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Tow Dolly vs. Flatbed Trailer
- Thread starter tateboys
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tony barnhill
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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I always use my trailer but lots of folks have left theAutoist GarageMahal with MG's on U-Haul tow dollies - many for longer trips than you're planning.
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If it's an open trailer, you can get it on a 12 footer. If it's a closed trailer, minimum length 14feet and 7foot wide. And then, if your a big guy, it's hard to maneuver around it to tie it down. The chrome bumper car is about 12foot 6inches long. Don't know about the rubber bumper length.PJ
OP
tateboys
Senior Member
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C'mon, y'all would be the first to know (probably 'cause we'd have asked your opinion!) Haven't scheduled anything yet. We're not buying any car w/out having someone check it out for us first. I just happen to have a friend w/a trailer, and was curious if it would do the trick or if we needed to make other arrangements if and when we find a car. Thanks!
Fortunatly, we had show cattle. We kept the stock trailer when my son sold his show herd. MGs fit right in and it is a gooseneck so it pulls great. We used the "medium" size at Uhaul for an El Camino and Uhaul used a proram to make sure the trailer was large enough. What ever you are getting good luck. I know my MG would be the last car to be sold.
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Can't add anything more here, except to re-emphasise that if the trailer is specifically an auto carrier (open down the middle) - watch the clearances.
Oh - and remind the hubby/friend/bro/whomever to be sure the hitch is locked down on the ball, especially if you do end up renting. Last year, I screwed up big-time and trusted the U-Haul store to hook their own equipment properly. Good plan. I drove my father-in-law's Mercury Monster up onto the ramp and the hitch immediately lifted away from the truck. I had a 14-foot long, 1500 lb. see-saw.
Let's just say I was startled. After changing clothes, I found that there was no damage done - but I will never trust anybody's eyeballs but my own for something like this. Duh.
Happy hunting. Pics! We want pics! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
R.
Oh - and remind the hubby/friend/bro/whomever to be sure the hitch is locked down on the ball, especially if you do end up renting. Last year, I screwed up big-time and trusted the U-Haul store to hook their own equipment properly. Good plan. I drove my father-in-law's Mercury Monster up onto the ramp and the hitch immediately lifted away from the truck. I had a 14-foot long, 1500 lb. see-saw.
Let's just say I was startled. After changing clothes, I found that there was no damage done - but I will never trust anybody's eyeballs but my own for something like this. Duh.
Happy hunting. Pics! We want pics! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
R.
twigworker
Jedi Trainee
Offline
More here Kandace.
I use an enclosed trailer 16X6X7 and it is still difficult to maneuver my fat body inside when trying to get things tied down and balanced. Most enclosed trailers don't have sufficiently strong tie down eyes to keep a B from roaming around over bumps and going up hills or in panic stop situations. You would be best served by putting the car inside the trailer and then engineering some strong stops in front of the tires, front and rear, out of 2X8s that brace against the nose and the rear doors. Lots of work but that is the only way I have been able to keep a B from moving around. Otherwise, the up side is that the car stays clean and is protected from gravel and the elements.
If you use a dolly you are correct in taking the DS loose at the axle and wiring it up out of the way. Short runs of say fifty miles with it connected won't hurt anything but on longer runs you are taking a chance. The dolly's are hard back up too.
An open trailer is probably the easiest thing to use. It will be safe. The tie down effort will go smoothly and you can parallel park it after a little practice. The downside is that the car is exposed to all sorts of bad stuff, and if you try to cover it with a tarp there will always be some sort of loose corner or something that will beat the fool out of the paint as you blissfully rocket down the Interstate.
You takes your choice and you pays your price. LOL
I will wholeheartedly concur with the above comment about personally making sure that all things are hitched up and attached properly. Sometime I will tell your the story of a friend who looked out the window of her van and watched her towed vehicle pass her in the left lane as she was coming down off the ramp of the Lake Pontchartrain Bridge. The dog in the driver's seat, the other dog in the passenger seat and the duck sitting on the dashboard of the towed vehicle were all all little perplexed too. LOL
Jack
I use an enclosed trailer 16X6X7 and it is still difficult to maneuver my fat body inside when trying to get things tied down and balanced. Most enclosed trailers don't have sufficiently strong tie down eyes to keep a B from roaming around over bumps and going up hills or in panic stop situations. You would be best served by putting the car inside the trailer and then engineering some strong stops in front of the tires, front and rear, out of 2X8s that brace against the nose and the rear doors. Lots of work but that is the only way I have been able to keep a B from moving around. Otherwise, the up side is that the car stays clean and is protected from gravel and the elements.
If you use a dolly you are correct in taking the DS loose at the axle and wiring it up out of the way. Short runs of say fifty miles with it connected won't hurt anything but on longer runs you are taking a chance. The dolly's are hard back up too.
An open trailer is probably the easiest thing to use. It will be safe. The tie down effort will go smoothly and you can parallel park it after a little practice. The downside is that the car is exposed to all sorts of bad stuff, and if you try to cover it with a tarp there will always be some sort of loose corner or something that will beat the fool out of the paint as you blissfully rocket down the Interstate.
You takes your choice and you pays your price. LOL
I will wholeheartedly concur with the above comment about personally making sure that all things are hitched up and attached properly. Sometime I will tell your the story of a friend who looked out the window of her van and watched her towed vehicle pass her in the left lane as she was coming down off the ramp of the Lake Pontchartrain Bridge. The dog in the driver's seat, the other dog in the passenger seat and the duck sitting on the dashboard of the towed vehicle were all all little perplexed too. LOL
Jack
rick_ingram
Yoda
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How many year's of practice to parellel park a tow vehicle and trailer, Twig?! I can't even back one up in a straight line!
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
tony barnhill
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
Offline
Jack - I looked in my rear view mirror one night over in South Carolina as I came off a dast exit & saw one of my MGA coupe parts cars sitting on the tailgate of my Sonoma...never, ever let anybody else but yourself tie down a car on your trailer!
twigworker
Jedi Trainee
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Actually Rick, that was a bit of bravado. I have trouble backing my rig into the receiving bay at the Atlanta mart and I make every possible effort to NOT put myself into a position where I have to back the thing up, especially if someone is watching. LOL Jack