I posted this on pirate, and will just quote it from there:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/tow-rigs ... ience.html
Pirate's been a great knowledge resource and source of entertainment, so I thought I would give back with a write up on my experience with a Penske Car Carrier Trailer Rental towing my 97 Jeep Wrangler on 35's. I would also like to preface this with the fact that this was my first towing experience, ever on the road. I'd only previously moved a small trailer once or twice in a yard. That said, I did my research and was confident with all of the random Joes on the street moving their cars that this wouldn't be an issue. I realize this may be elementary for many that tow regularly, so please bear with me as I believe this could be a good resource for anyone in my situation.
Said Jeep:
I rented a 16 foot box van and car carrier trailer from Penske for a move from Maryland to DFW, TX, which ended up being almost 1,500 miles all said and done. I would highly recommend dealing with Penske, as they beat Uhaul and Budget's rates, guaranteed a pickup location, and no B.S. to deal with--you know what I mean if you have dealt with Uhaul before. That said, the information below may be applicable to similar car trailers for Uhaul and Budget also.
I was hesitant to take anyone's word regarding whether my 35" tires would work well with the provided attachments on the car hauler. I did some research on here and on the net elsewhere to try and find other people's experiences. Other people made it work, so I figured I could also. If you take a look at Penske's Website, the Load capacity of the Car Carrier is 4,050 lbs, 3-point tie down method, 79 inch max vehicle width, minimum 42 inches inside the tires, and maximum wheelbase of 125 inches. The max tire diameter listed for the Car Carrier is 28".
As far as the weight, my Wrangler was a few hundred above that--so I certainly did not load anything moving-wise into the Jeep. I found other people's experiences towing much larger and heavier vehicles with the same design Penske trailer so I took a chance. Upon receiving the Car Carrier I did a once-over on the trailer and decided to check the load ratings of the tire. The tailer weight is printed on a sticker on the trailer, and I was well below the load ratings for the tires considering my Jeep's weight. Additionally, I checked the tire pressure. I would Strongly emphasize to anyone renting a trailer to absolutely take the time to check the tire pressures. The tires were supposed to maintained at 50 PSI at all times while towing. None of the tires were at 50 PSI, some were just above 30 PSI. So, I got those inflated properly.
Starting off, here's what the trailer looked like (not the exact one I got put a picture from the net).
As you can see, it had two ratchets in the front, with wheel nets for the front two tires attached to the deck of the trailer. The trailer also included a safety chain for the frame of the towed vehicle front and rear. That is all that is provided, and with a small car may be sufficient.
Prior to getting the van and trailer, I knew I wanted to secure the Jeep a bit better than the attachment points provided. I was able to locate 31" Axle Straps at my local Tractor Supply Company. They are rated at 3,333 lb working load and 10k lb break strength. I picked up four of these.
Unfortunately the TSC didn't have that great of a supply of straps, although I did end up going back and picking up two of these 8ft ratchet straps with snap hooks, with same load ratings, later that day.
SmartStraps® 8 FT. L Yellow Ratchet X with Snap Hooks, 3,333 lb. Safe Work Load - Tractor Supply Co.
I went to Home Depot in search of some ratchet straps and ended up picking up 4 25' Ratchet straps HDX brand rated at 3,333 LB/10k lb with double J hooks. These straps are long, so they could be more useful for hauling other equipment, but in the end, I would have instead purchased 4 of the 8ft straps from Tractor Supply with the Snap hooks--those are nice with the axle straps to provide a mechanical attachment instead of just hooking onto them.
In the end, I was out about $180 for all the 6 straps and 4 axle straps, but I picked all of this up the day before I got the van and trailer. I was eyeing Mac's Custom Tie Downs and I would have purchased their Ultra Pack if I had to do it again, provided I had enough time. However, my straps worked out great.
Once I got the van loaded, I hooked up the trailer and loaded my Jeep onto it. Obviously, the Jeep physically fit on the trailer fine, no problem with width. Now, I had read about people with 33" tires deflating the tires enough to get the wheel nets onto the tires. I considered that, but since the wheel nets aren't designed for tires above 28", their fitment holds the back of the tire rather than the top of the tire for larger tires. As you can see in the above picture, the two ratchets on the front of the trailer can slide left and right in the channel/track they are secured in.
What I ended up doing was threading the end of the wheel net strap out of the ratchets at the front of the trailer. After removing the strap, I was able to slide the ratchets out of their track, as I was not going to use them. Instead, I took two of the ratchets with the double J hooks that I bought earlier, and hooked them from underneath the front of the trailer's frame. These ratchets, with the small length of strap between the ratchet and the hook provided an extension to the wheel nets and allowed me to place the wheel nets over the 35's.
This worked out extremely well. The edges of the frame were rounded so I was not worried about them cutting the strap. I got the strap centered on the tire, the wheel net hugging the tire right, and got it ratcheted in place. You will be able to see from the pictures that the way the wheel nets are designed (for smaller tires) the net straddles the rear of the tire as opposed to the top.
Next, I moved to the rear. Among my research, I read the sticky thread in this section about properly securing vehicles. I understand everyone has their own methods and opinions, and this is what worked out for me. The Penske trailer unfortunately didn't have any good tie down points on the trailer beyond the wheel nets and chains. Thus, for the rear, I was left with the option of using my Axle Straps and ratchet straps to either pull straight back from the rear axle to the back edge of the trailer decks. However, I did not like this idea as the strap hooks could slide off the edge of the trailer deck, and this provided no lateral stability. So, I decided on a cross/ X arrangement for the rear. I looped the axle straps over the axle around the rear lower control mounts. The axle straps have a protective sheath on them so I made sure it was what was resting on and edges. As for the straps, I was able to get the ratchet hooks attached underneath the rear corners of the trailer frame. There was enough positive engagement under the frame so I was comfortable with that. However, the strap on the ratchet end was being pulled at a slightly awkward angle around the edge of the trailer deck. The edge of the trailer deck was slightly bent downwards and the edges rounded, but I was concerned with the straps wearing through with the motion of the jeep over the course of the trip. After considering some options, I simply stuffed a folded up towel on the edge and carefully ratcheted such that it cushioned the edge for the strap.
I simply wrapped the extra strap length around my rear bumper and tied it off in such a manner that my GF who was following me in my car could keep an eye on the straps.
As for the wheel nets up front, I got those tight first. Then, I moved side to side in the rear to get the X in the back nice and tight. As some additional piece of mind, I decided to add one of the 8ft straps with snap hooks to the front axle to secure the Jeep. I was able to secure the ratchet end on a crossmember at the trailer tongue that had a hole in it.
This was the setup:
The Ford Econoline Van had a 5.4 V8. The van was a 16' Box. It was cram packed all the way to the roof all the way against the rear door.
This is how the straps panned out:
Wheel nets:
Rear (this was after arrival so I had started untying them)
All in all, this setup worked extremely well. When I left MD, I made sure the straps were all tight. I had a pit stop at the GF's in WV an hour away to load some things up. There, I made sure to check the straps. They were all still nice and tight. At every pit stop along the way, I made a point to carefully check the straps. Fortunately, I never had to tighten a single one along the 1,500 mile journey.
The trailer towed very well, the Penske van was't that bad to drive. The tow/haul mode was nice with the engine breaking helping to slow the truck and trailer down. We drove the entire length of I-81 in Virginia, which includes some long grades (maybe not west-coast like, of course) where the van did fine. It would kick the trans down a gear on grades, but I was getting into the gas pretty good the whole trip. We also traversed the entire width of the state of Tennessee, which included several hours of windy mountainous roads, some winds (which sucked) and some flurries--fortunately I missed the snow by a week. The first night we got to Knoxville, TN, then drove the entire next day to get to a hotel by the DFW airport.
The van handled well, and backing up with the trailer wasn't a big deal for me. Over the course of the entire trip, I tracked each tank out of the van and got 6-7.5 mpg the whole way completely loaded with the Jeep. Mileage was less in TN and Southwest VA but got slightly better on the flats of Western TN and Arkansas into Texas. Driving through Downtown Dallas was fun also.
I consulted with some friends in the 4x4 world experienced in towing and sought their advice on my strap arrangement, etc. So thanks to them and Pirate to help me get my feet wet towing and for a safe trip to Texas.
