Moving two cars...

I may have found a source for a Challenge Build itch but it's not one car--it's two.  It would require a fly and tow of about 2000 miles OR a U-Ship for two non-runners.   I'm open to ideas.   Does U-Haul rent car carriers big enough for two cars and a truck sufficient to tow one?

In reply to stroker :

I'm not sure anyone rents a truck capable of pulling a 2 car trailer... at least not for an amount that would make this worthwhile...

Biggest trailer uhaul rents was barely big enough for one Caprice wagon. Probably going to have to hire somebody for this one.

But isnt a Caproce Wagon akin to 3 normal cars? 

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

Probably 2.5 Minis long but only like 1.75 Miatas...

Windows down on both, moving blankets on the roof of one, the roof of the other onto the moving blankets, ratchet straps in a X divided by the B pillar. 

This can be done with a single trailer. 

How big are the cars?  Penske will rent a truck big enough to hide most cars inside and a trailer to pull behind it.

Yeah, you're going to see to get one car inside the box truck.  Got a forklift at both ends?

In reply to codrus :

Hire a rollback at each end. Car goes on the bed, backs up to the box, goes in the box. I used to unload them a few times a year for a guy that would fly out west, buy a couple clean cars and drive back. 

Fix one and use it to tow the other?

Wally said:

In reply to codrus :

Hire a rollback at each end. Car goes on the bed, backs up to the box, goes in the box. I used to unload them a few times a year for a guy that would fly out west, buy a couple clean cars and drive back. 

That's one of the things that I plan to always remember, even though I don't think I'll need to know it.

Could eliminate the "Why'd you turn?" episodes.

Penske wants $4500 to rent a 26' box truck.    U-Haul wants $3K for a truck and transport.   I'd be better off buying a truck and making two trips...

In reply to stroker :

If you want to put a car inside the truck Uhauls are generally no good.  To get the low deck height the wheel wells protrude into the box meaning you’d need a very narrow car to fit between them or a high one and a means of getting over them.  

If you can rent or borrow a trailer big enough, enterprise commercial rents 3/4 ton trucks.  

I don’t know what you’re pulling but i managed to squeeze a 94 z28 and 94 miata into a 28’ v nose enclosed trailer with 8” to spare

Patrick said:

If you can rent or borrow a trailer big enough, enterprise commercial rents 3/4 ton trucks.  

I don’t know what you’re pulling but i managed to squeeze a 94 z28 and 94 miata into a 28’ v nose enclosed trailer with 8” to spare

Wouldn't you need a CDL for that?

So, a two-car deal, eh?

Must be doing a Biturbo build.........they always come in pairs.  :)

No suggestion on the transport question though. Are these cars so rare you can't find them closer than 2000 miles, even for double the price? Seems you would still come out way ahead. 

Or are you going all the distance because transport costs aren't included in Challenge build prices or something? Just curious. 

stroker said:

Patrick said:

If you can rent or borrow a trailer big enough, enterprise commercial rents 3/4 ton trucks.  

I don’t know what you’re pulling but i managed to squeeze a 94 z28 and 94 miata into a 28’ v nose enclosed trailer with 8” to spare

Wouldn't you need a CDL for that?

Not if you do careful math with gvwr of truck and trailer.  

irish44j said:

So, a two-car deal, eh?

Must be doing a Biturbo build.........they always come in pairs.  :)

No suggestion on the transport question though. Are these cars so rare you can't find them closer than 2000 miles, even for double the price? Seems you would still come out way ahead. 

Or are you going all the distance because transport costs aren't included in Challenge build prices or something? Just curious. 

IMHO the deal in question has an extremely high recoup value which would net the cost of building one car from two at almost zero.  

Is at least one of them a Volvo?

*Edit: My link broke, so here's a redo

AAZCD said:

Is at least one of them a Volvo?

Nope. :)

Have to talked with anybody about getting a quote to have them shipped? I feel like equipment rental might be about the same money before you consider fuel and other expenses. Though I will say, if you do get a quote for renting the equipment, check as both a one way rental and as just the amount of time it will take to make the round trip. Both times I've been budgeting for such a trip it was cheaper to pull an empty trailer for a leg and return it to where I got it. 

At least around here, you can rent two-car trailers for a day for $100 and a week for $275. I’m actually going to put a gooseneck ball in my truck specifically for all the great trailer rental opportunities it opens up. 

The other option is to buy a big trailer for $2-3k, use it for a week, then sell it for $2-3k. Used trailers don’t depreciate at all. 

Either one of these options would require buying or renting a 3/4 ton or bigger truck, but that’s not that hard. 

Renting a Penske and borrowing a tow dolly is probably the answer, but not cheap.  a 26' box truck and a 4' loading dock is an easy way to transport a smaller car.

Some off-the-wall suggestions.

Buy something, make the trip, sell what you bought for $500 less.  You just shipped two cars for $500 plus fuel.  I did that when I moved from CA to TX.  I bought a 26' box truck for $10k (it was way nicer than I needed) and an 18' flatbed trailer for $1100.  I kept the box truck and trailer for a couple years (came in darn handy) and then sold the truck for $9800 and traded the trailer for a dirt bike worth a good bit more than $1100.

Same as above, but see if you can buddy up with a local small-time tow operation.  They might have a rollback with wheel forks sitting in the back that they don't use much.  Toss them $300 to rent it.

Facebook.  Seriously.  Get on there and ask all of your friends what you need and ask them to share it.  Of the hundreds of friends you have and the thousands they have, someone has a hookup - box truck, rollback, 2-car trailer and an F350.

At the risk of canoeing... visit yesterdays tractors website.  This page I linked is their hauling schedule.  This is where people post can haul and need hauled classifieds.  The carriers range from licensed/bonded owner/operators with an empty leg looking to fill a 53' trailer, all the way down to John Q. Public who has an F150 and is going to see grandma in FL and just wants to pick up some cash for gas so he'll take your engine block for $200.

Speaking of.... why don't we have a GRM hauling sub-forum here?

2,000 miles one way?!  that's a long haul for that scenario.  That's pretty much all the way to the west coast from my home near Grand Rapids, MI.  

You're not going to want to make that trip twice.  That's also a long ways to haul an unloaded trailer making it a 4,000 mile trip.  

Quick maths... even if you had a nice 3/4 ton+ diesel that could get 17mpg average round trip that's 235 gallons of fuel at ~$3/gal. = ~$700 in fuel.  Not to mention 60+ total hours driving, and the costs associated with that assuming you want to sleep somewhere besides the truck.  So you're close to $1,000 minimum on a round trip assuming a free truck and two place trailer and zero mechanical issues along the way and 4 days of driving 15 hours/day.  

I'd take a hard look at having them shipped instead, unless you have a lot of time on your hands and just want the adventure.  Adding rental equipment and flights is going to make these cheap cars expensive in a hurry.  The cheapest total cost option is likely what Curtis said... buying equipment outright, but you'd have to have the means to do that upfront, and then recoup selling on the backside, and it adds the unknown variables of doing 2,000 towing miles on equipment that's new to you and hopefully not somebody else's problem.  Not sure where you're from, but going from rust free to rust belt, you could possibly even make a few bucks hauling home with a rust free truck.  ;-p  

Good luck!    

I used to drive I-10 between New Orleans and Houston at lot about 20 years ago. 

At that time the Mexicans were crazy for Ford Rangers.  They were buying all they could and bringing them to Mexico.

Every weekly trip I would see 4 or 5 "daisy chains" of three Ford Rangers. 

One towing and the other two daisy chained together via tow bars.   And the beds of each were filled with Ranger parts. 

I never saw any of them stopped by the police - they just motored along in the slow lane right below the speed limit and minded their own business as far as I could tell.

So daisy chaining could be your answer.