Re: Trailer Up To About $600?
Just a few tips from experience.
Up till a year ago, I made rather frequent 1400 mile trips from NJ to FL, the first time I rented a truck from Budget, along with a car trailer, no problems at all, the second time, I needed an enclosed trailer and didn't need the big truck, I went to the local UHaul dealer and got one of those High cube vans. I didn't make it home from UHaul before it died, a call back to where I got the van, and they told me bring it back and they have another truck. 20 minutes later, i got the first truck to start, and limped it back to UHaul, where they now gave me another truck, which turned out to be a lot larger, this time a GMC Topkick with a 24' box, vs the 12' van.
This was going to cost me a lot more in fuel, but I had to leave the next morning so I took it. I should have walked away and not taken that truck either, it died the next morning about half way through VA, I had stopped for breakfast, came back out and it was stone dead, a call to UHaul got me another truck, but this time all they had was a Toyota with a big box on the back, and now I had nearly filled the 24' GMC. Their solution was to give me the Toyota truck/van plus an enclosed trailer. After two hours of swapping everything over, we made it fit, with items stuffed everywhere, including in the cab. About 200 miles further down the road, now in NC, the trailer starts acting funny so I pulled over, one tire was coming apart and losing its tread. Another call to UHaul gets me a service truck who took nearly two hours to show up. They didn't have a tire, so the next solution was to flatbed the loaded trailer to the nearest UHaul center, which turned out to be way out of my way, where they proceeded to install a used wheel and tire on the trailer and I was back on my way. About the time I hit SC, I see red lights in my rear view mirror, so I pull over and the officer tells me I've got no trailer lights and something is dragging the road. I get out and check, and the trailer lights are dead, and there's a chunk of something dragging the highway, which turned out to be part of the trailer. Again, I call UHaul, they direct me to a UHaul dealer in SC, who turned out didn't have another trailer, but could have one in the morning, so I stayed in SC for the night, the next morning they swapped everything over to another trailer, and I was off again. I got rolling around 10AM. After a few hours I stopped for lunch, found a place to park at a diner and grabbed some lunch, when I returned, the truck wouldn't start and I could smell fuel. Again, I call UHaul, they send a guy out from a local service station who rents and services their trucks I guess, he found something wrong with the fuel pump or lines and after a few calls back and forth they decided to put me in another truck, this time the only truck they had was another Hi-cube van which they informed me wasn't allowed to tow the small enclosed trailer, they could only give me a flat open trailer with that truck. Figuring that the weather forecast looked OK, and I was just past halfway to my destination, I went with it rather than killing another day. Again, bad move, about an hour into FL I hit rain, everything was tarped but things still got wet. And now with a flat trailer, I couldn't stop and eat without worrying about my stuff getting stolen. So the last 300 miles of the trip were done without stopping to eat.
What I learned after that trip was to avoid UHaul at all costs, the equipment just isn't maintained properly. Most of it is old, abused, and neglected. I've made two dozen trips since all using Ryder trucks with no issues at all.
The last time down there I bought a used Honda Gold Wing that I needed to bring back to NJ, I looked at all my options and the best solution I found was to buy a cheap used boat trailer and several 2x12 planks and some tie downs. I bolted one 8' plank down, with two 2x4s upright to keep the tires from slipping sideways, and use the second plank as a ramp. I loaded the bike, tied it down real well with several redundant straps. I replaced all four wheel bearings, bought two new tires and headed north. All was fine, the trailer and bike made it back with no issues. I towed it back with my car. I un-rigged the trailer and still use it as a boat trailer. I fixed a few things on the bike and rode it to FL the last time down and found someone who needed a car brought north when I returned north.
The only thing I'd have done different when rigging the boat trailer to haul the bike was to put some sort of tarp or floor over the whole frame, when I hit a patch of rain, the bike took a terrible beating from the spray off the back of the car. A sheet of plywood or even a heavy tarp under the bike would have saved me a day's worth of cleaning on the bike.
Over various trips, the last few in just my car, I couldn't help but notice how many UHaul rentals I see on the side of the road or dealing with issues. One hardware store I go to here rents UHaul, a quick look over of their trucks always shows things like bad tires, cracked glass, corroded panels, and other issues. They just seem to milk more years or miles out of their fleet than most others do.
When I rent from other companies, the vehicles are usually almost new or super clean, with UHaul, you see high miles and poorly maintained trucks. They only seem to fix things when they break down.
If I were you, I'd go find a trailer suited to your boat, then make it work for the bike for the trip. When your done, you'll have the trailer you need when in TX. You might even look into getting it registered in TX first and be done with it?
That way any money you put out won't go to waste.
A few planks and some tie downs are a lot cheaper than renting a trailer and possibly an extra night or two in a motel if you break down. If your running small tires, carry at least two spares. I've never had an issue but I like to be prepared. The boat trailer I hauled back with the bike on it had 12" wheels, which did fine. I kept the two old tires for spares. I've gone just as far on 8" tires as well, but I like to keep the speed down on the highway with tiny wheels like that.
I've wondered how it would be taking a Uhaul across country, but don't want to try from my prior local experiences....
