Need moving advice!

[Lucky]

I'm going to be moving in about a week or so. I plan on renting a 15' truck or so and then towing my civic behind me on a tow dolly.

My questions are:

I got a quote from uhaul for $400 from southern ohio to suburban chicago. It includes 550 miles and 3 days, and includes the rental of the tow dolly for my car as well. Does that sound right? (14-foot truck).

2nd: How hard is it to drive these things? I briefly rented a 27' uhaul a couple years back but it wasnt an extended trip nor was I towing anything. What do you need to watch out for when towing a car behind you? How is drivability affected and is there anything I should rememeber BEFORE I start driving?

 

[rgwalt]

I drove a 20 foot Ryder from Kansas City to Lawrence, and then Lawrence to South Bend. Those trucks suck to drive... Mine didn't have cruise, and was speed limited for 65 MPH though I drove mostly in states with a 70 MPH speed limit. Other than that, it isn't too bad. Learn to use your side mirrors as they will be your only source of information about what is going on behind you. Make sure you signal and make lane changes well in advance of what you need.

$400 for that move sounds about right. Did you try shopping around? Try configuring your rental for different days... Try to move towards the middle or end of the month. Try different pick-up days. These variations might save you some cash. When I moved, Ryder gave me a much better deal than UHaul did. I reserved my truck over the net and saved quite a bit over what UHaul wanted.

I didn't pull my jeep behind me, so I don't know what to tell you about the tow dolly. However, I would avoid reversing whenever possible.

Good luck with your move. Are you going to head across on 80? If you need a place to stop and eat, you'd be welcome to drop by South Bend. PM me if you are interested. However, when you pass South Bend, you are only about 2 hours from Chi-town, so you'll probably just want to finish your drive.

Ryan

 

[Lucky]

Good luck with your move. Are you going to head across on 80? If you need a place to stop and eat, you'd be welcome to drop by South Bend. PM me if you are interested. However, when you pass South Bend, you are only about 2 hours from Chi-town, so you'll probably just want to finish your drive.

Hey thanks, I might take you up on that! Yes, Im heading along 80 and stopping in indiana anyways to give away some extra ATX cases I wanted to get rid of.

couldnt do much configuring online as it was broken and my quote was over the phone. I may goto my local uhaul store and see what kind of deal they can cut me.

 

[Sluggo]

U-haul used to have a drive on car trailer that was only a couple of dollars more than the dolly, probably not much harder to contend with driving, but easier on the car, and probably less chance of damage on the car.

As with any trailer, the hardest part is backing up, so always park where you can pull through straight.

The most important part...REMEMBER HOW TALL THE TRUCK IS

 

[rgwalt]

Yeah buddy, drop me a PM if you want to grab a bite to eat. Good luck, and be careful on the drive.

Ryan

 

[ThunderGirl]

Uhaul keep in mind the truck is not as big as it says as they count part of the over hang in there footage. I have found Ryder actually has the biggest trucks. Also I would go w/ a flat bed to tow the car it is much better for your car and will not have to worry about the swinging as much.

When we moved from WI to UT I found even w/in the same company that I got different quotes from online, local, and national and they all played off each other to give me the best deal even though it was the same comany. I ended up with the 27' from WI to UT for $800.

Good luck to you!

 

[Synoptic]

Originally posted by: rgwalt
Mine didn't have cruise, and was speed limited for 65 MPH though I drove mostly in states with a 70 MPH speed limit.

Generally, when you are driving a big truck, and especially when towing, you want to go less than the speed limit anyway. There is usually a posted truck speed limit, go by that.
Jeremy

 

[hoihtah]

don't get an u-hall.
you're much better of going with penski or ryder.

much better trucks... and most of the times... cheaper.

 

[Lucky]

any more advice? I chose uhaul as a starting point because there is not another company in the area (within 60 miles) that offers self serve moving trucks.