Uhaul vs. Bartley Trailers for hitch installation.

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Uhaul vs. Bartley Trailers for hitch installation.

Postby Barugata » Mon Aug 03, 2015 7:12 am

The topic title basically speaks for itself. I'm wondering which company I should use.

Uhaul is a little pricier and offers a lifetime transferable warranty. They also claim to be America's #1 hitch installer (which could mean many things, I know).

I'm not to familiar with Bartley but a local one offers $120 installation and $75 per hour. No warranty from what I can tell, though. However, Bartley is local, cheaper, and can also take care of welding and inspection for me if I want. Bartley is also know for making some serious trailers, although I hardly think that's relevant for this type of job.

Just curious if anyone has any tips, tricks, experience, etc. with either of the companies. What would you do/recommend? I'm heading to Bartley soon to get a proper estimate and more information.
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Uhaul vs. Bartley Trailers for hitch installation.

Postby GerryS » Mon Aug 03, 2015 9:10 pm

I worked for uhaul. I'll never give them a dime again if I can help it. They charge top dollar and do nothing for their employees except crap on them.

Managers back in the day (1993) made 30k a year and were expected to work 60 hour weeks. Staff were put through hell by having unrealistic scripts that were required to be memorized and followed, even when there was a line of 10 people out the door....and, get a word wrong and you have to talk to some auditor about your inadequacy while a customer in the lobby had to wait.

Then there is the banged up truck stories....renting a truck with a 6 inch hole in the corner....for a cross country move heading west through rain storms. The young couple had to be out of their apartment that night, and I get screamed at because I was trying to seal it with duct tape. This was because an act of trying to help a customer violated some insurance policy. Ridiculous place to work.

Of course back the, the wheels were falling off the local rentals. One we had, you had a quarter turn in the steering wheel before the truck would respond. Seriously, I don't know how some one wasn't killed.

Go with the other guy...whoever it is.
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Re: Uhaul vs. Bartley Trailers for hitch installation.

Postby CCrew » Mon Aug 03, 2015 9:40 pm

In this day and age they're really not making hitches on the spot, they're pretty much all made in jigs and shipped in and use existing frame holes. There's not a lot to muck up on a hitch install. Lifetime warranty though? What does that get you? Not to say it's never ever happened but has anyone here ever seen a hitch fail? I'm not talking someone backed into a concrete wall or left the pin out, but a genuine manufacturing issue that had to be fixed? Just not one I've ever seen or heard of.
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Re: Uhaul vs. Bartley Trailers for hitch installation.

Postby Graniterich » Mon Aug 03, 2015 11:08 pm

What is your TV? Now a days there are bolt on options
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Re: Uhaul vs. Bartley Trailers for hitch installation.

Postby M C Toyer » Mon Aug 03, 2015 11:27 pm

CCrew wrote:In this day and age they're really not making hitches on the spot, they're pretty much all made in jigs and shipped in and use existing frame holes. There's not a lot to muck up on a hitch install. Lifetime warranty though? What does that get you? Not to say it's never ever happened but has anyone here ever seen a hitch fail? I'm not talking someone backed into a concrete wall or left the pin out, but a genuine manufacturing issue that had to be fixed? Just not one I've ever seen or heard of.


I had a U-Haul installation failure on an F-250 with a custom receiver hitch. This was a 1996 truck and the failure about 2000. Apparently the frame holes were either not present or not aligned and the installer over-drilled them with one of those universal bits and the back two bolts eventually pulled completely through. Not fun on a freeway.

Fortunately I still had my bumper hitch to get the trailer home but had to wire the receiver to the bumper because the front two bolts, which had not fully pulled through the frame holes yet, were bent and I could not remove roadside.

I have personally installed all subsequent hitches and I disagree that it is a simple task if done properly. How do you know for sure if the low paid installer properly torqued the bolts, routed the wiring and brake lines, and reattached the bumper brackets?

As for wiring, my experience with U-Haul when renting trailers was they used those splicing clips that cut through the insulation of the vehicle wiring. I suspect you would not get much better quality with a new installation kit.

In U-Haul's favor they do keep a good selection of hitches in stock and the prices generally competitive, especially if you don't have time to order online and wait for delivery.

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Re: Uhaul vs. Bartley Trailers for hitch installation.

Postby Franco Novo » Sun Aug 23, 2015 9:17 pm

I had U Haul install a hitch....about a month ago or so
I found them quite reasonable.
Basically, they just order the hitch for your vehicle, just as you could from any online site.

Now wait.....First, I ordered one from Amazon...a Curt hitch for a Ford Focus Wagon...very specific in how I ordered, and what the vehicle was
Well, the hitch they sent was the wrong one...it was about 18" too narrow, and I just couldn't stretch it, ya know?
So, had to send that back...wait for credit approval...blah blah

Ran down to U haul...ordered hitch...called me 3 days later...and the price was the same for the hitch as the one I ordered from Amazon
Then, they only charged $35 bucks to install it. I mean 'c'mon....

That's my experience with the U Haul folks.

regards
Franco

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Re: Uhaul vs. Bartley Trailers for hitch installation.

Postby rowerwet » Sun Sep 06, 2015 6:25 am

I have installed 7 hitches over the years, I trust my work over anybody else. If you do not have tools or aren't mechanical, I would buy the hitch online and then go to your car mechanic to have it put on.
Etrailer.com and EBay motors have both gotten me the correct hitch for a good price.
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Re: Uhaul vs. Bartley Trailers for hitch installation.

Postby Franco Novo » Sun Sep 06, 2015 8:49 am

yeah, I hear that. I'd have no problem putting one on....
I ordered that hitch from UHaul after Amazon F'd up
then, I was right there....30 bucks or something to install it...hey...why not

uh oh..maybe I better get under there and check it
they did knock my heat shield loose over the muffler, I had to bolt that back up in place.
But, good part was the girl that put it on..Stacy..was a dream 8)

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