Towing to Stowe, VT

[AJFord54]

I'd really like to go to the meet in Stowe, VT - but it is a very long way for me - 508 miles. I really don't want to drive my car that far. I have a GMC all wheel drive Safari that I have thought of tow-dollying my vehicle.

Have any of you done this before? Do you think my GMC will pull it without blowing up the tranny?

Another thought I had was to rent a small moving van from Penske or Budget and go with a tow-dolly on that.

Any ideas for a guy on a somewhat limited budget?

[MCHinson]

I don't know about the towing capacity of a Safari. I would suggest a Uhaul car hauler trailer rather than a tow dollie. Go to your local Uhaul dealer and tell them what vehicle you want to tow and ask if your Safari will handle it on their car hauler trailer. If their computer says yes, then your Safari is rated for sufficient capacity to tow that combination. If not, I would suggest renting a full size pickup truck or full size SUV, Suburban or Yukon or something similar. That will be cheaper than any small moving van, and will save you a ton of fuel costs as well.

So, your tow vehicle, or a pickup or suv, plus a UHaul car hauler, would be the cheapest and best way to do this by renting something.

[Peter J.Heizmann]

AJ...Welcome to the AACA Forum.

Matt has very good advice to use a trailer instead of a dolly. Years ago I rented a U-Haul open trailer. If I recall correctly, the trailer weighs 2-tons. They do not look heavy but I assure you they are. I towed a TR6 to Moline, Illinois for the AGNM and pulled it with an 8 cylinder Dodge Dakota. No problems.

Prior to having a pickup I had no tow vehicle for the 2000 Spring Meet in Winchester, VA. Went to U-Haul and asked to rent a pick up and open trailer. They took the total vehicle weight (2450 #) plus the trailer (2,000 #) and would not rent the pickup. They insisted I had to use a 14 foot moving van to haul the trailer. This was at the Reading, PA U-Haul. Possibly it was a song and dance...who knows. It was kind of comical towing a small car, one person, and, a suitcase with that large, empty truck.

How much does your car weigh? They normally do not have older vehicles in their data base and the clerk will more than likely ask the question.

Regards,

Peter.

[Bhigdog]

Probably not a song and dance. I got a load of stone at the local quarry and they wanted to see my registration to get the load capacity it was registered for. When I got loaded and weighed my pickup was about 300 pounds over registered capacity. They handed me the shovel they keep in the weigh house.

Seems they had gotten thier butts sued off because some doofus overloaded his pickup truck and then got in an accident going home. Of course it was the quarry's fault for letting him do it............Bob

[ted sweet]

i dont think a safari van can pull a car trailer.

[Larry Schramm]

I have a 98 Chevy Astro van and I do tow an open car trailer with it and some of my trucks with it, but.......I am careful to not put too large of a load on it. I tow my Buick trucks and an 8N tractor on the open trailer with it. It has trailer towing option and well maintained brakes with the electric controller and use an equalizer hitch. The towing capacity is listed as 5,000 pounds and I am careful to stay in that range. I also drive very conservative not trying to be fast in the fast lane. It is a 2 wheel drive which gives it a 500# higher towing capacity. Like everything else, common sense is of the utmost importance. It currently has 228,000 miles and is my everyday driver. It is not large enough to tow an enclosed trailer.

Look here for some more info on the Astro & Safari vans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Astro

Edited November 22, 2010 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[John348]

AJ, never tow because you or someone else "think's" the vehicle can do it. Check your owners manual and there will be a listing for the GCWR. That is the gross combination weight rating. That number would be in pounds and is the MAXIMUM weight of the tow vehicle, trailer, load and contents of the vehicle (driver,fuel, luggage, etc) Just because the vehicle can pull it does not mean it can stop and control it at a high speeds, or even worse a blowout on the trailer. I looked at the trailering guide that came with my GMC, but the Safari vans were no longer in production, however the maximum trailer weight for an Envoy with a 6 cylinder 4WD with a 3:42 rear is 5,200 lbs with the 3:73 is 5,700. You will need to use weight ditributing hitch without any doubt. If you are renting a trailer from U-Haul they use surge brakes and you will not need to have a brake controller installed.

If you are going to use a tow dolly you might as well drive the car. Think of all the debris that will hit your car, you are basically riding the bumper of another car at 60 miles an hour, besides you are turning the wheels of your car for 508 miles. I know on some roads in NYS tow dollies are not allowed, something to check into. I had a nice open Featherlite, and had $5,000 of damage to my car from a tire scrap from a truck blow out kicking up from my tow vehicle. I now have a closed trailer and 2500 series truck, good luck

[Restorer32]

We restored a '37 Packard for a customer. Despite our insistence that he not do it and our offer to deliver the car to his house he insisted on using a rented tow dolly to take his baby home. He made it about 3 miles. At the first sharp turn the fender on the tow dolly crunched the right front fender badly. Generally they are not designed to tow fat fendered antiques.

[John348]

I drove my 60 Impala for many years to everything. I took more of a beating then the car ever did. The lack of A/C in traffic is what killed me! I took a lot of spare parts and auto "band aides." Water pump, generator, starter if it is an auto, and we were good to go, a few wheel bearings and a seal can't hurt either

John

[Bill Boudway]

Hi AJ,

Why not drive it there?

Get together with a few others in your local club and make a tour of the trip.

Stop at the museum in Saratoga, or go up north to the boat museum in Clayton, Lots to see between WNY and northern VT.

[ex98thdrill]

Why not drive it there?

Get together with a few others in your local club and make a tour of the trip.

Take it from Bill, both Bill and his wife drove their two antique cars to the spring meet this year :D:D

I know a guy who with the help of members of this forum drove 8 cars to the spring meet, trailered the 9th car, and lent his tow vehicle out to the AACA National President so he had transportation as well.:rolleyes:

[R W Burgess]

I split the towing info from the Stowe Tour information to keep down the clutter!

Wayne

[stock_steve]

I've towed a loaded car trailer from here in Southern CT, up to a town just past Stowe (Morrisville), and all I'm gonna say is that there are some pretty decent hills getting up there...

[charlier]

I've towed a loaded car trailer from here in Southern CT, up to a town just past Stowe (Morrisville), and all I'm gonna say is that there are some pretty decent hills getting up there...

Funny you mention the hills Steve. I was just looking at my potential route to this meet and was wondering about what hills I might encounter.

Others in this thread have mentioned renting pickups or SUVs to tow rented trailers.

I occassionally rent vehicles from national car rental companies. Some here might find it interesting to know that at least some of these companies have "No Towing Rules" regarding their Pickups and SUVs. The last Chevy Suburban I rented from a National Chain had a tow hitch on it. When I asked the manager of the location about the hitch he informed me of their company's policy regarding towing (ie Towing is a NO NO). So I said "why the hitch"? He told me that the hitch came on the vehicle but that in no way meant it could or should be used.

Other people here might have other experiences with renting tow vehicles.

If the original poster does decide to rent a tow vehicle I STRONGLY recommend that he read the rental agreement COMPLETELY before signing it. If towing is prohibited in that agreement then it would be unwise legally and financially to rent the vehicle and use it for towing.

Also when renting a trailer from companies that offer trailer rentals, it is not uncommon to reserve a trailer and then find the trailer is not available when one goes to pick it up. That happens more and more often these days as rental companies cut back on equipment purchases and equipment is not returned promptly. When dealing with a trailer rental company be sure to deal with a larger local company or a national chain with multiple locations in your area.

[stock_steve]

Plenty of good advice, Charlie.

I definitely don't claim to have the world's most capable tow vehicle (older F250 with 351 V8 & manual trans), but, for whatever it's worth, that particular trip tested us all out pretty well, I would say. And that was with my 20' enclosed Wells Cargo loaded with a 1954 VW Bug inside.

[charlier]

Steve,

Thanks for the insight into the "towing terrain" for the trip to Stowe, VT.

Last year I climbed a few "hills" on my trips to various AACA Meets in NC, NY, VA & PA. The 4.7L V8 in my tow vehicle did work harder on some of those trips climbing the hills and my MPG showed it. Are you thinking of attending the Stowe Meet?

Plenty of good advice, Charlie.

I definitely don't claim to have the world's most capable tow vehicle (older F250 with 351 V8 & manual trans), but, for whatever it's worth, that particular trip tested us all out pretty well, I would say. And that was with my 20' enclosed Wells Cargo loaded with a 1954 VW Bug inside.

[stock_steve]

Steve,

Thanks for the insight into the "towing terrain" for the trip to Stowe, VT.

Last year I climbed a few "hills" on my trips to various AACA Meets in NC, NY, VA & PA. The 4.7L V8 in my tow vehicle did work harder on some of those trips climbing the hills and my MPG showed it. Are you thinking of attending the Stowe Meet?

Hi Charlie,

I am thinking about it, and do have my packet (yes, I see that the registration deadline is April 16th), but right now it is looking iffy for me, due to some other potential family-related commitments. Have a great time if you go!

Steve

[Shop Rat]

You may want to check into renting a pick-up truck from U-Haul, or a similar group, rather than from a "car rental" agency.

[checker]

I agree with all about the horrible tow dolly. Don't do it. For Hershey I rented an F-150 truck from U-Haul, and a car hauler. Drove well.

[huptoy]

As an alternate option, rent a 20' or 24' truck and haul your car inside. Find a garage or AAA with a rollback to put your car inside. Pick the car on the roll back then back the trucks together move it into the rental truck. Just reverse the procedure to get it out. The the price will be about $650 each way and you have no millage cost to your vehicle.

I know some one who hauled a 1928 Hupmobile roadster and other things 2,500 miles in 5 days from Dayton Oh to Seattle WA in a 28' rental truck.

I first heard of this when a friend drove his 28 4dr sedan from Dayton, to southern WI and had a rod go out. He hauled the car home in the back of a Uhaul truck.

It's a thought.

[Peter J.Heizmann]

As an alternate option, rent a 20' or 24' truck and haul your car inside. Find a garage or AAA with a rollback to put your car inside. Pick the car on the roll back then back the trucks together move it into the rental truck. Just reverse the procedure to get it out. The the price will be about $650 each way and you have no millage cost to your vehicle.

I know some one who hauled a 1928 Hupmobile roadster and other things 2,500 miles in 5 days from Dayton Oh to Seattle WA in a 28' rental truck.

I first heard of this when a friend drove his 28 4dr sedan from Dayton, to southern WI and had a rod go out. He hauled the car home in the back of a Uhaul truck.

It's a thought.

huptoy.

Unlesss rental companies changed their legal agreements hauling a car inside a rented van could cause a major problem. It has been a number of years since I dealt with a rental company however had the same idea. The clerk said if the rental van breaks down in the middle of nowhere their company authorized towing outfits are required to see what is in the truck before towing. If they find a vehicle inside they will make you unload it somehow "on the side of the road".

Sort of agree with their position in that a rental van is normally used for hauling goods and they are not set up for tie down straps to properly haul a vehicle. I shutter to think of a panic braking situation with a vehicle inside any tow vehicle that is not equipped.

Regards,

Peter J.