Trouble renting equipment: Trailers and car dollies

U-Haul is a pain in the butt to deal with any more. They have been sued too many time. So they have many restrictions on renting anything. I wanted to used a car dolly last year to move my daughter to St. Louis. We where a driver short. Anyway U-haul would not rent me a dolly to pull with my 1 ton Dodge pickup. The reason was the bumper and hitch where home made and did not have the stamping for what weight class the hitch was. I even had the manager look at how it was made out of 3/4 inch plate and is twice as heavy as any store bought hitch. We where only going to be towing a Dodge Neon.

PO me so much I just loaded the car and all into a semi van trailer with all of her stuff. I had no problem finding dock to use to unload her car. Plus we had a much better trip riding in the semi with the sleeper and all. Grand daughter loved being able to sleep during the trip in a bed. Son-in-law liked not having the women with him in the car for the trip. LOL.

It seems that common sense had been replaced by lawyers and court cases. If this had been the way things where in years past we would never had electric in your homes since many burned because of the old wiring. How about a car making it with out some one suing because they could not drive it like a horse.

I am getting tired of the restrictions that every day people have on them because some idiot did something stupid.

A few years ago I helped my son to move cross country. He has a lot of books so the one-ton rental van was a little low in back. We went to pick up the rental trailer that he had reserved for his car and there was no adjustment on the front of the trailer for hitch height. They had no problem with the front of the trailer being 2 inches off the ground but I did. Finally they sent us about 8 miles down the road to another agency and we got a dolly.

I may have lived a horribly sheltered life but I have seen lots of height-adjustable hitches but I don't believe that I have ever seen a trailer
with an adjustable tounge.

Adjustable tongues on trailers not as well known as hitch inserts-- but seen locally on some heavy single axle utilities, car haulers and bobcat trailers. Coupler on short stub that is in plates at right angle to body of tongue is one way- adjustable up and down by pins. A screw adjustable rectangle frame is another- pivot on corners to raise or lower by diagonal crank- this on boat trailor. Hinged tongue toward front of trailer box with pins or crank another- this on smaller tilt beds, basic stepped holes in the front retainer for multiple pin locations instead of just one as one most cheaper ones. Rental places that rent to low bumper car, mid level mini vans and high hitch trucks should have them- but maybe liability is now a problem and they have different size trailers?

This summer when I came back to Tenn, I rented a Uhaul in Vidor TX to haul my Case/David Brown 990 with us. The paperwork said I was hauling a Dodge Neon, also. UHaul is a jerk shop, IMHO

I rented one of the smaller inclosed trailers back in '94 to move my stuff home when I was stationed in Ingleside, Texas. Blew a tire down in the middle of nowhere in Louisiana. Guess what, they don't trust the renter to change their own tire so they don't provide a spare. Thankfully there were some houses visible about 1/4 mile away off to the side of the interstate. Took me forever to get anyone to the door as it was a "black" neighborhood, I'm "white", and the Rodney King riots were in full swing out in LA at the time. Sat for over 2 hours with a nice older gentleman watching the news and playing phone tag with U-Haul and their selected/ approved 'tire changer' before I got someone headed my way. Then it was another hour and a half before anyone actually got there to put a new tire on the trailer.

Yep, U-haul is a joke but, unfortunately, they do serve a need....

Really interesting. That's why I love this site..I most always learn somthing.

Personally I stay away from U-Haul as much as possible. They start with great equipment but it seems no maintence. I have worked on several units which were bent, busted and falling apart and still being rented.

Brad

I can't believe y'all folks having problems with U-haul. That Iranian in LaVale MD? Great Guy! Yep. Only accused me of trying to cheat him twice and steal from him once. The trailer? It had a new style 6 pin plug. There were seven, but one wasn't needed or wasn't there. Can't remember. A Bic pen gave up it's spring to make the electrons flow properly. Iranians apparently hate when the electrons flow... Now me? I was just trying to get a trailer to transport my 1998 Saturn SL1 (1700lbs) a short distance.

On a more serious note the wheels turned for 23 hours of the 49.95 24 hour rental with two drivers. I also washed it thoroughly before returning because someone tipped me off on the fine print. That really irritated said Iranian. He is out of business now.

Aaron