U-Haul car transport
#1
U-Haul car transport
I also posted this on the towing forum but thought maybe the Expy owners would have some first hand experience.
Sunday I had to go rescue my Son and his car, a 96 Crown Victoria. He was
about 110 miles away and his car would not stay running and making a
terrible noise. It is a constant noise a very loud clanking type sound. He
said will slack off at highway speeds if he backed off the throttle
slightly. He did not notice any loss of power. I have not started to
investigate what the cause is, it is nothing the jumps right out just
looking under the hood.
To get it home I went to the local U-Haul because it was close and open. We
got the car up on the trailer with no problem and tied down OK. What I
noticed as soon as I got on the interstate I realized just how easy this
setup would start to sway. Maximum speed I traveled was 55 to 60. Since the
back of the Expy went down over 2" and I know that 600 lbs tongue weight
drops it 2" inches. I have measured it with a known weight.
Is it just the nature of these car transports? I have a 8 wide 14 foot long
utility trailer that I pull that has never started to sway. The most the
utility trailer and load has weighed is approximately 4600 lbs total and I
guess the car transport and Crown Vic was about 5500 lbs. Anybody know what
a 96 Crown Vic weighs.
So I guess my question is was this a bad trailer or typical of a U-haul
trailer?
Bob W [FL]
99 XLT 4x4 W/ factory tow package
Sunday I had to go rescue my Son and his car, a 96 Crown Victoria. He was
about 110 miles away and his car would not stay running and making a
terrible noise. It is a constant noise a very loud clanking type sound. He
said will slack off at highway speeds if he backed off the throttle
slightly. He did not notice any loss of power. I have not started to
investigate what the cause is, it is nothing the jumps right out just
looking under the hood.
To get it home I went to the local U-Haul because it was close and open. We
got the car up on the trailer with no problem and tied down OK. What I
noticed as soon as I got on the interstate I realized just how easy this
setup would start to sway. Maximum speed I traveled was 55 to 60. Since the
back of the Expy went down over 2" and I know that 600 lbs tongue weight
drops it 2" inches. I have measured it with a known weight.
Is it just the nature of these car transports? I have a 8 wide 14 foot long
utility trailer that I pull that has never started to sway. The most the
utility trailer and load has weighed is approximately 4600 lbs total and I
guess the car transport and Crown Vic was about 5500 lbs. Anybody know what
a 96 Crown Vic weighs.
So I guess my question is was this a bad trailer or typical of a U-haul
trailer?
Bob W [FL]
99 XLT 4x4 W/ factory tow package
#3
I didn't notice any swaying when I used the u-haul car trailer to haul my bug around. Then again, that car weighs a whole heck of a lot less than a CV. Could be that the tires on the trailer were bad, i.e. out of round or bent. The only problem I had was that the ramps kept coming out because the tab to keep it secure was broken. I had had to stop every 10 miles or so to push it back in.
#4
Originally Posted by PaulC
I think a Crown Vic weighs about 3,700.
I would wonder if the tongue weight was what you estimated it to be.
I would wonder if the tongue weight was what you estimated it to be.
#5
***DON'T TRY THIS UNLESS YOU'RE DESPERATE/CRAZY/BOTH!!!***
Last week, my dad towed my Expedition 156 miles on a U-HAUL car trailer. The trailer swayed TERRIBLY at 60mph...but eased off when dropped back down to 55mph.
He was towing it with his 96 GMC 1/2 ton 4x4 (short-bed/standard cab) pickup.
My step-dad and I loaded the Expy onto the trailer the day before - with a chain hoist...it wasn't easy getting it lined up - the trailer wasn't meant to haul anything that heavy or wide (I'm talking what appears to be a compact car trailer) - after the Expy was loaded and tied down, I noticed the warning on the fender - gross weight must not exceed 4000 lbs!!! Can you imagine how I felt after reading that? I've got a 5500 lb vehicle on a 2100 lb trailer - 7600 lbs gross - nearly double the "DO NOT EXCEED" capacity. When Dad arrived the next morning to tow it back to "his neck of the woods"...he said, "it looks like a duck sittin' on a june bug"
He was concerned and so was I, but we proceeded to tow it the 156 miles and it did fine, except for wagging awful at 60mph. I had to radio him a couple times to tell him to slow it down! We made it there, unloaded the Expy at the Ford garage so the engine can be swapped and I towed the empty trailer back home with my wife's Explorer. The Explorer didn't seem to know the trailer was behind it...towed fine.
Last week, my dad towed my Expedition 156 miles on a U-HAUL car trailer. The trailer swayed TERRIBLY at 60mph...but eased off when dropped back down to 55mph.
He was towing it with his 96 GMC 1/2 ton 4x4 (short-bed/standard cab) pickup.
My step-dad and I loaded the Expy onto the trailer the day before - with a chain hoist...it wasn't easy getting it lined up - the trailer wasn't meant to haul anything that heavy or wide (I'm talking what appears to be a compact car trailer) - after the Expy was loaded and tied down, I noticed the warning on the fender - gross weight must not exceed 4000 lbs!!! Can you imagine how I felt after reading that? I've got a 5500 lb vehicle on a 2100 lb trailer - 7600 lbs gross - nearly double the "DO NOT EXCEED" capacity. When Dad arrived the next morning to tow it back to "his neck of the woods"...he said, "it looks like a duck sittin' on a june bug"
He was concerned and so was I, but we proceeded to tow it the 156 miles and it did fine, except for wagging awful at 60mph. I had to radio him a couple times to tell him to slow it down! We made it there, unloaded the Expy at the Ford garage so the engine can be swapped and I towed the empty trailer back home with my wife's Explorer. The Explorer didn't seem to know the trailer was behind it...towed fine.
#6
Well after reading all the replies, which I thank everyone for, I don't have a definite answer. I posted this on a couple of boards/forums. The common item that came up the most was a bad trailer whether it bearings, tires or what ever. The hitch height was not above U-hauls recommendation, but might have been slightly low as the trailer when loaded was a little nose down. I feel confidant that I had a minimum of 600 lbs tongue weight and most likely about 650 lbs. Also I had only the normal amount of air (35-36 PSI) in the rear tires of the Expy and not the max (44 PSI). Also I did not check the air pressure in the trailer tires, the tires did not bulge with the load on so I felt that they were OK.
Again I thank everyone for their input. I feel that most likely the problem was a combination of things. A trailer that was less the perfect and to little air in the rear tires of the Expy also the loaded trailer was not level but slightly nose down.
Bob W [FL]
99 XLT 4X4
Again I thank everyone for their input. I feel that most likely the problem was a combination of things. A trailer that was less the perfect and to little air in the rear tires of the Expy also the loaded trailer was not level but slightly nose down.
Bob W [FL]
99 XLT 4X4
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