Cal Club Autocross Forums

They only charge $55/day ... and we wouldn't have a storage problem if we rented

This would be for trailering the Miata

http://www.uhaul.com/reservations/RatesTowing.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I understand they're very heavy - 2000+ pounds, IIRC.

U-haul will give you the weight, the issues will be three fold. Availability, return times, lack of customization to carry the necessary equipment & spares for track racing. With any trailer your going to need a vehicle strong enough to tow.

Sorry, recognized you said Hertz trailers, but showed a U-Haul, but the comments are the same.

How much does a lightweight trailer weigh?

Fortunately the Miata is fairly light ...

Mako Koiwai wrote:How much does a lightweight trailer weigh?

Fortunately the Miata is fairly light ...

your still going to need a truck dude.

Are you talking about Hertz or Uhaul?

In my experience the Uhaul stuff is fine. I took the Viper to Wendover in one this year, and used one again a few weeks ago for some quick Camaro transport. If you need a trailer less than 10 days a year it's hard to beat, even if you can store a trailer on your property, which many of us So Cal'ers can't.

Duh ... uHaul

Given the $6,500 that the place randy posted over in for sale (the one with the red miata) or the $1,500 to $2,500 we have seen advertised in the past, you rent a lot, and have no maintenance. If it breaks they come get, bring you another and fix it. You could take the money you would spend, and buy a nice truck. I would say even a used one just for race tow, but with the luck of the last 12 months, not so sure something without a warranty works.

Mako Koiwai wrote:Duh ... uHaul

I've rented these a few times and found that everytime I showed up with my Grand Cherokee I had to convince the yard guy that my truck had a V-8 and was ok to tow the trailer. If you show up with your minivan they probably won't rent you the trailer. The trailers themselves are built like tanks but they are more than 2000#.

We would be using the truck Karen wants to get .... but one of the reasons I bought the Previa was that for years Rod Millen towed his Pikes Peak record setting race cars to Colorado from here. I use to work with Rod on car commercials. I now work with his son Rhys. Rhys was telling me recently how much his Dad loved that supercharged Previa, as I love mine.

Thomas Smith wrote:

Mako Koiwai wrote:Duh ... uHaul

I've rented these a few times and found that everytime I showed up with my Grand Cherokee I had to convince the yard guy that my truck had a V-8 and was ok to tow the trailer. If you show up with your minivan they probably won't rent you the trailer. The trailers themselves are built like tanks but they are more than 2000#.

You can also run into issues with the car scraping or fitting. My Noble had to be flatbedded a couple years ago in NorCal and we rented a U-haul, but the front of the car would not fit and we had to end up removing the front clam section in order to make it work.

One advantage of owning a trailer is knowing your car will fit...working out the details as far as ramps, etc.

Arthur Grant wrote:Given the $6,500 that the place randy posted over in for sale (the one with the red miata) or the $1,500 to $2,500 we have seen advertised in the past, you rent a lot, and have no maintenance. If it breaks they come get, bring you another and fix it. You could take the money you would spend, and buy a nice truck. I would say even a used one just for race tow, but with the luck of the last 12 months, not so sure something without a warranty works.

Then why not rent the truck too? Take the money you save and race more.

The cost of anything is really the price you pay less the price you eventually sell it for. A $6500 trailer will eventually sell for $4500. So it really costs you $2000. Certainly more than renting. But over some years, you may find the convenience to be worth that cost. Same reason people buy trucks instead of just renting them. Or RVs. Or homes. There is always a good reason to rent only... but owning may work better for some people.

Randy ... we would love to buy one of your light weight trailers. Storage is a problem for us though. Where can I find the specs on the trailers you rep?

Never had any issues with renting a uhaul trailer 3-4 times last year.
I had to work out the exact amount of wood piecesand their placement and hitch height(bought a height extension one) to not scrape the bottom of my car when driving on.

Was able to load an unload by myself when needed.

Thumbs up by me. Awaiting the day when I can store my own though

Pete Loney wrote:Never had any issues with renting a uhaul trailer 3-4 times last year.
I had to work out the exact amount of wood pieces and their placement and hitch height(bought a height extension one) to not scrape the bottom of my car when driving on.

Our problem was not the entrance angle, with enough wood that was doable. It was some sort of metal bit that stuck up on the front of the trailer that hit the Noble. I am guessing not all the u-hauls have the same trailers. You can see the tire stop in the pics above. The Noble was low enough to hit that according to Bill Schenker who did the towing for me.

Randy Chase wrote:

Arthur Grant wrote:Given the $6,500 that the place randy posted over in for sale (the one with the red miata) or the $1,500 to $2,500 we have seen advertised in the past, you rent a lot, and have no maintenance. If it breaks they come get, bring you another and fix it. You could take the money you would spend, and buy a nice truck. I would say even a used one just for race tow, but with the luck of the last 12 months, not so sure something without a warranty works.

Then why not rent the truck too? Take the money you save and race more.

The cost of anything is really the price you pay less the price you eventually sell it for. A $6500 trailer will eventually sell for $4500. So it really costs you $2000. Certainly more than renting. But over some years, you may find the convenience to be worth that cost. Same reason people buy trucks instead of just renting them. Or RVs. Or homes. There is always a good reason to rent only... but owning may work better for some people.

Well honestly if most of their towing is local, I would rent the truck as well especially if your worried about gas milage, because a full size pick up isn't an econmy car. But when you do the math you have to include, tax, registration, insurance, maintenance and perhaps the most expensive part storage costs. I am all for owning, it allows customization, and you don't need to rush back unload tired or clean up, but if your just trying something out, i.e. Karens move from autocross to wheel to wheel, you might want to try the racing to see if its really what you want, watch the paddock and learn before investing a lot. Worst case you end up like a friend of mine who is a 30 year SCCA member and corner worker, did on his first wheel to wheel venture in Formula Ford. 1st race new car, totaled by a kid with more (B#XXS ) than sense. At the 3 year mark he was still paying off the car and hadn't turned a wheel again.

My thought is rent the first 3 events, see how you like it, then look at buying. Of course used is always an option. We have had some great used trailers come on line over the year I have been here. The classic was this one viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4519&p=66664&hilit=trailer#p66664" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; or this one viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4290&p=64423&hilit=trailer#p64423" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Depends on if you want something local, or you intend to trailer to nationals.

We're doing Time Trails ... not wheel to wheel racing. Karen's done five track days already. She's always wanted another truck ... she had one before starting to AX ... besides having grown up working on a ranch. We've got 4 plus parkings spots ... just not a convenient one for a trailer.

Mako, any time you rent from uHaul, be sure to specifically ask for a galvanized trailer. In uHaul-speak, this is how they differentiate between their old crusty ones (orange) and the newer ones coming into service. The Galvanized ones have longer ramps, cut-back channel flanges, and a couple of other tweaks that make them much easier to work with. Every time I've called to reserve one the uHaul rep knew exactly what I wanted and was easily able to find one for me.

When trailering my MX-5 to San Diego, all I had to do was un-bolt the metal "flaps" in front of the car in order to clear my front bumper and that took all of one minute to do.

Another trick is a set of Rhino ramps under the rear tires of the tow vehicle to lessen the ramp breakover angle.

Pete Loney wrote:Never had any issues with renting a uhaul trailer 3-4 times last year.
I had to work out the exact amount of wood piecesand their placement and hitch height(bought a height extension one) to not scrape the bottom of my car when driving on.

Was able to load an unload by myself when needed.

Thumbs up by me. Awaiting the day when I can store my own though

Can you open the doors with a low car?

Bob Plante wrote: Can you open the doors with a low car?

The ones I've used had hinged fenders over the driver-side wheels, so yes.

That's a great deal. You just need to bring a few bits of lumber to run the front up, or put the back wheels of your truck on ramps, or both?

Bob Plante wrote:That's a great deal. You just need to bring a few bits of lumber to run the front up, or put the back wheels of your truck on ramps, or both?

I jacked up the front of the trailer to help prevent high-centering the car when loading/unloading. A lowered Corvette would be trickier than the Viper but still do-able I think.

Just be sure to check the condition and pressure of the tires before you take off with the trailer. The one and only trailer I rented from UHaul shredded a tire halfway through Ohio. It turned out that the tires were all underinflated - like 26psi instead of 60. The repair guy they sent out (not a UHaul employee) brought a badly scalloped replacement tire. When I got to their service center in Indianapolis I found that the remaining tires all had cracking (or cut!) sidewalls and had them all replaced. Then when I checked the pressures one of the Schrader valves started leaking and needed a new valve core.