I have to move. I landed a dream job in Tucson and now I have to move from Phoenix to Tucson. It's like 100 miles from my place in Mesa to Speedway and Campbell in Tucson. I need some suggestions on how to move my hot rod stash from Mesa to Tucson. HELP!!!!
ummm dont post questions , just pack up a truck or trailer then unload it at your new place and repeat until you have everything moved,
Don't know your situation, or whether this will help, but it saved me some major bucks! Recently completed a massive move, including mucho car and motorcycle parts, 4 project vehicles and more additional crap than any sane person would accumulate. (Can you say packrat? .... Sure ya can!) Much of the move could be made with many, many pickup, van and various loaner trailer loads, but I realized at some point I was gonna need a real, big-assed moving van. Prices were scary, but then I ended up with a '26 Ryder truck. Caught them on a special, $300 for a full week's use with 1000 free miles. Believe me, that was a bargain! (Edit - BTW, Ryder's per-mile rate was some little piddling amount, about 1/3 the amount of U-Haul). The only downside is that Ryder's trucks are dock-height, as opposed to the lower U-Hauls, and can't pull a trailer because they have a hydraulic lift gate taking up that space. Between the lift gate and the slide-out solid ramp, it was pretty easy loading & unloading, 'specially considering my "new" house is 100+ years old and about 5' off the ground! Anyway, something to consider. I wish you luck, but I don't envy you. Our move damned near killed us! My sweetie told me, "You can toss all the packing boxes, 'cause NO WAY are we doing this again!"
I would dread moving very far but jeez dude, Tucson is right down the road - rent a trailer BTW - congrats on the new gig
53' foot van trailer or a rail container and ship it all in one chunk....Times are tight for all but maybe pricing out transportation like Knight or even Swift,Warner etc./????You can probally find a local driver that owns his own trl and bam.. load it up and deliver in one shot!
You could rent a pod- you fill it, they pick it up and deliver! Don't know if they have a weight limit, but I think you get a month to fill/empty.
AZAV8, Best of luck! Now you find out who your friends really are? If you're careful how you mark your packing boxes you can reap a tidy sum reselling them. Someone is always moving or storing stuff. After a renovation about five years ago where I work,the company said "get rid of the boxes and refuse." I did and made a nice little bundle o' cash... Didn't hurt my feelings at all.
Get a big ass truck and trailer !! It took me 2 months to move 35 miles !! And that was about 17 years ago !!! Holy shit I'd hate to do that again as I have 3 times of the stuff now !!!! >>>>.
Get pallets and crates and wheels. Pack your stuff in boxes that you stack on the pallets, and then you can wheel the pallets around. Makes it far easier to move. Northern, HF and other internet merchants sell decent caster wheels cheaply. Organize as you pack and get rid of the things you don't need (these are the items you have been tripping over for years and two weeks after you throw them out you find a need for them). Everything I have is on wheels.
You didn't really tell us how much stuff you need to move. 3-4 cars, or do you have 12 cars, (7 of which are parts cars), and 3 barns fulla parts???
A guy I know had about 50 cars and a bunch of antique motorcycles and all the spare parts that go with a collection like that. After a lot of thought, he bought a big truck (18 wheeler) for $6000, a flatbed for $9000, a dry van for $500, another dry van for $100, got a CDL and insurance for the truck, $500 for 6 months and moved everything himself to another state. Expensive? Yeah but the truck and trailer can be sold and he gets that money back, plus he moves at his own pace.
itll suck no matter how you do it. I had to be out of my old place a week before the new place, lukcily my dads work has a big lot and i was able to keep a couple (5) projects there, and then i had a ton of stuff stored at my work in the basement, and when we finally were able to move in i think we made like 10 trailor loads (including the projects) to the place. it was fun! rend a semi trailor, load it all in there and have it hauled to the new place. JEFF
You didn't say what the stuff is, so that will enter into it. I moved last year, so here are some tips. I used IBF for most of it. They will drop off a semi trailer, you load, they pull it to the new location and you unpack. http://www.upack.com/ I used a full 26 footer! Get as many same-sized boxes as possible. They stack better than odd sizes. I bought ~60 of the plastic bins you see at the cheapie stores. They are fairly sturdy, so they are great for those odd-sized car parts. Stack strange stuff (rears, engines, trans) under tables. You have to think vertically, heavy on the bottom, light on top. Garage sales usually have cheap dining tables. Strong and ugly (cheap) are best. Label everything! You might also want to put a number on the boxes. 1= need within the first week, 5=won't need for a year. Stack these in the new place so the important stuff is the most accessible. Depending on your timeline, it's a good idea to photograph everything. You can use that in case there is an issue during the move, and also when you get to the new place, you have a record of all your stuff for insurance. If you are like most, there will be boxes that you don't open for a while. Garage sale blankets or any heavy fabric will be useful to fully fill boxes with odd-shaped stuff. If you know the layout of the new place, mark the boxes with where they go in the new place, IE, bedroom, north garage wall, kitchen. You will not have time to open each box when unpacking to check contents and figure out where you want it. Dollys and wheels are your friends. Get as many wheeled things as possible to help with the move. Clean and lube the stuff you have with wheels now. Clean and pack as much as possible before time. On full project cars, you will want them stored out of the way if possible on each end until the move is done. Mechanic's gloves and a back brace, along with lots of fluids on moving days. Know where the local ER is in case of needing stiches or worse.
Call ABF freight co, they are located everywhere. They drop a trailer at your house, you pack it, seal it, and they drive to your destination... It is very cost effective.
you're sweating Mesa to Tucson??? Dude, that's EASY! Try Florida to Montana...THAT is stress! hahah, good luck, go to UHAUL and get a trailer. It's gonna suck, but....it's only 1.5 hrs away.
Thanks for the great ideas guys. I knew I could count on you all. Things are working out. I was able to use Elpolacko's trailer and haul the 48 F1 cab and frame to his shop Industrial Chassis. He is going to work on it for me now, so I'll be able to come and get it later when he is done and I'm more settled. The rest I'll move in a rental truck and store it at a storage rental place for a while until we sell our Mesa house and buy a house in Tucson. The Ryder truck with a lift gate sounds like a better deal for my tired old back. I'll check them out and compare to U-Haul. Tips: Save all of your moving receipts. If the move is more than 50 miles you can claim the moving expenses on your income tax. You have to Itemize on the Schedule A, but the extra hassel is worth the saving in tax money. U-Haul has a box buy-back policy. If you buy more boxes than you need, they will buy them back. Just keep all the receipts. You need those to sell them back.
I've been asked about my new job. For me it is a dream job to have as a last job before I retire. I'm the plant engineer on the UofA's Large Binocular Telescope. I'll be responsible for the chilled water system on the observatory building and equipment. I have to engineer the existing system to give them enough cooling capacity to reliabily operate. It will be a challenge, but I'm really excited about it. Thanks for all the ideas and help. And many thanks to Elpolacko at Industrial Chassis for finding the shop space for my F1. He does First Class work if you need a chassis guy.
Congrats Phil on the LBT job! I'm at the U of A Garage, ask for John. Still in the middle of my move too.
I would get a boat load of those POD containers, they will drop them right where you need them both ways.
Lucky you, I hear the housing market in Tucson is so depressed, top ten in the nation, you should be able to pick off a real buy perhaps with a nice 3-5 car garage.
Sounds like a cool gig, congrats. I didn't think there was a 'dream' anything in Tucson except their great drag strip.
The Ryder truck's a good idea. A couple weeks back I saw the first Ryder truck I'd ever seen broken down on Route 66. Penske trucks do well in this dept. U-Haul's? Saw lots of them broken down - trailers too - in the few months we took traveling to Arizona from Central California looking for a house and moving. If you can swing it, and I know it's only a hundred miles, buy an enclosed box trailer if you have something you can tow with. I bought a 20', moved two roadsters and the whole darned shop with it. Three trips of course and it was nice to have the shop equipment locked up. Still have it and it's still handy. Be careful not to store stuff in it, you want to be able to hook up, check the tires and go....
Don't move it all dude, that's my advice. Let half of it go. We car people are all packrats. Prioritize what you have and let the bottom half of the list go. It will be the most liberating garage experience of your life. Will you get rid of things you'll have to rebuy eventually? yes. Inevitable. Will the new freedom allow you to focus on what's already in process with a ferocious new attitude?.....absolutely. Will your projects go to a new level because you seek out the right things instead of trying to refit what's "on hand"?.....absolutely good luck
Damn, shifty! I hate it when someone uses common sense .... gives y'all an unfair advantage over those of us who have none! Just kidding, those are great suggestions!
Spoken like a true Phoenix puke! Welcome to the real Arizona south of the Gila! The pods sound like a great idea. If the UofA/state is paying for the move, make it as easy on yourself as you can.
Hey, it's tough to come up with even one redeeming quality to the Peoples Republic of Tucson....okay two, the drag strip & El Charro. Beyond that is pushing it.
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