The other problem with Uhaul trailers is the renters of trucks get priority over trailer only renters. I know someone who tried renting and got bumped several times.

It took a while but I found a nice 2 axle 16' trailer with 12' bed that fits in my garage. I leave the Miata on it and can safely park beside it with my daily driver.

I'm basically in the exact same situation as you - never been a truck guy, but now need a tow vehicle and didn't want to compromise something that I would hate driving every day. That ruled out molester vans (which, from a financial standpoint made the most sense). Ultimately, I went a similar route to your 4Runner plan and picked up a Sequoia. Every Toyota/Lexus I've ever owned has been awesome, and with a 6500lb tow capacity this should be plenty to tow my expected 4,000-4,500lb load.

I picked up this '02 Sequoia for $7500 last week. I'm loving it - so much room!

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s...s800/photo.JPG

I didn't realize they had surge brakes, but you are right - they do. As for reservations, it seems like they are guaranteed per U-Haul's website. I suppose there is some flexibility in that wording. For example, if they tried to call to confirm the reservation and you didn't speak with them it is not guaranteed.

The person I spoke with at my local U-Haul said they have no such policy regarding giving truck renters priority on the trailers, but I don't have that in writing.

I think the Sequoia is an imminentaly practical choice and a great value, but I feel like my wife's new Optima is "too big." :) I really cannot see me owning a "full-size" SUV or truck like a Sequoia, Suburban or Expedition. I guess if I am just driving it a couple of thousand miles per year... It just seems so excessive.

Are you saying the overall length of your trailer is 16'? That would technically fit, but I am not sure how I would get it in the garage. I need to find some pictures of my neighborhood to make it more clear for those not used to the layout.

This is pretty close to the street parking scene. Obviously, in the evenings when everyone is home - one "lane" or side of the street is effectively filled with cars.

This is pretty close to the alley situation although I am thinking my "driveway" is more steeply inclined than those. A full size SUV like an Expedition or Armada would basically fill the entire lane. Trying to back a trailer in to a garage like that - and then being able to manuever it around to fit a second vehicle - seems undoable to me.

However, I really don't have much experience with towing or moving trailers by hand. Does it seem plausible you could back a trailer basically 90* in that space and then "fine tune" the positioning by hand once it is unhooked?

I was looking for a trailer solution about a year ago before I gave up. However, I did run into a site where they were selling trailers that you can fold up both ends of the trailer and roll the trailer into your garage with very little foot print.


Not sure how much he wants for this or if it would work for you. Looks cool if nothing else.

The trailer does not have brakes, it is from '98. The OBXT has tinyarse standard legacy rotors/calipers too, not the fancy LGT stuff. This legacy chassis has some 4000lb+ rating overseas IIRC.

It is bad that I was looking at 3300lb boat/trailer combo sea rays this past weekend. At least the new trailers have surge brakes. How hard it is to convert from surge/hydraulic to electric? Can anything get reused?

It says right there that their liability is limited to $50. That's a lot less than I'd lose by not making it to a track day because they didn't have the trailer I'd reserved.

If you want to 'fine tune' the trailer position, you can get AC-powered 'trailer dollies'. Basically it's a little cart on wheels with a tow ball on top, an AC motor, and an extension cord, and you can use it to move a trailer around a parking place. They're not cheap (I think they start at about a grand) and I've never used one so I have no personal experience, but I imagine that it would be a whole lot easier to maneuver a trailer around an alley like the one in that photo than to do it with a truck.

--Ian

I probably have about $400 into my dolly. 12VDC so I don't have to worry about wires. 1 wheel drive though to save cost but it actually works very well pushing my stuff up my driveway and into my garage.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1331057284

I have experience with U-Hauls guarantee to have a car trailer for you...

My DD broke down in Paso Robles while on vacation. (my BMW only breaks down in quaint tourist destinations...)

I rented truck and trailer from u-haul. When I got there, they had my truck, but they said the trailer was in a different location, and I had two options. I could drive their truck 70 miles further north to get the trailer (no extra mileage charge for those 140 miles), then come back for the car, or use their tow dolly to drive 60 miles south to where another trailer was. The lady at uhaul said all you need to do, is disconnect the driveshaft. She said it like it was the equivalent of turning on the radio. I had to waste a couple hours and spend more on gas to drive the extra 140 miles to get the trailer. The whole reason I was renting the thing is the car broke down and I didn't have tools and a place to fix it.

And they wouldn't give me any discount whatsoever on the rental. I argued that I reserved the trailer at this location and they didn't honor my reservation, they said they did.

Also just so everyone is aware, the smallest truck U-haul will rent you to tow a car trailer with is their small box truck.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1331058883

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1331058883

Thanks for all the feedback.

That thing is pretty sweet but single axle (does have electric brakes). $4200 is < $6000 and I like the concept of the fold-up for smaller storage footprint but I think I am sold on tandem axle.

10-4. I haven't found any non-name brand type of places that rent trailers but have confirmed Budget and Penske do not rent trailers without trucks (which kills the cost consideration).

Sorry to hear about your experience. I am not discounting what you guys are saying about the U-Haul experiences but, for what it is worth, it seems like there are 5-6 U-Haul rental places within a 20-mile radius of my location. That would still be a huge pain in the ass to show up on Friday at 5:30 PM and be told the trailer was at another location that would be closed by the time I got there.

I had never heard of those before. It looks like the retail units are, indeed, about a grand. TurboTim: build and ship me one for $600?



If I ever see the guy that got me in to motorsports and handling events, I am going to punch him. I think the easiest answer is "give up on towing to track days and go back to muay thai and firearms." :crx:

U-Haul BLOWS. I'll NEVER deal with them again after my last issues.

^Haha, I thought about it... I have seen a couple of box trucks for sale in the local craigslist.

Thats a decent option...there's a lot of info on this style of hauler over on pirate4x4...though some of those guys don't even need ramps to load their trail rigs into the box truck.

I used to drive a cube truck for work. Ours were always rentals from a company that specializes in renting to the film industry. The trucks we used had very nice large liftgates on them. The kind that fold up to close the back of the truck, not the janky fold-under gates. I don't think you'd be able to used the gate to lower the car, but they're able to tilt, and with an extension ramp off the end of the gate you'd have a plenty long enough ramp. I would just be worried about the load rating of the gate...they're rated for the weight of my car, but not that weight dangling off the end.

My problem is similar to Scrappy Jack's. I don't want to drive a truck everyday, and I live somewhere where street parking more than one car is impractical. I can get cheap storage for one thing...I had planned to store the trailer, keep the race car in the garage, and street park my daily. The daily would be some type of SUV. I'm going to have to look into the box truck more. Then I could store the truck with race car inside, and get my parking spot in the garage back!


Bird

^hahaha, if he had a front bumper, this wouldn't have been a problem LOL.

OR...

IT wasn't a girl that was supposed to hit the brakes.

OR...

If they weren't idiots.

That box truck idea is pretty spectacular. :D

It's actually parked on a fairly steep street, and the car is fitted with self levelling rear suspension so it levels out when you get moving.

Bringing this one back up.

After my most recent trip to Roebling (about a 4.5 hour trip each way) in my project car, I've decided to go back to looking at tow options. My car (especially when driven by me) is probably too slow to break anything based on speed, but old enough for random shit to fail and I don't want to have to always count on the charity of friends with trailers.


I'm definitely set on a tandem axle, open trailer with electric brakes and all the safety gear. I'm trying to see if I can work out an option where my wife drives an SUV that can tow. She has a restricted list of vehicles she can choose from, determined by her employer.

The only one that looks like it can tow anything is the Toyota Highlander. The V6 is rated for 5,000 pounds towing. Max GVWR is 6,000. They don't list a Max GCVWR but I've seen it reported as 11,000 lbs. My car is 2,250 pounds. I'd estimate, on the high side, another 300 pounds of stuff (extra set of wheels & tires, some basic tools and common spares/backups, etc), some of which will be in the back of the truck. I stay at a hotel, so no camping gear.


Ballpark, that's 2,450 for the car and gear. That leaves 2,550 pounds available for the trailer (including straps, ramps, spare wheels/tires, etc). That has me thinking I can go with a steel trailer and skip the awesome, but super spendy, aluminum trailers.

I know the U-Haul trailers are ~2,200 pounds. I'm having a hard time finding weights for small steel trailers. What's a reasonable price and weight to expect for an open, tandem axle, steel trailer?

I wish I could find someone to make me something like this sweet custom steel trailer that weighed in at a bit under 800 pounds if I recall correctly.


TL; DNR = What's a reasonable price and weight to expect for an open, tandem axle, steel trailer?

Open


Done.



Edit: There are more than a few of these trailers in my local area being used for things that weight MUCH more than a miata, but they're still pretty darned lightweight, and reasonably priced.

I recently had an accident with my light weight 10’ long open deck single axle car trailer without brakes.

Basically the latch broke on the hitch and when it dropped on the safety chains the trailer began snapping back and forth broke the safety chains, the trailer hit the guard rail caught a post and flung the car off where it landed sideways across lanes 3 and 4 of a five lane freeway.

Luckily I was driving a Dodge 3500 truck instead of my Blazer which very easily might have lost control as well. The trailer bent and axle and broke a hub. The car didn’t fare too bad. Dent in the rocker, and some minor fender damage.

After looking around for trailers and buying another used one I decided I really liked the light weight trailer and really it just needed a double axle trailer brakes and a slightly better ramp system.

I just got through ordering all the parts to re-build it to new specs. I’m adding 3 feet of tapered deck to the back of it making the ramps 6 feet instead of 5. By my layout the car should handle the transition well for loading and unloading. Double axles with electric brakes on both, 13” wheels and tires rated at 1750 lbs. per tire. The 13” wheels will make it so the doors on the car will open over the fenders while it is loaded. Bought most of the parts here should look similar to the picture when done.
Trailer Parts Depot – #1 Source for all your trailer parts, brakes and accessories
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1361833888