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Shifting a donor car
Kowalski - 30/11/05 at 01:14 PM

How does one shift ones donor?

I'm looking at buying an ebay donor car (something a little bit special), and driving it home is not an option, I've got a fair few miles to cover. I'm thinking about buying a towing dolly since they seem to be pretty cheap. Has anybody got any experience of using or are they a complete waste of time? The sort of dolly I'm talking about are the small ones which the front wheels of the towed car go onto, not 'A' frames where all the towed car wheels stay on the ground.

Also related, if I decided to go the trailer hire route instead, does anybody know what sort of company I'd have to hire it from, e.g. generic tool hire company / car hire company etc etc. I'm pretty close to Newcastle so if anybody knows of any companies up here that do the hire, or have hired one before, that would be useful to know.

Guinness - 30/11/05 at 01:24 PM

Hi there

I hired a Brian James trailer from Indespension in Byker. £35 plus the tax for a day or £150 plus for the weekend (Friday to Monday).

Nice big trailer with a tipping bed and winch. No ratchet straps though.

They've only got one for hire so best to book it up early.

Hope that helps.

Mike

David Jenkins - 30/11/05 at 01:39 PM

Do a search on towing dollies - it was discussed recently.

The final decision was that they were legally dubious, to be used for short journeys only, and subject to strict speed limits. The towed vehicle has to be road-legal, taxed and insured.

On the other hand, some people have used them with no hassle!

David

Mike R-F - 30/11/05 at 05:22 PM

Saw an item in one of the classic car mags sometime back about one of the national tool hire shops doing car trailer hire. Unfortunatly, I can't remember which one it was but the great thing about it was that you could do a one way hire, ie hire the trailer in the location of your donor & then drop it off at the nearest depot to your home. No extra cost. Might be worth trying Yellow Pages.

big_wasa - 30/11/05 at 07:10 PM

My locall tool hire shop does them for about £25 aday.

For that money a dolly is not worth the hassle. Bad experiance with a dolly

Bitch getting it on because of a spoiler and then it un hitchet comming out of a T-junction. Choice brake and let it hit the car or boot it and let it take its chances with the traffic . Hence the tow hitch punched a hole in to our motor.

Kowalski - 30/11/05 at 11:08 PM

quote:
Originally posted by big_wasa
My locall tool hire shop does them for about £25 aday.

For that money a dolly is not worth the hassle. Bad experiance with a dolly

Bitch getting it on because of a spoiler and then it un hitchet comming out of a T-junction. Choice brake and let it hit the car or boot it and let it take its chances with the traffic . Hence the tow hitch punched a hole in to our motor.


I think the trailer route is the only sensible option really.

As for your runaway dolly, I'd hope it was braked and fitted with a breakaway cable...

JoelP - 30/11/05 at 11:11 PM

hire place in leeds is £20 for a trailer for 24 hours.

Kowalski - 1/12/05 at 12:08 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Guinness
Nice big trailer with a tipping bed and winch. No ratchet straps though.

What did you do for securing your car to the trailer? If the traffic police caught you with an unsecured load, you'd be getting points and a fine, no question about it.

owelly - 1/12/05 at 09:08 AM

Use ratchet straps or rope. I lash the back of the car to the back of the trailer and then winch the front up tight. (When I don't have my wheel straps!)