So I'm meeting a gentleman 40 miles away at a predetermined appointment to pick up a car that barely runs. I crunch some numbers and figure it might be cheaper to rent a u-haul plus dolly than to use a tow truck.
The car only weighs 2300 lbs, and the dolley 700, so I figure a 3/4 ton pickup should be able to handle it. U-haul rents those and I saw hitches on them.
Step 1) Call central reservations, they won't let me locally rent a tow dolly. They also want to charge me a $5 urgent fee as I was renting tomorrow... times two, for two pieces of equipment. I hang up.
Step 2) Call a local guy who does nickel can redemption and U-haul rental. He has nothing but suggests I call another place and return the truck to him.
Apparantly they want to discourage local dolley use so going from one town to the next tricked their computer into thinking I was actually "moving". And I got a better rate, 40 cents a mile instead of 79.... though I didn't get the $19.95/ day the mileage made up for it. And the $5 fee was not charged.
Step 3) Call another local guy, a real u-haul center, and get hooked up. The dolley is real nice, it swivels so the tires don't scrub and has nice ratcheting tire straps that won't damage the towed vehicle.
The truck, OTOH, is a 14' box truck with 170k miles on a 1994 GMC chassis... 1 ton, 1.5 ton, something like that. Easily overkill for a 3000 lb tow. And of course a gas engine that took 8 gallons to go 73 miles. The "check engine" light was on when I went to drive off so I ducked back in the office to mention that. "Not a problem" they said. As I turned my blinker on to enter the interstate I noticed the voltmeter dipping from 14 to 12 in time with the signal. Yay.
Dusk was approaching but I kept my lights off as long as practicable and made it to the rendezvous point early. Shut the truck down then turned the key back on... less voltage than when it was running. Good sign. Looked under the hood and there's a brand new alternator, probably wired in okay but with those stupid crimp connectors. Incidentally, UHaul has their own parts division as the alt had a Uhaul tag on it.
Oh, and a $29 pep boys battery that was a few several years old was cranking over that huge V8, probably a 454?
I had no paper clip on me so I couldn't get that check engine code.
Was betting it's low voltage but maybe not. Thing was missing a bit too.
The steering box had the play you'd expect over 170,000 miles and the truck was registered in Arizona so it never had to endure a Maine state inspection. Brakes felt pretty numb and I was driving very conservatively.
Which brings up my next point: When going 53 in a 65 in the right lane of an interstate, at night, in the rain, with a car on a trailer you can't even see, why do people slow down and hang off your bumper? Where's the impetus to pass? (I ask b/c I never go this slow) Most of these bozos when they'd finally pass would speed up to a new cruising speed of 60 or more and had plenty of clear openings to do so. Maybe they feel "safe" behind bigger trucks?
I made it home safe, I figure the dash had a bad ground and who knows, maybe the old alternator was okay after all.
Obligatory BITOG moment: Uhaul's contract says they pay for oil if you save your receipt. So top 'er off with some amsoil or shaeffer's.
The car only weighs 2300 lbs, and the dolley 700, so I figure a 3/4 ton pickup should be able to handle it. U-haul rents those and I saw hitches on them.
Step 1) Call central reservations, they won't let me locally rent a tow dolly. They also want to charge me a $5 urgent fee as I was renting tomorrow... times two, for two pieces of equipment. I hang up.
Step 2) Call a local guy who does nickel can redemption and U-haul rental. He has nothing but suggests I call another place and return the truck to him.
Apparantly they want to discourage local dolley use so going from one town to the next tricked their computer into thinking I was actually "moving". And I got a better rate, 40 cents a mile instead of 79.... though I didn't get the $19.95/ day the mileage made up for it. And the $5 fee was not charged.
Step 3) Call another local guy, a real u-haul center, and get hooked up. The dolley is real nice, it swivels so the tires don't scrub and has nice ratcheting tire straps that won't damage the towed vehicle.
The truck, OTOH, is a 14' box truck with 170k miles on a 1994 GMC chassis... 1 ton, 1.5 ton, something like that. Easily overkill for a 3000 lb tow. And of course a gas engine that took 8 gallons to go 73 miles. The "check engine" light was on when I went to drive off so I ducked back in the office to mention that. "Not a problem" they said. As I turned my blinker on to enter the interstate I noticed the voltmeter dipping from 14 to 12 in time with the signal. Yay.
Dusk was approaching but I kept my lights off as long as practicable and made it to the rendezvous point early. Shut the truck down then turned the key back on... less voltage than when it was running. Good sign. Looked under the hood and there's a brand new alternator, probably wired in okay but with those stupid crimp connectors. Incidentally, UHaul has their own parts division as the alt had a Uhaul tag on it.
I had no paper clip on me so I couldn't get that check engine code.
The steering box had the play you'd expect over 170,000 miles and the truck was registered in Arizona so it never had to endure a Maine state inspection. Brakes felt pretty numb and I was driving very conservatively.
Which brings up my next point: When going 53 in a 65 in the right lane of an interstate, at night, in the rain, with a car on a trailer you can't even see, why do people slow down and hang off your bumper? Where's the impetus to pass? (I ask b/c I never go this slow) Most of these bozos when they'd finally pass would speed up to a new cruising speed of 60 or more and had plenty of clear openings to do so. Maybe they feel "safe" behind bigger trucks?
I made it home safe, I figure the dash had a bad ground and who knows, maybe the old alternator was okay after all.
Obligatory BITOG moment: Uhaul's contract says they pay for oil if you save your receipt. So top 'er off with some amsoil or shaeffer's.
