Tow our TT to New Mexico

[DDDreamers]

Looking for someone with a worthy vehicle to tow our functioning 5000# TT from Fairplay CO to Truth or Consequences NM. Our SUV isn't happy enough to tow right now, and we have a workamp position to start soon.
Enterprise Truck Rental is making us jump through too many hoops to rent from them.
Will pay.

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[Van-Tramp]

Did you try UHaul?

Otherwise, you will have no problems finding a few people on Craig's List that do this sort of thing for extra cash.

 

[cyndi]

Also try uship

Both professional and freelancers can bid. I used to transport pets and cargo driving back and forth cross country

https://www.uship.com/ship/vehicles

 

[DDDreamers]

@Van-Tramp yes i tried uhaul. They won't do that distance with a pickup, and they don't have brake controllers.

Craigslist is some thing i am tracking next.

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[DDDreamers]

@cyndi yes i have a proposal in uship now. Just don't have enough funds in checking acct until later in week. They need full prepay upon bid acceptance, apparently, and bids disappear quickly. Frustrating. Gonna keep on there, though.

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[Cammalu]

I used uship some years ago with good results.


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[JD GUMBEE]

This is not as much of a long shot as you may think...

Go to your nearest truck stop and make about twenty copies with a cell number on it.

"NEED 22 foot 5,000 pound camper trailer brought from here to ______ NM. Cash money."

You might be shocked how many drop-deck drivers want that cash...and could put that sucker on a flatbed designed for huge Caterpillar bulldozers. Bobtail guys often have hitches too.
A pro who drives a big truck, when taking everything into account...is likely your BEST bet for getting it there undamaged and on time. Especially a driver looking to make a little side cash with a flatbed. Your tires would never touch the ground...your brakes would never be touched.

 

[Cammalu]

Great idea Gumbee. I have to store that in my mind somewhere and hopefully not forget that should I ever need to use it.

 

[DDDreamers]

@JDGumbee that is a great idea. I should have thought about that a couple weeks ago, seeing as I've intimately known a couple truckers in my life, lol.
If this Uhaul rental doesn't pan out on Saturday, i may do just that. Unsure how we will temp install brake controller in rental.

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[DDDreamers]

@cammalu good to know. We have been getting decent bids. Problem has been accepting said bids, since all money has to be in checking acct just to even accept the bid before it vanishes. Difficult when we aren't getting paid til Friday. Hand to mouth living sucks in this society.

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[JD GUMBEE]

Unsure how we will temp install brake controller in rental.

Uhaul trucks used to have 12V constant power right @ the back of the unit.
While I would not suggest using those TERRIBLE, HARNESS DESTROYING "Scotch blocks" even on a Uhaul truck...with a test light, find the constant power and hook the controller up right on the tailgate...or the floor of the vehicle.
The cheaper "timer" style controllers are better for this, but we have used the super Tekonshas wired this way and duct taped to the floor of a cargo body.
(The truck used was a lot heavier duty that what you are likely to rent, but uhaul used to be same same/uniform in their (kind of strange) connection setups.)

If there is no constant power back there, just buy some #8 or #10 wire and a fuse holder. Connect an alligator clip to it and hook it right to the battery...then duct tape it to the fender and bring it in the door...then through the cargo body.
(Take the clip off when you shut the truck for more than 30 minutes, though.)

This stuff should work OK...
https://www.amazon.com/GS-Power-Pri...8&qid=1550679069&sr=8-4&keywords=#10+red+wire

and one of these...
https://www.amazon.com/VOODOO-Gauge...550679179&sr=8-10&keywords=fuse+holder+15+amp

DO NOT use "speaker wire" for this purpose.
There are (foolish) people who do this and will troll, but they are, quite simply, wrong.

You need power wire similar to the link. Make sure it has a bunch of hair-thin strands, NOT ten large strands.
DC current needs a sh!t ton of strands to carry the amperage effectively.
One other thing...if you do a temp setup of a brake controller, dont sit there with the brake lights on for 20 minutes straight in traffic. Put it in park and use the parking brake. Same with the 4 ways. If you have to use them for 20 minutes, disconnect the controller. (This is applicable to the less pricey "timer" controllers, not the ones with an inertia wheel design.)
....and to further elaborate on the different types, the timer cheapies that come on every time with a grab scenario you set with the adjuster wheel or slider...can actually be better for you. Slide your steer tires in the rain or ice/snow/train tracks...and the pricier types (at least my fancy Tekonsha) will send no power to the trailer brakes and you crash.
They use a kind of weight like a pendulum inside that requires the truck to start slowing in order to activate the trailer brakes.

I popped a rear caliper once and lost pedal.
It was instant "75% of my brakes vanished" feeling.
That fancy %&$^%ing Tekonsha just sat there and had I not been able to head for the grass, it would have made a mess.
With the cheap controller I installed that very day...form NAPA , in 1/3 of a second, it begins ramping the power to the brakes no matter what...and you adjust it to the proper setting for the weight/trailer.
I tow a 22 foot car trailer behind my 32' class A.
We weigh in @ close to 30,000 pounds GVW.
We have 14,000 pound axles on the trailer with the monster brakes.
Driving tractor trailers since childhood, I trust air brakes with huge reserve tanks giving you stop power, even with a blown line or a blown drum...not the hydraulic disc setup on our class A. That loss of caliper was certainly a "pucker" moment.
With that cheap controller and the station wagon loaded on the trailer, I can bring the whole shooting match to a HALT from highway speeds pretty safely and quickly.
The disadvantage is when you get into stop and go traffic.
You have to turn the power down on the controller, or the trailer brakes kind of...STOP YOU...a bit hard...every time you hit the brake pedal. For my needs, I would rather follow the KISS principle and adjusting the little slider bothers me not.
The car trailer is heavy, but I can back it up without leaving the drivers seat, it actually makes our rig MORE stable on the highway...and the toolbox on the nose of it carries welder/tools/spares/straps/satt dish/bodies of my victims...er, I mean "rolled up carpeting" yeah, thats it...

Hope the move goes well for you no matter how you end up doing it.


(Sorry to go a tad off-topic, but most folks miss this when setting up a controller...and people read these threads for years.)

 

[tx2sturgis]

Go to your nearest truck stop and make about twenty copies with a cell number on it.

"NEED 22 foot 5,000 pound camper trailer brought from here to ______ NM. Cash money."

You might be shocked how many drop-deck drivers want that cash...and could put that sucker on a flatbed designed for huge Caterpillar bulldozers. 

JD, that is a good idea, but as always, the devil is in the details. 

They are going to need to be able to load that RV on the step-deck, and many step-decks dont have dovetail ramps. 

A large forklift or overhead crane or lift could do it, but now they have to coordinate and pay for that. A drive-on dock might be hard to locate, unless they can pull the trailer to Denver or another urban center and find a facility.

A wild-catting truck with an RGN (removable gooseneck) lowboy trailer that is going that way, empty, might be hard to find. And at $2-$5 per mile it is not going to be cheap. The truck driver (or his company) will also have to consider deadhead miles out of TorC, and the cost involved there.

And the SUV needs to be able to back or pull the trailer up the steep ramps on the step-deck or RGN. Or a winch will need to be used, and of course, many RGNs (especially those used in the oilfields) do have a winch, but not all. Damage to the RV is possible when winching it up.

A local large equipment rental company might have the interstate authority, and they will also have the RGN or step-deck with dovetail ramps.

Then there are paperwork issues...insurance, bill-of-lading, etc.

The driver and truck needs to have proper authority for this particular interstate shipment....or the driver is risking his CDL and a possible heavy fine at the weigh-station going into NM at the top of Raton Pass.

Not saying it cant be done, but there are a few hurdles to overcome.

In my opinion, a local farmer or rancher (either in Colorado or New Mexico) with a dually diesel pickup who wants a few dollars for the adventure is a better option.

 

[DDDreamers]

@JDGumbee wow thanks! Very helpful. Yeah i just got off the phone with the auto guy/uhaul location and he said it's just a 4 pin with no plug n play brake controller option. So your instruction is useful, if we decide to keep the reservation. I handed your post over to Shawn, my partner, to read and then read it myself. In this bitter cold it won't be fun, but maybe possible.
Still awaiting bids at UShip. Hopefully we will get off this g0dm4n3d mountain yet...

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[DDDreamers]

@tx2sturgis
"In my opinion, a local farmer or rancher (either in Colorado or New Mexico) with a dually diesel pickup who wants a few dollars for the adventure is a better option."

Agreed. This was my hope, but tbh, we haven't been here long enough to find that person. 4 months in this region now, and we are done with CO. Over it. Not sure if it is mountain pace, maryJane apathy, our personal situation, or just us being Midwesterners, but ready to get the hell out of here.

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[tx2sturgis]

Too late to edit my previous post, but the post after it about pulling the trailer with a rental truck from uhaul or penske makes much more sense, and should be a lot cheaper.

 

[tx2sturgis]

@tx2sturgis
"In my opinion, a local farmer or rancher (either in Colorado or New Mexico) with a dually diesel pickup who wants a few dollars for the adventure is a better option."

Agreed. This was my hope, but tbh, we haven't been here long enough to find that person. 

Why not go by the nearest farm Co-Op store (or feed and tack store) and inquire? Many co-ops and F&T stores have farmers and ranchers standing around 'shooting the bull'....you might have better luck than you realize. Offer to toss some money to a ranch-hand with a dually....you never know.

Lots of farm and ranch pickups have 3-way or 4-way ball hitches, gooseneck hitches, and brake controllers. They are used to pull all kinds of farm and ranch trailers.

 

[JD GUMBEE]

BTW, you people might want to think about waving the magic wand and turning that Yota into a truck capable of your task.
My 1/2 ton would rip that thing down the road without an issue.
Not sure about the mileage on yours, but those yotas are VERY good at holding value.
A nice auction Chevy may be more in your reach than you think.
4X4 is a want, not a need. 6 grand for a low mile pickup from uncle sam would solve your problems towing.

Good luck.

 

[DDDreamers]

@JDGumbee. That is exactly what we had planned. And will do. The job we came up the mountain to do, in order to buy a truck more fitting, got delayed by months now, which is why we are moving on.
We need to get to NM to make money again so we can buy a truck.

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[tx2sturgis]

My 1/2 ton would rip that thing down the road without an issue. 

My Titan XD would also pull it without issue, even over Raton Pass, but the distances involved to get there, do the haul, then return to Texas would mean burning lots of fuel.

:-/

 

[tx2sturgis]

We need to get to NM to make money again so we can buy a truck.

Could you store the RV at a self-storage location in CO and live out of the SUV and maybe a tent for a few months in NM?

Then return later when finances and/or the vehicle situation is more favorable?