Square body being towed

[89Suburban]

I tow bar'd 2 Ramchargers 250 miles with a Ramcharger. Did just fine. Put the T-cases in neutral and rolled down the turnpike. That was many years ago.

 

[SirRobyn0]

I took the govenor off to move my sister to Atlanta. lol the motor went on the beltway. I put the govenor back on while they were bringing another truck. was this a sin? asking for a friend
Eeric

I don't know was it an International or a Ford. If Ford no, it's totally fine one less Ford on the road!

 

[Soundmound]

I would steer well clear of U-Haul if possible. I went to confirm my rental at the pickup location today, you know, because I don't trust them. Needless to say I was right, they never set the rental up even though I checked in online right after reserving the transport. I would have showed up tomorrow and been a$$ in the wind! Now I have to drive an extra 120 miles round trip to get the trailer from Ellensburg. Never again will I deal with that garbage company. The customer service agent was absolute trash also and gave ZERO Fcuks about any of it.

 

[Radiohead]

I've done some chit with U-haul trailers I wasn't suppose to either but do keep in mind, if they find out you'll get in trouble. Even something as simple as a flat on the trailer, the company could fine you and ban you from future rentals. My biggest U-haul sins have been renting trailers with one vehicle and towing it with another, which could also get a guy in trouble, so I get it. Just understand it's not risk free.

Good points all.
I suppose I should preface some of my posts with the "don't try this **** at home, kids" thing, but the farthest I've had to trailer this year was 120 miles one way loaded. We drug a 68 suburban home on a dolly pre-covid 200 miles and only shredded one tire, so there was that. When I made the big move in '89 I drove my 64 GMC 1/2 ton the 1300 miles with all my tool chests and crap. That was an adventure too, no mechanical problems at all. But life was much simpler then too....

 

[SirRobyn0]

But life was much simpler then too....

I sure hear you on that point!

 

[SirRobyn0]

I would steer well clear of U-Haul if possible. I went to confirm my rental at the pickup location today, you know, because I don't trust them. Needless to say I was right, they never set the rental up even though I checked in online right after reserving the transport. I would have showed up tomorrow and been a$$ in the wind! Now I have to drive an extra 120 miles round trip to get the trailer from Ellensburg. Never again will I deal with that garbage company. The customer service agent was absolute trash also and gave ZERO Fcuks about any of it.

Dave, I should have said something to you earlier but it's been a while since I've played the U-haul game, and frankly had forgotten. Make your reservation by calling the location you want to reserve from directly. Don't do it online and not using the 1-800 number. Call the local store you want to rent from. After a good screwing one time I had a C/S agent at the U-haul location tell me that the online system assumes a certain amount of availability and if a trailer isn't returned, or if the local facility rents it, the online system will simply tell you the day of to pick up your trailer at another location. Same with dropping off. If you make the reservation online you might be assigned a different drop off location and your stuck driving there or paying additional fees. Part of the problem is U-haul corp owns some of the trailers while the franchises also own some trailers. Same thing applies to trucks.

So the moral of the story is call the facility you want to rent from, they will reserve for you a trailer they own, and unless someone fails to return it, you'll have a trailer, and get to return it to the same location. Sorry I didn't think of that sooner. If you need to reschedule your drop off just let me know we can push it out if you want.

 

[Grit dog]

Since y’all have completely tanked the OPs thread, although he hasn’t been back in a couple days anyway, good to know that U Haul is as horrible as they were in the past, in the event I get the urge to rent something from them.
@iceman01 your question is really open ended. But I’ll assume “easiest” means cheapest and not too difficult.
Old school tow bars that clamp on work great on squarebody bumpers, fwiw. But they aren’t common anymore.
Tow dolly or trailer. For that distance, disconnect the driveshaft if 2 or 4 down.

 

[Grit dog]

^And lie to Uhaul about the size of car
Tell them the toad is little car, make one up. That way you won’t get hassled about the size of the toad or the size of the tow rig.
They have rules, need xx vehicle to tow xx vehicle.

 

[SirRobyn0]

Since y’all have completely tanked the OPs thread, although he hasn’t been back in a couple days anyway, good to know that U Haul is as horrible as they were in the past, in the event I get the urge to rent something from them.
@iceman01 your question is really open ended. But I’ll assume “easiest” means cheapest and not too difficult.
Old school tow bars that clamp on work great on squarebody bumpers, fwiw. But they aren’t common anymore.
Tow dolly or trailer. For that distance, disconnect the driveshaft if 2 or 4 down.

"completely tanked the OPs thread"? We are still talking about methods to tow a square it's not like we are talking about prostitutes or something lol. I'm only be silly.

^And lie to Uhaul about the size of car
Tell them the toad is little car, make one up. That way you won’t get hassled about the size of the toad or the size of the tow rig.
They have rules, need xx vehicle to tow xx vehicle.

The biggest thing that kept me using U-haul regularly before I had my own trailer is there are few other companies that will rent a trailer to tow with your own vehicle and their trailers are cheap to rent.

 

[Soundmound]

It gets better. When I got it home and loaded the truck on the trailer it revealed to me a tire with 28lbs of air.... So I plugged the bastard. It'll be a slow row to hoe tomorrow.

 

[Soundmound]

@iceman01 Happy to report the tow was OK. Stopped at the top of Steven's Pass for a snap and to check the hardware. I'll say if your '76 is a long bed she's going to hang way off the back. My short wide was like a foot and a half +/- over the end of the trailer. Also, your center of gravity will be higher and be sure to consider your tire size. I think the Federals on mine are about 31" overall and the front straps were a little short for my liking. Otherwise, it was a really easy tow and the trailer length makes maneuvering pretty easy to be honest and the surge brake helped keep my Silverado's brakes from getting roasted. Well, that and appropriate use of lower transmission gears on the downhill side. Some helper bags in the rear of my tow rig would have been nice but it was quite manageable without. I'd probably buy a trailer like it for my own if they were available and I had the scratch.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[SirRobyn0]

@iceman01 Happy to report the tow was OK. Stopped at the top of Steven's Pass for a snap and to check the hardware. I'll say if your '76 is a long bed she's going to hang way off the back. My short wide was like a foot and a half +/- over the end of the trailer. Also, your center of gravity will be higher and be sure to consider your tire size. I think the Federals on mine are about 31" overall and the front straps were a little short for my liking. Otherwise, it was a really easy tow and the trailer length makes maneuvering pretty easy to be honest and the surge brake helped keep my Silverado's brakes from getting roasted. Well, that and appropriate use of lower transmission gears on the downhill side. Some helper bags in the rear of my tow rig would have been nice but it was quite manageable without. I'd probably buy a trailer like it for my own if they were available and I had the scratch.

You must be registered for see images attach

Nice picture. I know right where that was taken! Given a choice I'd take going over Stevens, to Snoqualmie any day, but I rarely get to drive Stevens these days. I don't mean to get off topic, but it was great to meet you today my only regret is that I couldn't talk long enough. I think we could spend a few hours just talkin' about our trucks!

 

[Soundmound]

Nice picture. I know right where that was taken! Given a choice I'd take going over Stevens, to Snoqualmie any day, but I rarely get to drive Stevens these days. I don't mean to get off topic, but it was great to meet you today my only regret is that I couldn't talk long enough. I think we could spend a few hours just talkin' about our trucks!

Same sir, it was a pleasure indeed. I can always talk squares for hours! We'll schedule a chat and chew when I pick her up, lunch on me.

 

[ulm4lyf]

My '78 C15 is a long bed and I had to tow it about 100 miles when I bought it. It fit on a uhal trailer, but just barely. NOT the dolly, a trailer.

 

[Bextreme04]

I didn't see this mentioned, so I'll just add this. Full trailer with brakes is always preferred. Dolly would be next preferred as long as it is rated for the load and preferably has brakes also. Last would be flat tow.

The biggest concern for flat or dolly towing a K truck is what transfer case you have followed by what transmission.

NP203
1. Automatic Transmission: Transfer case in "N", Transmission in "P", no need to disconnect rear driveshaft. The NP203 has the oil pump on the rear output shaft and as long as the rear driveshaft is turning the transfer case is getting lubed. The transmission oil pump is on the transmission input, so if the output is being spun without the engine running you will burn up the transmission.
1 Manual Transmission: Transfer case in "N", Transmission in "N", same as above for driveshaft. T-case consideration is the same, but manual transmissions are splash lubricated by gear oil and don't have a pump tied to the input, so they won't burn up if spun by the output.

NP205
Same shifter positions as above for both transmission types. The NP205 does not have an oil pump and is splash lubricated by oil in the case whenever the transfer case is being spun.

NP208/NP231/NP241(basically ALL aluminum case transfer cases in a square)
Disconnect the driveshaft in all situations where the rear tires will be spinning!!!
The 208/231/241 family have the oil pump on the input of the transfer case. If the rear shaft is spinning and transmission is in park, no oil is being pumped and the t-case will burn up.