trailering a truck for 6 hrs????

[low springs]

i just got off the phone with the owner. i can have a 58 Ford f100 for free. only catch is i have to drive 6 hrs to San Jose to get it. my question is would it be safe to just get a dollie for it? the truck was last driven 10 yrs ago. i know i would have to disconnect the drive shaft for useing the dollie. or do you think maybe i should just get a full trailer to be on the safe side? i will be towing it with a toyota tundra if that matters.

[Muttley]

Thats alot of weight to tow with a Tundra on a dollie, you would be better off with a full trailer. You wouldnt have to drop the driveline either.

[Brad54]

I once rented the biggest U-haul you can get and a full trailer to drive 13 hours each way for my '57 wagon. Needed the big truck because the car came with a complete spare chassis and some extra parts. Loaded the extra frame and nailed 2x4s to the floor of the truck, stacked them, more nails, bridged boards over the frame to keep it in place.
Got a good deal on the truck: unlimited miles for the weekend rental rate, if I remember correctly. Where they kill you is the one-way rentals.

Oh, and I'd never driven anything with a trailer before, and made the trip alone. Had to back down a 1-lane road in the middle of the night to get back to the main road for the expressway, too. What an adventure!!!

If the truck is free, try U-haul and rent it for day: 12-hours with a buddy should be do-able. Consider the rental of the truck the purchase price of your Ford. And if you get a deisel, you'll save on gas.
-Brad

[Detonator]

Hey, howzit? With the Tundra I'd vote for the dolly. You won't have to pull the weight of the trailer, too. I did the same tow last June -- Santa Cruz to Monrovia in a Tundra with a dolly. I was towing a VW, not quite as heavy as the truck, but I had a bed full of engines, wheels, etc etc. Took Hwy 5, took it easy and had no problems. Good luck, the truck sounds like a score.

[plan9]

you wont have to loosen the driveline if you tow the truck from the rear...

before anyone flips out...ya, steering wheel comes loose itll probably flip the tundra and the truck. but if the steering wheel is locked in place, wouldnt that work just as good?

[low springs]

my brother n law and i will be share the driving. we will drive up next wednesday. proablly spend the night at some NO-TELL, MOTEL up there and rent the trailer the next day and come home. i pulled my 53 Packard once with a full trailer that was an adventure.

[willowbilly3]

I'd say use the dolly and if the truck is a stick shift you shouldn't have to drop the driveline unless the engine is out and the tranny is hanging. I had a newer elcamino pass me towing a 70ish Chevy shortbed on a dolly and I was running the speed limit.
If you haven't towed before try to avoid heavy traffic and just be careful. If you haven't towed much before I wouldn't reccomend towing it backwards on a dolly, one mistake and you could be ending your future or someone elses.
If you use a full trailer watch your tongue weight. Not enough and it will be a real handfull, too much and it will feel like you have house tied to you. A good way to do it is measure your pickup bumper with the trailer hooked up. Then when you get the truck up on the trailer roll it foreward until you get 2-3 inches of drop at the same measurement. A full trailer will be a bit of a load for the Tundra but if you are careful it should do it fine. I know guys that haul their stock cars with smaller trucks than that.
If you have any doubts about the condition of the rear end on the 58 you probably shouldn't dolly it.
Also check with your local U-haul, it may be cheaper to rent the dolly where you live and tow it both ways rather than the one way rental. Drop fees can be high if it is going to a place that more stuff goes to than comes back from.
FWIW I just towed my 96 F-150 supercab 2100 miles on a 16 foot trailer. On flat ground I ran 65-70 and didn't even know it was back there, behind a 35 year old pickup I had never driven before.
And one last thing, if you trailer it, tie it down to the axles and not the frame. This allows the suspension to still deflect and your tiedowns wil stay tight. Tie to the frame and you have the suspension rebound nagging at the moorings and they won't stay tight.

[low springs]

do you guys think that the rear end will be alright? it has been sitting for 10 yrs. i'll check the prices for one way and both ways...thanks

[thirtytwo]

u-haul type places usally doesnt rent unless you have a full size truck, for liabilitys better check into that too...

[tomslik]

ain't a tundra a full-size truck?
the ones i've had to work on seem that way...

[manyolcars]

what if a bearing goes bad on the rear axle of the truck on the dolly? A trailer seems like the best bet. Make sure the trailer wheel bearings are greased.

[CherryBlossom]

Ask Hellfish about towing something home with a dolly.....

you might change your mind. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[TooMany2count]

if ya do use the dolly make sure ya change the rear tires. dont wanta have a blow out running them 10+yr dry rotted tires now do ya....joe

[C9]

Fwiw - I'd think twice about renting from U-Haul.

Doing this moving to Arizona bit, we've made six 800 mile round trips across the Dez during the summer and it's been interesting.
Almost every trip we've seen U-Haul trucks or trailers broken down.
I'm guessing due to lack of maintenance.
The lack of maintenance bit probably due to the corporate office doing the cost saving bit, but the savings seems to go to the CEO and board room flunkies ill-deserved, excessive salaries.

I considered a Penske truck and car trailer for part of the move and it probably would have worked ok.
I did not see a single Penske truck or trailer broken down in the Dez.
Nor a Ryder truck.

I got nothing against U-Haul, but there sure were a bunch of broke down ones.
Not a proportional thing either, we saw just about as many Penske trucks as U-Hauls. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif


Now that the mini-rant is over, probably the very best thing you can do, especially with a U-Haul is to check the tire pressures.
That will go a long ways toward stopping potential problems.

[Deyomatic]

I was just going to mention that C9. I was tipped off by Munson on the board about Penske being a possiblilitly when I recently moved, and they were about $600 CHEAPER than Uhaul. I never even noticed how many of them were on the road until I rented the one we had. I would venture to guess that we saw twice as many as Uhaul trucks. I'm guessing everyone else noticed that they were cheaper, too.

[Dennis the Menace]

Check the outside width of the Ford and the inside width of the dollie to make sure that it will fit. Tried to put a 68 Chevy on a dollie once and it would not fit.
Dennis

[JamesG]

This ones on Ebay right know, I like....

http://i8.ebayimg.com/01/i/02/89/e6/ff_1_b.JPG

[low springs]

thanks i think i'll go with a full trailer. to far from home to be messing around with it on the side of the road. does anybody now the width of a 58 Ford F1? the truck is up north so i can't measure it.

lowlesabre, looks nice but that's a 59. same thing though just small differences.

this a 58..

[zman]

I think you're makng the right choice, if I remember the '58 steering wheel doesn't lock and on a dolly this can suck. I know I towed a '58 chevy like that, thought I had the wheel where it wouldn't move, it's crazy what an inch or two of play can do...

[Rocky]

I've towed both ways and the tow dolly worked just fine for me. A lot less weight to contend with too. I wouldn't even think about towing the 58 backwards on a dolly.
With my dolly, you want the front wheels to steer back and forth around corners. If you'd lock the column, it'd put the two cars in a bind.
T-man and I towed [with a dolly] the Rocky 33 to Kansas City from Omaha and back to Omaha with no drama except for the excitement caused by a few deer in the interstate in the pre-dawn darkness. Luckily, my cat-like night vision detected them in time to slow down and miss them. I suppose it's about 250 miles each way.
You should take a $5 squeeze bottle of 90 weight with you in case the axle is low on fluid. Make sure the 2 best tires are on the back and don't tie the steering wheel down. If the truck has a manual transmission, you won't have to remove the drivshaft. Just check the oil level in it and pop it into neutral. Don't forget to let off the park brake....might take a fresh 12 volt battery to slide into the 58 in case you need tailights if you haven't wired up the lights on the dolly.
Try to pick a weekend that has no rain forcast and your Tundra should be enough truck to tow an EMPTY 58 shortbox ford...If there are parts in the back of the ford, transfer them to the tundra before towing.

[Spedley]

thats how I got my '65 F100 home, and behind an '80 Jeep CJ7 with a V8.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v386/Spedleysan/djstruck.jpg

[Spedley]

oh ya, almost forgot, had to take the front bumper off, and the backs of the front fender wheel openings got a little bent from sharp corners, nothing that cant be fixed tho.

[yorgatron]

if you're coming to san jose give me a call-george 408-227-6802

[Chili Phil]

U-Haul and Ryder asked me what I was going to tow when I asked about trailers and dollies. Said my pull vehilcle was too light and the Olds I was getting was too heavy. There's a Place called Big Tex trailers in Anahiem on Beach that rents them and doesn't care what you pull it with or what you haul on it. Hope this helps. Be careful.

CP

[Just Gary]

Whether you go with U-haul or Penske, trailer or dolly, be sure to reserve it well in advance . Some locations have a chronic shortage of popular rentals.

[Brad54]

Actually, mine was a Ryder truck, now that I've thought about it. Went Ryder moving to Florida, too, with a trailer to haul my '56 Chevy.
We rented a big U-haul out of Florida, and it was a pyle. No A/C for one thing, and there was something else but I forget. Got a lot of money off on the rental for it.

when going down to Florida, I hauled my '57 Chevy station wagon on a trailer behind my '97 Dodge Dakota 318/5spd and it was fine.
Now I have my own trailer, and it's 1820lbs empty. Pull it behind my '01 Dakota, 4.7L 5spd, and haul the wagon, the '56 Chevy (both kinda gutted, but) and my '54 Buick that's a complete car. Never had a problem of any kind--run the speed limit, etc. Just brake early, but that's it.
I don't see why a tundra wouldn't put another pick-p truck on a trailer.
-Brad

[kentucky]

Yeah, if you rent a car trailer they ask what you're hauling and what you're towing it with. I don't think you'll have a problem. We pulled my 46 home from Minnesota, 900+ miles behind my dad's F-150 with no problems. Try to time it so that you travel during light traffic if there is such a thing out there. We went through the major cities like Louisville and Indy in the middle of the night or during the slower times of day. Good luck, road trips kick ass.

[JimC]

Your Tundra should handle the 58 Ford all right.
I prefer a trailer, but use dolly's occassionaly.
.
You will be fine, either way you decide.
Just use common sense and remember the extra weight and length.
the length will come into play when cornering and the weight will be a factor in curves and stopping.
Just allow more distance than usual between your rig and the vehicles in front of you.
Start slowing and anticipate stop lights.
Good luck.