When I moved my son to med school about 150 miles, he had a truck reserved but never materialized. I had brought my 4x8 trailer with my Riviera just in case. I had the trailer loaded pretty high, and both my car and his car filled to the brim without room for a newspaper but we made it. I drove slower and had everything tied down good but that was with a good sized car, with a V6 and only 150 miles.
That’s one way to get a road trip in @Bing.
I was asked to help move my brother in law from college. I took my 4X8 trailer, ropes, tie downs and a few old blankets to cover anything that might get scratched.
I walked into his apartment and was wondering where all the boxes were. When I asked he said he thought I could help pack too and that he had no boxes…but a lot of paper bags from the grocery!!!
I packet that apartment in record time and was not worried if anything got scratched.
Then he told me that we had to stop on the other side of town because a friend was giving him a free dresser for his bedroom. I left the back few feet of the trailer empty for the dresser.
When we got there, he told me to wait and he disappeared into one of the buildings. I figured that any minute I’d see him come out with a friend carrying a dresser.
I happened to look in my mirror and he was walking back to the truck with a dresser that must have been made from cardboard and he had no problem walking back that 50 yards with the piece of crap on his shoulder.
And we drove 20 minutes out of our way fore this???
Yosemite
Quoting @RodKnox (Best handle on the board.)
“U-Haul people were quite helpful also it seems. They are accustomed to customers who can’t back trucks with a trailer attached.”I've never had any luck backing a loaded tow dolly more than a few feet. I'm not sure it's physically possible as the "table" tends to want to swivel as though you were turning a corner. Then, all of a sudden, the car is headed off to the side, even as the dolly's wheels are straight. Does anyone know a trick to it?
Trailers are no problem.
I’ve never had to back a tow dolly but I used to have problems backing my camper . . . until at a truck stop in Georgia one morning on our way to Florida, I watched an expert semi driver back his trailer between two other trucks, expertly. I noticed that the trailer will go right or left whether the wheels are turned right or left, didn’t matter. The trick was to start straight and then not move the steering wheel much-just enough right or left to keep it going where you wanted it. I immediately ignored what my dad had told me and never had a problem since.
Now that we are talking about moving, my dad and I moved my sister once from one apartment to the other. She lived 50 miles away so we got there maybe 8:30 or so to get the job done early. Not only was nothing packed at all, she didn’t even have any boxes. So we ran around for an hour or so trying to scrape up some boxes, start packing, hauling, etc. It was after dark before we got home. I guess that’s why I have a hard time throwing good boxes away and just break them down and store them. Whenever I go anywhere to help move, I always have a supply of boxes and packing tape along just in case.
If you do tow, make sure your rear brakes are working right. It is easy to jackknife your car and trailer with front wheel drive (or even a lightly loaded pickup truck) without adding to the problem. If the tow bar angles upward toward the car, the trailer could cause the rear wheels to lift off the road when braking. Don’t brake on curves or you could go flying. Usually nothing bad happens while towing but you don’t want to be with the other 35%.
@debbylucky–MG McCanick gave you some good advice about using a palletized moving service. You might tell us a little bit more about what you are moving. If a 4x8 U-Haul will hold your stuff, you aren’t moving a lot. Here are some ideas:
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If you are moving a lot of books, you might check into sending them by freight. I think thee is a special book rate.
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Do you know what your living arrangement will be in Santa Fe? It could be that the items you want to take won’t fit into your new quarters.
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Unless your furniture is particularly valuable, sell it instead of transporting it from Chicago to Santa Fe. If there are furniture items that have value to you, there are moving companies that will take partial loads. These companies wait until they can put the partial loads together into full loads. The cost is greatly reduced, but you may not get much notice about the arrival time.
I had a new colleague arrive at the university where I taught. I did help him locate a suitable apartment. He didn’t have a car at the time. On moving day, he asked if I would help him move. He was staying in a hotel. I arrived at the hotel on moving day and he appeared in the lobby with two suit cases. “What do we have to move?” I asked. He pointed to the two suitcases and said, “This is it”. He bought the items he needed for his apartment and bought a car from another colleagues that was leaving the institution.
I made the mistake on my last move of moving a lot of items that I should have disposed of. This move was 26 years go when we moved into our present house. I still have some of these items in boxes in the garage and this move was only one mile. My wife is now insisting that I clean out unneeded items from the garage this spring.
My advice would be to ship the items that are really valuable to you, sell the other items, sell the car and take AmTrak. It is a beautiful ride. When you get to Santa Fe, rent a car while you look for a replacement for the Saturn. Have a friend recommend a mechanic to inspect your prospective purchase if you are buying a used car. Shop for the necessities that you absolutely need that first week and then, as you settle in, you can buy more items.
I’ve never had luck at all in backing up a tow dolly.
Find an old farmer and let him do it. I’ve seen many backing up hay wagons as straight as an arrow. With a pivot point at the hitch ball and another at the tow dolly deck is the same as a tractor and the hay wagon front wheels steerable.
Yosemite