Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine?

Thajeffski

Thajeffski

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Trying to figure out how to have a boat at my rental home on lake norman in North Carolina. Problem is it's something like 250 bucks per 8 hours for a toon. Can't pay anywhere NEAR that to have a boat for 7 days at the house's dock.

I figure I have a great boat here - my only problem is the tow vehicle, it's a 1993 full size bronco that would never make 11 hours one way let alone two ways.

Investigated what it'd cost for a tow vehicle, looks like 500 bucks for the 7/8 days to rent. I can handle that, what do you guys think? Has anyone here ever towed their boat 11 hours to take it on vacation?!
 
LippCJ7

LippCJ7

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

yup tow ours from Denver to Lake Powell all the time, part of the reason why I have a 1 ton diesel crew cab, we hope to travel east with our boat and wouldn't have it any other way. The key is having a long tow vehicle that way the truck tows the boat rather then the other way around, short wheel base vehicles make long tows very tiring the boat will drag the tow vehicle all over. If your serious about towing your boat a long distance then its probably time to upgrade to a better tow vehicle then your Bronco.
 
Thajeffski

Thajeffski

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

LippCJ7 said:
yup tow ours from Denver to Lake Powell all the time, part of the reason why I have a 1 ton diesel crew cab, we hope to travel east with our boat and wouldn't have it any other way. The key is having a long tow vehicle that way the truck tows the boat rather then the other way around, short wheel base vehicles make long tows very tiring the boat will drag the tow vehicle all over. If your serious about towing your boat a long distance then its probably time to upgrade to a better tow vehicle then your Bronco.
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Yeah, this is probably a one time tow, but I'm booked for this trip with some friends and I'm trying to figure out how to get the boat there. I can get a jeep grand cherokee for 169.99 for the week. The boat is a 19 foot bayliner bow rider, not very heavy..

Edit: bummer. I just called a couple rental places and they said NO TOWING ALLOWED. Sigh.
 
LippCJ7

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

Thajeffski said:
Yeah, this is probably a one time tow, but I'm booked for this trip with some friends and I'm trying to figure out how to get the boat there. I can get a jeep grand cherokee for 169.99 for the week. The boat is a 19 foot bayliner bow rider, not very heavy..

Edit: bummer. I just called a couple rental places and they said NO TOWING ALLOWED. Sigh.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the world of renting a tow vehicle, you can find them but its not easy!
 
Thajeffski

Thajeffski

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

LippCJ7 said:
Welcome to the world of renting a tow vehicle, you can find them but its not easy!
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My biggest issue is going to be if I "rent" an SUV, and then it doesn't have a hitch ! :( I wish there was some easy way to do this.
 
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H20Rat

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

Thajeffski said:
My biggest issue is going to be if I "rent" an SUV, and then it doesn't have a hitch ! :( I wish there was some easy way to do this.
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reading your first post, i was getting ready to ask where you found a place to rent from. Not easy, almost impossible... But I see you figured that one out already!

And don't think about renting an SUV that most likely has a receiver on it. You are completely voiding any rental agreement if you tow with it, not worth it at all...
 
Thajeffski

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

smokingcrater said:
reading your first post, i was getting ready to ask where you found a place to rent from. Not easy, almost impossible... But I see you figured that one out already!

And don't think about renting an SUV that most likely has a receiver on it. You are completely voiding any rental agreement if you tow with it, not worth it at all...
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Yeah. Oh well, I guess there goes that idea. Such a bummer, I'd pay for more insurance or something. The problem with the bronco is it has 150k on it and I'd much rather pay 500 for the week and have a nice new tow vehicle. The only options I'm seeing is uhaul, but that's 1 dollar a mile and is not something I'd want to drive 11 hours.

The house has two kayaks. but man, that's no fun!
 
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rallyart

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

U-haul trucks always have a hitch.
 
Thajeffski

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

yea but u pay .59 cents a mile with uhaul..
 
04fxdwgi

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

Thajeffski said:
yea but u pay .59 cents a mile with uhaul..
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Hmmmmm.... Last summer (when my old Dodge PU died), I rented a U-haul 1 ton van for 3 days for a flat rate w/ unlimited milage. Had a class IV hitch on it too. Don't remember what the rate was, though.
 
airdvr1227

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

The other issue would be is your trailer up to the task?
 
Thajeffski

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

airdvr1227 said:
The other issue would be is your trailer up to the task?
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yeah, if I could figure out a rental the next step was new tires, bearings redone, checking out the other stuff. I'm sure it'd be fine as I always washed it down after dunking it.
 
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Fishing Dude too

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

Check out car dealers, many of them have a rental buisness. Just an idea. May be cheeper but still not cheep.
 
Thajeffski

Thajeffski

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

At this point I'm going to start low balling the rental boat places on the lake. I've sent some online requests to ford dealerships, haven't heard anything back..
 
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sdride

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

Check craigslist for that area. I found a guy last year that rented me his boat for the week up in PA and it was a great deal. boat was ok but for the price it was fine. I know people will chime in with they would never do that but we had some paperwork drafted and off we went.

something like this:
http://greenville.craigslist.org/boa/2481023762.html
 
Thajeffski

Thajeffski

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

sdride said:
Check craigslist for that area. I found a guy last year that rented me his boat for the week up in PA and it was a great deal. boat was ok but for the price it was fine. I know people will chime in with they would never do that but we had some paperwork drafted and off we went.

something like this:
http://greenville.craigslist.org/boa/2481023762.html
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Good idea. I see someone else did that in Lake norman, so I texted him asking if he got any good offers. Right now its 875 for a 10 person pontoon for 5 days. That's a little more than what I was hoping to spend to have a boat on the trip. if I could do this for 400 (either tow mine down, rent someone's, rent a companies) I'd be sold
 
Captain Caveman

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

If you're talking about spending $875 now, could you toss that $875 into the Bronco to ensure that it makes the trip? That seems like money better spent because your tow vehicle will be in better shape.
 
Thajeffski

Thajeffski

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Re: Vacation in NC (11hr drive) on a lake and I want a boat... should I just tow mine

Captain Caveman said:
If you're talking about spending $875 now, could you toss that $875 into the Bronco to ensure that it makes the trip? That seems like money better spent because your tow vehicle will be in better shape.
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I've thought about that.

The problem with the bronco is that I could do all the regular "tune up" stuff on it when a car hits 150k ish. New bearings, joints, brakes, etc etc etc. but even after 800 dollars worth of parts, it'd be something totally unrelated that would go on me and I'd be stranded. Or the transmission would get too hot. It's an ok truck to tow locally, but I'd bet against it 100% making it both ways.
 
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