Can we transport a car in a Cargo trailer? (Palmer: sale, transporting)

[Alaska Deb]

Hi,

I know I could prob. get this info somewhere else, but wanted to ask you who have experience.

Time is ticking and we've thought of way toooo many ways to move our stuff. Yup, taking everyone's advice and selling most everything, but there is some stuff to go. Oh, yeah, we are 2 families moving...gonna be a clan

The current plan is to buy an enclosed trailer...and then we thought: HEY! let's buy a whopper and put the Subaru in it. Save a person driving, save some gas and wear and tear on the car. Then we could sell it when we get there and buy chainsaws and an attachment for the tractor and...wood to build that outhouse...

Do you think they will object to this in Canada? It will be drained and tied down. If they don't tear it apart, they won't see it.

ALSO, we won't be driving, my two brother-in-laws will be--so I wonder about documentation for them driving across the border? Some notarized statement?

Any and all advice will be so much appreciated.

Thanks as always,
Deb

[DannyL]

might be able to do it, but you probably gonna have to drain the gas tank first.

[joe moving]

I am not sure I get the question. Your car in your trailer. If you aren't leaving it in Canada, they won't care!!!

[warptman]

What kind of truck you going to pull this trailer and your other things with? You don't ever want to overload a trailer or it'll push you on down hills and drag you down on uphills.

[Alaska Deb]

Hi,

Joe, I got the impression that sometimes the people at the border could be persnickety...I've heard that some people have to take their stuff out, and some don't. I just did not want to have some big problem crossing.

Warpt: The plan is to pull a 24 ft enclosed with a F-250 HD 4WD off road. Yeah, I thought about that also, the thought of being pushed around by a trailer makes my blood run cold. The car is a Subaru, and although there will be other stuff in the trailer, there won't be more than a couple of pieces of small furniture. But there will be boxes.

That's exactly why I wanted to throw this out for consideration.

Thanks a lot,

Deb

[Rance]

Put the majority of the weight forward in the trailer...keeping it lighter to the rear. I pulled an 18 footer up 2 years ago hauling a car and an airplane engine. No problemo. At the border crossings I had to show my trailer registration once and that was it. The car was full of antiques and all wrapped up for the trip. Fortunately they never asked to look inside.

[Alaska Deb]

Thank you, thank you!

[warptman]

You should goto the book store and pick yourself up a copy of the 2008 Milepost, the Alaska Highway Bible. It is full of helpful hints on the drive up. Where are you driving from? Here are some links to help on the drive up.

Drive BC

A Guide to the Alaska Highway (Alcan) - ExploreNorth

Canada and United States Travel - Highway and Road Conditions, Weather, Airports, Ferries, Traffic and Transit

Government of Yukon, Department of Highway and Public Works - Transportation - Road Report

Alaska Road Traveler Information Service

[ASpilot2be]

Originally Posted by Rance

Put the majority of the weight forward in the trailer...keeping it lighter to the rear. I pulled an 18 footer up 2 years ago hauling a car and an airplane engine. No problemo. At the border crossings I had to show my trailer registration once and that was it. The car was full of antiques and all wrapped up for the trip. Fortunately they never asked to look inside.

Thats good to a point. I would try to spread the weight out as much as possible. My friend and I had to tow a 3/4 ton pickup from Glenallen to Palmer. The weight was dominantly forward in the trailer so much that it made the front of the truck so light we couldnt go over 50 with doing some gnarly weaving

[rotorhead]

I can't say whether or not they'll give you a hard time at the border, but RVer's regularly tow smaller vehicles behind their rigs up the AlCan. Make sure that BOTH vehicles (plus the trailer) have current registrations, non dealer/temp licence plates, renewal stickers, and most importantly, CANADIAN insurance cards (which are different from US ones). You can contact your insurance agent to get one, it shouldn't cost anything but it can take a couple of weeks to get the ORIGINAL HARDCOPY that they're gonna want at the border station. If you are not going to accompany the vehicle, you're definately going to want a signed and notorized letter of your intent and permission for your inlaws to transport the vehicle across the border to AK, and probably a limited power of attorney giving them the OK to move it for you. Have it all in one folder ready to go so they're not tearing apart random boxes searching for it at the border station.

Your brother in laws are also gonna need:

Passports. Yes, they've extended the deadline again, but they always hassle you without a passport and that's the last thing they need since you're gonna have other "issues" at the crossing.

A clean criminal record, especially referring to DUIs. Yes, it's rank hypocricy on the part of the Canooks but it's been a big issue lately and you don't want "plan B" to include them driving right back home again because "Bob or Joe" got turned back at the border.

Gas money and a credit card with a good amount of room left to the limit. Even if it's within the weight limits for the truck they're gonna get lousy gas mileage towing that monster...like in the single digits. I towed a 5000lb camp trailer 4000 miles down from AK to NM with a Ford Expedition with the smaller 4.6 liter V-8 and not only did it spend half the trip struggling in the lower gears, it averaged 9.5 mpg versus its regular 15-17 or so. The Milepost has a website with current gas prices in Canada but count on about $5-$6 a gallon through most of the Yukon, perhaps slightly less in the other provinces.

If you EVER want to see your stuff again, make absolutely CERTAIN that your drivers aren't smelling even remotely of pot or booze when they hit the border. In fact, if either of them is a habitual stoner I'd say nix the whole idea right now. One burned out butt end of a joint in the ashtray is plenty for the ever-inquisitive and very sensitive nose of Mr. Canadian A-Hole The Border Nazi to not only arrest your inlaw, it's likely gonna get all your material posessions impounded for the indefinate future and perhaps permanently confiscated. Thats AFTER they unload and tear apart every single item in both the truck and the trailer and spread it out for the dog to check out. Yes, they're that anal about drug issues and no, I'm not exaggerating. If "Bob and Joe" were considering the possibility of a profitable little recreational pharmaceutical enterprise along the way or even just carrying a "little personal stash for the trip" it's quite probable that they'll cost you everything you own. Canadian customs has an entire fenced acre or so of impounded stuff sitting right at the Sweetgrass crossing rotting in the weather while stuff sorts itself out in the courts.

Leave the firearms at home, or ship them up via other means. If there's one thing they border agents are even more freaked out about than drugs, it's guns. There's a website for Canadian customs 'explaining' the current regs, but good luck figureing that one out if you're not a lawyer. Basically it boils down to the fact that their liberal nanny-state government hates guns witha passion and they really, really don't want you to bring them across the border so they'll do everything they can to prevent it. Just showing up at the border with an SKS or an AR-15 not only gets your gun confiscated, it's supposed to get you a felony record. Same for handguns. It IS actually possible to transport certain categories of non-semi-automatic longguns with the right paperwork, but only if YOU are going to be doing it yourself. Search the archive here for more info on the subject. Ironically, they seem to be fine with transporting ammo, at least so far.

There's also a list of other prohibited things you can't bring across that's probably as long as your arm. In no particular order, here's some I've heard of: beef, beef products including dog or cat food containing beef, potted or bedding plants, firewood with bark on it, pepper spray, stun guns, large amounts of alcohol, and no doubt lots of things I've never even heard of.

As far as the mechanics of CAN you do it with your vehicle, it's time to get out the owners manual for your truck. Make sure that the combo of trailer, cargo, and the car inside doesn't exceed the limit for your particular make and model. A word of warning, although the 250 series are very capable vehicles, the 4wd models sometimes have lower towing limits than the 2wd models because they're heavier to start with. If the total towed weight is within limits, make sure you load it so that the tongue weight is also kept within limits to avoid the "front wheel skipping" thing that ASPilot is talking about, which is insanely dangerous. The tongue weight is the actual vertical load on your trucks hitch, not the total weight of the trailer. It's a function of how you load the trailer and how many axles it has, you'll get a good idea by how much the back of the truck sags when you hitch up and how difficult it is to crank up the trailers front end.

One other thing, DON'T SKIMP ON THE TIRES! You're probably going to be working right at the max your truck can carry, you need load range E (usually 10 ply rated) serious highway tires and not the off-road specials with cool-looking treads. They should be rated for at least 70-80psi and have heavy duty valve stems. Same goes for the spare, and make sure that your trailer has a good spare (that actually holds air) as well. No matter how heavy-duty your truck is, it's no better than it's weakest tire and your safety literally depends on them. You're going to want actual snow tires (preferably studded) for the winter anyway, so just completely forget the notion that you need those Monster Mudder All Season Radials that are on sale down at the corner store. The term "all season" is a cruel marketing joke, and the minimum-wage drones at Joes Tires will be perfectly happy selling you a new set that looks great on the truck but won't even remotely do the job safely. Also consider how that factory jack it gonna work lifting that truck with all that stuff in it, you'll need another one for the trailer anyway so you might as well spend a few bucks more and get one that can handle both vehicles. It also goes without saying that nows the time to catch up on any deferred maintenance; a broken serpentine belt or a blown radiator hose is exactly what you don't need fifty kilometers outside Whitehorse in the middle of the night in the pouring rain.

It sounds like a lot to consider, but it'll help make the trip scenic but uneventful which is EXACTLY how you want it.