Moving Mom's Car

[ladyjaine]

I might need to move my mom's old car a grand total of forty two miles. I am new to towing anything. This will be through DC traffic, on the beltway and also through the suburbs. I never seem to start with the easy ones. I'll have to rent something for this, I'd prefer a flatbed. I don't know why but it feels right. Can anyone offer tips, pointers or advice?



Jean

 

[RustyJC]

Pardon the superficially dumb question, but is the car driveable?



Rusty

 

[RHogge]

Call AAA, or a tow truck company.

 

[willyslover]

Jean... U Haul or Ryder rent car hauler trailers made just for this use... maybe even a local equipment rental yard [they are usually the best as the do a much better job of maintenance on their equipment, I've had failures on EVERY rented U hal and Rider I have used]

 

[ladyjaine]

The car is driveable. I live alone. One driver, two vehicles. Both must end up in VA. The car is in MD, the truck in VA. I have heard horror stories about rented U haul and Ryder trailers and am leery of using them.



Tow trucks around here are a minimum of $20 to hook up and then $1. 00 a mile. It would not be cheaper to call them. Waiting several hours for them to show up is also a PITA that I can avoid if I use my own truck. I didn't get the tow package on Baby Jaine just because I wanted a kewl hitch plug storage spot.



Jean

 

[CFAR]

What type of car is it?

How much does it way?



And I second the use of a car hauler, or even a dolly if appropriate.



The car haulers and dollies are small and are not that hard to tow, just slow down and pick a time of little traffic, say 2:30 am.



If you rent a car hauler or dolly make sure you get good tie downs some of the rental tie downs can be pretty worn. If you don't know how to use them ASK or get someone to show you. The only dumb question, is the one you don't ask. Trust me you don't want the car comming off the trailer.



Check the overall condition of the rental equip. don't worry about paint or appearance, check the tires, the safety chains, the the part that goes over the ball (make sure it operates correctly), and make sure the lights work.



By the way I've done some pretty stupid stuff while towing, if you plan ahead, are carefull you should not have too many problems.

Most of all be safe. Remember you stopping distance will be dramatically lengthened thus the plan ahead, no tail gating.



Some day I'll tell you about the time I towed a 74' Blazer on a tandem axle trailer with my 82' Datsun pickup, which had the massive 2. 2L Isuzu diesel in it.





lol

 

[greyghost]

Originally posted by ladyjaine

I didn't get the tow package on Baby Jaine just because I wanted a kewl hitch plug storage spot.



Jean

That was awesome. I should make my girl friend read this.



Aren't you close to the "Sesame Street Gang" up there. Can another TDR member help ya out with maybe a hands on demo or trailer rental (donation)?



Lot of Luck and keep the rubber side down, tends to roll better that way.





Garrett

 

[lmills]

Where are you located and when did you plan to do it. I drive mostly in Montgomery county and have a flat bed car trailer.