car trailer or tranporter hire. where can i get one?

[gareth]

it's looking unlikely that i'll get my 335i tourer all legal in time for the ultimate bmw show but i'm desperate to be there!

at present i have a turbo diesel 406, though with no towball at present.

i'm thinking of either:
~ fitting a towball and hiring a trailer to get there
~ hiring a small (transit type) car transporter to get there

does anyone either have one of the above that i could hire or know anywhere that i could?

it'd need it for late on friday 22nd september until late sat 23rd / early sun 24th.

heeeeeellllp!!!!!!!!!

[stevetigger]

I thought I had answered this question?

[gareth]

hehe! this was posted before i saw your reply! within a minute of asking on the other thread!!!!

i'll give them a bell tomorrow. i'll need to spend £100 ish on a towball for that option though

just in case, if anyone else does have anything or know of anyone other than the bunch in battle, please let me know

[stevetigger]

True, Always good to get a few companys to play each other off for price!

[gareth]

[Jon_Bmw]

Garath, something worth considering is your towing limit on your 406 and whether its enough. The limit can be found in the user manual I think.

We towed our 200sx a couple of times to tracks and you have to be a bit careful of towing weights, if you want it all legal?

Your 335 touring probably weighs 1300kgs? and a suitable trailer to carry that would weigh about 4-500kgs(twin axle jobby) so that totals 17-1800kgs which is A LOT. We towed the sx with a mondeo TDCI estate and that has a very high limit for what is essentially a normal road car. Its limit is 1950kgs off the top of my head, i don't think your 405 will be that high though.

We used a local company, and got a deal for £25+ vat + straps for a days hire, which is pretty cheap to be fair. Normal price would have been about £40+ vat +straps. So there is a margin to be had. GO along the lines of, i'll probably be using your trailer service at least once every month to get my track car to events. Then you should be able to get a fairly good deal, even if you only intend to use it once

2cents

Jon

[FBF]

i have a pukka trailer you can hire. i hire it out for £50 a day im at gatwick if that helps? the best thing about it is theres no ramps its a tilt and slide. no damage to your car. twin wheels and braked (of course) tows nicely at 70 mph even

[gareth]

interesting jon... i've had a look and it's specs are as follows:
kerb weight (406) 1300kg
gross train weight 3032kg
braked trailer weight 1500kg

i assume that means i can tow a maximum of 1500kg with 232kg of load onboard? fairly hairy then! the 335i is i reckon about 1300kg... i doubt i'll be getting a 200kg tailer that won't snap!!!!

FBF, i'm interested but it might be too heavy to be legal. do you know the weight of it?

[Theo]

Gareth, the other day I towed a 325i touring on a trailer with a 406 HDI, so I rekon you wont have too many problems, its a bit slow though!

[gareth]

hmm, the HDi is quicker than mine but i'm hardly looking to make a record time!!!! lucky the brakes are 280mm as standard on mine!!!!

don't have a trailer i could hire do you mate??? or did you hire it?


oh, apparently the bunch in battle are no longer trading! raaa!

[Theo]

I hired a trailer myself, otherwise I would gladly let you borrow it. I used Trident Trailers, they cost about £45 with the VAT for a days hire (returned the next morning).

[FBF]

wheres the car? i could collect it with one of my recovery trucks for a quid a mile each way? that may work out cheaper for you? is it auto or manual?

[gareth]

it's in hastings and i want to take it to santa pod for the weekend and then come back again. i assume this will be rather costly!!! it's 143 miles each way.

it's a manual... why's that? i know from experience that a tail lift will smash the sump as it's lowered...

the trident trailers tunbridge wells branch is about 30 miles up the A21 from me so that's looking like a good bet at the moment.

[Jon_Bmw]

interesting jon... i've had a look and it's specs are as follows:
kerb weight (406) 1300kg
gross train weight 3032kg
braked trailer weight 1500kg

i assume that means i can tow a maximum of 1500kg with 232kg of load onboard? fairly hairy then! the 335i is i reckon about 1300kg... i doubt i'll be getting a 200kg tailer that won't snap!!!!

FBF, i'm interested but it might be too heavy to be legal. do you know the weight of it?

Yeah, that sounds about right Legally you shouldn't tow it, but to be honest the chances of getting pulled are unlikely. The car will tow it, slowly(especially with the veg oil )

Just don't do anything rash that increases your chance of being tugged.

[Jon_Bmw]

it's a manual... why's that? i know from experience that a tail lift will smash the sump as it's lowered...

Can't tow an auto with the rear wheels on the ground....Well you can, but you'd be putting a new autobox in after an hour.

[gareth]

interesting jon... i've had a look and it's specs are as follows:
kerb weight (406) 1300kg
gross train weight 3032kg
braked trailer weight 1500kg

i assume that means i can tow a maximum of 1500kg with 232kg of load onboard? fairly hairy then! the 335i is i reckon about 1300kg... i doubt i'll be getting a 200kg tailer that won't snap!!!!

FBF, i'm interested but it might be too heavy to be legal. do you know the weight of it?

Yeah, that sounds about right Legally you shouldn't tow it, but to be honest the chances of getting pulled are unlikely. The car will tow it, slowly(especially with the veg oil )

Just don't do anything rash that increases your chance of being tugged.

i suspect as it'll hardly be fun and i have little power that i can keep the speed down so ther will be no worries there! if i behave myself i reckon it'll be ok. the proposed towcar (406) looks very presentable which always helps!

i have the ideal car for the job though, it's a 335i tourer with a towball!!! i've towed scrap cars about with all 4 brakes siezed before now! effortless!

[gareth]

it's a manual... why's that? i know from experience that a tail lift will smash the sump as it's lowered...

Can't tow an auto with the rear wheels on the ground....Well you can, but you'd be putting a new autobox in after an hour.

yeah, thought you might be thinking that! an 'A' frame would maybe do it if there is enough clearance under the sump. a tail lift probably won't though.

the AA kindly smashed my last sump and front panel with a tail lift. after me telling them to send a flatbed and only a flatbed. so they sent a bloke on a bike, followed by a bloke in a small van with a rope (who intended to tow me 140 miles home), followeed by a chappie with a tail lift who smashed the sump...

[Jon_Bmw]

it's a manual... why's that? i know from experience that a tail lift will smash the sump as it's lowered...

Can't tow an auto with the rear wheels on the ground....Well you can, but you'd be putting a new autobox in after an hour.

yeah, thought you might be thinking that! an 'A' frame would maybe do it if there is enough clearance under the sump. a tail lift probably won't though.

the AA kindly smashed my last sump and front panel with a tail lift. after me telling them to send a flatbed and only a flatbed. so they sent a bloke on a bike, followed by a bloke in a small van with a rope (who intended to tow me 140 miles home), followeed by a chappie with a tail lift who smashed the sump...

Unbelievable! I needed a tow in the s4 after i refused to get another lock bolt at 9pm one sunday evening. I said I NEED a flatbed, it won't be going on anything else. 2 hours later one turns up, better late than never. That was the RAC.

They actually sent a bloke on a bike.

[gareth]

i waited 3 hours for the bike, then 90 mins for the van then 2 hours for the tail-lift!!! most not amused!!! all that time sitting on the middle of a motorway roundabout!

i told them when i phoned that i'm a professional mechanic (small white lie!) and that the water pump had sized (true). the dappy tart then told me that "i'd be suprised what the can fix" and "the patrols carry lots of spares"!!!!! she told me that they won't send a flatbed before they've tried to fix it. the bloke on the bike had been to 5 similar cases that day and was getting really narked off!

a was ok in the end though when they paid out £900 for a sump and front panel. that paid for a 335i conversion (for the sump!!!) and a donor 318i which gave me new doors, wings, bumpers, front panel and bonnet!

needless to say, i've left the AA now.

[gareth]

looks like i have the tow-car problem sorted! Ԛ£150 bought me a E reg 2.6 litre petrol mitsubishu shogun and after a MOT test, it needs one small bit of welding (should take me an hour max) and one windscreen wiper for the mot!

that's less than Ԛ£200 inc the purchase, mot test and parts! and i comes with a towbar!

just need to hire a trailer and i'm away!

[FBF]

this is my trailer. its the one bottom left. comes with straps. still a bullseye if you need it.



one of my cars is 18ft long and it legally takes that.

[gareth]

the bulleseye thing has confused me.... dowhat?

that looks like a lurverly trailer though!

[FBF]

a bullseye... 50 quid

pahh call yourself a southerner......

[gareth]

ahaaa... i see!

for the said Ԛ£50, could i collect on friday afternoon and return on sunday morning?