I'm quite possibly moving to Alabama in February... that being said I'm looking for insight or ideas on how to move effectively that far across the country.

We've got our 2011 Jeep and my Evo that we're keeping. getting rid of my 98 Neon commuter car.

We need a 26' Uhaul truck... as we have a lot of stuff. Or possibly thinking of getting a container and having it delivered to the house.

can't haul the Evo with the Jeep as it's towing capacity is 2000 lbs.

best idea yet is to get a 26' Uhaul truck and haul the Evo on the trailer behind the truck.... and have the wife drive the Jeep behind me.

Since I've never moved this far away I'm looking for some insight, ideas, or people who have hookups with moving across the country. looking to make the move for 5k or under.

thanks in advance.

 

put it on shipping wars, haha

good luck on the move man, thats a really long drive.

 

Two way radios (Talkabouts) made a cross country trip for my wife and I nice.

 

^ good call.

 

If you can afford it, hire professional movers for the household stuff. Moving a lot of stuff with uhaul sux.

 

agree'd

a container would be easier, but might not be cheaper

 

Moved a lot due to my job, like Rallybud said get some radios. Depending on your budget you can load a uhaul, tow the evo behind that, then fill up with stuff also the jeep and drive that also. A fully loaded 26 foot uhaul towing a car is going to get about 6mpg.

Give yourself plenty of time, and stop a lot. Take in the sites. It makes it much easier for the long drive.

 

Get a car cover on the evo while it's being towed. I towed my truck behind a huge Uhaul truck all he way from Colorado. The truck was filthy when I arrived in Washington.

 

This. The Uhaul is probably the cheapest option and is pretty fun to go on a road trip. If you can, bring 2 friends to drive out with you. One for you and one for your wife.

If you get the trailer dolly, the Evo will fit perfectly if it's not lowered.

 

I had the "pleasure" of moving a lot in my life. Cheapest option will be to move yourself. Try to get a truck that is in good shape. My dad and I blew up two u-haul trucks on one move from Colorado to Denver (clutches couldn't take the load going over the passes). U-Haul car trailer ( not dolly) is a good way to move the Evo, but the U-Haul trailers are heavy. One option that I've seen others do is to buy an aluminum or similar car trailer here and then sell it once you get to your destination. This obviously has some risk because you are investing your capital until you can sell it and recover. I would look into the destination market to try and figure out what your chances are of selling the trailer and at what price.

If you do use the U-haul trailers, notice that the wheel wells swing down out of the way for loading and unloading.

There are other options for shipping your Evo (would ship the Jeep instead personally because it's less likely to be "tested") would be truck, train, or private trucker. There are guys who do cross country runs delivering something and then they look for a load to get a little bit of cash on the return trip. You would have to find them though.

Definitely recommend radios for the two of you. Have her drive the Jeep in front of you instead of behind you to avoid rocks, debris, or God-forbid a blown tread.

Other options for shipping your stuff would be PODs. I have never personally used this service, but I know people who have and liked it.

Good Luck!

 

Another thing you should look at, if you don't already have it, is a AAA membership. When we moved ourselves here from TX I was able to get the cost of the truck down from about $3000 to $1800 for a similar size truck. Plan on getting a whole hell of a lot more pads than you think you'll need - they're cheap insurance. Plan on it taking 50% longer than you anticipate. Gas is going to suck. I'd avoid the car cover and instead cover the car in blue painter's tape - I'd hate for the buffeting of the cover on the paint to damage it.

 

Also, try to find professional movers who have a good reputation for packing others trucks for such a move.

 

When we moved from Utah back to WA I got the biggest Penske truck I could and slapped the EVO on a Penske trailer to tow behind the big truck. My wife drove the other car, and we used radios. EVO went on the trailer lowered.

The big Penske trucks are very nice I would go that route over U-Haul.

Why you movin son.

 

When I moved from Indiana to Seattle, I shipped most of my stuff and drove out (taking a 2 week road trip in the process). There are a lot of options for shipping, it's worth investigating them out.

Uhaul looks like it will be about $2k for a truck and trailer. Budget another $2k for fuel for the UHaul, plus $500ish for the Jeep, and figure 3 nights in hotels along the way... there's your $5k budget.

I would look into Penske truck rental. They rent 26 foot diesel trucks. More power and better mileage, you should get 9-10 mpg instead of 6-7. I don't know how their prices compare anymore, they used to be more than uhaul, but their fleet is much newer and generally better maintained. You should save $400-500 by having a diesel truck.

Another option: ABF Upack (basically you rent a 28' trailer, except someone else does the driving), ship the Evo, you and wifey drive the Jeep. ABF quoted $2900 (I randomly picked Mobile, but anywhere in AL would be similar). something like $1400 to ship Evo. You and wifey can probably power through in a couple days taking turns, cutting down on hotels and whatnot along the way.

There are other shipping companies where you rent cubes, stuff them full, they pick them up and drop them off at new address. You can also ship LTL by weight, but it sounds like you have a lot of stuff, so this will not be ideal for you. I shipped LTL by weight, should have shipped a cube. I brought a lot of crap with me I shouldn't have and spent more than I wanted to.

I strongly recommend downsizing. If there's something (non keepsake/memento) you haven't used for 3 years, sell it or give it away. Pare down the closet. Old furniture, bedding, rarely used kitchen stuff... consider the cost to ship it vs the cost to replace it.

If you ship your stuff... I second the recommendation to enjoy the road trip, take a couple more days if possible. Though to be honest once you're past Denver there won't be much to see.

 

Well I can tell you that from Washington to College Station Texas takes 4 10-12 hour days of driving.
You will want to keep your wife happy and try to avoid major cities especially during rush hour.
Keep things like Jack,tools, wire comealong handy (**** happens) and I was glad I had the following when I moved.
Make sure the truck you have is not gutless and drafting big rigs really helps the MPG. Still plan on a 2000+ gas bill just for the truck.

Wish you the best of luck and hope you like it down there.