tow dolly or car carrier?
March 28, 2018 1:04 PM Subscribe
Driving a truck cross-country with a car; tow dolly or car carrier?
Next month I will be moving 1800 miles for a new job, and circumstances dictate that I will probably be driving twice, once with a 26-foot Penske truck, once with a 16-foot Penske truck a few weeks later (or maybe vice versa). Most likely, I will need to tow one of our two cars. I'm considering towing both.
The route is fairly easy, 95% on interstates, no mountains, driving through only one major city. The cars are a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (crossover SUV) and Sonata (mid-size sedan). I have experience driving these types of trucks, but have never towed anything. I am mostly concerned about stopping at gas stations and parking at motels. Tow dollies are significantly cheaper to rent (about $175 vs. $375 for a car carrier).
How should I plan this? How were your experiences using either of these? Will it matter much if I take the lighter car? Will it matter much if I use the smaller truck to tow? We have a quote for $1000 for a professional car shipper to take the Sonata but for various reasons it would be pretty inconvenient to use that service. I'm wary that the price will somehow go up on that quote, too. I'm guessing the extra gas if I tow a truck will be about $50-100.
Oh, also any advice for figuring out where to find motels where it's easy to park? That was the hardest part last time, this time that will be harder if I'm towing a truck.
Next month I will be moving 1800 miles for a new job, and circumstances dictate that I will probably be driving twice, once with a 26-foot Penske truck, once with a 16-foot Penske truck a few weeks later (or maybe vice versa). Most likely, I will need to tow one of our two cars. I'm considering towing both.
The route is fairly easy, 95% on interstates, no mountains, driving through only one major city. The cars are a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (crossover SUV) and Sonata (mid-size sedan). I have experience driving these types of trucks, but have never towed anything. I am mostly concerned about stopping at gas stations and parking at motels. Tow dollies are significantly cheaper to rent (about $175 vs. $375 for a car carrier).
How should I plan this? How were your experiences using either of these? Will it matter much if I take the lighter car? Will it matter much if I use the smaller truck to tow? We have a quote for $1000 for a professional car shipper to take the Sonata but for various reasons it would be pretty inconvenient to use that service. I'm wary that the price will somehow go up on that quote, too. I'm guessing the extra gas if I tow a truck will be about $50-100.
Oh, also any advice for figuring out where to find motels where it's easy to park? That was the hardest part last time, this time that will be harder if I'm towing a truck.
The type of trailer on which you tow a car can depend on the vehicle you are towing. While many can be towed with only two wheels up, placing the towed vehicle in neutral to avoid damaging the transmission, some must be towed with all four wheels off the ground. Be sure to check the owner's manual for each before you make your decision.
posted by peakcomm at 1:19 PM on March 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by peakcomm at 1:19 PM on March 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Also, I don't know if it's an option for you, but the last two moves we did, we avoided this scenario altogether by using U-pack/ABF and driving our own cars. They drop the truck, you load it, they pick it up and deliver it to the new location on your specified date. Then you just have to worry about getting yourselves there in your own cars.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 1:20 PM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by rabbitrabbit at 1:20 PM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's been 1995 since I did it, I moved across the country (Chattanooga, TN to the SF Bay Area) with a car on a tow dolly. We didn't have trouble finding parking at the time, but we did, once, have to disconnect the car, and walk the dolly out of some place because I pulled into a place I couldn't pull forward out of, and backing that short tow dolly on the long truck was a difficult endeavor. I think we had the largest Ryder at the time.
What others have said about the particular car: If you dolly a rear or all wheel drive car, you'll need to disconnect the drive shaft. Front wheel drive cars should be easy.
posted by straw at 1:40 PM on March 28, 2018
What others have said about the particular car: If you dolly a rear or all wheel drive car, you'll need to disconnect the drive shaft. Front wheel drive cars should be easy.
posted by straw at 1:40 PM on March 28, 2018
Response by poster: Thanks for the advice so far, just one note: per Penske's website, they say that both cars can be towed with either a dolly or car carrier. They have you put in the make/model/year to check. They're both front-wheel drive.
posted by skewed at 2:52 PM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by skewed at 2:52 PM on March 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
The biggest difference to me is that backing up a trailer is no fun, but doable even for an amateur like me. Backing up a car dolly, not so much. I don't know how tight your budget is, but for me that would probably tip the balance towards a trailer.
Motels next to the freeway tend to have decent truck access, but as noted above it's an easy call to confirm. I'd be more concerned about gas stations than hotels, since you will be stopping at more of them. Truck stops are ideal, since they always have huge lots and easy-access pumps.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:09 PM on March 28, 2018
Motels next to the freeway tend to have decent truck access, but as noted above it's an easy call to confirm. I'd be more concerned about gas stations than hotels, since you will be stopping at more of them. Truck stops are ideal, since they always have huge lots and easy-access pumps.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:09 PM on March 28, 2018
Best answer: I wouldn't do a tow dolly for any significant distance -- go with the trailer, they're balanced better and less wear-and-tear on the vehicle itself.
As far as parking at hotels (and really almost everywhere else) -- if you have a big rental truck with a car on a trailer behind it, most people will give you slack when it comes to parking, they know it sucks and you're doing your best. Find the furthestmost line of parking spots and just park across them in such a way that you don't need to back up, or pull into end-to-end parking spots and drive through so you're taking up four spots at once -- as long as you're not blocking the closest parking spots nobody should mind. At the hotel, pull into the easiest temporary place you can find and then go in to ask where you should park for easiest exit and without bothering other people there. You also might find yourself just parking on the street (in normal parking, don't try this in no-parking areas) and walking a ways. You might also have to wait a bit at gas pumps for more than one to open up, or for the guy in line ahead of you to move. I did Wisconsin-to-NorthDakota in a 26' truck with a car on a trailer and never had to back up once.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:15 AM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
As far as parking at hotels (and really almost everywhere else) -- if you have a big rental truck with a car on a trailer behind it, most people will give you slack when it comes to parking, they know it sucks and you're doing your best. Find the furthestmost line of parking spots and just park across them in such a way that you don't need to back up, or pull into end-to-end parking spots and drive through so you're taking up four spots at once -- as long as you're not blocking the closest parking spots nobody should mind. At the hotel, pull into the easiest temporary place you can find and then go in to ask where you should park for easiest exit and without bothering other people there. You also might find yourself just parking on the street (in normal parking, don't try this in no-parking areas) and walking a ways. You might also have to wait a bit at gas pumps for more than one to open up, or for the guy in line ahead of you to move. I did Wisconsin-to-NorthDakota in a 26' truck with a car on a trailer and never had to back up once.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:15 AM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Well, thankfully, some other options have come up and we are going to be able to do it without towing a car. Pretty relieved, I think I could have done it, but it would have been pretty tough and I hate to add a bunch of stress to what's already going to be a difficult move.
posted by skewed at 10:10 PM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by skewed at 10:10 PM on March 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
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If it were me, with such a long haul, I'd see if I had any friends willing to drive the vehicles, and then buy them a one-way plane ticket home. That probably doesn't meet the IRS's definition of moving expenses though, so if you need to claim all your expenses I'd do the professional service.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 1:15 PM on March 28, 2018