Saw an awesome car hauler conversion yesterday!

So I was on my way to pickup my daughter and I saw this truck up in front of me in traffic, he pulled into the Burger King, and since I was driving I couldn't take a pic.. but what it was- A retired 24 or 26 foot Uhaul truck with the box gone, they created a dovetail bed on the back of the truck and had flip up ramps. I thought- what a brilliant idea! Reason being is that Uhaul- one of their huge "selling points" when offering trucks to rent for moving is that they have "the lowest decks in the industry" Most Penske or other trucks are built to back up to docks.. they are really high up. Uhauls are designed to be lower for easier movement in and out of your furniture.

REALLY wish I could have snapped a picture- but honestly what a brilliant idea! Got me thinking.. really thinking. You wouldn't have to insure it as a "roll back", don't need a CDL to drive it legally. Got me itching on the thought of hunting and converting an old Uhaul truck to a "Car Hauler!!"

Found a pic on the net- not quite what they had- but close. The one I saw was a "deck over" instead of between the wheels. But you get the idea!

Found a couple more:

Sheee-yeah.. Me Too! I'll see how long this one eats at my brain. The hard part is I know a woman whose sis is the corporate atty for Uhaul.. I know I could get ahold of a retired one.. probably on the cheap too.
Decisions Decisions!

Ok it keeps getting worse by the minute: Googled the specs. A 26 foot truck gives you a 23' 5" Deck- would put my 16 foot trailer to shame.. shame.. shame!
Deck height: 2' 9" from the ground
Max load: 6,500 lbs.



A 24' truck would give you a 21 foot deck:
Deck height: 2' 9" from the ground
Max load: 7,400 lbs.

Originally Posted by brokescrapper

Old fire engines work well for this as they have usually 23,000 lb rear ends AND even ones that are 25 years old and newer have automatic transmissions too!

Good chance of a pto too

Originally Posted by MattInTheHat

Good chance of a pto too

What is a "PTO?"

Sledge-pto is an output from the transmission so that you can run things like a wench off of the engine. Think of a cement truck.

Originally Posted by sledge42

Ok it keeps getting worse by the minute: Googled the specs. A 26 foot truck gives you a 23' 5" Deck- would put my 16 foot trailer to shame.. shame.. shame!
Deck height: 2' 9" from the ground
Max load: 6,500 lbs.



A 24' truck would give you a 21 foot deck:
Deck height: 2' 9" from the ground
Max load: 7,400 lbs.

Unless you have enough real estate for two cars, anything more than 18 is a waste really. For hauling cars anyhow, there's a bunch of wasted space on my 22' less I'm loading shred on it. If you added a flip up deck that allowed you load two cars on that u haul, now your cooking with gas. Seen someone's car trailer on here with that flip up deck, think it was a wright brand trailer.

PTO=Power Take Off

Originally Posted by sledge42

What is a "PTO?"

Power take off. Found on tractors, semis and even pickups.

Awesome. Thanks guys.. This thing is still eating at me a bit. This would be baaaadarse!!
SirScrap: Well The semi might be pushing it- I never have 8 junkers at a time.. and doing a pull out would ssuuuuuuck!

I think a semi is a bit much less you find 300 Junkers, in one place, that all have tires on em and will roll.