I wonder if the problem might be that the Corvair is difficult to drive onto the trailer. It’s sort of low to the ground, right? Clearance issues, etc.?
How much does a Corvair weigh in at? The trailer alone weighs 2210 pounds per Uhaul, and the Double Cab V6 4x4 Taco has stated max towing capacity of 3500 pounds without the factory tow package, and 6400 pounds with the towing package. It would seem that without the towing package, you’re going to be grossly exceeding the towing limit, but with the towing package, you’ll probably be okay.
Here’s another one that threw Uhaul for a loop ;
I wanted to rent truck for a week and asked how much for zero accumulated miles. ( This was befor Pods and other container rentals and in this small town you don’t have those options anyway, just in the big city. )
’‘Where are you going ? ‘’ they asked .
Nowhere, I’m going to park it in my back yard.
silence
( yes, I was playing with him, but you could see the wheels turning for a request he’d never heard before )
’‘I’m installing hardwood floors in three rooms. I need to move out ALL the furniture, wall to wall, but be able to lock it up securely for a week. I could move a pickup load at a time to a storage garage…or…park a uhaul in the back yard.’’
Nice Corvair. A buddy I ran around with back in high school had a Corvair. His was a '65 model 2 DR; a Monza or Spyder whose exact name I forget.
Don’t get upset with the guys at the U-Haul counter. They’re just following corporate policy or else they risk getting fired or having their operation pulled out from under them.
Odds are that any “you can’t do that” is rooted in a past “someone sued us because…”.
Yeah I had a 61 Corvair sedan. Paid $150 or $125 for it. It was fun but sold it to the guy that built our house in 1976.
You could always pull it up backwards onto the trailer. I have experienced boat trailer wobble due to too much weight over the rear of the axle, Thank the guy and move on.
Either U-haul must have been sued and lost, or there was an ownership/management change, because there was a BIG change in corporate policy around the turn of the millenium.
Up until ‘98, it was pretty much “the wild west” there, with anything going. I once rented a 5’X8’ trailer to be towed by a SENTRA, fer crying out loud! All the way from NM to PA (You can spare me a lecture…I’ve learned better in the last 16 years.) This was pretty much the way it had always been, too…hook up the trailer…all lights work…“okay, see ya later!”
Then, I went to rent a trailer in '05 or so…and it was 20 questions, as it was each and every time after–like going through TSA. Also, they had always used tap-light hookups for trailer lights prior…now, not only didn’t they stock 'em, but when I asked, they looked at me like I had just farted in the company of the Queen of England!
The Taco has the tow package, so it’s rated at 6500. The Corvair weighs in at about 2675. Trailer and car are about 4885, well within the capacity.
There are a lot of pictures of Corvairs on U-haul trailers on the Corvair forums. The inner lip on the wheel tracks are only a couple of inches high, and the Corvair has about 7.5 inches of ground clearance, so THAT’S not the problem.
It HAS to be the fact that it’s a rear-engined car, and U-haul apparently thinks no one would be smart enough to BACK the car onto the trailer, to put the heavy end of the car over the tongue of the trailer.
It HAS to be the fact that it’s a rear-engined car,
If this is the case, U-Haul should not allow one to trailer a VW Beetle.
Maybe a Beetle is short enough to not mess up the balance when driven fully forward on the trailer…
The Beetle will be forward of the axles…so there probably won’t be a weight shift issue.
The problem with U-Haul or any rental company…is they are taking a lot of the liability when people rent something from them. They would have to give 2-hour classes on everything they rent to ensure the person renting it won’t be harming himself or others. If the person renting the piece of equipment harms someone…the person harmed lawyers go after the deep pockets (aka U-Haul).
U-Haul is partly at fault also (or at least they use to be). They just want their money…so they don’t care WHO they rent to. Some 40+ years ago in Upstate NY…an 85yo woman killed 2 people driving the U-Haul she rented to help move a friend. The woman barely knew how to drive - let alone drive a 24’ truck. U-Haul (and almost all car rental companies) NOW - won’t rent to anyone under 21 (Gee I wonder why???). Last time I rented a U-Haul truck…a U-Haul employee spent about 20 minutes with me going over the use of the truck and how to properly load the truck so the cargo won’t go shifting - causing unsafe driving condition. I’ve rented MANY U-hauls in my younger days…and that was the first time anyone ever spent the time on how to properly load the truck or even the best way to drive it. Gone are the days where they rent to anyone at anytime and push them out the door after they take their money and say “Good Luck”.
Sometimes (as in this case)…it goes a bit too far. But U-Haul corporate is just being overly cautious. I actually like the fact that they have certain rules to prevent disasters from happening. People have been killed because of rental companies renting to people unqualified.
It’s funny how it took a lawsuit against Taylor Rental to add a policy saying not to rent a piece of dangerous equipment (like a Chain saw) to someone who appears drunk or high.
I tried to get a heavy duty bumper hitch installed on my '92 Jeep Comanche pickup about 10 years ago. U-Haul said they could not do it because of their policies. I turned right around and asked if they could install it on my '96 Jeep Cherokee and they said they could because it had the 4.0 engine. I just shook my head and walked out of the place because my Comanche also had the same 4.0 engine. I went to Walmart and bought a Reese hitch and installed it instead. I saved around $200 and I think it’s a better hitch than the U-Haul variety anyway.
If you go online to the Uhaul site to check prices on a trailer for auto transport you are asked what kind of tow vehicle and what make/model is being towed on the trailer. Selecting something like a F250 combined with the 60’s corvair and they don’t recommend the trailer only the dolly. Uhaul must have their reasons but it’s not clear to me.
It WOULD be interesting to find out what their logic is. If only for enlightenment purposes.
Bad balance, too-low tongue weight, right?
U-Haul knows that their employees can’t tell if it is raining out when the dog comes in wet and apparently thinks their customers are even dumber.
I added a response yesterday morning…But someone it’s no longer hear…yet it shows up under my list of comments in my profile…Something hiccuped in the database yesterday.
The Beetle will be forward of the axles…so there probably won’t be a weight shift issue. The problem with U-Haul or any rental company…is they are taking a lot of the liability when people rent something from them. They would have to give 2-hour training course on everything they rent for you to be properly trained on what you’re renting.
I rented a U-Haul last year. I was given a complete overview on how to properly load the truck. Last time I rented a U-Haul was right after I got out of the Army about 40 years ago. When I rented one then…I was handed the keys and told " Good Luck"…and off I went.
U-Haul is probably being over cautious in many of their rules.
I think being over cautious is better then what they use to be some 30 years ago. In Upstate NY (at least 35 years ago) a 75yo woman rented a 24’ U-Haul truck to help move a friend. This woman could barely drive a car…let alone a 24’ truck. She ended up killing a family when she lost control of the truck. Besides the fact she didn’t know how to drive the truck…she and her friend didn’t know how to pack and secure it in the truck.
These rules are inconvenient - and in the Covair case it looks like they’ve gone overboard…but I’d rather have them go overboard then no rules at all.
Rental companies have been putting rules in place for years. You’d think that some of them would have already been in place.
Taylor rental now has a rule in place that they don’t rent equipment like Chain saws to someone who’s obviously drunk or high. Gee…Really? It took someone who was drunk operating a chain saw kill someone in order for Taylor rental to make a rule like that.
Speaking of Covair’s. Anyone see that new show (at least new for me) in the Discovery channel called Lords of the Car Hoarders?
Two guys got together and started this company (with a concept I think is pretty cool)…to go around to areas where people are hoarding cars. Basically with people who just have salvage yards in their back yard. They offer them a deal…they’ll remove all the vehicles and one of the salvaged vehicles they’ll build them one cool custom vehicle. One of the guys is a custom car builder. The other is an Ex-Pro Wrestler who’s been building custom bikes and cars for years.
Their first show a guy had about 30 old Covairs in his back yard. And at least 4 Covair vans. Which I didn’t know they made a Covair van. I certainly never saw one. They actually too the Covair van and did a complete restore and customized it for the customer.
Interesting company concept if it was real. Never know with these reality shows. But it was entertaining. Unfortunately I know a few car hoarders.
http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/lords-of-the-car-hoards/photos/car-reveals.htm
The van was the Greenbriar. It handled so poorly and was so slow that it made my Monza seem like a Ferarri.
I watched a couple of episodes, and became bored. I like What’s My Car Woerth?, Chasing Classic Cars, and Wheeler Dealer better. Maybe the problem with Car Hoarders is that new episodes are hard to find.
I like What's My Car Woerth?, Chasing Classic Cars, and Wheeler Dealer better. Maybe the problem with Car Hoarders is that new episodes are hard to find.
I love “Chasing Classic Cars”.