So I'm getting ready to move and I need to tow my car form Portland Or to Luke AFB AZ. The only problem no one wants to rent me a trailer uhual says my truck can't handle it, budget you have to rent one of there trucks to tow with, Ryders doesn't have trailers and I can keep going on and on. But the truck i will be using or I should say SUV is 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee w/Hemi(I know this can to a wrx). I was wondering for you guys and gals that have towed your suby what size trailer were you using and if you rented were did you get it from. Thanks

Bryan

 

A Suby can be dingy towed (5/6 speed only) behind any motorhome. Why not just rent a 'dolly' (front wheels off the ground ~ rears on the ground) from U-Haul? I used to use this system for a cheap 'process trailer' when shooting commercials.

Cheers!

 

I want to have it on a flat bed type of trailer. I thought because of the awd you had to have all the wheels off the ground for towing?

 

...hence the dolly. Two wheels will be up in the air, the other two will be on the dolly, and not rolling on the ground.

 

I may be missing something but wouldn't a dolly leave two wheels on the ground? Two wheels on the dolly and the other two on the ground, not floating in the air.

 

definately go for the flat bed trailer. you cannot leave 2 wheels on the ground.

I have rented from penske before, but I did use one of their trucks to pull it and I highly recommend renting from them. They generally have nicer equipment than the rest. I have also used u-haul where I just rented the the trailer ($100 for a one way trip) more than once. Although I completely hate u-haul as a company and refuse to ever give them my money again. The Jeep will have no problem towing a car and trailer. I towed my 4runner once on a flatbed with an older (late 90s) jeep grand cherokee and it had no problem.

 

Yes you are right this is the setup all the rental companies have for dollies. And being awd you have to have all four off the ground. Looks like I will be calling Penske and tring them.

 

ok sneezerboi confused me he said two wheels in the air and two on the dolly, i was trying to figure out what was keeping the two phantom wheels in the air. Good luck, I hope the haul isn't too expensive

 

Excuse me. Only an AWD Subaru with and AUTOMATIC needs to be flat bedded. Is you car a stick? Then just stick it on the dolly ~ save yourself a wad of $$$. If it's an auto, be prepared for an expensive and VERY boring drive to where ever you are going.

I get this question all the time as a salesman... a 5spd, yes... auto, NO! You can have 4 wheels or 2 wheels on the ground when it's a stick in neutral. Call your local dealer or check your book.

 

Yes it is a stick, so 5sp 2wheels on the ground ok. Thanks for the info.

 

No, you CAN'T safely tow a manual trans Subaru with two wheels on the ground. Doing so will damage or destroy the center differential. The car MUST be towed either with all four wheels off the ground (preferable) or all four on the ground and rolling (flat tow).
Some of the automatics have a "FWD fuse" that can be inserted in an emergency to temporarily disable the AWD system to allow two-wheel towing. However this does not apply to turbo models and also does not apply to the MT since only the automatic is electronically controlled. The AWD in the MT is an entirely mechanical system and cannot be disabled.

 

Mulder is CORRECT! Jusy spent a day with my service department ~ MY BAD!!!!!
It's either all four on a flat bed or all four on the pavement with a 'dingy tow'.

 

The dolly only works with a tow truck where the front wheels would be lifted and the rears dolly-ed, thus none of the wheels on the car would be spinning. Have you looked into getting a drive away service or car hauling service? After you pay the rental fee, extra gas, and whatnot it might not be any more expensive.

 

Well we have it all figured out now, my wife was going to fly down early with our daughter, but now she is just going to drive our Jeep and I will drive the Suby. The test to see how long a 2 year old can last in a car. This is our plan for right now. But thank you for all the info. And if anyone is wondering I have called all the rental companies at least the bigger ones. Most of them will not rent a car hualer flat bed trailer unless you rent one of thier trucks. But if you have like F250 or a Larger truck they might rent to you. The reason being is because of the BS info they have in thier computers. My Jeep was about 25lbs to light to tow my car on the flat bed according to their info. They said they take the wieght of what you are towing with and the wieght of what is being towed, and subtract or do some math to figure out if it can be towed. But again thank you for all the info guys

Bryan

 

Because engine and transmission don't matter at all