Towing issues

[01EB5.0]

Ok, I have a 2001 V-8 truck and it says in the owners manual I can tow 6,520 with it. If so, how come U-haul's website says I can't tow one of their flatbed trailers with my old 95 V-6 explorer? The trailer weighs 2,000 lbs and my old truck has a curb weight of 4,200 (approx). That adds up to 6,200. I know it is close, but do you think they will give me a hard time when I go to get the trailer? What if I just tell them I am towing a ranger. Apparently U-haul's site says i can tow a ranger, but not an explorer...
DOes anyone have experiance with renting from u-haul, or trying to tow an explorer with a V-8 explorer?
The trip I am taking will be about 350 miles on flat land...all highway driving.
I towed a 3,500-4,000 pound milk truck with my V-8 before so I know it is capable, I just need to figure out a way to make sure u-haul does not hassle me.
Thanks

 

[SaleenEXP]

ummm....your truck is definitley capable as I've towed our 27ft Fountain before when it was off our dock with my 94' Explorer, mainly use our 5.0 Mounty though U-Haul shouldn't be giving you any hassle at all considering a 5.0 Ex/Mounty can tow almost as much as full-size trucks.

 

[tenikiwon]

I towed a saturn behind my X with a U-haul trailer from the bumper (3200) and didn't have any problems.

Might have slightly bent it, but no major problems

 

[01EB5.0]

Did U-haul even ask you what you were towing or give you a hard time? That is kind of too much weight for a bumper the max load for the bumper is 3500 and if your saturn weighed 3200, plus the trailer weight (2000) that means you had 5,200 on that bumper...

 

['96explorereddiebauer]

Oh yeah!! You sold your '95!! Totally forgot about it. Why don't you try another UHaul place and see. I'm sure there should be one that won't give you the hassels. Good luck man!!!

 

[99explorer5.0]

I am going to do a demolition derby next year and i need a way to tow my demo vehicle to the track. I went on UHAL's site and they said that my explorer isnt good enough to tow a 4 door vehicle like a chevy caprice or Ford Crown Vic but it said that i was capable of towing a Mustang so i was planning on telling them that i was towing a Mustang and not one of those heavy beasts. The track is only about 2-3 miles away from my house.

You said you bent your bumper towing a saturn? Do you think i am going to rip my bumper off towing one of those big beasts to the track? Its only at most 3 miles away and it will be all city driving.

Another question. Do any of you have AAA? Do you think that AAA will have a problem with towing my demo car to the track? I have been on their website and tried to find something in their Terms Of Service but couldnt really find anything that would suggest that they wouldnt tow my demo car. I am probably going to start another thread with that AAA question but if any of you have experience with that i would appreciate it.

 

[jjue]

I'm surprised that you want to do this without a class III trailer hitch. I wouldn't do it without one, and my hitch has kept my bumper from getting pulled off on several occasions. The bumpers are kinda flimsy at best.

You should have a problem hauling a crown vic for a few miles, but I'd definitely get a good trailer hitch first. It will pay for itself, trust me.

As for AAA it will cover towing only if you have the RV package, and AAA will cover whatever as long as you are racing the vehicle. If the vehicle that is going to the demolition derby isn't covered by AAA no problem. AAA does not cover commercial trailers either, and I don't remember if AAA RV package has this same limitation or not either. I had this problem when I wanted to pull a 4x8 trailer with nothing but a couch for 6.5 hours to a friend, and I wondered if AAA would insure or if I had to buy U-Haul's insurance.

 

[A Quiet Boom]

Apparently U-Haul is overly cautious about putting Explorer's on their trailers. I bought my wife's '96 6 hours from my home and rather than unload my race trailer I went to U-Haul to rent one of theirs, I showed up with my bigblock truck with a class 6? hitch (800lbs tonque, 8000 pull) and they said I couldn't pull an Explorer on their trailer with it? Somehow I was able to convince the manager that their book was incorrect and that an Explorer would tow just fine on it. Everything went fine with one small exception, I couldn't figure out during the first 50 miles of my trip why my truck was having such a hard time pulling and empty trailer when it usually cruises at 75 with 5000+ lbs behind it, turns out the surge brakes were misadjusted and had been dragging the whole way! several turns with an adjustable wrench on the adjusting nuts and I had it fixed, the rest of my 700 mile journey went fine. The Explorer fit the trailer nicely and had just the right tonque weight to pull nice and straight despite the hard crosswinds that weekend.

 

[01EB5.0]

So what your telling me is U-haul is going to give me a hassle even though my 2001 V-8 is rated up to 6,520? My Mom thinks I should go there now to be sure they will not give me a hassle next week when I go to pick it up. I called and made a reservation and they asked what I was towing and I told them a 98 Ranger supercab 4X4. I figured that has similar dementions to my 95 Explorer and the ranger is only like 800 pounds lighter. My Mom is pissed I lied to them and wants me to call back and tell them that I will be towing an Explorer on the trailer, but i don;t want any hassle from them.
Any suggestions or will they not even know I put a explorer on there instead of a ranger?

 

[01EB5.0]

Also for you guys who are towing on your bumper....i personally would never trust a bumper not even to tow my 2 place snowmobile trailer. Bumpers are far to weak. A class III hitch is like $120. I think the $120 is a good deal for the added safty and the class III hitch is versitle...can accept bike rack, and many other accessories. Plus if you get rear-ended the hitch will help the bumper.

 

[01EB5.0]

Well, I called a U-haul place thats like 40 miles from here to just "inquire" about towing with one of their trailers (I called one far away so if they said no I would just try a local place) Well, I asked them if their trailer could handle a 95 Explorer 4 door and he said yes that was fine, then I asked if using a 2001 V-8 explorer to tow it was a problem and he said "No those things are rated to tow over 6,000 pounds, you should have no problem as long as you have a class III hitch". Now the question is...wether or not my local place will say the same thing...

 

[tenikiwon]

My suggestion

Get a Class 3 or bigger. I did considerable noticable damage when getting suck and using the bumper to pull me our. I think the Saturn just started the damage.

Also, the U-haul trailer only held the front wheels not the whole car. Don't know if they makes a big difference or not.

When I was suck my buddy tried to pull with his jeep. He'd drive and when the strap was at max his jeep would stop dead in its tracks and I didn't budge.

I think I might be able to re-adjust the bumper, don't know if it's actually bent or just mis-aligned.

 

[Axl Rose]

U-Haul Sucks!

I have a 2001 Ranger V6 (3.0) that has a towing capacity of 3800 pounds (per the owners manual) and UHaul refused to rent me a two-wheel tow dolly to tow my '92 Mazda Protege which weighs 2360 pounds. The tow dolly weighs 900 according to UHaul...That leaves 500 pounds...Seems it would be close but it can be done. I am just wondering if anybody has towed 2400 pounds with a V6? I will be towing from North Carolina to Arizona if I decide to do it. UHaul is very wierd in what they will and will not do...they're website says it is ok for me to tow it with my Ranger yet the guy at store told me no way!

 

[tenikiwon]

I have a v-6 (32 or 3500 bumper) 5700 overall towing
and towed my girlfriend's saturned 1.5 hrs and I wouldn't want to do it again. esp with out trailer brakes

 

[01EB5.0]

Well, I called the main 1-800 number for u-haul to check on this trailer issue. she said my V-8 towing my V-6 was not a "safe tow". She said this means the vehicle towing may be damaged by towing the load. She kept saying it was going to be too much weight for my transmission and U-haul would not rent the trailer because they would not want to be held liable if i blow a trans. She did tell me if i insist on towing like I plan to, that I should tell the place i am renting from that I will be putting an escort on the trailer. She said this takes away U-haul's liability for my trans and my vehicle doing the towing, but the trailer will still be covered. So thats exactly what I plan to do

 

[Bored_2wd]

After having removed the bumper, I'd NEVER tow ANYTHING with it. I was expecting it to be heavy, like 100 lbs or so. It's actually light, like say 20 lbs! Just for reference, when I mounted it back on, I held the entire bumper with one hand and used the wrench with the other hand. After seeing how light it was, I can't believe it's rated to tow anything! Buy the hitch, it's worth it!
--Bob

 

[01EB5.0]

Well, I made it 275 miles to school with the 95 XLT on the U-haul trailer..I drive the other half tomorrow. So far I would say I would NEVER attemp this type of load with anything less then the V-8 engine. Even the V-8 was very strained. Also I would never attempt it on a bumper. Just loading the 95 ontot he trailer sent the back end of my 2001 way up then it came crashing down. I am sure I would have torn the bumper off if I did not have the class III hitch.

 

[jayvt]

I caught up with this post late. Glad to hear you made it halfway. Earlier this year, I used U-Haul's flat trailer to tow my Mom's 4-door Chevy Corisca about 90 miles on secondary roads in Vermont. My 02 Explorer V6 did the job. It has the tow package, Class III receiver & 3.73 gears. BUT, its not something I would want to do again anytime soon. I reserve that for towing my sleds.
You are soooo right about the loading part.....pretty ugly (& it was only a corsica, I cannot imagine putting an EX up there). And I definitely second the motion on not hanging it off the bumper....too much weight=not safe!!

 

[01EB5.0]

Ok, trip is complete. Last ngiht got to detroit and sat out the night at a friend's place since they got a bunch of snow. All I can say is if you have to tow a car hauler trailer, do all you can to have clean roads. The side streets were snowcovered this morning and even with AWD, trying to pull out in traffic, or trying to stop...was tough. Then I had to take a gravel road that had some hills, at least the momentum kept me going...plus the tires I had were excellent, but that trailer was a handful in the snow.

 

[SaleenEXP]

off topic - 01EB5.0, how did your dad get a diesel S80...I thought they were only offered in the European Market? I thought the S80 came with either the N/A 6 or twin-turbo 6.