Best Trailer for towing/rack and pinion leaking

[CruiserinCA]

I'm planning on driving from Los Angeles to New York and I want a trailer for my personal belongings. I have seen numerous examples. I could use a Uhaul trailer 5x10 for about $800 rent. I might prefer to buy one though....Where can I get a good trailer that meets the specs for my '06 PT Cruiser? I have read in my PT manual that the bumper is setup for up to 1000LBS but I can put on a hitch. Any recommendations on this?

Also, I just had it at the dealership. I'm told the rack and pinion is leaking at the inner boot. How long does it take to install one of these? I have found a part online (remanufactured) for about $120. The deaiership quoted me hundreds of dollars...What should the labor charge be? Mechanics charge about $100/hour where I am. is this a 2 hour job?

Thanks.

[WrenchnIswhatIdo]

I wouldnot do a a bumper hitch For a long haul
the frame hitch is the way to go
Santa brought me this and it was in the budget
.
don't know about L.A. wash/oregon you could get a Used trailer around $500-$1200 then sell it later
Rent one would be the way to go if you going one way
.
.

[chuzz]

I replaced my rack and pinion a few months ago and it was a pain in the neck. It was the first time I'd ever done one and took me a little over 4 hours. Personally, I'd charge anyone $500 to do it again. Unless you're a patient man and like some aggravation, just pay someone else to do it. It may be just a two to three hour job for an ASE certified mechanic. I don't know.

[CruiserinCA]

Right... I'm not a mechanic, and better to just have a pro do this. I don't want to mess it up.

[pasadenahotrod03Dreamer]

There are no bumper hitches made for PTs. All the hitches bolt to the subframe where the tie down loops are and in the channel of the lower body closer to the floor. They are quite sturdy when installed and tow very well.
The cheapest small open bed trailers available are the ones from Harbor Freight or Northern Tools or Home Depot. Less than $200. You can easily build a nice plywood cargo box on them and use a good tarp when on the road for waterproofing.
You'll need to get a plugin wiring harness for the trailer hookup in the car for lights.
As long as your trailer is loaded and balanced correctly you'll never know it's there when you hit the road.

[svtnos]

Originally Posted by pasadenahotrod03Dreamer

There are no bumper hitches made for PTs. All the hitches bolt to the subframe where the tie down loops are and in the channel of the lower body closer to the floor. They are quite sturdy when installed and tow very well.
The cheapest small open bed trailers available are the ones from Harbor Freight or Northern Tools or Home Depot. Less than $200. You can easily build a nice plywood cargo box on them and use a good tarp when on the road for waterproofing.
You'll need to get a plugin wiring harness for the trailer hookup in the car for lights.
As long as your trailer is loaded and balanced correctly you'll never know it's there when you hit the road.

This^^.. I bought a 4 x 8 folding trailer from harbor freight for under $300.. added some ply wood for a floor made wood sides.. holds something like 1100 lbs which is more than the pt towing cap.

[rob302]

I know I'll likely be the odd man out here, but I would not use a cheap remanufactured steering rack on anything I drive. They aren't fun to change, you need an alignment afterwards, is just not something to do twice, no matter how great the warranty. You don't know if a rebuilt rack came from a wreck and has cracks in its body, or is corroded inside from being salvaged from a salt water submerged car in that New York hurricane, or what. I would rather either buy a new one, or one from a non wrecked car in a junkyard. Even my girlfriends crappy insurance listed and paid for a brand new $1400 rack to be used on her 2015 Civic recently. This was due to a tie rod being broken. Most other parts they specified we find used.

As an example, You can pick up a rebuilt sbf engine with a warranty that was poorly inspected and thrown together with an impact gun from companies like Jasper, yet my machinist quit rebuilding them because he'd buy 30 engine blocks and throw 28 in the scrap pile.

Other option is to see how bad it leaks and just leave it. My PT had an inner rubber boot half missing. I would occasionally see a drip hanging off it, but I never had to add fluid so I never cared or fixed it.

[NitroPT]

The PT and some other racks have a very undesirable feature internally. So I would not recommend a junck yard unit nor would I recommend doing a DIY rebuild. The kits available do not come with some important items that needs replacement. Most of the re-built units are pressure tested and all serviceable available parts are replaced (must be during the disassembly) along with removing and cleaning other parts that are no longer and never were available for serviceable replacements. I suggest to find a re manufacture that has been established for more then 10 or more years.

WE (shop) tried a few times to save customers money and replace with warrantied auto salvage yard racks only to have them fail. So after taking a loss in labor for the sake of customer service and replacing them with a rebuild for free we no longer will use anything but a rebuild from a well established supplier.

I would check with your local independent auto parts store (not a large chain auto store retailer) that has a parts distributor warehouse they get their stock from and see what is available.


While we are on the subbject...I would not recommend EVER to do a back flush on many Chrysler racks and most certainly NOT on a PT Cruiser rack. You will damage internal parts that will at some point fail the rack unit. You can do a time consuming low pressure positive fluid replacement which sometimes will help prolong the life of a ailing rack due to dirty or very old fluid..

[chuzz]

I got the replacement rack for mine at a pick and pull salvage yard. $35 and it works like a charm. I got lucky. As Nitro has insinuated, it's a crap shoot when using used parts. Unfortunately, I don't have deep pockets like some members must have, so I have to do what I can afford. Sometimes it bites me in the ass and then I have to cut corners elsewhere in order to fix a car. But you don't see me starting a gofundme page anywhere for anything. Life is tough and we just have to learn how to deal with it. If you can afford to have someone replace the rack for you, I HIGHLY recommend it. Like I stated, it's not an easy job to do by yourself and if you're not mechanically inclined, don't even try it.