Pulling a Trailer 1300 Miles

Ok, after thought and consideration, I’m going with a hitch/uHaul trailer. Door2door was going to be $1150 (as was a similar service), and full-service movers were going to be $1350. The trailer rental is only $275.

[This blog post is in response to the question/advice I got in this MVS Forum thread.]

I’m having the hitch attached right this minute while I sit at a restaurant, for $325. Wiring, warranty etc.

I save $550 and get a hitch out of the deal.

I’m renting a 5 foot x 8 foot trailer, single axle, lightweight trailer. I downgraded from a double axle 5×10.

I have a 5-day window, so if there’s snow on my route, there’s snow on my route and I’ll wait.

I just got a tranny flush and tuneup (more about that coming up in my blog soon), and the car has only 82k miles, so things should be ok.

Like I said before, I don’t have much stuff, and will pack as much inside (and on top of) the car so as to leave the trailer as unloaded as possible. And I’ll take all you guys’ advice to load the trailer forward of the axle.

I’m leaving on Monday. Thanks again, your advice is once again outstanding.

Matt

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Add Your Comments

1. raul saucedo 11:58 am on July 14th, 2008

   hi there

   my wife and i are thinking of moving across the coutry with a trailer on our 96 850 turbo wagon. would you minding sharing your experience with us?

   thanks a lot.
   raul

2. MatthewsVolvoBlog » Blog Archive » Trailer Towing Followup 12:30 pm on July 14th, 2008

   [...] up on this and this blog post, I’d like to add that I had my total weight calculated at a truck weigh [...]

3. Matt 12:32 pm on July 14th, 2008

   Hi Raul,

   This post and these are everything I know about pulling a trailer with a Volvo. Let us know how it goes for you.

   http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/volvo-blog/2007/11/07/im-on-the-road-now/

   http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/volvo-blog/2008/07/14/trailer-towing-followup/