I am going to pick up my new 79 mini when it gets off the boat in Tacoma. I tried to book a U-haul "4 wheels up" trailer but they said a mini did not have enough ground clearance and would get damaged while loading. Because of this they would not take the booking for the trailer. I am sure that I could find a way to extend the ramps, load on a hill, ect... Has anyone ever had a mini on a U-haul vehicle trailer? Does anyone know the inner dimension between the wheels? Thanks for your help!

 

It will fit, with care. DO NOT tell Uhaul what you plan on carrying. They will not rent anything to you. You can also use their 6'x12' enclosed trailer or even a tow dolly (but be careful of the ramps on your rocker panels). Congrats on the Mini!

 

Thanks very much! I can't wait to pick it up. The 30 day boat ride from the Netherlands is taking forever.

 

when I got my 79 I went thru the same drill with u-haul and in retrospect they may have a point. My 79 runs on 10" wheels and there are significant ground clearance issues.

There a lots of people out there with flat bed car trailers and with one of those you won't have an issue. The u-hauls tend to have rails and you need to be concerned about both the track width and how deep the rail channels are. If you do use a railed trailer you may want to buy some planks to lay in the channels. A friend always has to do that so his race modified M3 will clear w/out scrapes.

Since getting active on the car show scene I've made friends with a handful of folks with flatbeds....handy buddies to have....

(In the end, I brought my 79 home via AutoTrain where I needed 4" of ground clear'. I measured the car empty and I had 4 1/16 at the low point (PlayMini exhaust box) - they measured with me in the car 3 7/8 ... they let me sign a waiver and I ended up with no problem ....)

 

Borrow, rent or steal a dove tail trailer to tow a Mini that way clearence isn't an issue.



Mad Dog

 

I just bought a 78 and drove it home from Cleveland to Vegas. Well, almost home. Thanks to the Ohio DOT salting their roads, the rear subframe was seriously rusted. I hit a big bump in Nebraska and broke it. Drove it through NE, Colorado and most of Utah before the tire rubbing on the wheel arch and melting the tire got to the point where I didn't feel ok driving it any more.
I rented a U-Haul 14' truck for the last 170 miles. Cost more than the entire rest of the trip.

Anyway, the guy told me that putting a vehicle inside a truck would void the rental agreement, then charged me $10 to use ramps to get it in. I had to back the truck up to a loading dock so that the ramps were almost level, but that was more because it was raining and the steel ramps were very slippery.

When I got home, I rented a pair of ramps from Home Depot ($4 each) and used them to back the Mini out of the truck. The 1st time, I high centered the car on the back lip of the truck, so I moved the truck so it was pointed away from a steeper hill and had no problem getting it out.

Now I have to get a new subframe, and a new tire so I can get DaBrick back on the road. Oh yeah, also needs a rear exhaust mount. That broke in Iowa. It was interesting seeing sparks in the mirror every time I hit a bump.

 

Your picking it up in Tacoma but where are you taking it to??? I have a line on a tow dolly out of Vancover WA you might be able to borrow if your not taking it to California or Nevada or something. Yeah, don't tell U-haul to using it for a mini...tell them something like a chevy citation. Inner deminsions on the wheels is about 44 inches.

 

My local rental place, has a "landscape" trailer they rent for under $50 per day. It has an expanded metal bottom, and a ramp. It only has a 1,500 pound capacity, but most Mini's wiegh less than that.

I have flat towed mine, but I had to drill out some holes to a large size to accept my tow bar. It saves the weight of the trailer, and I can tow it behind my Chevy Tracker.

I don't know how far it is "safe" to tow a mini, but I figured since the transmission and differential are sitting in engine oil, they would slop around enough oil to protect the transmission bearings.

If your paper work and DOT EPA exemptions are not ready, you won't get the car out of the customs impound.

Good Luck!

John

 

I guess I forgot to mention that I too have a tow bar and lights for flat towing that I would lend out depending where your going...too big to ship so would need to be picked up and dropped off. I flat towed my Mini from Spokane (eastern) WA to Florance OR (the coast) and back for MMW in 2001. No problems.

 

Thanks for all your help. I am taking the mini to the interior of British Columbia. I will stick to renting a trailer. Thanks for the offers to borrow one but returning it would be kind of tough. What is a dovetail trailer?

 

Classic Minis fit on the U-Haul 2 wheel dollies just fine. They tow well too.

 

Yeah, but when it's the rear suspension that broke, that doesn't help.

 

Well, you could do it, but it wouldn't be pretty...

 

It may look funny...

I used a two wheel dolly to get a friends rear wheel drive car home. We just put the rear wheels of the car on to the dolly. The front tires will be out of alignment when you do that, and may wear funny. We towed that Fiero about 50 miles with out difficulty.

John

 

Yes it fits. The only problem is clearance as you come up the ramps. I put 6 inch blocks under the rear wheels of the truck. This lowered the back of the trailer. I raised the ends of the ramps 3 inches with planks and had no problem getting on.

 

I use U-Haul to move my classic Jaguars. If I tell them I am using it to move a 1954 Jaguar XK-120 they not only dont know anythig about the car...they as they did to you...told me they will not rent it to me.

Do as I do. Say the follwing:

"Today I will me moving a 1991 Honda CRX"

This always works for me!

~Neal Levy

 

All interesting. I had about concluded that the U-Haul dolly would be the route to go. But had not thought of the rear-end clearance issues. Just gotta be careful getting her on the dolly. (and of course not telling U-Haul what I'm towing.) But... I was wanting to tow the classic Mini behind and with a MINI (suitably equipped with towing eqpt). I could use a PU truck, but the pix of a Mini behind a MINI is worth the extra effort. Anyone done that? Issues with the Mini's weight vs. the MINI's towing capacity? The trip would likely be two days.

 

BTDT with a homemade tow bar: easy peasy (2003)



Using a dolly, be careful when loaded the ramps don't damage the Mini's rocker panels....

 

Interesting... another towing option. And a great pix too. Yeah, I had read stories in this thread of getting the Mini on and off the dolly.
Thx!