Lesson 1: Don't rent tow dollies

Lesson learned: April 1, 2011. I rented a 26' U-Haul truck to move my garage stuff to Charlotte, NC, from Bloomington, IN. I saved $76 over the cost of a vehicle trailer. A tow dolly allows the front wheels of a front-wheel drive vehicle to be raised onto the dolly platform and towed behind a truck. The free-wheeling rear wheels follow along, and all is fine going down the interstate. Until you hit a bump... That's exactly what I did somewhere in the last 100 miles of Interstate. When we stopped for gas, I noticed a tear in the bumper! YIKES! I can only guess that the truck hit a low spot on the Interstate, causing the rear to go down. This raised the bumper of the traililng car. When the truck recovered, rising up further than normal, the towed vehicle bumper dropped too low. The bumper scraped on the freeway and caught on something, ripping the connector between the bumper and the frame off, splitting the rear bumper in half. No minor problem, this. the estimate at Wilburn Auto Body repair was about $1200...and loss of the car for 2 days. Lesson learned: Pay the extra money and get the car off the roadway. Rent the tow vehicle that puts the entire car body onto the trailer. There will probably be more to come on this one...