doing this with a 4cyl s-10 is dumb.
listen to the guys...