Will this truck haul a 74' B-Body?

[BMOTOXSTAR]

Hi,
There is this 74' Satellite I was going to pick up next weekend.I was going to rent a single axle trailer from U-Haul, the kind that the entire car would be transported on, not a car dolly. I have a 20 hour drive, round-trip.
  Question is, I have a 91' Chevy 1500, W/T, full size pick EM up, 4.3 V6.
Do you think it could handle hauling a 74' Satellite on a car trailer? The trailer does not have it's own brakes. The truck runs well but my pal told me that it does not have the towing capacity?
What do you guys think?
BMOTOXSTAR#079

[TeeWJay426]

20 hours? I don't think I'd push my luck with that combo for any more than 20 miles....... but that's me. That's gotta be about 5000 lbs with the trailer weight... my biggest concern would be stopping it.

[dodgecharger-fan]

That truck is not heavy enough to tow it safely.

Even with a dual axle, electronic brake trailer, it's a scary thought.

This could help you out, but it's probable cheaper to rent a hevier truck unless you plan on trailering cars a lot.
http://www.hell-ya.com/

I used to be mystified by the whole GVW thing - until I towed a 71 New Yorker with my '02 Ford Explorer 4WD. I had the Class III tow package, so I thought I'd be fine.
Well, I made it but it was one hairy ride. I'll never tow that car again.

[twilt]

Will the truck haul it? probably YES. Will it haul it well? NO Will it haul it safely? NO

[BMOTOXSTAR]

I really want the Satellite and it comes with a RR hood. I guess I should have someone follow me back and try driving the Satellite home. My only choice may be hauling it with my truck. I am really confused, I want this Satellite.
So the advice is DO NOT PULL IT WITH MY TRUCK? It sucks owning such a girly man Chevy truck.

[bordin34]

Could you possibly rent a u-haul truck or even a home depot truck. Home depot has f-350's and u-haul sometimes has f-250's or f-350's.

[Troy]

Why aren't you renting a U-Haul car hauler? It's barely more expensive than a regular trailer ($39 vs $55) and I don't think their single axle trailers have enough load capacity any way (1800 pounds the last time I used one). The car haulers have inertia brakes and double axles so there wouldn't be a problem with the trailer handling the car. If you get one of the newer aluminum ones they are fairly light as well. You didn't say where you were traveling to but is it mostly flat or are you going to have to deal with hills or mountains? If you're on flat ground I don't think your truck will have too much trouble but U-Haul may not let you rent a car hauler with it. I would NOT tow a car on a trailer without brakes with that truck (I wouldn't do it with any truck).

Troy

[BMOTOXSTAR]

I called U -Haul and they said that the truck would not handle the car trailer & car. Like you said, they recommended a car hauler. My only concern is that the bumpers of the car will scrape on the ground. I had a pal use a car hauler with a Dodge Dart and the bumper scraped.
I am going from Cleveland to Chicago & back. All flat, no mountains.
Sounds like the car hauler would be the best bet.
I really hope this works.
Thank you.
So the BL is not trailer & use a hauler?

[Troy]

The car hauler I'm talking about is a trailer (dual axle, inertia brakes, ramps, tie-downs, etc.). Did they recommend a "tow dolly"? That's the only way I can see the car's bumpers dragging since a "car hauler" sits about 18" off the ground.

This is a U-Haul car hauler:



There is no engine in the car so I put it on there backwards. The wheels have to fit all the way up against the front so you have to play with it a bit to get the weight right. My trucks can handle a LOT of tongue weight but yours probably can't. U-Haul needs to cover their rear so they underrate the capacitites of all their equipment. (For instance, you can't tow anything with a Ford Explorer.) If you tell them it's a big, heavy car they'll always so no but if you tell them you're hauling an RX-7 they'll be ok with it. I would be more comfortable in your situation with a dolly.

Another FYI - if you take I-80/I-90 to Chicago you'll get charged per axle at the toll booths. I think it cost me around $40 to get through Chicago with the Barracuda on a trailer. The roads sucks and so does the traffic so if you can find a better way then take it.

Troy

[Charger1973]

Ok here is my experience with trips like this.  You can use it to make your own judgement... But if it was me I would avoid a tow dolly and go for an actual trailer/hauler.   

Last January my buddy buys a 64 T-bird off ebay.  We live in Iowa, the car he bought was on Long Island in NYC...  Me (being the good friend that I am) offered to drive him out there to get it.  It was supposed to run fine, and he planned to just drive it back.  We figured if anything did go wrong we would just grab a U-haul trailer and pull it the rest of the way home.  So we get out there and it runs rough, has almost no brakes, bald tires...  So here we are 1600+ miles from home and no way to get the car home.  We called U-haul, no trailers OR tow dollies , and a week long waiting list on them.  So we thought, if we could get it out of the city, we could get a trailer.  We managed to find a tire shop that was open and got a new set of tires on it on the way.  Then we hit the interstate.  We got stuck.  Electrical system wasnt charging and the car broke down on the side of the interstate..  on Long Island on a Saturday night.  Not cool...   

So we went to a parts store, bought a battery, tossed it in and drove the car to a nearby parking lot.  Nothing was open by this point so we got a motel room and went to bed.  Next morning we looked out the window it was nothing but white.  It was clear roads the day before.  Now I couldnt even find my truck, it was completely buried....  We went to the parts store and got an alternator hoping that would take care of the charging problem. It seemed ok at first.  We managed to get the car out of the city and just into New Jersey before it started to get dark.  It wasnt 5 minutes after he turned the headlights on though that the car lost power and died again. 

We had to leave it (at a Chevy dealership of all places) overnight.  Came back in the morning and they were pissed to have a broken down Ford on their lot...  They told us where the local Uhaul was and wanted us to move that POS car ASAP.  No trailers, but they had a tow dolly.  We had to lie to get it though.  The tow dolly wasnt made for older RWD cars they were saying so we had to say it was for a 2003 Buick or something like that.  (not to mention the fact that my 2000 Dakota really shouldnt be hauling a car that size..) At this point of the trip we didnt really care anymore, we were on a mission. 

We got it loaded (barely) and went to drive away, and the car wanted to come off the dolly.  No steering wheel lock.  So this meant everytime we turned a corner the wheels would turn and push the car off the dolly...  It wasnt going to work.  Then we had t he idea of strapping the steering wheel to the drivers side seat frame.  It worked, thank god.  It was about the most unsafe thing we have ever done and I dont recommend anyone else ever trying it.  But we towed that big ass car like that, halfway across the country and made it in one piece.....

[BMOTOXSTAR]

Thank you for all the help. I will try the car Hauler/Trailer, that Troy said to use. The car dolly sounds like a bad idea, thank you Matt. My friend used a car dolly for his Dodge Dart and he said that everytime he turned the rockers and fenders hit the pavement.
Hope my truck can handle the load. It is all for a Mopar. That is all that matters.

[Charger1973]

One thing I really like is how the fenders on the uhaul car haulers can drop down, incase the car sits too low to open the door.  Thats such a good idea, wish I thought of it.   

[nh_mopar_fan]

The car hauler I'm talking about is a trailer (dual axle, inertia brakes, ramps, tie-downs, etc.). Did they recommend a "tow dolly"? That's the only way I can see the car's bumpers dragging since a "car hauler" sits about 18" off the ground.

This is a U-Haul car hauler:



There is no engine in the car so I put it on there backwards. The wheels have to fit all the way up against the front so you have to play with it a bit to get the weight right. My trucks can handle a LOT of tongue weight but yours probably can't. U-Haul needs to cover their rear so they underrate the capacitites of all their equipment. (For instance, you can't tow anything with a Ford Explorer.) If you tell them it's a big, heavy car they'll always so no but if you tell them you're hauling an RX-7 they'll be ok with it. I would be more comfortable in your situation with a dolly.

Another FYI - if you take I-80/I-90 to Chicago you'll get charged per axle at the toll booths. I think it cost me around $40 to get through Chicago with the Barracuda on a trailer. The roads sucks and so does the traffic so if you can find a better way then take it.

Troy

That is exactly the trailer I used to bring home Deb's Valiant ragtop last March. We towed it home with a V6 Dakota without issue.

[Troy]

I stopped using the U-Haul trailers when I found a local trailer sales place that rents trailers as well. They have real haulers (longer and sturdier) and I don't have to deal with U-Haul overbooking equipment. I have since bought my own trailer but it wasn't too bad renting them. The nice thing about rental trailers is the inertia brake which means you don't need a controller. The important thing to remember is that inertia brakes don't work in reverse (so don't back down a steep hill like my driveway!).

Troy

[cheap]

The car hauling trailer is a great idea,, and will work great.....I am really apprehensive about your truck though..Just for safety sake,,,,,,think twice about using your  V-6 truck....It is a long drive....

Good luck,, and post a pic when you get it...

[2Gunz]

You can rent an "industrail" truck you just need to find a place that rents them. One of the companys I work for rents dual tire flatbed trucks with a liftgate all the time. So I cant imagine a big pickup would be hard to find. Get that and get a real trailer.

Or...

And this is what I prolly would do if it where me.  Rent a 24" Budget rental truck and put the car in that. The trick here is you will need loading ramps and a slope or hill on both ends to make it work. Some tracktor trailers carry 14' long 3' and a half ish wide ramps. They are rated around 3000 pounds. Put 2 side buy side and its an excellent car ramp. Just need a slope or hill to help out the angle. Im sure a trucking company will rent you some ramps.

I loaded a jeep into a tractor trailer using this method and it was great.

Make sure you measure well. The car needs to fit. The Box trucks are about 7.5 feet wide inside. Plus you need to have room to put the ramps up on the sides (about 4 inches deep on their sides) or under the car.

To me this is the best method. Once the cars in it you can pretty much forget about it. And the Box truck is way easy to drive and the weight is a non issue.

[Charger1973]

You can rent an "industrail" truck you just need to find a place that rents them. One of the companys I work for rents dual tire flatbed trucks with a liftgate all the time. So I cant imagine a big pickup would be hard to find. Get that and get a real trailer.

Or...

And this is what I prolly would do if it where me.  Rent a 24" Budget rental truck and put the car in that. The trick here is you will need loading ramps and a slope or hill on both ends to make it work. Some tracktor trailers carry 14' long 3' and a half ish wide ramps. They are rated around 3000 pounds. Put 2 side buy side and its an excellent car ramp. Just need a slope or hill to help out the angle. Im sure a trucking company will rent you some ramps.

I loaded a jeep into a tractor trailer using this method and it was great.

Make sure you measure well. The car needs to fit. The Box trucks are about 7.5 feet wide inside. Plus you need to have room to put the ramps up on the sides (about 4 inches deep on their sides) or under the car.

To me this is the best method. Once the cars in it you can pretty much forget about it. And the Box truck is way easy to drive and the weight is a non issue.

How would you tie it down?   Ive never used an enclosed trailer but I imagine they still need to be tied down...  I cant imagine there being tie down hooks in a box truck. 

[BMOTOXSTAR]

Thank you all for the help.
I am going to rent the U-Haul Car Hauler that Troy was talking about. I let U-Haul know what I was towing & what with.Theysaid it looks good in the book. I will just have to see. I hope the truck makes it.
It looks like a 1,100 mile round trip form Cleveland,Ohio to Springfield, IL. I now find out that the Satellite is outside of Chicago.
I cant believe that  I am driving this far for a 74' Satellite,but the car is a super clean car that needs no body work and is turn key. I wish I could get the guy down from $2800 to $2500. Just due to the long drive and all the gas and tolls that I will be paying. I sure hope it works out.

[Daytona R/T SE]

Check out those U-haul trailers carefully, I've had the center of the wheel rip out on one I rented several years ago, luckily I had just unloaded the car and was taking the POS back when the wheel came apart. One of the other wheels had several stress cracks in it around the lugs. The tires are junk on these trailers-the air pressure should be checked before you go anywhere with it. Most of the time they're almost flat. The U-haul dealers just don't bother to check this stuff out DAMHIK 

Your truck is 16 years old. The work truck is the cheapest/lightest version Chevy made. The V-6 ain't helping matters, either. The load you are towing out weighs the tow vehicle. You might just make it, but I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when the dude in the Prius passes you on a hill and them slams on the brakes right in front of you...the pucker in the pants factor is VERY high.

The Ohio cops are pretty rough, just watch the semi trucks slow down as they drive under that big arch on I-70 as you enter Ohio. If you have a CB radio, turn it on.

You might just hear a funny story about the guy in the old Chevy with a Prius stuffed in his grille trying to tow an old Plymouth on a three wheeled, flat tired U-haul trailer.

[Troy]

If you're going to Springfield then come south a bit and take 70 across and you won't have any tolls. I seem to make it out that direction fairly often and you won't have any problems with hills for sure. My average speed with the truck and trailer is easily 75+.

Troy

[2Gunz]

You can rent an "industrail" truck you just need to find a place that rents them. One of the companys I work for rents dual tire flatbed trucks with a liftgate all the time. So I cant imagine a big pickup would be hard to find. Get that and get a real trailer.

Or...

And this is what I prolly would do if it where me.  Rent a 24" Budget rental truck and put the car in that. The trick here is you will need loading ramps and a slope or hill on both ends to make it work. Some tracktor trailers carry 14' long 3' and a half ish wide ramps. They are rated around 3000 pounds. Put 2 side buy side and its an excellent car ramp. Just need a slope or hill to help out the angle. Im sure a trucking company will rent you some ramps.

I loaded a jeep into a tractor trailer using this method and it was great.

Make sure you measure well. The car needs to fit. The Box trucks are about 7.5 feet wide inside. Plus you need to have room to put the ramps up on the sides (about 4 inches deep on their sides) or under the car.

To me this is the best method. Once the cars in it you can pretty much forget about it. And the Box truck is way easy to drive and the weight is a non issue.

How would you tie it down?   Ive never used an enclosed trailer but I imagine they still need to be tied down...  I cant imagine there being tie down hooks in a box truck. 

In my case the Tractor trailer had a lower set of rails. I put in loadbars and rached it to them. Good call on your part thou. The Rails in box trucks and trailers are all different.  To do it you would have to come up with something.

Prolly a little more difficult idea to get into action in the begining, but the end result is very safe and cheap.

And definatly better then taking a small old truck and renting a crappy trailer.

[mikepmcs]

All that bike racing you do, you've gotta know someone that is willing to lend you their 3/4 or 1 ton for this. 
Time to find out who your real friends are.
If I lived there I'd probably haul it for you and I don't even know you except for this site.

my.02

v/r
Mike

[BMOTOXSTAR]

I know,
   I am really finding out who my pals are now. I used to take my buddy to the Motocross track all last summer, load his bike up and bring him home. He is going to Daytona for the Supercross race in a few weeks and that is his excuse for not going.  :'(Most of the Motocross guys live about 2 hrs from me. 
   My Mopar buddy will not go with me cause' he thinks that 74' Satellites are turds and worth nothing. I am looking at this as a clean car that could be a nice RR clone or a nice driver.
Looks like I will be taking the trip by myself. I am use to doing most things on my own so it will just be another adventure. Who knows what will happen or who I will meet. I guess I could take a pit stop at the Indy Mopar Swap Meet?
I just hope that I am safe and that my truck does not break down on the way back.
My wife would go with me but she is pregnant and is not feeling well and does not think she would make the haul. Plus if I break down I do not want her with me.
AM I CRAZY FOR DRIVING THIS FAR FOR A 74' SATELLITE? 
I really thank all of you for your help.

[mikepmcs]

I don't think you are crazy.  If you want it go get it.  It must be a great price for you to be this interested so go with your gut.

Let us know how it works out and good luck to you.

v/r
Mike

[BMOTOXSTAR]

Thanks man. It could be an adventure.
The guy wants $2800 for the Satellite with a RR hood, it is a turn key clean car.
I hope I can get him down to $2500 when I get there.