Weighing all the difference in cost, renting vs. buying, it might be a solution.

Has anyone considered renting a tow vehicle? Is anyone actually doing this for road/club racing?

 

I used to do it. Well once ijust had a tow truck take my car to the track

If you search under Armada rentels on google. They are the only people i know of that rent tow vehicles.. Basically you get a huge diesel dually.. $50 a day.. Weekly rate available.. No extra charge for milage..

I intended to buy a trailer and just rent the tow vehicle.. because $150 4 times a year is much cheaper than insurance for 6 months. not to mention maintance, depreciation, and the dredded car payment/cost of the vehicle

 

It is really hard to find places that will allow towing behind their rentals - most likely due to insurance premiums and liability.

You can try the place mentioned above or Ryder/Uhaul/etc.

 

I rented the smallest U-Haul truck and one of their drive on trailers. I now have a truck so I'll just rent a U-Hault trailer. In most cases renting is cost benificial for the few times a year you'll be using it. Now if you raced every other weekend or less buying would cost benificial.

 

I looked at this option before I bought my truck, and I decided it just wasn't convenient enough to justify. The added insurance wasn't really a concern for me since I gave up another daily driver for the truck. However, all of the local places I found for truck rental charged by the mile. It averaged around $20/day + optional insurance for the rental plus $0.XX/mile. I figured it out for a 3 day weekend and 250 miles round trip and it just wasn't worth it.

 

Our local Armada rents a nice deisel dually for towing. Rental for a track weekend (Fri-Mon) is ~$400.

 

http://www.unitedrentals.com

Mostly used for contractor/construction equipment, but they rent 1/2 and 3/4 ton Fords and GM's on a regular basis, and expect that you'll be towing with them. I can't remember the cost, but I can imagine it's somewhere in the $300-400 range for a weekend.

 

My good friend runs an Enterprise location...He rents me the only rig he has with a towing package, which is a Chevy TrailBlazer, for $40 a day. Pulls just fine and I don't have to pay to maintain it!

 

i have a friend at Hertz , and he rents me usually a GMC TAHOE Z71 or ENVOY ,Trailblazer. they all come with the hitch receptecal(SP?)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by travis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I looked at this option before I bought my truck, and I decided it just wasn't convenient enough to justify. The added insurance wasn't really a concern for me since I gave up another daily driver for the truck. However, all of the local places I found for truck rental charged by the mile. It averaged around $20/day + optional insurance for the rental plus $0.XX/mile. I figured it out for a 3 day weekend and 250 miles round trip and it just wasn't worth it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah the added cost per mile was the part that had me wondering if it was really worth it. I guess I need to figure out how many trips I'll be making.

The other option, and I've heard pros and cons about this too, is to buy a cheaper, older truck or van with a newly rebuild engine.

Thanks to everyone who's shared their thoughts. It helps!

and the thought process continues...

 

http://reservations.carrentale...cd8fe

I looked into renting this F-150 (54.99 and 100 mile per day, $.29 mile)and purchasing the receiver and ball (about $50), then getting a U-haul car hauler w/surge brakes (50.00 per day). Not the most convenient but workable. Your looking at about $400-$600 per weekend.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by emwavey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The other option, and I've heard pros and cons about this too, is to buy a cheaper, older truck or van with a newly rebuild engine.
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You need to worry more about the transmission on older trucks than the engine (assuming an automatic). I'd stay away from vans - panel vans are probably abused and conversion vans are heavy (sacrificing towing ability, mpg, etc).

If it's not going to be a daily driver, you can get older diesels with manuals pretty cheap. Talk to Corey, he has/had an older Ford diesel. Dodge Ram with Cummins and manual would be great if you can find one in your price range.

If you're just doing shorter hauls and have no intention of every getting a larger trailer, older F150 6 cylinders are dirt cheap.

 

i rented/borrowed/begged for tow vehicles and trailers all of last year. it sucked. it basically adds AT LEAST an extra day of hassle to an already busy weekend. you don't have exactly what you want, and it costs a crapload. a decent 16' trailer (made for bobcats really, not cars) cost me almost $200 for the weekend, and i had to lie about taking it out of state.

now i have my own truck to tow with, my own trailer, and i couldn't be happier with it. i say sell whatever you're driving on a daily basis, and get a truck.

of course if you only need it 2x a year or whatever, then you probably don't need one.

 

i'm having the same problem right now.

Renting/Borrowing a tow vehicle.

Uhaul wants $$$/mile... I'll be driving roughly 300 each way, plus the $40+/day for rental of the truck, then $40/day for the trailer.

i started asking friends to borrow their truck and just rent the trailer. of course, then you have to worry about borrowing a vehicle.


I don't want to spend $400/weekend to tow my car. Since I'm going to a pro-solo, i'm just going to bring extra parts with me and lots o' tools, have someone drive my daily driver and enjoy. My CRX is insured/registered, so it won't be a legal issue. it's just gonna suck to drive it for those 3 hrs (better than spending $400-$600/weekend).

 

AHHHHH...F Uhaul, I have used them 2x, and both were out of necessity, and both were awful. The first time I showed up with my reg car trailer ball (2 5/6?) dunno, but every one I tow has this size, I ended up having to buy a 2" ball, which I already had at home, and an adapter to use there wiring harness (cause they didnt use brakes on their trailers) he hooked it up, light check, brake lights dont work, but its the only trailer, and I need to get to Hizzy fest. Get to the shop, put on the car, and the trailer popps off the ball. So all weekend I have people telling me my brakes dont work, luckily I didnt get hit. yeah yeah, I prob shouldnt have taken it, but I was in a jam. my $.02