One Way Tow Vehicle Rental - Sumas to New Hampshire

[7Gentex]

Originally Posted by Rockhead

Any vehicle should be allowed a break in miles before doing trips or towing I’ve alway done at least 5000/ first oil change before a trip or towing. But that just me every one has their own way of breaking in their new vehicle

Run it like you stole it!

[JeffreyG]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Your new handle could be “Kramer” or Newman.
I have cashed a lot of nickel cans over the years. I cash in the cans at The Can Shed. They pay you with fresh $2 bills for every 40 cans.
Then I spend the money on bait.
Iowa Dave

I know this is going to make me sound like Cornelius Vanderbilt or something, but I just chuck my empties in the recycling bin.


It started with the pandemic. All of the grocery stores closed their bottle and can returns, so there was nowhere to take them. After a while I said "to hell with this" and I just dumped them all in the municipal recycling.


After a while I realized I really hate taking cans and bottles back to the store. I hate rinsing them out. I hate the sickly sweet stink of the returns area. We don't drink pop, and not all that much beer anyway. So I realized I'd rather pay an extra $0.10 per beer than ever go stand at the returns area again.



So I don't.



I'd be happy to give the bottles away to kids collecting for a fundraiser, used to do that all the time at my old house. But now I live in a neighborhood that's hilly, wooded, and far distances between houses. So no kids ever come around collecting. So into the recycling bin they go.

[Jim Bennett]

I have tried to rent a vehicle to tow a trailer before and could find no company willing to do so, let alone a vehicle set up to tow. Towing to them adds a risk they don't want to take on.

We have a local charity, Vecova, that comes by to pick up our returnable bottles, milk containers and the like once a month. Basically anything with a deposit on it that you get a refund on when returning. They supply a wire frame that holds the bags they supply. We get a small receipt for each one as a donation so get to claim that on our tax return.

I also know of folks that put them in the recycle bins that are all gone through just before pickup day by people needing the funds. They always clean up well after themselves so as not to be a bother.

[WillyB]

When I was complaining to my friend about the amount of time to take that long drive to Sumas to pick up ours this coming October he said:

"To save time, why not sell your truck, fly to Seattle and pick up your new truck to bring your new camper back home?"

From my location that saves the 2,100 one way to Seattle.

[JeffreyG]

Originally Posted by WillyB

When I was complaining to my friend about the amount of time to take that long drive to Sumas to pick up ours this coming October he said:

"To save time, why not sell your truck, fly to Seattle and pick up your new truck to bring your new camper back home?"

From my location that saves the 2,100 one way to Seattle.

Yes, but you really need to break in the new truck before towing. I know there is a lot of confusion on this, but everything (engine, transmission) in your truck is ready to go right from the factory.....except the rear axle.


The ring and pinion gears in a differential are pretty rough right from the factory. They wear in together and become a matched set. If you hook a trailer up to a brand new truck and take off (especially if you climb a long grade) you are going to hit some very high temperatures inside the rear differential.


You need to drive around empty a bit with a new truck. At least 500 miles will probably do it, some OEM's suggest 1000.

[Civilguy]

Originally Posted by djronh1

Hi All,

We currently have a May 2022 completion date for our 21C.

We initially planned to have it delivered to the Springfield, MA depot,
but given the recent increases in delivery cost; we're now considering flying out to Sumas, WA area and getting a one way tow vehicle rental & drive it home ourselves.

This will be a cross country trip, ending in Nashua, NH (Southern NH).

Has anyone on forum done something similar before?

If yes, any suggestion/recommendation?

What rental agency did you use?

20 years ago we rented an Isuzu Trooper to move the kid down to his college dorm two-states and 1,100 miles away.

When we went to pick up the rental, the agent asked us conversationally "Where are you headed". I told him, and he winced; "I'm not supposed to let you do that" he said. I maintained a friendly manner, but expressed my concern as we needed to get the kid and his gear down there.

He continued to fuss about with the data entry for a while, and after some time he handed us the keys. My panic subsided.

When we returned the vehicle a week or so later, they couldn't make head or tail of the mileage. We had apparently put negative-twenty miles on the odometer, or something equally ridiculous. Apparently the agent had somehow set things up so that we wouldn't have another 2,200 miles on the clock.

So, yeah, you're not supposed to do that. But, we got lucky, and I'm not even good-looking.

[TTMartin]

Originally Posted by djronh1

Hi All,

We currently have a May 2022 completion date for our 21C.

We initially planned to have it delivered to the Springfield, MA depot,
but given the recent increases in delivery cost; we're now considering flying out to Sumas, WA area and getting a one way tow vehicle rental & drive it home ourselves.

This will be a cross country trip, ending in Nashua, NH (Southern NH).

Has anyone on forum done something similar before?

If yes, any suggestion/recommendation?

What rental agency did you use?

You might find the least expensive rental is a small moving box truck.

Enterprise, Penske, Budget, U-haul, etc.

[WillyB]

Originally Posted by JeffreyG

Yes, but you really need to break in the new truck before towing. I know there is a lot of confusion on this, but everything (engine, transmission) in your truck is ready to go right from the factory.....except the rear axle.


The ring and pinion gears in a differential are pretty rough right from the factory. They wear in together and become a matched set. If you hook a trailer up to a brand new truck and take off (especially if you climb a long grade) you are going to hit some very high temperatures inside the rear differential.


You need to drive around empty a bit with a new truck. At least 500 miles will probably do it, some OEM's suggest 1000.

That may be the case but if driving from Seattle to Sumas is not enough Ford would have some explaining to do if their 2022 F-150 trucks can't pull a super light, under 4,000 lb., camper without damaging the new truck.

I can see Ford's next commercial. "Built Ford Tough - Just Don't Use It Right Away Or We'll Void Your Warranty"

[JeffreyG]

Originally Posted by WillyB

I can see Ford's next commercial. "Built Ford Tough - Just Don't Use It Right Away Or We'll Void Your Warranty"

It probably does essentially say that in the manual. I guarantee it says not to tow anything for some break in period.

[WillyB]

Originally Posted by JeffreyG

It probably does essentially say that in the manual. I guarantee it says not to tow anything for some break in period.

I remember reading the owner's manual of my new Honda S2000 the night I brought it home and laughing when it said to always follow the posted speed limit. In that same paragraph it also listed the top speed of 150 MPH.

I was pulled over once by a State Patrol way outside of the city. He asked me how fast I thought I was going and I told him probably pretty close to the max speed. He said I was doing 147 MPH.

I really thought I was going to jail but we sat on the side of the road for about an hour talking about the car and driving fast. No ticket - No Jail - Just Pure Luck

[cpaharley2008]

Luck was on your side, in some jurisdictions exceeding the speed by double is mandatory arrest situation.

[Bayner]

There must be newly manufactured trailers moving from the east, no? All the big brand name plants. I've met a few folks over the years who drive/tow them to dealerships across the states and Canada. Perhaps an arrangement with one of those drivers to bring yours back rather than an empty return run would be amenable to them. There is a name for it, I just can't come up with at the moment.

[Sean2a]

Originally Posted by Bayner

There must be newly manufactured trailers moving from the east, no? All the big brand name plants. I've met a few folks over the years who drive/tow them to dealerships across the states and Canada. Perhaps an arrangement with one of those drivers to bring yours back rather than an empty return run would be amenable to them. There is a name for it, I just can't come up with at the moment.

I believe you are referring to deadheading. But it "seems" like the flow is more west to east right now.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Sean2a

I believe you are referring to deadheading. But it "seems" like the flow is more west to east right now.

Container ships are lined up to unload all along the west coast of North America.

[Bayner]

Originally Posted by Sean2a

I believe you are referring to deadheading. But it "seems" like the flow is more west to east right now.

Yes, that's what I was referring to.

[Iowa Dave]

There are contract owner operators and there are company haulers. Probably all depends on their contracts, insurance coverage etc.
Wouldn’t hurt to try though. When I come back from Fort Wayne I usually stop at the Interstate 80 rest stop west of Joliet a few miles. It is very rare not to see a couple new campers coming out of Elkhart being towed or flatbedded parked or pulling in there. On those tow rigs, on the drivers side, is a sticker that identifies the hauler to the US DOT. If there’s a spot like this near you you could approach the drivers and ask them about a side gig. Probably see them in truck stops too. I’d get some legal advice too.
Iowa Dave

[Brian B-P]

One-way rentals tend to be very expensive.
Truck rentals often include mileage charges which make any long-distance rental very expensive.
Rental agreements tend to exclude towing.
Rental pickup trucks and SUVs tend to be not equipped for towing.

But if you can find the right deal, with unlimited mileage, on a vehicle which came factory-equipped with a hitch and maybe brake controller, and use an RF-linked brake controller if there isn't one built-in, and perhaps not mention to the rental agency what you're doing with it, it could work. A friend of mine rented trucks to tow his large travel trailer on annual trips for a while (round-trip), but could only find one local company that would provide a suitable pickup... it normally rented to businesses, not retail customers.

[Brian B-P]

The main flow of newly manufactured RVs is from Indiana outwards to everywhere in North America. From B.C. to New Hampshire is competing with that traffic, not an opportunity to use an empty returning truck.

[Iowa Dave]

I have driven interstate 80 between Iowa City and Chicago into NW Indiana or onto Angola Indiana every year, several times each year since 1986. I’ve seen as high as 100 new campers, westbound. Even on Sundays, sometimes holidays too, I always meet quite a few. Monday mornings through the day are most busy.

My first boss. after I got out of college, finally retired in south central Michigan. He towed campers for a few years. He towed with his wife in the passenger seat for a while and then she started towing too. They bought another dually pickup. He told me they “wore out two pickups and finally “retired”. He is 84 now and is still driving a school bus in Allegan county. Delivery of trailers is a whole industry of its own in Indiana.
Iowa Dave

[Jane and John]

We are also in NH and ordered our E5.0 and in 2 years from now when its ready the price will probably go up 2 more times and given the fact that we just came back from a 9k+ mile trip(52 days) to CA and back we are just gonna pay for delivery we no longer want to travel that distance I wish you well-Keep It Simple