HELP! Truck needed to get my car from bodyshop crook!

My usual friend that tows my stuff around has blown a head gasket on his truck and I need to get my car out of the crooked body shop that has had it for 9 months.

They are moving their shop and changing their name and I want my car out of there before it disappears!

Anyone have a truck than can tow an open car trailer? I just need to get the car to my house which is about 2km away from the shop. I am located in toronto and need to do this friday or saturday! Before the end of the month and they leave!

 

It would be worth it to rent one over losing your car if all else fails.

 

Only 2 klicks? That's about a mile, right? Is the car a roller? If it were me, I'd push it or tow it if nothing else. If you don't have brakes, go slow, and slip a pipe over the chain so you can stop without hitting the tow vehicle. That way you can take advantage of the tow vehicles brakes even if you have none.

 

If the border patrol didn't hassel me so much I'd sure think about coming up, there's got to be someone local that can help.

 

I might get a tow dolly and see of my little S10 has the balls to pull it - its a non hamb friendly car.

 

So how much is a tow truck anyway?

 

It will handle that distance no problem. just go slow.

 

my dad was sort of the cheap stubborn type. he and i put on many thousands of miles on 4 banger s-10 towing loads much bigger than the truck. they can do it just fine, as long as you are not in a big hurry.

 

Tow trucks around here want $100 just to hook up. And I am only going about 2 km to my house. The car weighs about 3000lbs.

I also have to take the engineless body of my dart up to my shop. But that can wait.

My 110hp 4spd truck sorta scares me sometimes. But its good on gas.

 

I've towed a '58 Plymouth with an Isuzu pup before, your S10 shouldn't be a problem

 

I'm pretty sure I've posted these on here before.

Anybody know what kind of horsepower a 4 cylinder Toyota 4x4 with 300,000 miles puts out?

 

Got a CAA membership ?

 

Do you have insurance on it? Many insurance policies have some degree of free towing included in you premiums. Check it out, I use Hagerty and I get 3 tow a year under 10 miles free a year. Maybe get insurance on it, move it, and then cancell insurance.

 

If it has a metal bumper and 4 good tires on it, I've used a U-haul towbar for many many miles no problem. Last time I checked they were around $20 to rent. They'll rent you a trailer too. If U-haul's not in Canada, maybe there's someone else like that?

 

That " slip a pipe over the chain " is an awesome idea , could have used that one a few times !

 

No steel bumper - its the turbocharged 80' Z28.

I am looking at wiring up the S10 for towing and using the bumper hitch. Its good to 3500lbs apparently - which would be just over the weight of a tow dolly and the car.

 

Dang, I thought you meant it was 2 thousand miles away. (2 km)
DOH!

 

We once towed a 3/4 ton 4x4 with a plow in the bed, using an '84 Electra with a 307 motor. In fact, we towed a lot of cars with it - from a Dodge Omni to a '59 Olds. It took about 40,000 miles of occasional towing to blow out the 200R4.

Tow dolly should be fine, only issue I see is they might not want to rent you one to use with the bumper hitch. Tell them you need to move a Hyundai or some little light POS car -

 

Dude you will have no problem pulling it with the S10, a little while back I pulled a 3000lb Alfa Romeo 2600 over 200 miles with a 4 cylinder Ranger (off the bumper too).

Not optimum but can be done.

 

Supposedly - and I've not actually confirmed it, but have heard - that this is the only way to legally tow a vehicle with a chain. Seems I heard that somewhere before, but anything is possible, and I could be wrong. It'll be the 4th time I've ever been wrong though, so you're guess is as good as mine.

Think Geo Metro, 90ish edition. Most companies figure that the car cannot weight some percentage of the amount of the tow vehicle, and will refuse to rent to you. Best way to find out is to use the online websites for those companies (Uhaul, Budget, Ryder, etc) and check to see if they'll allow you to rent one online. They'll tell you outright if your combination fits within the standards they follow. It'll save you some time and hassle of going door to door to find out if you can do it.

 

Ditto on this, I slipped up when I told the guy I was pulling my 56 Ford (they claim it will not fit on the dolly, it will) and told him that is what I was pulling and he would not rent the dolly, ended up having to rent the trailer and to rent the trailer they would not let me use my Ranger so I had to pick the trailer up with my dad's Tahoe. Alway remember to say you are picking up a Civic and you don't remember the tag #.

 

Same problem here with Uhaul when I hauled my 49 chevy pickup behind my 95 Chevy pickup. I checked online and they wouldn't rent to me because I had a SWB pickup, so I tried different combos and finally told them I was hauling an S-10 and got by with it. Like was suggested go to one of the websites and find a combo that works, because they won't know the difference.

 

it's hilarious reading this thread, after just reading this in the paper a few days ago

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/local/55538.php

 

Your S-10 and a tow dolly will be just fine, there is realy not any weight on the tongue it's distributed on the wheels of the dolly. I towed an 86 T-Type Buick from Mo. to Buffalo with a tow dolly and a gut less 2000 ford ranger with the 3.0.
U-haul wants the combined weight of trailer and car being towed to be less than the towing vehicle for braking purposes.

 

I tried to rent a tow dolly a few years ago to move a disabled car in town, and they told me that they would be willing to rent it to me, but I couldn't return the dolly in the same town I rented it in! They said that their rentals are for people that are moving to distant locations. They said that trucks could be returned in the same city because people need to move across town, but dollys are meant for moving out of town. I asked where was the nearest location I could return the dolly and they told me Oklahoma City, 100 miles away. I know this sounds weird, sure as hell did to me. I ended up just calling a tow truck. I tried several company's and they all said the same thing. Make sure where you have to return it before you rent.

 

I think if I valued my car at all I,d cough up the cash for the tow truck....flat deck if need be.

 

Here's a thought - by the time we all hash this out here on the HAMB for you, you and your buddy could probably have replaced the head gasket on his truck and be done with it. He's your buddy, and right now, you need help, and he needs help, so help him out and then you'll both benefit from the process!

I needed my dad's wrecker once, and the engine was blown in it. I started pulling the 454 on Friday evening and he came in at 730am Saturday and helped me put it back in. I took the wrecker 120 miles one way Saturday afternoon to get the truck I'd bought and had to get it moved ASAP.

 

That might depend on where you live. I don't think the law would accept towing a car through LA with a pipe through a chain...Though my friends and I did just that through Long Beach to Anaheim around 1963/4...Another time we also used as short a chain as possible with a couple of tires between the vehicles...maybe they'll go for that in some parts of Oklahoma...I don't know.

Oh, by the way some of you already know this goes without saying, but just in case. If you're going to use any of the above chain methods for towing, be sure there's someone else in the tow vehicle too.
For the person in the tow vehicle, It does get scary when the pipe and chain trys to submarine under the lead car or you're slamming into the tires between.

 

Problem is the truck is at someones shop getting the work done. I didn't even know it was blown.

 

Problem is the truck is at someones shop getting the work done. I didn't even know it was blown.