Any experience with U-Haul trailers

[elbert]

OK, I decided to start towing my car to the track. Finding a place to store the trailer, otoh, is quite challenging. My yard is sloped in a way I can't park there, and most storage places near me want ~$350/mo for uncovered RV parking.

So I'll risk using a U-haul trailer. I know there was a thread on the old forum on using these trailers, but I forgot most of the info.
- I do remember one suggestion of a piece of 2x12 under the front tires to allow the front bumper to clear the front trailer lip.
- Are the included straps usable?
- Do I need to put a piece of wood under the ramps to load/unload the car?

Much thanks (any suggestions of trailer storage in the MD suburbs of DC would also be appreciated)

[COVID-19]

Recently moved and had to use a Penske and I’m pretty sure they are similar to uHaul. But I had to use 2x4s to raise the rear tires to come up since there’s a metal lip in the middle of the trailer where my car would scrape. Then there’s another lip on the front where you strap the car (have to remove if not you will hit it straight with the bumper) I took them off the trailer then moved the car forward then installed them again. (Here is where you can use another 2x4 to raise the car and not have to removed them) I only used the straps the trailer have. (Car is lowered)

[Sid_E46]

I used a Uhaul trailer for when I bought my car in NC and drove it back to GA. I used some wood to clear the front lip of the trailer and it does come with straps that go around the front wheels.

The car was also stock height at the time.

[elbert]

I used a Uhaul trailer for when I bought my car in NC and drove it back to GA. I used some wood to clear the front lip of the trailer and it does come with straps that go around the front wheels.

The car was also stock height at the time.

How was the clearance with the trailer ramps when loading up the car?
That picture helped a lot, thank you! The front mask/bra is a good idea.

Recently moved and had to use a Penske and I’m pretty sure they are similar to uHaul.

It's too bad Penske won't rent out the trailers by themselves, only with a moving truck. Their equipment is usually in better condition than Uhaul. But I'll keep an eye for the center section, thanks

[S14]

Recently moved and had to use a Penske and I’m pretty sure they are similar to uHaul. But I had to use 2x4s to raise the rear tires to come up since there’s a metal lip in the middle of the trailer where my car would scrape. Then there’s another lip on the front where you strap the car (have to remove if not you will hit it straight with the bumper) I took them off the trailer then moved the car forward then installed them again. (Here is where you can use another 2x4 to raise the car and not have to removed them) I only used the straps the trailer have. (Car is lowered)

I used a Penske trailer when we moved 2 years ago. My car is at the internet recommended 13" ride height and those little rails on the trailer ripped the underbody on my car. Luckily it was just the fuel filter cover and the other plastic in that area, so no body damage, but I was still annoyed when it happened.

[COVID-19]

I used a Penske trailer when we moved 2 years ago. My car is at the internet recommended 13" ride height and those little rails on the trailer ripped the underbody on my car. Luckily it was just the fuel filter cover and the other plastic in that area, so no body damage, but I was still annoyed when it happened.

yeah that’s the part I’m talking about. I’ve seen some uHauls with it too.

[Sid_E46]

How was the clearance with the trailer ramps when loading up the car?
That picture helped a lot, thank you! The front mask/bra is a good idea.




It's too bad Penske won't rent out the trailers by themselves, only with a moving truck. Their equipment is usually in better condition than Uhaul. But I'll keep an eye for the center section, thanks

It was pretty tight, I used the slope of a driveway to reduce the angle of the ramps which drastically helped.

[Estoril]

Or you could just rent the van....

[bigjae46]

Damn…I found a place for $75/mo to store my trailer. It’s an uncovered spot, semi PIA to park it.

Shop around for a spot. Better and cheaper to have your own trailer


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Silverblt]

I have used uhaul several times to haul my M and my lowered e46 race car. They work fine of you follow their instructions for hauling low cars:

Stack a 5 foot and a 3 foot board under the ramps driving onto the trailer so you don't rip off the bottom of your car and place an 18 inch board under the front tires on the trailer to avoid destroying your front bumper.

Easy breezy. Their inexpensive well maintained, and you don't need a place to park them.

[Cronenberged]

I had to do the same as Sid. Measure some wood out to for the front tires to sit in nicely.

[elbert]

I thought I'd update this thread. I used these U-haul trailers three times last year, with mixed results.

You will definitely need some pieces of wood.
- For the front wheels, you will likely need 6 pieces. Most trailers will have front tire stops, which my front bumper would not clear without being lifted up.
For each side, two will go under the front wheel, and one to clear the wheel net mount.
The two pieces under the front tire should be 2x12's, 18" long. One of those should have a bevel on edge to make it easier to drive up.
The third piece is also 2x12, length can vary. Also should have a bevel.

- For the rear, you can use Race Ramps. Another option is two 2x10 or 2x12 per side, which will go under the ramps.
As mentioned in an earlier post, there is a raised spine on both sides of the open area. It is high enough to catch the bottom of the car. Sometimes this spine will be squished down by someone else, but not always.


My experiences:
1. First trailer was by far in the best condition. No complaints with this one.

2. Second trailer had a front tire strap ratchet that kept skipping. Glad I didn't bash my hand or head when it happened.
It also had a crappy tongue jack that took a lot of effort to drop down once it was carrying any weight. Of course we had 98 deg blazing hot weather that weekend.

3. Third trailer was the worst. The ball coupler was a total POS.
The ball coupler is threaded (not a latch like most trailers), so to tighten it on the ball, you need to spin a knob down. Well, on this last trailer, the threads were damaged, so the coupler seemed it was fully tightened, but it really wasn't.
When I was loading the car, the coupler popped off and it banged into my tailgate. Fortunately Ram puts an obnoxiously large logo on the tailgate, so it got a small mark, rather than a large dent in sheetmetal.
I think the newest Uhaul trailers now have Demco couplers, but I haven't seen one in person yet.
Also one of the tires had a slow leak, which might not be their fault, but I'm going to blame them anyway because I'm still pissed about this trailer.
And to top it all off, I had to wait 45 minutes in line to pick up the trailer (even with a reservation), as it was the end of the month and a lot of people were moving.


Comments:
I bought a spare 4 way trailer harness. If it was missing, I had been able to grab one from another trailer at the yard, but I didn't want to depend on this. The U-Hauls around here are always short staffed, and I hate waiting around.

One fairly big downside with these trailers is tongue weight. Because of how the car is strapped down, you cannot reposition of the car to adjust the tongue weight, and it ends up putting too much weight on the tongue.
Ram trucks can't tolerate much payload (coil springs rather than leaf), but the rear would sag because the tongue weight is way too high, especially considering how light this load is.
I had to put as much weight (tools, jack, popup, etc) as possible in the trunk of the car to help reduce the sagging.

I said I didn't want to, but I ended up buying my own trailer. That last experience was a deal breaker.
I found a storage place about a hour away with a tolerable but still (IMO) unreasonable rental rate where I'll leave it.

These trailers may have been better in the past, but with recent staffing shortages, quality and maintenance has definitely slipped.
I would say U-Haul trailers are ok no more than twice in your lifetime, but otherwise you are better off bringing your own trailer.

[bigjae46]

I thought I'd update this thread. I used these U-haul trailers three times last year, with mixed results.

You will definitely need some pieces of wood.
- For the front wheels, you will likely need 6 pieces. Most trailers will have front tire stops, which my front bumper would not clear without being lifted up.
For each side, two will go under the front wheel, and one to clear the wheel net mount.
The two pieces under the front tire should be 2x12's, 18" long. One of those should have a bevel on edge to make it easier to drive up.
The third piece is also 2x12, length can vary. Also should have a bevel.

- For the rear, you can use Race Ramps. Another option is two 2x10 or 2x12 per side, which will go under the ramps.
As mentioned in an earlier post, there is a raised spine on both sides of the open area. It is high enough to catch the bottom of the car. Sometimes this spine will be squished down by someone else, but not always.


My experiences:
1. First trailer was by far in the best condition. No complaints with this one.

2. Second trailer had a front tire strap ratchet that kept skipping. Glad I didn't bash my hand or head when it happened.
It also had a crappy tongue jack that took a lot of effort to drop down once it was carrying any weight. Of course we had 98 deg blazing hot weather that weekend.

3. Third trailer was the worst. The ball coupler was a total POS.
The ball coupler is threaded (not a latch like most trailers), so to tighten it on the ball, you need to spin a knob down. Well, on this last trailer, the threads were damaged, so the coupler seemed it was fully tightened, but it really wasn't.
When I was loading the car, the coupler popped off and it banged into my tailgate. Fortunately Ram puts an obnoxiously large logo on the tailgate, so it got a small mark, rather than a large dent in sheetmetal.
I think the newest Uhaul trailers now have Demco couplers, but I haven't seen one in person yet.
Also one of the tires had a slow leak, which might not be their fault, but I'm going to blame them anyway because I'm still pissed about this trailer.
And to top it all off, I had to wait 45 minutes in line to pick up the trailer (even with a reservation), as it was the end of the month and a lot of people were moving.


Comments:
I bought a spare 4 way trailer harness. If it was missing, I had been able to grab one from another trailer at the yard, but I didn't want to depend on this. The U-Hauls around here are always short staffed, and I hate waiting around.

One fairly big downside with these trailers is tongue weight. Because of how the car is strapped down, you cannot reposition of the car to adjust the tongue weight, and it ends up putting too much weight on the tongue.
Ram trucks can't tolerate much payload (coil springs rather than leaf), but the rear would sag because the tongue weight is way too high, especially considering how light this load is.
I had to put as much weight (tools, jack, popup, etc) as possible in the trunk of the car to help reduce the sagging.

I said I didn't want to, but I ended up buying my own trailer. That last experience was a deal breaker.
I found a storage place about a hour away with a tolerable but still (IMO) unreasonable rental rate where I'll leave it.

These trailers may have been better in the past, but with recent staffing shortages, quality and maintenance has definitely slipped.
I would say U-Haul trailers are ok no more than twice in your lifetime, but otherwise you are better off bringing your own trailer.

Storage an hour away? Where do you live?

Im sure it would be hard to find a decent uhaul anything if you’re in an area where people were fleeing during COVID .

The best strategy to make loading easier is to put the trailer tires in a low spot.

[Gt4]

U-haul trailers are super heavy and if you strap the car with front wheels against the stopper, it shift a lot of weight on the tongue.

Last time I rent one, the car was so low that I wasn’t able to get the wheels to the stoppers even with 2x10 under the wheels. So I strap it a bit readward. Honestly, it distributed the weight way better and towing with my X3 M40i was a like a walk in the park! The X3 M40i towed way better than my wife 2019 Toyota Highlander that has a higher toying capacity.

[elbert]

U-haul trailers are super heavy and if you strap the car with front wheels against the stopper, it shift a lot of weight on the tongue.

Last time I rent one, the car was so low that I wasn’t able to get the wheels to the stoppers even with 2x10 under the wheels. So I strap it a bit readward. Honestly, it distributed the weight way better and towing with my X3 M40i was a like a walk in the park! The X3 M40i towed way better than my wife 2019 Toyota Highlander that has a higher toying capacity.

Putting the car rearward would definitely help with tongue weight. I just assumed the car had to be all the way forward because of their tire nets.
You should post some close up photos of how you attached the straps (if you have them). Too late for me but It would help others.
My concern would be the liability risk. I would expect a huge lawsuit if there's an accident -- even if it weren't your fault -- since it isn't the recommended practice from U-haul. Maybe it would be different in Canada.

Storage an hour away? Where do you live?

Im sure it would be hard to find a decent uhaul anything if you’re in an area where people were fleeing during COVID .

DC area. Anything near me was $350-400 per month for uncovered RV parking.
Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if people left if they could telework.