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Buy it and move it or forget it?

6

63-WRAY

Thinking about buying this one on Ebay in NJ and would like to use car dollie but rear end has to roll and this guy doesnt think it will. Don't know how difficult it would be to remove brake drums in rear. have other wheels and tires that would hold air to switch. He says use trailer but i don't want to spend to much to get there and get back or it isn't worth it. I can borrow a trailer from work but it doesn't have a brake hookup and would have to put a hitch and lights on my truck. We use it to haul small blacktop rollers and skid steers and the like. Now to my question how long and how wide and how much does a 62 weigh?
 

Ken Ellis

Donation Time
The car is basically 5 feet wide and 12-ish feet long. It weighs about 2250, and it will be no sweat for a dual axle skid-steer trailer. None. The total towed weight could be pushing 4000 pounds for the combination (if it's a beefy trailer) so you'd have to look at that number in relation to the towing capacity for your vehicle. If you have a larger truck, that weight should be in the ballpark of what it will handle, but you'll need brakes on the trailer. If not, this would be the point where you go down the list of people you've helped out in the past, looking for someone with a nice pickup truck or full-size SUV. Another way to do it is rent a car trailer from Penske, Ryder, UHaul, someone like that, and also rent the smallest truck they have to tow it with. (A small cube van will do fine.)

The tow dolly does require rolling rear wheels... or front wheels. Although I've never looked into legalities, there's no reason you couldn't tow with rear wheels up, and front wheels down. You would just need to secure the steering mechanism so that it doesn't allow the front wheels to pivot. I'd do this in two places-- one on the steering wheel and one on the undercarriage somewhere. But check the various state laws before you try this. You'll still need lights and a hitch, and most likely license plates if any part of the car touches the road. (That may be the killer right there.)

Good luck and be safe!
Ken
 

Bill Blue

Platinum Level Sponsor
Ken, in Indiana, I've seen cars towed by towing companies (hate to use the word "professionals") with the front wheels down, using only bungee straps trapped by the door to secure the steering wheel. Not saying that is the way to go, but I'd guess it is legal here. Also, Indiana says the car does not need plates if towed with a pair of wheels more than 18" off the ground.

While a U Haul auto transporter only costs about 10-20 dollars more to rent than a tow dolly, they must weigh a ton (literally) and need brakes, but they come with surge brakes (mechanical/hydraulic) that work quite well.

Bill
 

mikephillips

Donation Time
I have towed a car backwards like that before. But only do that if it doesn't have wire wheels. Wires require turning in a forward direction to keep the wheel nuts from loosening and coming off. Don't know if it applies to this particular one, since ebay is blocked where I am, but good general advice to know.
 

MikeH

Diamond Level Sponsor
You might check some of the other rental companies. I know Budget, Penske, or Ryder (if they are still around) have lighter weight aluminum trailers. Also my experience with U-haul is that they will only rent vehicle haulers one-way and they don't have a winch to load the car on the trailer. Noticed in your profile that you're in central PA. I grew up in York. Since the car's in Jersey, you may want to see if you can work a deal with a company (or private individual )with a roll-back. I'm in northeast Florida and had a 63 T-bird transported from NE Alabama (about 470 miles) for $500 a few years back. The guy was coming to Jacksonville to pick up a car so it just worked out.
 

Buckeye64

Donation Time
Car in NJ

The town, Riverton, is next to the town I live in. If you need help let me know. I will help where I can.

Has anybody noticed the blue car sitting in the background? Looks like another Alpine, could it be a Harrington????

Riverton is not that big I will see if I can find the yard that it's in.
 

Jim E

Donation Time
Would do a search on ebay for car hauling or transport or some such. Eric and I had a couple cars hauled down to SC from OH and the cost was not bad at all and if you factor in time it was down right cheap. We found the guy on ebay, thinking Eric has the contact info for the guy. We paid $350 a car at that time with fuel prices going up I am sure transport prices are up to from then
 
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