No SOUP...er I mean trailer,....for YOU!

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] We just returned from a 4,000 mile-plus Jeep odyssey that took us up thru So Dak, Wyo, Mont, Ida, and over to the Pacific Ocean at Seattle. Besides sightseeing and visiting friends, one of our goals was to empty out a renta-storage room that one of the kids still rented in Redmond WA, a leftover from their college/apartment/working/etc. days. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] We found the renta storage all right, and there was a U-Haul place just a few miles away. To our surprise, the U-Haul dealer informed us that if we had been using the convertible top on our Jeep, he COULD NOT have rented a trailer to us. Luckily, for this trip we had the hardtop on the Wrangler so that wasn't an issue. We did not get the whole story as to the WHY of the no-convertible rule, but no doubt some dummy did something dumb with his convertible and got in a jam and blamed U-Haul. We also found out that U-Haul WILL NOT rent a trailer to anyone who will be towing it with a Ferd Explorer. [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] A few years ago when those Exploders were self destructing because of defective tires; Ferd and the tire company tried to blame it on U-Haul; so U-Haul has adopted a retaliatory: "OK, you sonzas!" policy and no Exploder gets hooked to any U-Haul trailer. [img]/forums/images/icons/mad.gif[/img] We picked out a single-axle 5X8 trailer and scientifically packed it to get the exact tongue weight that was needed, and were rewarded for our efforts by a trailer that actually improved the handling of that Jeep. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] We got 21.17 MPG on the way to the coast and 14.72 MPG on the return with the trailer behind us. We spent 943 dollars on gas in 4057 miles. The overall average fuel consumption was 18.29 MPG. That 4.0 in-line six in our Wrangler did very well towing up some 6 and 7% grades; I never had to go to bottom gear. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] Gas was most expensive in Seattle, and cheapest in So Dak. Out there on I-90, you would think that gas and diesel were FREE the way people push trucks and RVs, 70-75 MPH is about what they run with a Dodge Diesel pickup and a thirty-foot fifth wheel trailer. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

[egon]

That must have been a nice trip. It's been awhile since we've been anywhere! [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

My Doge Diesel and the trailer only run at maybe 60 MPH. Overdrive is locked out and with the rev's at 2200 that's all she does. Everyone passes me! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Course I may catch up to the odd fellow on a long hill! [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] You know how it is when you drive the interstate..... you are chucking along with the control set at 67 and WHOOSH, someone blasts by at 75-plus, disappearing over the horizon. Then an hour later they pass you AGAIN at high speed. This goes on all day. We would see the same SUV go blasting by us repeatedly. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

[Bird]

Ah, how times have changed. I'd heard about their rental policies and refusal to rent trailers to be towed by certain vehicles, and a few years ago, one of my brothers tried to rent a 16' tandem axle trailer to tow empty 50 miles with his S-10 Chevy pickup, then the other brother was going to tow it loaded about the same distance with his Suburban, but U-Haul would not rent a 16' trailer to be towed by an S-10 at all. The brother with the Suburban had to make the hundred mile round trip just to get the trailer.

But in 1962 or 1963, I rented a trailer to move across town and towed it with an Austin Healy Sprite. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] Trailer rental places didn't care what kind of vehicle you had as long as you had the money to pay the rental fee. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[jml755]

Here's the scenario that I imagine happens all too often:
- guy rents trailer to tow with some vehicle that wasn't designed to haul a trailer or it exceeds the GVWR of the tow vehicle.
- guy has accident
- lawyer hired by person injured in accident goes after deep pockets. i.e, uhaul.
- jury awards gazillions of dollars to plaintiff, saying uhaul should have foreseen every possible situation that could occur.

I guess I can't blame Uhaul for instituting provisions to protect themselves.

[Bird]

I think there's no doubt at all that you're exactly right, and like you said, you can't blame U-Haul, even though I don't agree with the "deep pockets" decisions of the courts.

[Pat]

Bird, Towing with a Sprite? That was ambitious.

I was towing a trailerable sailboat behind a 1943 Ford Jeep. A San Diego City police stopped me so he could look me over. He said when he came up from behind he couldn't see what was towing the boat and wondered if it was a motor cycle or what.

No ticket, just an interesting conversation. Boat was a bit beamy so it did obscure the view of the Jeep.

Pat

[Bird]

Yep, Pat, that was the original reason I had a trailer hitch made for my Sprite. Dad had a 16' Texas Maid Fiesta; pretty deep and wide aluminum run about boat with a 35 hp Evinrude. And it was the same as you say about your Jeep. People approaching from the rear couldn't see what was pulling the boat unless or until they passed me. I also usually drew a crowd of onlookers at the launching ramps at Lake Lavon and Lake Texoma to see whether I was going to be able to pull it out of the water, but I never had a problem at all.

I can't remember just what size that U-Haul trailer was, but it was an enclosed, or van type, I rented to move from an apartment in east Dallas to one in Irving. I didn't need a very big one because those were furnished apartments in those days. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

And I did a lot of things in those days that I wouldn't even think about doing now. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]