Do U Haul Car Trailers Come With Winch?

So you need to tow your car, but first, you want to make sure that you can get it onto the trailer in the first place. You’ve heard that a winch can significantly help, but does U-Haul supply winches?

U-Haul car trailers do not come with a winch. A winch can make the process of loading a car onto a trailer a smooth one, and it can even make it a one-person job. To get a winch to use with the car trailer, rent one from United Rentals or buy one online.

Even if you have to load your car onto the trailer, using a winch means you don’t have to worry about it. But first, you need to get your hands on one. Here are my recommendations for that.

United Rentals: 3000 lbs

A winch can be an expensive purchase, especially if you only foresee needing it once. To avoid buying one outright, you can rent one from a nearby United Rentals location. They have sites all over the U.S. and Canada.

You can rent an electric winch with a maximum capacity of 3000 lbs. The winch can tow that capacity if there are less than two layers of cable around the drum. It’s a high-capacity drum, though, so it shouldn’t be too much of a limit. You should be able to use it without a problem if your car is lighter than 3000 lbs.

This winch also has a triple-redundant braking system, so you shouldn’t ever have an issue with the brakes failing.

The rental rate per day will change based on your location. Some locations might not have the winch available when you need it or at all. Such are the downsides of renting equipment.

Zesuper: 9500 lbs

Maybe you need something more heavy-duty. In that case, you might want to look at this Zesuper winch. This one has a maximum load capacity of 9500 lbs, and you can operate it remotely. With a remote control, you can set up both the winch and the car, then walk beside the car, supervising the process as you wind up the winch remotely.

For a faster linear speed, this winch is equipped with a powerful motor and a three-stage planetary gear system.

Before you buy this winch, you will want to make sure it will work for your job. That means the installation plate has to match the job. The fixed bole pattern is 3.13 inches (79.5 millimeters), and the installation bolt pattern is 10 by 4.5 inches.

Champion Power Equipment: 2000 lbs

For a small, efficient job, this Champion Power Equipment winch could do the trick. Its maximum capacity is 2000 lbs, and its motor pulls the line with 1 horsepower. That pulls the line at 3.3 feet per minute at full capacity and 10.5 feet per minute to wind it up when the load is off. The line is a 49-foot galvanized super-duty aircraft cable 5/32 inches in diameter.

This winch also has a remote control for convenient loading.

If 2000 lbs are too much or not quite enough, this winch comes in other sizes, though the specs will be different from what I’ve outlined here. For example, the one with a 4500 lb maximum capacity. It uses more horsepower and works faster, but the cable is shorter.

The 2000 lb one is the smallest, and the biggest has a 10000 lb maximum capacity.

Smittybilt XRC: 9500 lbs

This Smittybilt winch uses 6.6 horsepower to pull up to 9500 lbs. It’s waterproof with a rating of IP67, so mud and rain shouldn’t be a worry. It pulls a 94-foot cable with a 5/16-inch diameter. The installation bolt pattern is 10 by 4.5 inches.

Other people who have used this winch have found that it’s easy to use, and the remote control has good reviews, too. The lead for the remote control is 12 feet long, which gives you plenty of room to maneuver. The instructions are clear and easy to follow.

This winch may be overkill for loading your car onto a car trailer, though, since it looks like it’s made to rescue Jeeps from getting stuck while offroading.

Rock-Hulk: 2000 lbs

For a smaller job, this completely waterproof winch will banish any worries you have about using the winch in bad weather. This Rock-Hulk winch has a maximum capacity of 2000 lbs. It uses 1 horsepower to pull its 48-foot steel guidance cable.

Before using this winch, you should read the instruction manual carefully to know how to use it properly. If you wire it wrong, it could short the circuits. The wiring might differ from what you expect, but the instruction manual should clear that up.

Other people who have used this winch praise it for how easy it is to use and install. The remote control’s leads may be unequal, and the buttons may be counterintuitive, but it still works well.

Smittybilt X2O: 10000 lbs

And we’re back to Smittybilt. What can I say? They’re good-quality winches. Even if they might be overkill to load a little sedan onto a car trailer, they’ll do the job to load up your big truck.

This Smittybilt X2O winch is waterproof and rated IP68. It can pull up to 10000 lbs with its 6.6 horsepower motor and 98.5-foot cable, which has a diameter of 3/8 inches. The automatic braking system is outside of the drum.

It requires a minimum battery of 650CCA to do its job, and the mounting bolt pattern is 10 by 4.5 inches.

Other people who have used this winch love it most for its wireless remote control, which makes using it easy. You need to have a clear line of sight for it to work, but that shouldn’t usually be a problem. It can withstand 3 years of heavy use. The instructions are easy to use, and the winch itself is easy to install.