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Uhaul Car dolly, Anyone use one?
post August 25th 2009 12:04 AM
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Question about Uhaul car dolly..

Looking to use the truck to tow my Bronco.

Car dolly cost $238, car hauler (trailer) cost $478. I'd much rathter go car dolly on this trip!

However, it's saying it cant use a car dolly to tow my Bronco. It also says for the car dolly, this:
"Max Load: 3,450 lbs. when towing a front-wheel drive vehicle, 3,900 lbs. when towing a rear-wheel drive vehicle."

Now.. I assume the max load is the actual weight being put onto the axle, not the overall weight of the vehicle?? I typed in a 06 Ford Escape, which comes in around 4500lbs and it said I can use a car dolly..

I'm just trying to get a clear answer as it will save me a ton. My Bronco weighs at about 5,500lbs and with stuff in it, I don't expect it to go over 6,800lbs


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post August 25th 2009 12:16 AM
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We have used both dolly and car hauler....IMHO go with the car hauler thumb.gif


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post August 25th 2009 12:18 AM
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QUOTE (nitehawk1946 @ August 24th 2009 6:16 PM) *
We have used both dolly and car hauler....IMHO go with the car hauler thumb.gif


Unfortantly money is kinda tight.. or else I'd go for the hauler in a heartbeat. sad.gif
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post August 25th 2009 12:22 AM
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What will you be towing the car dolly with?
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post August 25th 2009 12:27 AM
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QUOTE (nitehawk1946 @ August 24th 2009 6:22 PM) *
What will you be towing the car dolly with?


Nissan Titan
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post August 25th 2009 12:32 AM
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You going to have some weight in the rear bed? That will make the run a lot easier. Worst time We had with a dolly was towing with a Chevy 1/2 ton....had no gear in the rear bed. The dolly would sway quite a bit. We had a Toyota Celica on that tow dolly. Last time we used a dolly was a Buick LeSabre...we had just about 700 lbs of gear in the rear bed of the pick-up....did alot better. We used to pick up cars for Used Car Dealers....went to the car hauler because you can run better and faster.
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post August 25th 2009 12:45 AM
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QUOTE (nitehawk1946 @ August 24th 2009 6:32 PM) *
You going to have some weight in the rear bed? That will make the run a lot easier. Worst time We had with a dolly was towing with a Chevy 1/2 ton....had no gear in the rear bed. The dolly would sway quite a bit. We had a Toyota Celica on that tow dolly. Last time we used a dolly was a Buick LeSabre...we had just about 700 lbs of gear in the rear bed of the pick-up....did alot better. We used to pick up cars for Used Car Dealers....went to the car hauler because you can run better and faster.


Yeah I know what you mean. The Titan is a champ though. Tows/hauls a hell of a lot better than the 08 Ram (company truck) and the 09 F150 (company truck). I'd perfer the Titan any day for a 1/2ton tow/hauler.

I'll have some heafty stuff in the bed. Furniture and whatever else I can stuff back there. Probably about 1500lbs in the bed alone.

A guy on the Nissan Forum posted up his reply.. said he had no problems with this setup.

http://www.clubtitan.org/forums/attachment...mp;d=1251158129
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post August 31st 2009 9:59 PM
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Do not pull a rear wheel drive that has an automatic transmission with the dolly!

Dollies are only for front wheel drive cars or rear wheel drive cars you can put out of gear with a manual transmission. Putting an automatic into neutral isn't the same.

I'm very surprised UHaul didn't tell you this.
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post August 31st 2009 10:05 PM
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QUOTE (+Zeke+ @ August 31st 2009 3:59 PM) *
Do not pull a rear wheel drive that has an automatic transmission with the dolly!

Dollies are only for front wheel drive cars or rear wheel drive cars you can put out of gear with a manual transmission. Putting an automatic into neutral isn't the same.

I'm very surprised UHaul didn't tell you this.


Actually it's perfectly fine!

All you need to do, is remove the rear drive-shaft thumbsup.gif


my buddy used to work at uhaul, and talking to him, he said they are highly under-rated due to saftey/liablity reasons. Kinda like how you can't use a ford explorer to tow a trailer (read their fine print).

But he said if you just tell em its a small car, rent it, they'll never know. Said they are rated at 6,600lbs or something like that.
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post September 13th 2009 6:43 AM
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Double check the weight for the dolly with the uhaul guy - ask if that's the max load rating, or the axle rating. The dolly might only be designed for cars - hence the 3900lbs or so limit - that's the curb weight of your average little grocery getter car. Your Bronco is a lot heavier than 3900lbs. Gotta remember that on those tow dollies, the only things holding the vehicle on are some nylon straps and gravity, and you've got half the car hanging off the back with two wheels on the road. The car hauler is the way to go if the dolly's max load limit is 3900lbs. If you were to split that weight in half - you get a 1950lb axle weight (which isn't totally realistic, most vehicles are heavier in front than the rear unless loaded down). Imagine over-loading the axle on that dolly and having a blowout @ 55mph+ (not that you'd be going that fast, because we all know that everyone obeys the 50mph limit u-haul has you agree to, right?)

The tandem axle car haulers are definitely safer for your rig. Drive it up, put it in gear w/ brake on. Ratchet the tie down straps down tight as you can get 'em and you're golden. The rig won't come off the car hauler for anything short of a roll-over accident.

Definitely do find out the scoop on the dolly - axle limit vs. max load limit. Also - do you know if your Bronco will even fit on the dolly? The width of your wheel base comes in to play there too.

As for towing on the dolly with the 4wd... you can do it - but yeah, you gotta drop the driveline. Make sure you tie it up nice and snug - would suck having to buy a new driveline when you get to where you're gong, because your driveline was draging the pavement for the last 500 miles and now the joint is all buggered up.


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post September 13th 2009 6:45 PM
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When we moved U-Haul or Ryder refused to rent us a car hauler unless we also rented one of there trucks to pull the car hauler with even though we were driving the 1997 F250 Powerstroke turbo diesel.....They admited we would have no problems hauling the car, but said policy is policy...

Got a car hauler and the stupid thing broke in the Black Hills...Waited 6 hours for em to come and fix it...They said we had over loaded the dolly hauling the 94 Grand Am as the car was packed to the gills with shat, but finally they gave in and did not charge us for the service call and to fix the dolly...

How far are you moving????


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post September 15th 2009 4:36 AM
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QUOTE (Rampy @ September 13th 2009 11:45 AM) *
When we moved U-Haul or Ryder refused to rent us a car hauler unless we also rented one of there trucks to pull the car hauler with even though we were driving the 1997 F250 Powerstroke turbo diesel.....They admited we would have no problems hauling the car, but said policy is policy...

Got a car hauler and the stupid thing broke in the Black Hills...Waited 6 hours for em to come and fix it...They said we had over loaded the dolly hauling the 94 Grand Am as the car was packed to the gills with shat, but finally they gave in and did not charge us for the service call and to fix the dolly...

How far are you moving????



I thought he said he's moving to Spokane. That's going to be a good 11-1200 miles of interstate driving depending on if he goes 25 north to 90 west, or west 80 to 15 north. I don't know if I'd be hot to dolly a Bronco that far even if U-haul was OK with it. I'd most definitely opt for the car hauler if they'll rent him one. If U-Haul doesn't, Penske might have 'em.
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post September 15th 2009 5:24 AM
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There is no way in hell I'd tow a Bronco more than a few miles on a dolly, and I'm half nuts. I sure as hell wouldn't do it with a Nissan Titan.


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post September 15th 2009 5:29 AM
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QUOTE (Pepper @ September 14th 2009 10:24 PM) *
There is no way in hell I'd tow a Bronco more than a few miles on a dolly, and I'm completely nuts. - squirrels make turds less nutty than I - I sure as hell wouldn't do it with a Nissan Titan.


Fixed. And agree.
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post October 5th 2009 1:35 PM
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I pull our Jeep Liberty(manual trans.) on a dolly behind the camper( class c motorhome ) if you have a manual 4wd all you have to do is put the transfer case in neutral, if your 4wd is electronic, I don't know, you might want to use the trailer.


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post October 31st 2009 8:55 AM
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Just rented a Uhaul trailer to go pick up a 93 Tbird, tow vehicle '99 F250 V10 auto. No hassles from local Uhaul. Actually got fair MPG (14) with the car at 65mph coming back from Jersey.
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