If you’re going to rent a trailer, coming from seeing rates renting them myself while working for a shop: FUCK THAT. Buy a 4x8, 5x8 trailer use, and burn it and still be money ahead of the rental. Uhaul trailers weigh a TON and will kill your poor car. Once you’re in cali, store shit in the trailer until you’re done, then sell it for what you paid for it, or even more.
Not a terrible idea and one I will certainly consider. When I read on uhauls site that a 4x8 trailer weighed in at ~850 pounds, that shocked me.
I moved from Buffalo to Denver 2 years ago now, can’t help you with moving shit because work paid for everything so all we had to do was drive but my one word of advice is avoid Kansas like the plague. The state sucks, the cops are dicks and they do radar all over every fucking highway so it’s impossible to make good time. I don’t know what you’re route is but Nebraska while being a boring ass state, you can literally drive 90mph through the whole state and not see a single cop.
I know, it’s a serious thread, but I couldn’t help but think of Hummingbird Movers.
I moved to Seattle and back 4 years later. Both times I had minimal possessions which made it great. I know this sounds crazy but I packed my car full to the brim and shipped the rest via greyhound and picked it up when i got there. I now have wayyyy too much crap to do it that way but if you truly don’t have too much I would personally do it that way again.
Yeah, not a bad method but I don’t think it’d work for the bike, tools, etc. I’ll most likely be podding unless I can think of another option. I really want to enjoy this trip and with podding my stuff I can just take the car and go, and when I arrive in CA it’ll all be there.
Others have mentioned grabbing partial space on a truck, like LTL, or buying either and enclosed or open trailer… but the pod just seems like the right way. I think if I work them pretty good I should be able to get a decent rate.
Deff buy a trailer.
http://buffalo.craigslist.org/ctd/3879045792.html
Offer 1600 then sell it for 1600 freebie!
I moved to Houston a little over a year before my wife did. My company wrote me a check so I was as cheap as possible. I got the smallest pod they offered (maybe 8x8x8) which at the time was about $800 shipped. The nice thing is that you also get 2 months free storage, so you can get it when you want. They were on time and everything was great.
As far as the long distance relationship goes, I figured hell if we can do a year apart then we’ll get through anything.
When my wife moved down I purchased a trailer and we filled it up. Towed it down the east coast and across the south. While the trailer got heavy we only towed it with a 5 banger Colorado. Drive the speed limit and its not really an issue.
I’d suggest planning for about 6-8 hours of driving per day if you really want to visit cities. More driving time and plan just for a nice dinner and sleep. I’ve driven from Buffalo to Houston maybe 6-7 and will be driving back in August and again for xmass. Its not a big deal lol. I’ve also driving Buffalo to Phoenix twice and Buffalo to Florida say 4 times. Just stop in fun cities for the evening.
from buffalo to salem oregon and back with a 26’ truck, I didn’t do it to enjoy it though lol any questions PM me
I moved from NY to AZ… I didn’t take any large belongings, just put them in storage at my parents garage…
I then moved from AZ to WA, I rented a car hauler, managed to fit all my belongings in a pickup and my car, this included 3 motorcycles…
it’s much easier to move when you’re a single dude, a lot less shit.
IMO: leave everything that isn’t worth much behind, sell it on craigslist. it’s a pain in the ass moving… the only things I take with me when I moved last year (only 60 miles) were my mattress ($2k) couches ($2k) and motorcycles/tools…
it’s so much easier to sell as much stuff as possible and buy new shit at your new place… i find that when I move, I throw out SO MUCH shit that I don’t need.
Oh, and moving to the West coast, just FYI: The west coast way of life is SO much different than the east cost, just be prepared.
I’m super lean (selling off dressers, couches, bed, etc), so a 5x8 or even 4x8 trailer would work fine as far as room, and like I said before I plan on dumping the Subaru shortly after getting out there, so long term wear isn’t a thought. Do you really think a 5x8 trailer would be that bad dudes?
I did it super cheap when moving to austin.
My old saturn was due for replacement, so I stepped up to a Grand Marquis.
I loaded that sucker to the top (no trailer).
Took what I could, then my fiance followed me down about six months later with her Matrix loaded to the top.
The rest we gave away or got rid of.
It was nice to start fresh, we got most of the stuff for our apartment at Ikea here in Round Rock.
I would not tow with a subaru dude. Think of stopping it in traffic going down a canyon and shit like that.
Just pod it and let the professionals do their thing.
Enjoy your drive and take your time getting down there and not have to worry about towing stuff.
I’ll second this!
You’d be fine, I overload cars all the time just be aware of the situation. I’ve towed cars with a 4 cylinder S-10’s just take it slow and you’ll be ok. Looks like you can tow 2000 lbs safely. Even a loaded trailer at 3000lbs won’t be that bad, just do it.
How are you enjoying Texas?
If I were to ever move from Houston, I’d sell everything in my house and buy new stuff. Not worth moving it all. (I have nice furniture but stil.)
LOL at your disclaimer…but its true
Yeah I saw that. I have been out that way more than once, just recently for work as well. It’s true, but it’ll be a refreshing change of pace IMO.
Ugh… trailer… pod… trailer… pod.
Trailer would save me about 2 grand.
I’d rather pull a trailer and save the 2g, but I’m cheap. Its NOT that BAD pulling a trailer. Plus most hotels you can drop it and chain it to a pole to get dinner and check out the city.
I mean, the chunk of money I got was intended for the move, but i’m also cheap and would like to keep costs down too. I am going to grind down this POD representative and if she can get me a killer rate i’ll go that route. If not I have been eyeing up light 5x8 and 4x8 trailers with a hitch and harness. Then, once I am out there I can store the trailer in the garage until I sell it for a minimal loss… if at all.
You save $2,000 until someone rear ends you, or the hitch mount snaps and sends everything you own plummeting down a cliff somewhere in Oklahoma.
I pulled a fully loaded 4x8 trailer with a 4 cyl Tiburon from DC -> Buffalo
It was fine most of the time however even on a slight incline it was really running out of steam.