hauling a 72 longhorn chicago to denver

[mtdave2]

Has anyone used a car caddy to move a ¾ ton longhorn? I do not think the trailers are long enough for the longhorn, and uhauls web page shows longhorn truck even as working with the caddy ,,but im having doubts about pulling the old girl behind a truck like that for 1000 miles.

and i know someone will say it,,,but no, im not driving it.

[Longhorn 70]

When I moved to Reno in the late 80s, I used a tow bar to move my Longhorn behind a U-Haul 24' truck. As I was driving from Phoenix to Reno, there were some long stretches of......unpatroled highway. Let's just say that some of the rates of speed after the mechanical governer gave up on the tow vehicle were higher than I drive now. I did pull the driveshaft at the pinion and carefully hung it in the frame. Would I do it again?? I dunno. This was an 800 mile trip door to door.

[mtdave2]

has anyone used the new trailer from uhaul? it is suposed to hold a car with 133 inch wheel base...

[88Ironduke]

I'll let you know how it goes today. I'm renting a truck and trailer to move a 72' C-10 long bed across PA to New Jersey. I have about 400 miles to haul it so I figure I'm not wrecking the transmission in my truck in the process. Trying to be pound wise and not penny foolish.

Uhaul "says it will fit" on the flat bed..... We'll see.

88Ironduke

[mtdave2]

yes please do. I called and asked several time about this, and they all tell me the new 2 axel trailer will hold my longhorn. good luck! ill wait to hear how it goes.

[SS Tim]

This may help some. Might just try driving over to an agent and seeing how the trailer compares to your truck and avoiding gotchas.

[DGulliver]

My trailer is an older ex U-Haul with the tongue brake. I've hauled a '73 Burb behind my '02 5.3L Burb with no issues..

[Lee H]

The only real issue might be the tow vehicle, my 92 K1500 barely made the cut when I towed an El Camino with their trailer, a longhorn will weigh more. At least out here, they plug the trailer, the towed vehicle, and the tow vehicle into their system and to see if the tow vehicle has enough weight to control the towed weight.

[longhorn70gmc]

This is a good thread and glad you asked. I used a 2001 3/4 ton Chevrolet and a haul large car hauler to tow my 1970 Longhorn from San diego to Ridgecrest ca, about 250 miles give or take. I was able to maintain a speed of 55 to 60 and it went smooth for the most part. The negative side was that a huge Semi Truck tow truck drove by me at around 100 mph and it darn near caused me to run off the road and caused the Chevrolet truck and trailer to start swaying real bad. I strongly recommend you stay at a safe speed and if on any highways stay to the right as best you can. I now use large personal towing trailers rated at 10,000 and I own a Super duty so I definitely have a rig that can tow safely. Good luck and be safe. make an adventure out of it and just have fun.
R/billy

[MARKDTN]

If it runs and drives and you don't want to drive it, I'd just hire it done on a hauler. That would free you up for different gear on your long trip. Just a thought.

[JointTech]

i had my truck towed to the alignment shop the other day. they picked it up on a rollback. It was a biggish truck not the normal 3500. Still the guy wouldnt go over 45mph and it was swaying like crazy and this was just on city streets. I guess our trucks are heavy.

Im suprised a newer 3/4 ton would have trouble with a big trailer though. The center of gravity would be way lower than a rollback.

[88Ironduke]

Well I picked up my truck today and loaded it up. A long bed truck just fits. If the trailer was 1 foot shorter I would be S.O.L. but in any case it fits, its safe and I'm hitting the road with it Sunday. I have put about 15 miles on the tow rig here in western PA and I will say that hydraulic brakes on a trailer are absolutly worth the money. They respond to the truck very well and considering I have to stop at the bottom of steep long hill with out sweating the time... Very well built braking system. As for overall towing speed, above 55mph you're on your own. There are no land speed records to be set in this arena.

My .02 cents, tow it and take your time.

88Ironduke

[mtdave2]

88, so my longhorn is 6 inches longer, will it fit? I am also concerned about the tire strap not fitting over the tires.

[longhorn70gmc]

Hello MTDAVE2,
I hauled my longhorn 70 gmc on the trailer. it fit and the wheel straps worked great. The tires were 16.5. I had rented the bigger hauler of the two types UHAUL offered at the time, all four wheels off the road. Hope this helps you. I know it will do well hauling it. Please, don't take to much out of my earlier experience post, I was dealing with southern california traffic through 4 counties. If I have learned anything, it is take your time and just cruz at a comfortable speed of about 45 to 65 MPH. What ever you feel best at. Your roads are most likely in better shape and not warped from extreme heat. I would like to know how it went when you get it all done. Again great post and I hope this helps out for you.
V/R
Billy

[88Ironduke]

Are the longhorn trucks longer than a full bed 72' C-10? If I had 12" more of wheel base I would have been off the rail. Straps fit ok, not a great fit but they held up really good. I only have 15" 225 series tires on right now so they are a tad bit skinny. I rented a 10' box truck and after putting "ballast" in the box truck it handled ok on the highway. I could hold 65-70 down hill and the truck pulled pretty straight.

Good luck
88Ironduke

[Longhorn 70]

Longhorn is 133" wheel base opposed to the Longbed 127".

[88Ironduke]

Learned something new. The trailer I had would have just squeaked your truck on there. Six inches longer wheel base will fit. Issue you might have is that there is enough slop in safety chains that in the event of primary tie down strap failure your truck will roll off the back. It would be just enough that is might get partially off which may be even more dangerous. I had a bit of warm fuzzy space in my instance. If it were me with no choice and Uhaul rented me the trailer.... Invest in some really good quality tow/tie straps. Something like really heavy 6" straps. Otherwise your truck will fit, not by much...
Good luck

88Ironduke

[Scott>72-GMC]

Chain and ratchet boomers. Won't budge if u want try if your worried
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[parkinglot]

Uhaul says the auto transport trailer is good for 133" wheelbase. The wheel straps should have plenty of room. I drive a 10 car carrier for a living and have for 10 years. As long as you are using a 3/4 ton truck, you should be fine. A half ton might do it, but on the wobbly side. As far as a "caddy" if you mean a tow dolly..I would steer clear of this. Too many pivots.. just my 2cents..best of luck.
http://www.uhaul.com/Reservations/Eq....aspx?model=AT
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[gale]

If it runs my only thought would be to drive it. I bought my '67 C20 on eBay, flew 1200 miles, swept a foot of snow off it and drove it back to Houston. One tire had no tread whatsoever but I figured to cross that bridge when it showed up. About 400 miles from home a strong vibration started so I slowed down hoping to see a town with a lit up parking lot. Then there was an extra noise and the vibration was gone so I got back up to about 50mph. When I finally came to a town I stopped for the night. Next morning I looked under the truck and the center carrier bearing on the driveshaft had left the vehicle. The smooth solid part of the driveshaft was riding on the crossmember, trapped by the housing from moving very far, so I elected to drive it on home to my garage.

[special-K]

Dave,let us know how it goes. Sounds like the trailer will work,but maybe buy a couple ratchet straps. 4 ratchet straps is "all" I use to hold down trucks on trailers and that is what DOT requires. I would think a dolly would be just fine as well. The trailer is best,though. Can't back a dolly up.

[mtdave2]

Well I made it, trailer worked great. Though it just fit, an inch longer and im not sure if it would have. the tire strap also just fit. here are some picts.

[wgeyer88]

Wow, that looks like a tight squeeze! Glad you made it safely.

[mtdave2]

It was! I see you are in Denver, is there are group here?

[BigBlack]

If there is a group here I would also like to know im right up in Brighton! Have tons of fun with my trucks and would love to see others, also have parts for sale and or trade!!!!!!
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