Dennis M Posted April 17, 2006 Posted April 17, 2006 I am located in Geneva, IL (Chicago suburb) and am in the process of obtaining a Smart from G & K Automotive. I would appreciate hearing from others who have purchased from G &K, they seem to be a bit overwhelmed with the interest in the Smart car. I am in the process of having a deck built on my truck to carry the for two. We tow a fifth wheel trailer with a class 8 Volvo. This is an over the road tractor converted for RV use. The deck will allow us to load the Smart crossways behind the cab of the truck and in front of the trailer. We are really anxious to get the for two, can't wait to get it on the road! Dennis M Geneva, IL Quote
TFM Posted April 17, 2006 Posted April 17, 2006 Wow... That will be something when the smart is back there! What colour smart are you getting? A white one to match the truck? Quote
IMSMRT Posted April 17, 2006 Posted April 17, 2006 Talk about an easy pull! That tractor wont notice a big fiver let alone a piggyback smart car! You should post a pic of the "whole" rig for us! Welcome to the forum! The few USA smart owners...both grey and Green/G&K/ZAP owners tend to congregate in the United States of America forum near the bottom of the main forum page. Might be the best spot to look but feel free to post anywhere and ask anything! S Quote
42Kruiser Posted April 17, 2006 Posted April 17, 2006 Welcome Dennis, sounds like the perfect spot to hide your smart. Took me a second to notice that your truck was a single axle, don't see many here. Please do post pictures of your set-up when you get your car. Quote
MikeT Posted April 17, 2006 Posted April 17, 2006 We have only one or two members who've got their cars from G&K - most of us are Canadian and got ours at the Mercedes dealer. You will enjoy it! Quote
Speedie Posted April 19, 2006 Posted April 19, 2006 SmartieYank is down there right now picking his up - supposed to be ready on Friday - he is driving it back to Port Angeles so that will take a couple of days. He mentioned that dealing with G & K was "interesting" - the smart is small potatoes to their usual biz (high end imports). Cheers, Cameron Quote
rdij Posted April 19, 2006 Posted April 19, 2006 Just came across your forum a few days ago. Today I went from "almost there" to having one delivered. Bought a bay gray sight unseen from The Green Car Co in Kirkland, WA. Nice to deal with. I was anxious for it to finally arrive (put down deposit 2 years ago) so I only waited for GCC to install a cd player (since G&K removes original). Have never gooten an answer from G&K why they pull the original cd players. Now I'm going to need to get cruise installed (dumb me, I thought all Passions came with that), flat tire kit, mats and a few other things. It was trucked to Minneapolis and then put on a single hauler to bring down - I live on the Iowa border. Driver pulled up, got out and apologised, said "I'm sorry, I have the front of your car but don't know what happened to the rest of it". Said he enjoyed the trip down as people cranked their heads to see what he was hauling. I've been trying for about 4 years to get one, put a deposit down with ZAP 2 years ago, wasn't sure it would every really happen. Now I'm going to retire in 2 months. After a long trip to NW Canada and Alaska in another car - I'll have all kinds of time to go places with this little fella. I've enjoyed fropping into your forum the couple times I've been able to spend time in the evening. Darryl Quote
ValgardForkbeard Posted April 19, 2006 Posted April 19, 2006 Congrats on getting your car. Try smartieparts.com and look at what there is for cruise control there. MG Quote
MikeT Posted April 19, 2006 Posted April 19, 2006 Welcome, Darryl! Let's see some photos. Curious: where will you have it serviced? Quote
Dennis M Posted April 19, 2006 Author Posted April 19, 2006 Cameron, Yes, I had a PM from SmartieYank, he said he is cruising around So Cal putting on break in miles. It seems that G & K isn't used to the volume they are getting on the Smart. "Interesting" is a good description. Dennis Quote
Speedie Posted April 21, 2006 Posted April 21, 2006 Cool! Glad to hear SmartieYank got his smart - he was pretty excited about it. I think G&K under estimated the interest in the smart (just like MB Canada). There are a lot of folks that just can't afford the cost of fuel any more - payback on a smart would literally be less than a year for some people in the States that do long daily commutes. http://www.gnkauto.com Here is G & K's web site! Cheers, Cameron ps. gave SmartieYank a chrome smart emblem as a car warming present - he has a bunch of stuff to put on the car - stay tuned. Quote
smartie yank Posted April 27, 2006 Posted April 27, 2006 Dennis, I just noticed your truck. Are you having thr frame extended for the bed or are they cutting back the sleeper? Dan Quote
Dennis M Posted April 27, 2006 Author Posted April 27, 2006 Dan, The truck has a shortened frame and a single rear axle (should have bought one without the shortened frame, but who knew?) Anyhow, I am moving the air hitch (which replaced the commercial hitch shown in the pic) back and down a bit. They are extending the frame for this. That will put the hitch considerably behind the back axle, which seems wrong, but seems to work well with these trucks due to their weight. With the previous configuration I was very nose heavy, so moving weight back is a good thing. The deck will extend from just behind the cab fairing to over the rear fenders. I expect to pick up the truck on Friday. I will post a picture or two when I get some. Still no word from Sosi. Dennis Quote
smartie yank Posted April 28, 2006 Posted April 28, 2006 Dennis, Sounds like you tow a conventional travel trailer type 5th wheel. Your truck probably doesn't know it's back there weight-wise. Your rig should be interesting when its done. Quote
Dennis M Posted April 28, 2006 Author Posted April 28, 2006 Dan, You got that right! We call the truck "Bud" and the trailer "Bud doesn't know I'm here". Right now we have a snallish 5th wheel, but plans are for a bigger one. Currently I'm towing and 8,500 lb trailer with a 16,000 lb truck! The new trailer will proably be in the 18k to 20k range. Still no big deal for Bud! Quote
Dennis M Posted April 28, 2006 Author Posted April 28, 2006 Dan, You got that right! We call the truck "Bud" and the trailer "Bud doesn't know I'm here". Right now we have a snallish 5th wheel, but plans are for a bigger one. Currently I'm towing and 8,500 lb trailer with a 16,000 lb truck! The new trailer will proably be in the 18k to 20k range. Still no big deal for Bud! Quote
ValgardForkbeard Posted April 28, 2006 Posted April 28, 2006 At the RV show in Edmonton a couple of months ago we took a look at trucks for pulling 5th wheel trailers. A company south of Edmonton take a standard semi truck, and instead of a sleeper, puts what look like a lounge on it. It will seat 8 people (2 in front, 6 in the lounge) comfortably. Plus lots of storage. And pulling some of the big RV trailers, they claim better mileage than the average pickup trucks that are used. I bet it also gives much better control. MG Quote
Dennis M Posted April 28, 2006 Author Posted April 28, 2006 MG, Yup, correct on all counts, quieter, smoother riding, better brakes, better vision, and better fuel milage. I made the switch for safety, the rest was a pleasant surpise. Add to that the fact that my truck (which has 613,000 mile on it) will out last my lifetime with the way I am using it and it cost less than a dually pickup. Anyone interested can take a look at Heavy Duty Haulers There are a bunch of us that hang out there. Quote
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