Getting it home

Hope that this is the right forum, but I'm on my way to buying a pretty complete 1953 CJ3B! I've wanted a flatfender for years now, esp. a 3B. Only problem is, is that its in NJ and I'm in Southern Maine. I'm thinking of renting a U-Haul car trailer and installing a hitch on the wife's Liberty. Anyone know if the Lib will pull something like that with a 5 speed? Am I better off renting a van? I'm wondering if its worth it with the price of gas nowadays? I'm thinking of flat trailering it rather than just the one that raises the front wheels. Any advice suggestions, etc...? Anyone want to trailer a 3B for me? R)

 

Uhaul will probably not rent a tow dolly to you if you are pulling it with a Libby. They are getting very restrictive about what they will allow you to tow with.

 

I would try to find a different trailer then a U-haul one. They are HEAVY and tow like crap, probably wouldn't tow well behind a libby.

U-haul probably won't rent a car trailer out behind a libby, they are EXTREMELY fussy up here anyway and won't rent to anything but a fullsize pickup. To top that off they denied a friend when he said he was hauling a jeep on it... Said they don't ent for that kind of use.

 

I just recently rented a U-haul trailer to go pick up a M-38. We towed it with a 1990 4runner 750 miles round trip.They did look it up in their book before renting it to us(I guess it was ok).The trailer was heavy but the straps and the brakes worked great.
I was happy with the trailer but not so much with our 4runner's towing abilities

 

Ceck with your local construction equepment rental place, thay rent trailer to hall things like lifts that are tilt bed,rented me one that I puled behind my 86 Comanche with a 4 cyl. No questions asked< About $50.00 a day

Andrew

 

The U-Haul site will tell you what is officially allowed if you ask for an "estimate."

The U-Haul car trailers are biased way forward, and thus have a very high tongue weight. Unlikely they will let you rent one - they won't even rent to someone towing with a 1/2 ton truck unless they plan to tow a very light vehicle.

If you can find a suitable tow vehicle, U-Haul may let you rent the trailer to haul the Jeep for local use, but not one-way. I know they will not rent open trailers for one-way service, and this may apply to an open Jeep... may be ok if the Jeep has a top though. A former manager of a U-Haul franchise told me they won't rent open trailers for one-way service because they had too many fires starting in open trailers on the highway ... supposedly from burning cigarette butts flipped out of car windows.

U-Haul may rent you a big enough open trailer for local service that a CJ will roll into it. They rent some pretty big open double-axle trailers. The contract may come with distance restrictions though ... don't know.

Does the Jeep run and drive? Having a car hauler pick it up and deliver it to you is comparable to going to get it. It cost about $700 to bring my CJ-6 to Massachusetts from Tennessee last summer. Even if it doesn't run, something likely can be arranged, The car hauler that brought my CJ-6 had two cars on it that clearly were not running, so it can be done.

 

I always look at what is on the U-haul lot before going inside. I ask for that specific trailer. The newer ones are all galvanized and really nice --but very heavy. The older ones are pretty scary. Regardless, they won't let you tow it with a short wheelbase like a Libby. Trailer + Jeep will be around 4500 lbs which is more than the Libby braking power. Towing capacity is not only what a vehicle will tow, but what it will stop.

 

They looked my small 4runner up and rented it to me to tow the jeep.The trailer had auto hydraulic brakes that worked great (we got the Jeep in the mountains)
I do think the front bias would have been bad with a big car but it wasnt a problem with the willys.
U-haul had no problem renting me a open trailer one way.We reserved one where we picked the Jeep up and were going to drop it here but our plans changed and we picked it up here and dropped it here.We picked it up late friday and returned it sunday about noon,we were only charged $50.
This was only 2 or 3 weeks ago so I am not sure why everyone else has so many problems.We had our choice of 1 way and the trailer brakes worked great.Having said all that I would much prefered to tow with a larger truck.It never felt dangerous but it was hard on the little truck.
I will also add that having it shipped makes more since than ever becouse of the price of fuel.

 

I would use a tow dolly the kind that lifts just the front wheels. Just remove the driveshaft to eliminate any problems. You wont have that extra thousand pounds or so to tow. Plus id get it from a local private rental place rather than u-haul. Flattys are pretty light and tow real well

 

I used a U-haul auto trailer when I picked up my 2A. It was in WV and I towed it back to PA. I used my dad's full sized GMC pick-up with the 5.7L V8. I can tell you that trailer is heavy. I also own a Liberty and after towing the 2A on the U-haul trailer with a full sized truck, I strongly encourage you to find a bigger tow vehicle. No way I'd even consider towing a flat fender on a U-haul trailer with a Liberty...not after what I know now and seeing how things went with the full sized truck. I don't think my Liberty could have handled that. Maybe okay for a short trip, but not for the distances you're talking about.

 

I second that checking the uhaul website and getting an estimate.

I did a 1100 mile round trip to pick up my CJ6 using a Uhaul trailer. I towed it with a Chevy Suburban 1500 thru that snow storm that hit Kansas and had no problems what so ever.

 

Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys. I've decided to go with a shipper and I'm looking into a few right now. It'll be cheaper than renting something and gas and taking a day or two off from work. I'll be sure to post pics when she gets here!

 

I bought a CJ5 rolling chassis(Dana 44/30,T18,258,nice set of 31x10.50's) on Ebay a few years ago. U-haul would NOT rent me a dolly to tow behind my Ford Ranger(they were actually rude to me about it). I had a tow bar that would pin through the holes in the front frame rails and I bought a set of magnetic lights. The seller pulled the front bumper off before I got there and we pulled the driveshafts out. I had no problems with the folks on the throughway but I had to pay tolls for 2 vehichles rather than 1 and a trailer...not a big deal. I kept my son out of school that day and we went on a road trip and brought it home. Over the years my son and I made trips to several states picking up parts Jeeps this way and it can be an enjoyable family trip!Depending on where we have to go and what we're picking up we'll either use the Ranger and tow bar or the Chevy 1/2 ton and my old car trailer(I need to redo the spring bushings this spring).