Christian Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Took out my 86, 18ft toyota odyssey on my first voyage with 2 kids and a cat. Made it half way 400 miles when motor blew up. Need to figure out how to tow this vehicle back home. Stuck in a town with no rental cars or mechanics etc. In desperate need of help. Friend is posting this for me since i do not have internet access. I can check email. Please email directly with suggestions. claidig -AT- gmail.com or call me directly at 916-276-7424 Wondering what type of vehicle can tow this back home without having to pay a tow company. Uhaul full size pickup with tow bar etc. Thank you very much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRG567 Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Took out my 86, 18ft toyota odyssey on my first voyage with 2 kids and a cat. Made it half way 400 miles when motor blew up. Need to figure out how to tow this vehicle back home. Stuck in a town with no rental cars or mechanics etc. In desperate need of help. Friend is posting this for me since i do not have internet access. I can check email. Please email directly with suggestions.claidig -AT- gmail.com or call me directly at 916-276-7424 Wondering what type of vehicle can tow this back home without having to pay a tow company. Uhaul full size pickup with tow bar etc. Thank you very much! where are you,uhaul truck and tow dolly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 I am in Roseburg Oregon. I went to Uhaul today (only thing open) and they didn't have anything they said would work. They said no way to a tow dolly....they pointed out a tow bar however but its max weight says 5000 lbs. and it costs $180 to buy...not rentable. I wouldn't mind trying this if I had some reassurance that a 14' Uhaul truck would handle the 400 mile pull home. I have my son and one his friends so ssafety is priority one right now. I am sitting in the RV we put so much time and money into writing this by the light of the soon to be out propane stove....I managed to get to Walmart today and bought one of these little internet only laptops so I could figure out my options. Too bad I have no power to charge it anymore or to turn on lights etc....been one of those days. So back to the original topic...anyone think a Tow bar rated at 5000 lb maximum will work behind a 14' Uhaul towing a fully loaded 18 footer...with generator, 6 lug etc. I would take all that can be removed out and put it in the truck but I would think I am still going to be at least 6000lbs. and it seems weird that a 14' truck could pull a larger and heavier truck without causing unwanted issues...such as crashing. Man what a week...I had this thing sold several times this past couple weeks had I wanted to sell it...was followed home twice and had two notes left on it asking if I would sell Might be coming to that...would be very sad as we have put in a very large list of work....over $5500 invested so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrokerandtheBandit Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 you should be able to tow that just fine w a 14 ft uhaul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 It's not so much the hauling it's what are you going to attach the hitch too? There is not a Toyota made that has a strong enough bumper. I assume it's an automatic and flat towing it for 200+ miles is not a good ideal unless you remove the drive shaft. Have any friends with an AAA card? A rollback will haul it just need to be careful with low bridges. You are between a rock and a hard place the safest way would be to let a tow company haul it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supurcar Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 You said the engine blew? What exactly are the running conditions you experienced, might be cheaper to just fix the thing and drive it, or just temp fix to get you home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 Just woke up and thank goodness for the stove still having propane left for some heat...brrr! The engine made one heck of a noise...oil blew out the bottom and there are metal shavings all over the dip stick...bottom end at least is a goner I beleive. I did happen to find someone willing to part with a motor 70 miles away...it was a brand new motor that has a bad head...below the head he says has 300 miles and he wants $300 for it (which is cheaper then he originally wanted but is helping me out). I may try to find someone to help me install that...I would have no idea how to do this alone however nor the tools needed. I would still like to get it home though so maybe I will keep looking for a tow somehow. And yes it is an Automatic and has a very little front bumber...I am not sure how the tow bar hooks up but it seems like I would drop the bumper and hook a tow bar to the four bolts that hold the bumber on. They don't appear to be in that strong of metal if I recall correctly though. Thanks for all the replies...still trying to get something figured out. I have one tow coming from Geico up to about 30 miles....I need to use that wisely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 The guy with the engine know how to put it in? That maybe your answer one stop shopping. Your head is probably still good so that's not an issue easy to change sitting on the floor. A 40 mile tow is a lot cheaper then a 300 mile tow you maybe able to talk the guy into taking it the entire way. Don't tow it very far with the rear wheels turning it will damage the transmission from lack of lube unless you remove the drive shaft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 Well I found someone who said they would rebuild the motor top and bottom for $1600 about 70 miles away...no idea if they are good or not but said they have done 4 22 RE's in the past two months so keeping my fingers crossed since I went with them. They also had someone that would tow me the 70 miles to their shop for $100 and let me tell you...that was absolutely INSANE! I didn't knowwhat type of vehicle he would bring (assumed flatbed truck) but he should up with a GMC Suburban and a flatbed car trailer. Not only was the truck and trailer too small the trailer only had class C tires that were about 9 years old....crazy. It took us 2 hours and more stress and muscle power then I would like to imagine to get the RV onto the trailer...then the fun really began. We started off driving and as soon as he got it up to 20 mph it was fishtailing all over the road. Was certain we were not going to make the 70 mile trip...he was even pretty sure we wouldn't but we plugged away. We took backroads for all but 5 miles of the trip where we had to get on the freeway (I5) once on the freeway we were almost immediately pulled over and asked very assertively to leave the freeway as soon as possible. Guess the officer didn't like that we were doing 15 mph on the shoulder with such an unsafe setup. Once we got to about 1.2 miles from the shop we were headed too we got pulled over once again...this time the officer was not so nice. He set the pace right off the bat by asking the age of the two boys in the back seat...we told him they were 14 years old and he said he should have this guys drivers and business license revoked for what he is looking at. He went back and checked things out more then returned with the news. Told the driver of the truck he could almost be thrown in jail for the neglegence he has found...couldn't believ we had even made it 5 miles (driver told him we only went 15 miles instead of the 70 also). Said there were soo many things wrong with this that he didn't know where too start.. Things I remember are: Load was too heavy fior truck and trailer Holdown chain was less than half the size required Brakes were not working on trailer Tung height was too high and causing too much lift on trucks rear end. No emergency release cable Lights on trailer were shorting out Tires were underrated for weight of trailer and load Office was not very pleased with us but I assured him I had tried other methods and wanted to get the kids off the road. he said only because we had somehow made it this far without loosing both vehicles he would only issue one ticket and not throw the driver in jail for child endangerment...the ticket was $250...what a fun trip that was...70 mile tow took a total of 7.5 hours. The Rv is currently being worked on and I got someone to come down and pick me up from 400 miles away. I have been sitting here stressing on how I had to leave it in a not so good part of town and what if something bad happens to it or the mechanic is shady...this would be the last straw in my attempt to get this thing fixed up and road ready. I will post details about what my insurance company said soon regarding this and when I return home will try to post some of the RV getting loaded onto that trailer. Thanks for all the replies...my adventure continues Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noreegalaba Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 dude!!!! sorry about your ordeal. it sounds horrific...... get Good Sam RV Emergency road service. $90 a year - priceless...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLittlePuppy Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 We second the Good Sams Emergency Road Service! Believe us (and we know you will after your ordeal), this will be the best money spent for peace of mind if you break down on the road and need a tow. We know this had to a horrific experience, but the way you wrote about it showed that you kept your sense of humor through it all!!! We had a few chuckles especially when the officers discovered you 'tooling down the highway of life' on a overloaded trailer, etc! You're a gifted writer so keep us all informed about the outcome of your 'adventure' in RVing! Sending you sincere best wishes for a brighter Toy future! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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