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View Full Version : Best occasional use hauling solution with a small SUV?



Matt Meiser
02-07-2015, 10:41 AM
Since we moved into town I haven't been using my truck like a truck and we decided to trade it in on a low-mileage Escape. While I don't have a shop I will occasionally have a need to carry a sheet of plywood or other materials for a home improvement project. I'm adding a Class II hitch so we can use our bike rack, and I'll be able to tow up to 3500lb with it once I install a light controller. Looks like I have a few options:

1) Delivery. $unknown cost Subject to their schedules and some places don't offer delivery.
2) Rent a trailer from UHaul. $19/day + $8/day insurance if mine won't cover it. Uhaul is right on the way between our house and Lowes, but subject to business hours and availability.
3) Roof rack cross-bars. ~$120. Have a factory installed rack with factory crossbars which don't make a flat surface but there are numerous aftermarket cross-bar options. This would be for cases where I need a sheet of something and some 2x4s or pipe or whatever.
4) Harbor Freight Folding Trailer. Know a couple people who have these and like them. Looks like I could buy one, add a floor and some removable sides, and register one in the $500 range. Storage is not a problem as I have a few options.

Kind of leaning toward a combination of 2 and 3 but we haven't not had a truck and/or trailer, well, ever since being homeowners. But we also lived out where we were regularly needed to haul stuff and that's no longer the case.

Mel Miller
02-07-2015, 11:25 AM
Did you consider wind catching on whatever you would have on a roof rack?

Matt Meiser
02-07-2015, 11:30 AM
Yes. Lowes is 5 miles from the house, 45MPH max speed limit but you'll never reach that on a typical Saturday. Obviously it needs to be well tied down. I don't see this as a viable solution to pick something up an hour away.

Ted Calver
02-07-2015, 11:51 AM
Unless you are superman, or have lots of strong help, I wouldn't consider putting any substantial size sheet goods on a roof rack. It's hard enough wrestling them in and out of a truck. Raising overhead without messing up the vehicle finish would be tough. For the occasional situation rental seems like a good option. Any of your new neighbors have a truck?

Jamie Buxton
02-07-2015, 11:57 AM
Dunno about your franchisee, but renting stuff at my local U-Haul is a pain. The equipment is in bad shape, and the people are burger-flippers -- don't want to be there, and/or don't know anything. It seems to take hours to make a simple transaction. Buying a trailer would be a better deal for me. In addition to considering buying new, I'd also look used.

Jim Koepke
02-07-2015, 12:18 PM
Not sure if this is common in all localities, one of our local big box stores has trucks customers can use to take their purchases home.

jtk

John McClanahan
02-07-2015, 12:33 PM
I would skip the roof rack. Getting stuff on and off of the rack without damaging the paint of your suv might be a challenge. I had a trailer like the Harbor Freight ones. It was good up to 1/2 ton. Nice and low to the ground, I liked it. I don't have a good place to park it, so I sold it.

I should add, small short trailers are hard to see when trying to backup.


John

Myk Rian
02-07-2015, 1:06 PM
I would get the trailer.
Even though I have a PU, I still use my util. trailer often enough to keep it.

Note: U-Haul has a special wiring harness for lights.

Rick Potter
02-07-2015, 1:17 PM
Like Jim says,

Where I live, both Lowes and HD have a truck you can rent by the hour. I think the minimum is $25 or so. For occasional use, with that available, I wouldn't bother with other options.

PS: My HD also has trailers for about $25 a day, if you decide to tow.

George Bokros
02-07-2015, 1:38 PM
HD by me has a truck available for I believe $19 for 75 minutes. Sides drop down so sheet goods load and unload easily. Lowes has a 3/4 ton Ford pickup

Mike Henderson
02-07-2015, 2:09 PM
HD by me has a truck available for I believe $19 for 75 minutes. Sides drop down so sheet goods load and unload easily. Lowes has a 3/4 ton Ford pickup
Same here. $19.95 for 75 minutes but you also have to replace gas. I've used that when I have something that's too big for my SUV and too small for a delivery. I just wish they had a lift gate on them.

Mike

Matt Day
02-07-2015, 2:16 PM
I vote trailer. I had a HF folding one for my '04 Subaru Forester but sold it when we moved across country. I'd like to buy another one at some point.
I can fit 9' and under lumber/pipe inside my carc with the hatch closed.
I also have a roof rack for bikes, that also comes in handy when I have longer boards or pipe. mind you, I usually only have a few. i've thought about making a plywood carrier to attach to the bike rack. My thought would be to have stops at the front and back and sides to keep it from moving, as well as strapping them down tightly to counter uplift. The last time I bought full sheets of plywood, I just rented a pick up from Home Depot for $20.
Hands down for me, a trailer is the easiest and most suited for a hobby woodworker. once I can find some space, I will get another one for myself.

John Huds0n
02-07-2015, 2:30 PM
Harbor Freight (or Northern Tools) Folding trailer

I hate renting stuff - I always worry about getting it back on time and it is not like you can just walk in and out of U-Haul or some rental yard in a couple of minutes...

I had an 8' folding trailer for years and it worked out great. A sheet of 3/4" ply for the floor and some 1 x 4 for some stake bed style sides when I needed them. Mine was a tilt bed and I even used it for my 500 lb motorcycle on occasion. Get the one that folds in half with the wheels on the end - does not take much room and is easy to move around.

Matt Meiser
02-07-2015, 2:56 PM
Our Lowes doesn't have the rental trucks (or any rental equipment) unfortunately.

For the roof rack I'm mostly thinking cases where I need to pick up some 2x4's or pipe. I don't think the Escape is long enough for more than 1-2 pieces which would have to sit on the console. Remember I'm talking about an SUV-shaped car, not a big one. I could see managing a 50lb sheet up there being a problem alone, lighter stuff probably wouldn't like the 40mph wind and a big load I'd use a trailer.

Matt Meiser
02-07-2015, 2:56 PM
I'm curious about the special Uhaul connection?

Wade Lippman
02-07-2015, 4:20 PM
Maybe I have been lucky, or undemanding, but I have always been able to have Lowes cut up plywood into pieces small enough to fit in my SUV. My neighbor says I am welcome to use his truck; the one time I needed it (to move a small hoist) he was out of town!

A couple weeks ago I carried 4 corrugated plastic panels on my roof rack for 30 miles during strong winds. Horrible idea, but it worked out.

Thomas S Stockton
02-07-2015, 6:24 PM
Matt
No really special uhaul connection it is the standard 4 flat used on a lot of smaller trailers.
I rent u haul a few times a year for deliveries, for your use I would look to buy a small utility trailer. The reason I tend to rent is most my deliveries are about 250 miles away and I need dry covered space. Not having to haul a trailer back that far empty is real nice
Tom

John Conklin
02-07-2015, 7:23 PM
When I first started woodworking/home improvements, I had a '74 Pinto station wagon that I'd put a clamp-on canoe roof rack on since they wouldn't fit in the back. I hauled many sheets of plywood and never had a problem. Lumber yard was only a couple miles away and never went over 35 mph, but I'm sure I could have went farther/fast. Good luck with whatever you decide on.

Myk Rian
02-07-2015, 7:32 PM
I'm curious about the special Uhaul connection?
When I got my truck, the PO had used it to haul a U-haul trailer to the east coast. Trying to get my trailer connected, I found that the in-line connecter was totally wrong for consumer trailer hookups. I had to spend $30 or so for the right one for my truck. It's nice that there is mostly one company making those connector kits. Everything fits instead of hacking together a wiring mess.

Myk Rian
02-07-2015, 7:36 PM
When I first started woodworking/home improvements, I had a '74 Pinto station wagon that I'd put a clamp-on canoe roof rack on since they wouldn't fit in the back. I hauled many sheets of plywood and never had a problem. Lumber yard was only a couple miles away and never went over 35 mph, but I'm sure I could have went farther/fast. Good luck with whatever you decide on.
I had 3 pintos, and they all had a trailer hitch. I've had hitches on an Aspire, Festiva, 2 Contours......

Matt Day
02-07-2015, 7:53 PM
I rented a uhaul open trailer to haul my bandsaw, and it plugged right in to what I have, which was from the HF folding trailer I used to have.

Rich Riddle
02-07-2015, 7:59 PM
Matt,

Given your options, I would pick the Harbor Freight trailer, but I was in a similar situation. I now own two trailers, a 7x16 cargo trailer and a 5x8 tilting bed trailer. Bought both used and paid about $400 for the tilt bed. Starting in March, the tilt bed might get back to the house about once or twice before October. Everyone borrows it. I have parked next to the Harbor Freight model; no comparison. But my dad used a Harbor Freight model for a while and finally upgraded. If space is an option, see if you can work out a deal allowing you park it at a friend's house who likes to use it. That's the deal I have with both my trailers. Craigslist now has quite a few down here. Here's my $400 model.

306360

Jim Matthews
02-07-2015, 10:09 PM
If you're only hauling one or two sheets, the roof rack isn't impossible to manage.
Could the local supplier help you load in the parking lot?

If you're buying a stack, figure in delivery charges as part of your cost.
That's got to be less money than a trailer, hitch and lights.
(Plus tags if that's required.)

If it's something you only do every quarter, a roof rack is a cheap solution.

James Tibbetts
02-07-2015, 10:25 PM
I've used several Uhauls and all had a flt-4 plug. 'Course my pick-up didn't, but Walmart had an adapter for about $10.00 It lives in the tool box 'til next time.
All of their trailers I've used had a 2" ball also.

Shawn Pixley
02-07-2015, 10:35 PM
So, I'll be the contrarian. We had a Honda Element with a roof rack. Inside it would hold a 4'x4' sheet of plywood or nine foot lengths of lumber. I did have a few occasions where I hauled a sheet of plywood on the roof (I generally don't use plywood). I hauled CMU, flooring, etc.... If the hauling is occasional, a roof rack may be fine.

Larry Frank
02-07-2015, 10:59 PM
Best thing I ever did was buy a 5x8 trailer with rear gate ramp. You can get one new for about $700.

Brian Elfert
02-08-2015, 12:05 AM
U-Haul no longer has the special lighting hookups on their trailers, at least not on the newer open trailers. They just have the standard four pin flat connector.

I would look at a 4x8 or 5x10 open aluminum trailer. They cost around $1,600 new depending on exact options. I've considered selling my 5x10 enclosed trailer to get an open aluminum one instead. The open one makes more sense for me 99% of the time.

Rick Moyer
02-08-2015, 12:31 PM
You'll find more uses for a trailer than you now envision. Plywood, shrubbery, lawn tractor,.. lots of stuff that doesn't work with a roof rack.

Lee Schierer
02-08-2015, 4:27 PM
Do the math. For the $500 it would cost for your own trailer you could rent the U-Haul 20 times before you would exceed the cost of owning your own trailer. Plywood is heavy, the roof loading on your Escape won't handle more than 1 or 2 sheets, not even considering the sail properties. Even 25, mph will create a lot of lift on a roof.

I've towed a travel trailer and a boat with a V6 Escape with a Class II hitch and believe me as you approach 3000 pounds you will really notice what you are towing. Stopping distance will get much greater and you gas mileage will plummet.

Brian Elfert
02-08-2015, 4:44 PM
Do the math. For the $500 it would cost for your own trailer you could rent the U-Haul 20 times before you would exceed the cost of owning your own trailer. Plywood is heavy, the roof loading on your Escape won't handle more than 1 or 2 sheets, not even considering the sail properties. Even 25, mph will create a lot of lift on a roof.


Renting is great, but it can be a total pain too. A lot of U-Haul dealers just do U-Haul as a side line and are not open seven days a week. If you have a dedicated U-Haul place close by that is much better as they are usually open long hours. The U-Haul trailers are built like brick outhouses so they are pretty heavy.

If you buy a trailer you just hook it up whenever you need it and go. Renting means you have to consider if the extra $30 or so is worth it to go get a single sheet of plywood or something. Then you have to find out if U-Haul has a trailer in stock and then go get it. For me, it can add an hour to a trip for renting a U-Haul trailer at times. One time I needed to bring my mower in for repairs and U-Haul didn't have a trailer so I had to wait on getting it fixed.

The reason I don't own a ramp trailer is because I already have a 5x10 enclosed trailer. Until I moved this past year I didn't own a riding mower and never needed a ramp trailer. I don't really have space for another trailer right now.

Matt Meiser
02-08-2015, 4:59 PM
Any kind of non-folding trailer would be a storage issue. I could store it at my parents but that's 5 miles the wrong way. I bet we wouldn't rent a trailer more than once a quarter on average based on the last 6 months. Remember, I'm not woodworking anymore. We do have a company owned uhaul location about 5 miles away and a franchise at a storage place right near our sub.

Bill Orbine
02-08-2015, 5:45 PM
Don't you have a good lumber yard, with better materials for sale than the big box junk stores, who'll deliver for free or for a small fee? In my area there's at least three lumber yards who'll gladly deliver for nothing. I rarely use their services as I get the materials when I need it but the offer is usually there.

Matt Meiser
02-08-2015, 6:21 PM
All that's left here is a Carter and a Lowes. Wickes and Carter drove most of the others out and Lowes supplied the nails for the coffin. Then Wickes went belly-up company wide. I believe Carter charges handily for delivery but its been a while. They are about the same drive as Lowes. There's an independent in a nearby small town. Last year they ran ads about the owner "Cranky Hank" which has pretty much been my experience there but I don't find it amusing. Maybe I'll have to try them again.

Rich Riddle
02-08-2015, 6:34 PM
Matt,

What happened to all your tools? Not woodworking? I feel woozy.

Jim Becker
02-08-2015, 9:19 PM
Ixsnay on the roof rack...you really can't put much up there weight wise and I've seen too many instances where things come loose.

A utility trailer is your best bet, IMHO, whether you rent or buy your own. I bought my own...a 5'x8" and it's served me well. Safe, easy to load and unload; handy to have all around.

Bill Clifton
02-08-2015, 11:00 PM
Our U haul has the 4 plug flat plug.

I have the escape SUV. If the design allows I have 4 x 8 sheetgoods cut length wise - a 2' wide by 8' sheet will fit inside the vehicle. So will 2 x 4s. I have carried full sheets on top. Depending on what it is I may put a couple of 2x4s on for stiffness. I use store help to get them on the roof without damage. My wife will also last longer. I also drive very slow.

For more than one or 2 I'd rent the Uhaul.

And I do look around to see what my neighbors are doing. My wifes best friend has a great trailer.

Good luck.

The bad thing about the Escape is that it doen't get good mileage.

Judson Green
02-09-2015, 12:08 PM
Well I've a roof rack on my car and it served me quite well. I don't haul plywood much these days but it does see lumber.

It is however on a 4 door sedan, might be a little harder to get something up there on an SUV.

Jerome Stanek
02-09-2015, 1:30 PM
I have 2 trailers one is an enclosed 5x8 and the other is a flat bed 7x16 would not give up either. Had a 7x12 enclosed that got stolen that was my work horse when I was working out of town.

Matt Meiser
02-09-2015, 3:16 PM
Matt,

What happened to all your tools? Not woodworking? I feel woozy.

Where were you early summer? :)

We sold our old house and moved into town last summer to be closer to my wife's work and daughter's school. New house is a 2-story so we have half the basement as before and no outbuilding. Things went very quickly and as the process went on, I just couldn't see dedicating most of the basement for a single hobby and couldn't see myself being happy with serious tool downgrades or having the mess in the house. No interest in hand work so everything went.

Val Kosmider
02-09-2015, 3:56 PM
I am faced with the same dilemma. My current SUV will "just" fit a 4X sheet in on the diagonal, and then you have to make sure to have padding around the upper and lower edges or it mars to interior. A 4X8 sheet hangs out the back, as does anything more than an 8" 2X, which I can manage to squirrel in along the front seats down into the passenger foot well. It works, but....

As I look at a new vehicle, it will likely be an even smaller SUV, which may NOT accommodate the 4X on a diagonal, so I am thinking 1) Roof rack, for a couple sheets of plywood. Don't think the "lift" will be meaningful at slow speed and a properly secured load, or 2), a trailer. Likely to go with the roof rack and see how that works.

Fortunately, for bigger projects I have a lumber yard that delivers meaningful orders. MY BORGs also have a truck available for rental, but $20 to haul two sheets of ply home seems like bad economics to me.

Go with the roof rack. If that doesn't work, I think a trailer can be a handy (hassle).

Rich Riddle
02-09-2015, 4:00 PM
Where were you early summer? :)


Sorry to hear about that situation. I was recalled from retirement in the military. Just got back to civilization. Hope you adapt to city life.

Charlie Velasquez
02-09-2015, 5:33 PM
Rats,! A few years ago while searching for ideas on adding a removable manual winch to a tilting trailer via a 2" receiver tube I came across a unique mod to someone's SUV to handle 4X8 sheets. Last night I spent an hour trying to find it again with no luck, so I'll try to explain it as best I can.


Think glazier's van.... side carrier. This person had welded a 2" receiver tube onto the bottom of his chasis behind the front wheel and another in front of the back wheel such that the tubes ended just short of the side of the SUV. He welded up a couple of inverted T brackets with a 2" tube as the bottom leg. And, maybe angle for the uprights?? Insert the T- brackets and you had a side panel carrier. I can't remember what else he had but he had a number of tie down options to carry sheets or stick lumber. Not as versatile as a trailer, you're probably looking at 3-4 sheets max, but probably more weight than I would put on a roof rack.


My brain is not so good at remembering stuff, but I think this was his 2nd vehicle he had modded this way and he was very pleased with the results.

Matt Meiser
02-12-2015, 11:28 AM
Sorry to hear about that situation. I was recalled from retirement in the military. Just got back to civilization. Hope you adapt to city life.

Nothing to be sorry about, it was a decision I made, not something I was forced into. We're adapting nicely. Before we moved I had no free time for the last year because we were spending so much time driving back and forth. Spring was nuts between sports and spring yard work on 10 acres. When my daughter had a sports practice, it shot the whole evening since we had to drive 20-30 mins each way and it didn't make sense to come home between. Now one of us runs her and is home in 15 mins round trip, maybe another 5 if we get stuck for a train, until its time to pick her up. Now that we are all moved, the house projects all complete, and in the middle of the slow winter season I'm getting a little bored but finding stuff to keep me busy.

I installed the Class II hitch on the Escape the other night and and have plans to install the wiring tonight so I'll be all set for towing. Still looking at some options for roof rack bars. I asked at the Ford dealer (had the Escape in getting Sync reflashed so it would play nice with my iPhone) and they had something listed but it was discontinued. She showed me the pics and the Thule name is all over them.

Jim Becker
02-13-2015, 8:50 PM
Thule is a top name when it comes to roof rack accessories, etc.

Matt Meiser
02-17-2015, 8:26 PM
I bought a set of crossbars made by Rage Powersports from Summit Racing based on reviews there and on Amazon which showed up today. The crossbars were about $80 I also ordered an air filter and oil filter bumping my order just over the $99 minimum required for free shipping so I effectively paid about $9 for those items. They mount in a few minutes and seem very secure and strong.

I got a steal on the trailer wiring kit. Amazon Warehouse Deal, $9, normally $60. Figured it was worth risking what I'd get given that returns are so easy. Showed up with just some packaging damage!