Yes

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I wouldn't accept a car with rust anywhere on it as a gift, much less for
what you're going to have invested.  You'll never stop the rust and it will
just be putting lipstick on a pig every time you pay for repairs.  Keep
looking.

On Fri, 01 Apr 2005 08:23:27 -0800, petepo wrote:

Sigh. Where to begin. Ok, let's start with the car. There are
a good number of 300-class cars still available for less money
with no rust and similar mileage. I don't share the view that
rust is "incurable" - depends how much rust, and where it's
located. Rusty areas that are properly taken back to clean metal
and properly surfaced are not a problem, but I'd negotiate
real hard on this one.

Here's the problem - petepo, these are passenger sedans. Even
brand new, they were designed to carry 4, maybe 5 adults and
a little luggage. But I can guarantee that the car you're
looking at is not brand new, and has some wear on it's shocks,
it's steering damper, it's suspension bushings... etc. and
towing a trailer will bring out the worst in any suspension.

I won't mention the fact that it's tough to get from Ohio to
Oregon without crossing some interesting terrain. There are,
as you know, these things called "The Rocky Mountains"
between where you are, and where you want to be. Until you
have done some mountain driving, it's hard to imagine just
how interesting long descents and ascents with lots of switchbacks
can be in an older vehicle - let alone in an older vehicle
towing a trailer. I do not mean "interesting" in a good way,
either. All over the Rockies, you will see these intriguing
little scenic detours that extend off the road for a couple
of hundred yards and end in a gravel pit. These are for Semi
trucks (vehicles which were DESIGNED to haul trailers) to
pull off into and hopefully bury their tires in the gravel,
thereby slowing them to a stop when their brakes have failed.

The W123s have superb brakes, and the diesels at least
had both oil and transmission coolers, but again - these
parts were engineered with passenger service in mind - not
mountain crossings hauling cargo trailers over half the
weight of the car.

Additionally, I'm not sure how you can get a legitimate
hitch shop to claim they can put a 2000 lb. hitch on a
W123 body - the typical hitches I've seen either bolt up
to the bumper shocks - or are drilled through the bumper,
then attach further up to the trunk sheet metal. (Side note:
anyone seen one of the TD wagons with a "real" hitch? Just
curious - I'm pretty sure they existed)

My honest opinion? Keeping in mind that I've survived two
cross country moves. Sell everything. This includes the
children. You can always get more children where you're
going. Use the proceeds to put the few indispensible family
heirlooms in the care of a shipping company, buy an airplane
ticket, sit back and enjoy the $4.00 drinks as you soar
over the Rockies.

My second best advice? Be patient. Those prices you see on
the u-rentum truck websites are not necessarily fixed. The
regional managers do have some ability to adjust the price.
Tell them you're pricing a move, ideally a couple of months
out. Let them know you're price shopping. If you're moving
between major markets, there's some competition and they
know it. Be sure they have your contact information and can
get in touch with you if they suddenly "discover" a discounted
rate. Chances are they will.

If you do decide to do it yourself, do a little shopping.
What you're looking for is A) tow vehicle prices in Ohio,
B) tow vehicle prices in Oregon, C) trailer prices in Ohio,
D) trailer prices in Oregon, then do the math. If you can
swing the upfront purchase, you may be able to buy an
appropriate tow vehicle and trailer, and actually make
money selling them on the other end.

Finally, if you're dead set on the Benz with a trailer
across the Rockies idea, I can only suggest a much
smaller trailer and making a couple of trips. I have a 4x8
utility trailer that I put behind my 81 diesel. It weighs
about 220 lbs, and with even a quarter ton on it, it's not
something I'd feel real good about taking cross country.
But maybe I'm just easily spooked. I have direct intimate
experience with rolling a Suburban with a 22ft cargo trailer
on it, and I don't mean rolling down the road - I mean turning
it over about 1 3/4 times. And that was on level straight
road. Just a heavy trailer and a couple of badly timed
side gusts of wind (and my possible overcorrection, I admit)

But even that solution has it's economic downside - anyway
you slice it, if you can do it in two trips that's about
9,000 miles of driving, which even if everything goes
perfectly, is going to be pricy - I figure close to a
thousand dollars just for diesel - and that's using optimistic
mileage figures - not mountain/trailer towing mileage figures.

Have you considered moving to Kansas?

Conrad

You want to buy an old car that's done 150K miles to drag a 2,600 lb
trailer across the country. The turbodiesel had 120 HP when it was new
in 1985; 20 years later a 15% reduction due to wear, age etc cuts it to
102HP - not much considering the car is 3,800 lbs and goes up the long
grades in the truck lane.
Then there's a transmission that's had 150K miles of experience - it's
supposed to pull the 2,600 lb trailer up the grades?

Visualize your car and trailer about half way to the destination - on
the side of the road with lots of smoke and steam - the girlfriend is
crying and you're sore as hell because the car is junk and now your
stuff is in a trailer that has no tow.

About like asking your grandparents to help push start a car.