Grassroots Moversports - Relocating a GRM'er with 2.5 project cars

Instead of a big push, how about the following:

• Rent a storage locker or three.  Empty out your current digs.  Jam all the "nice to have someday" stuff in your storage lockers.  That includes project cars, kilns and pottery stuff,  basically what you dont need to live with and what you can't fit in your two DDs.  This should be someplace local to your current location.  
• Load your household items into your two good running cars, tow a small u-haul behind the minivan if needed.  
• Get your new place situated with household items on weekend 1, then evaluate your situation.  What don't you want?  What don't you need?  What did you leave behind that you miss?
• Weekend 2 sees another loaded van, the El Camino, and 1 or two trailers with the rest of your must-haves.  Nice part is these are able to be pulled out of your storage, because you have 10 weekdays after 5pm to empty and clean your current place.  
• Spend a few weeks at your new Atlanta place.  Go get your project cars at your leisure, in 1 or two trips, along with the balance of the rest of your stuff once you are comfortable.  Things you don't need you can gie away to friends, donate, or have a quicky rummage sale with fire sale prices at your storage locker when you are back in town.  

Here in MKE, you could rent a few decent spaces for around $300 a month.  For a few months, thats small potatos to not be in a rush.  

maschinenbau said:

Something else I noticed. The U-haul 26 footer with full car trailer is only like $1200 compared to Penske's 26 footer with trailer for $1700. Is Penske really $500 better?

Probably. The Penske should have a diesel and may have air brakes. The ones that I've been around had liftgates and nice suspension seats for the driver. The Uhaul won't have any of that. I've rented both multiple times, and the Penske trucks have always been clean and well maintained. Can't say the same for the U Hauls I've been exposed to.

Ram50Ron said:

In reply to maschinenbau :

If the U haul doesn't have a lift gate and the Penske you quoted does I would say so, your spine will thank you.

This. My current job invokes daily use of a liftgate box truck and I will never move without one again. 

Just called Penske. Apparently they don't do lift gates on their one-way fleet. Also, you can't tow a car with the lift gate trucks, so that's kind of disappointing. Probably going to do Penske anyway because I keep reading horror stories involving Uhaul for long trips.

X2 on the brakes and reliability, the Uhaul trucks look like just heavy duty ford trucks with a big box on them, the Penske trucks were usually commercial International or Freightliner chassis.  The only problem we ever had with Penske trucks in the 3 years I was in SAE (we used them 2-3 times a year) was one truck ran low on DEF and needed to be refilled and another truck had a clogged DPF and forced us to run the regen.  The auto transmissions in them can be a bit lackadaisical, especially on down shifts, and may require user input to motivate them to shift with increased vigor.

Just picked up the U-haul tow dolly for Phase 1 of the move. I spent all of last night checking over the El Camino and Datsun for long haul roadworthiness. Suspension and hitch bolt tightening, air pressures, all fluids, e-brake cable adjustment, brake lines, etc etc. I am installing an analog coolant temp gauge tonight since I only have the idiot lights. Also got the magnetic lights figured out. 

I'm a little nervous due to the age and capability of my pickup, but then I heard about HippieWagon driving 6 hours even farther towing something similar with just a 2-door Jeep  So this can't be that bad!

Pictures later tonight of my tow rig setup.

Im near Charlotte if you need help on the road 

I'm in Nashville dude if you need to stop for anything, or need help on the road in my area.

I was in a similar situation when I moved back from Florida to Tennessee. 2 project cars, 1 project boat, 1 motorcycle, 2 daily drivers, and a whole house full of stuff. I do NOT envy you. I trailered the 1 project car up with my truck a weekend before the big move, then drove the truck back, loaded up the motorcycle in the back and hooked up the boat. Then I loaded the 26ft Penske truck up and connected my trailer with the other project car on it to that. Drove those up while the wife drove her and two cats in her DD. Took a one way flight back and picked up my truck and boat, and ran it up with all the extra house plants in the boat, lol. I will never do that again. 15 hours one way blows. Thankfully I did not have to be working a job during this time.

In reply to t25torx :

Thanks for your perspective. Dang, 15 hours one way! I'm only going 8 (maybe 10 due to towing), and doing it in two trips thankfully.

And thanks guys for the assistance. Crossing my fingers the Camino keeps behaving well like it always does.

It just so happens that I was driving within a mile of maschinenbau's house tonight (on the way to the in-laws) so I sent him a text to see if he needed any help, and this happened between down-pours:

We got Dasaniti loaded up for the tow down tomorrow.

Safe travels my friend.

200 down!

Nice Elky!

If you haven’t booked the 26 ft box truck yet, you might want to look at Budget. I used them a couple years ago for a 26 ft truck local move. It was a better truck (2 or 3 year old F750 with diesel and about 50,000 miles) and cheaper than U-Haul. It may not have been as heavy duty as the Penske trucks, but I wouldn’t be afraid to tow it across the country dragging a 7,000 lbs trailer. 

Made it over the Monteagle pass into Chattanooga! Hardest part done. 130 miles to go after much needed tacos. Also it's getting hot out...fixing elky's AC needs to be higher on my list.

I once got a band van for a CD from a fan that had been sitting for years, promptly drove it 2 hours to a gig and 2 hours back as a test drive. I then drove the same van across washington state many many times with it cobbled together. I see the el camino as being in vastly better shape

Just received word that maschinenbau arrived safely.

Phase 1 complete! The 500 mile trip with a 50 year old truck took 11 hours including stops, around 40 to 50 gallons of gas, and a similar amount of sweat from my body. It got worse closer to Atlanta and the later in the day due to traffic and heat. Never overheated over the Monteagle pass. The Uhaul dolly is an overweight, rattly piece of E36 M3, but it towed straight and stable. 2 classics safe and sound at their new home in East Point GA. 

'72 el Camino takes me straight to Bonertown.