my sister just had a fullsize Chevy 3/4 ton truck shipped from Houston to upstate New York to my nephew for $1000. You can't buy a trailer for that around Houston. And it was insured.
I would do the buy a trailer and get a transport tag route and then resell it , but as in my situation it never resold , and has been used for many transports of others vehicles , I basically have my freinds rent it out , yes I am cheaper than u haul , but I have better brakes , my equipment is top notch ( as I make sure nothing is broken ) , and I come along for the drive ..so its guaranteed to get there safe . and milage saved by driving one way without the trailer or playing U hauls run to the other depot because we do not update our systems game , in my situation , I went on line , found several trailer dealers near to the car , went window shopping and got the best deal .got my tags , broguth my ratchet straps with me and my chains , and got the car and went home . and unless your truck has a towing button to tow in O/d . only tow in drive . otherwise with a load you will burn out the clutches and trans . unless the factory says its ok ( which they do not ) don't do it pulling empty isn't a load its when you add that extra 3-4 K
2500 miles is a long way to go. I would be as interested in the tow vehicle as you are the trailer. Texas to NJ is pretty flat if you plan it out right. I don't think I would try it with a half ton pick up. You need at least a 3/4 ton 1 ton better. Both better have decent trans coolers on them. Someone else talked about AAA. I would have that in my back pocket as well as enough tools with me to take care of business. You could fly in and rent a combo truck and car trailer from Uhaul that you can drop off in NJ. Gas is $4.00 a gallon. It may be cheaper to fly in drive out.
i like the idea of buying a trailer down there to haul home. then either keep or sell depending on the what you want to do. lord know we have used our car trailer for more then cars. but my real comment is what about tags? in ks if a trailer + cargo = 2000 lbs or more it is suppose to be tagged. so i guess i would be concerned about traveling that far without tags. i guess if he gets it from a dealer it should be fine...
When you pick up a project car, don't assume that the body or the doors are bolted on. Use straps around anything that could be blown off. I picked up a 55 Ford F100 once and had it loaded with the rear bumper toward the front of the trailer and the door opened at 45 MPH. Opp's!
I'd go this route. Unless you have a great rig (lots of fuel and wear on a rig) , a driving partner ready for a week on the road. Unless of course you have plans to spend some vacation time, etc. while in Texas...
I've used uhaul trailers several times. Just towed a 73 Charger a couple of weeks ago. No problems at all. I actually like the uhaul trailer when towing a complete and running car. Biggest problem I see is that the uhaul trailer doesn't have brakes as far as I remember. I was using a uhaul truck to tow it so I wasn't concerned about that. I have my own flat bed trailer but it's more work to tie down a vehicle than it is with the uhaul. Some day I'm going to remedy that.
They won't let you tow a car that their computer says NO to. Therefore check a car that will work with your tow vehicle. BTW: Half ton trucks tow OK if you are using extended/super cabs and 4x4. Two issues that factor into towing are brake size, and weight of towing vehicle. My 98 4x4 extended cab Z71 silverado towed some big ass cars with U-haul trailer just fine. Stay out of overdrive and your trans will be fine. 4L60E boxes are quite strong, never had any issues in the 12 years I had the truck, and I even towed a Bobcat on a trailer with NO trailer brakes. (Of course that was not easy as I had to downshift just to stop. Damn rental yard pinheads!)
Tip #1 If you decide to buy a trailer....make sure you measure the width of the bumpers if they are on the car. Some cars won't fit between the side rails of the regular width trailers. I found that out the hard way....and had to go buy 4 2x6s to lay on the deck of the trailer to get the widest part of the bumpers above the rails. It worked but was a PITA Tip#2 Tie the vehicle down to the trailer by hooking to the frame....not the suspension or rear end. Unless it has good shocks....a sudden gust of wind or evasive maneuver can cause the vehicle on the trailer to start swaying....causing the trailer to fishtail...which in turn causes the tow vehicle to do the same. And it escalates pretty fast and is hard to get back under control.
We just used a U Haul red trailer to haul a 4000 pound 1999 Cadillac and we didn't even know it was back there. We rent U hauls a lot because we don't want the hassle of storing a trailer we own, and have never had a bad trailer in all those times. U Haul does put the information on what your tow vehicle and towed vehicle will be into their computer and it says yes or no, and they go by that decision. A mid 50's Ford will be NO problem because they approved the Caddy I hauled. Just make sure your tow vehicle is large and powerful enough and that you have a strong receiver type hitch and you will be fine. You can go onto their quote web page and put in your info and it will tell you if your two vehicles are ok. BTW, take the extra insurance, it covers the trailer and the vehicle on top of it. Don
The Jalopy Journal
