Hi all, With gas prices soaring ever higher and a difficult $500 a month payment I had to trade in my truck and downsize to a car. Now I am trying to find if I can rent a truck to pull my TT when I go some place. I just wanted to know if anyone had experience with this or had some suggestions.
Company's like Avis, Budget etc they won't let you tow anything they actualy remove the hitch from the truck, you can tow with a u haul I believe, or talk to your local truck dealer and see if they rent out truck wher you can tow with.
If you rent a U-Haul pickup or moving van and a U-Haul trailer, they allow you to tow with it. I don't know if they allow towing any other trailer than the ones they rent though.
It might be worth it to buy a cheap GM 3/4-ton or 1-ton pickup from the 70's and only use it for towing or hauling. These old trucks can be had for under 2 grand in good running condition and are easy and cheap to work on if something does break. A truck doesn't have to be new, expensive or fancy to tow with, just as long as it operates safely and is sized to do the job. The new trucks aren't getting much better gas mileage than the old ones either.
..We looked into this once. As already said, all the big car rental places (Avis, Budget, Hertz, etc.) have strict rules forbidding you from towing anything with their vehicles.
..Tried U-Haul, too. Not sure if they still do, but they used to weld crazy size ball hitches on their trucks, so you could only tow their trailers, nothing else. They don't want you towing anything but their trailers, is the bottom line. Sooo, that wasn't an option either.
Only good option we found, was to find a place that rents heavy equipment to contractors and construction crews, something like Hertz heavy equipment rental. Hertz would rent F350 crew cab pickups, and would allow towing with them (even had them set up for such). Thats what I'd look for, if you're serious about doing this.
And, I'll tell you...the price/rate for those trucks was such that we toyed with the idea of dumping our truck, and just renting one of those F350s every time we were gonna camp. Ultimately decided not to, 'cause reality is if we had to rent a truck every time we wanted to camp, would become so much hassle we probably would never camp. Trailer would just sit there and rot. Haha, I'd put the trailer on a seasonal site somewhere, before I'd let that happen.
Anyway, good luck, let us know what you find. There probably are other companies that specialize in renting tow vehicles, maybe someone else has more recent, better advice on this?
Will & Angela
2 wonderful children that love camping, Stephen & Allison
2003 Ford Excursion V10 4x4
2003 Thor Citation 33M, Hensley Arrow hitch, Brakesmart Brake Control
(wanna see? Here is a picture of it )
Hope you find a rental, but I also think in that circumstance, I would look for an old beater just to park in the yard and use only when I wanted to move the trailer.
Puller: '04 HD2500 4x4 SB,EC Duramax/Allison. Airaid intake, 4in. exhaust turbo back, ORU leveler.
Pullee: '02 Keystone Cougar 276EFS Reese 16k w/ slider.
(map is for current 5er only)
Another option is to find someone (like myself) who transports rvs and is insured (Commercial and Cargo Insurance) for this kind of work. Check with your local rv dealership.
2008 Ford F450 CC PSD LB DRW 4.30 Moonroof King Ranch 6.4 auto Tow Boss Navigation Sirius/XM radio Audiophile
Reese 16K hitch
2004 Everest 364Q MotoSat MD500
SoCalDesertRider wrote: If you rent a U-Haul pickup or moving van and a U-Haul trailer, they allow you to tow with it. I don't know if they allow towing any other trailer than the ones they rent though.
It might be worth it to buy a cheap GM 3/4-ton or 1-ton pickup from the 70's and only use it for towing or hauling. These old trucks can be had for under 2 grand in good running condition and are easy and cheap to work on if something does break. A truck doesn't have to be new, expensive or fancy to tow with, just as long as it operates safely and is sized to do the job. The new trucks aren't getting much better gas mileage than the old ones either.
I think this is what I would do as well. Besides, the truck could be a fun "project" if you are a gear head like me.
goin2themountains wrote: Hope you find a rental, but I also think in that circumstance, I would look for an old beater just to park in the yard and use only when I wanted to move the trailer.
..We've considered that as well. Only problem I have with that is, when we're travelling to parts unknown a looong ways from home with the whole family and several thousand lbs of RV trailer behind us....Last thing I want to do that with is an 'old beater' thats (somewhat) more likely to break down and strand us in the middle of nowhere. I know, thats what you have emergency road service for, but nothing worse than breaking down hundreds of miles from home, RV trailer in tow, and have an entire trip basically ruined.
I prefer our tow vehicle be one of our newer vehicles, that would be less likely to break down. I prefer to save the 'old beater', for around town stuff, where a break-down wouldnt be near as stressful.
Have you considered selling your trailer and buying a used class C or Class A, This way you wont need a tow vehicle that either sits or you have to use as a daily driver.Good luck in your search.
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