Valid point!  I did ['U-Haul,'tow dolly] to my destination, about 60 miles-w/no issues or probs.

What is wrong with renting the tow dolly bad rear tires ?

Years ago in Buffalo, I wanted to put a mini on an open Uhaul trailer. It was not a weight issue, but the folks at the counter would not rent me the trailer once I told them I was going to put a car on it. The made me rent the huge car hauler that practically lifted my Country Squire front wheels off the road. It was not a good situation and I bagged the idea.

Years earlier, in the 70's, I had put a mini in an enclosed Uhaul trailer. It JUST fit. I put a bare tire up front and wedged the car into the trailer. It had barn doors on the rear, and there was no place for the car to go once the barn doors were closed.  This was a standard mini on standard steel wheels.

Watch what you say to these guys.

I've sucessfully used a homemade tow bar many times which has the car on all 4 wheels. Once from Virginia to NY. And in the UK about a 3 hour drive. One caveat. The tow bar prevents you from backing up the rig. You'd have to disconnect the hitch to reverse the tow vehicle.

Sounds like I'll just have to go to uhaul and take measurements.  Hopefully they still have some of the smaller ones around.  Neal, I appreciate the offer, but that's a lot of miles I'd be towing an empty trailer (and driving slower than everyone else!).  Zero, I got that info of their website too, but I just couldn't find any info on the minimum width.  I'd rent one of their 12" cargo trailers with a ramp, but none are available during the week I'm in town.  Mur, I don't believe there's a financially equivalent alternative.  UHaul is the only place i know of that rents trailers without forcing you to rent their trucks as well.

Agreed. A big thing is telling them a different car. Classic mini is definately not in the database they will be on to you in a second. Oh and load it somewhere else.

Looking at the above image of the 13" wheel mini on the orange UHaul trailer, it is pretty obvious that a stock tire drum brake mini is going to be difficult to load onto that trailer.

Are there no other trailer rental options for you?

It fits

Just took a quick glance at the uhaul website. It seems that their old trailers have a max width of 75" on a towed vehicle. Newer ones have a max width of 79". I believe I had a new model of the trailer. It doesn't say what the minimum width is. Perhaps the old one would fit better. From their document:

If you have an auto transport trailer with a galvanized silver colored platform, do not load a vehicle-in-tow that is more than 79 inches between the outside of the left tire and the outside of the right tire.

If you have an auto transport trailer with a orange colored platform, do not load a vehicle-in-tow that is more than 75 inches between the outside of the left tire and the outside of the right tire.

So,  you might want to, at least, try to get one of the older orange-colored platform trailers from them.

I recently towed a '65 corvair on the uhaul full-sized car trailer. I just looked, and assuming we can trust the internets, a corvair is 1.7 meters wide (1.384 meters track width), while a mini is 1.4 meters wide.

Unfortunately, the uhaul full car trailer is designed with rails for the weels, and an empty hole in the center of the trailer -- modern cars are apparently much wider than classics. The corvair _just_ fit onto the uhaul full car trailer. We had to be careful to get the car on straight. The ramps were actually slightly wider than the rails on the trailer. It was impossible to have the entire rubber on both sides on the ramps -- there was some hanging in the air. If a mini is .3 meters narrower than a corvair, I'd guess you'll have more rubber off the ramps than on it.

You might want to check the other trailer options at uhaul. They do also have a flat trailer, but you'll have to be careful to secure the car well so it doesn't bounce into the walls of the trailer. Ask on here what are good tie-down points for the mini -- I'd suspect it'd be good if you can hook to the subframes, but I'm not sure; I'm still a few months from acquiring my first mini-like vehicle.

Willy, i have both types your welcome to borrow one..I know i'm a little far but it's free to use..neal

I have towed my mini with a car dolly from Uhaul many time with no problems.  It fits just bairly.  I have a pics with it on the trailer if you want to see.

I have carried standard Mini's and Midgets on UHaul trailers with no problems. They just fit...

Tell UHaul that you have a Honda Accord or something, they will also squawk if they think your tow vehicle isn't rated for it.

Normally, I'd do what minimike suggested, but the mini is 360 miles away!  I didn't want to ask too many questions of u-haul.  I read some of them were sticklers - if the car is not in their database, they wont rent it to me.

Thanks for the info guys.  I'll make my brother dig through the mountain of crap he's got around the mini and take measurements.

It barely fits on the trailer, but not on the ramps. Or it is so close that I would not trust it. There are also different sizes, you need to check the smallest thay have on the lot. We had to move a few to get to the small one.

Our Traveller was stripped so we just lifted it on

Terry

I think it fits. But i also know that it fits on the open bed ones. I think they are only available in town. I used one once. As well as Ive seen them in the covered trailer the 6x12's, just as long as the wheels or fender flares are not to wide. 

oh, and dont tell u-haul! haha

measure your car and ask how wide the trailer is.  simple eh?

Does anyone know if there are any issues with towing a mini with non-spacered drum brakes and 4.5" steel wheels on a U-Haul auto transport (not the dolly)?  I thought I remember reading years ago that the mini may not be wide enough to fit on it properly.

Thanks!