On Fri, 4 Feb 2011 08:35:23 -0800, "Bill"
wrote:

"mm" wrote in message
U-haul says for ttrailer rental:

Must be equipped with a hard top if it is an SUV or Jeep. U-Haul
does
not allow any type of sport-utility vehicle not equipped with a hard
top to tow U-Haul equipment.

How come?

SUV's are of "unibody" construction. This means the entire body of the
vehicle is the structural support for the vehicle - whereas trucks and
older vehicles have a steel I beam structural frame under the vehicle.
I don't know about a jeep?

Anyway so far as stopping and a LOT of weight from a trailer pushing
one the rear of a unibody vehicle, I would imagine that a metal top
would provide additional support. Without a metal top, then I suppose
the vehicle might want to fold in the middle like there was a hinge in
the middle and the rear end would fold up. (With a severe stop.)

That might be their reason all right.

I'd better not tell them about my car, a convertible. When the top is
down, the only thing that holds the front to the back is the floor.
It has some reinforcment that a Chrysler LeBaron sedan doesn't have,
but nonetheless, when I had a cargo carrier in the class A trailer
hitch, and I put on 8 pieces of damp sod, I coudln't shut the door
because the car was bending.