Tow Dolly

[jabfado]

Is it required to have brakes on the tow dolly. I am looking at a Carson tow dolly, New and was told that it is legal to tow with out brakes on the dolly.

[Monacoach]

The person who told you that you do not require brakes on the tow dolly is correct however once you load a car onto that dolly the rules change. It depends on where you travel but in most cases if the weight of your car plus weight of dolly are below 3000 lbs you don't need brakes by law. So if your car is somewhere in the 2400 lb vicinity you are ok.

[Ret Smokey]

I'm originally from MN where I worked as my name implies. The maximum load without brakes there is 1500#. I said "maximum load", that is the total weight of the vehicle being towed plus the dolly. Several states have the 1500# maximum before brakes are required. You have four wheels on the ground so four wheels will be weighed if a problem occurs. Check it out.

[DGShaffer]

Never mind the fact that if you get into a panic stopping situation your car will be pushing you rather than helping you. For the additional cost it would be advisable to get a dolly with either surge brakes or electric brakes if you have a controller installed already.

Oh yeah, find another dealer!

[Elkhartjim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DGShaffer Never mind the fact that if you get into a panic stopping situation your car will be pushing you rather than helping you. For the additional cost it would be advisable to get a dolly with either surge brakes or electric brakes if you have a controller installed already. Oh yeah, find another dealer!

Yep...and the next thing he'll (salesman) will tell you is you don't need lights on the trailer.

[Hikerdogs]

I believe in CA there is a performance standard you must meet. Meaning the coach and towed vehicle need to be able to stop within xx feet from a speed of xx mph. That being said both Ford and Workhorse recommend brakes on anything being towed that weighs over 1,500 lbs. Neither gets into the semantics of whether a car is a trailer. They just say anything over 1,500 lbs needs brakes.

The brakes on the Ford and Workhorse chassis are only rated for the GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) of the chassis not the GCWR (gross combined weight rating). The GVWR is the total aamount of weight the chassis is rated to carry. The GCWR is the total weight the chassis is rated to carry plus the additional amount it can tow. In our case the chassis is rated to carry 20,500 lbs, and tow an additional 5,000 lbs. So uor GVWR is 20,500 lbs and the GCWR is 25.500 lbs.

In some cases you could tow a small trailer without brakes. An example would be if you only loaded the coach to 18,500 and towed a trailer weighing less than 1,500 lbs. Since the motorhome brakes are rated for 25,500 you would be within the rating of the braking system. However if the trailer weighs 2,000 lbs brakes would be required. Not because you are over the GVWR, but rather because the trailer itself weigh over the 1,500 lb maximum the chassis can tow without suplimental brakes

[jabfado]

Thanks all for the advise and it will be followed....will get one with brakes and portable tail lights....I just love this site. I qualify for no question is dumb if you don't know the answer and all of you have been great on all of my questions...Our first trip will be to Quartzite on the 19th and we won't have a toad until we take our long trip in May. Thanks again.

[pushtrk99]

No matter what the dolly you get by all means get the surge brakes-And I would take a deep look at the Demco Tow Dolly-Been around a long time and if you ask around most people will say go with DEMCO--Rich
pauperspride.blogspot.com

[DGShaffer]

I'm a Demco fan. I bought their Kar-Kaddy SS 360 which folds up for easy storage on your site. I pulled my Jetta all the way from Jersey to Key West and back without any issues what so ever. The other thing I learned about this Dolly is that the resale is huge! I paid $2400 and the used ones were selling almost immediately for over $2000

[TXiceman]

Yo are required to meet the requirements for the state you are traveling. Most have weight limits for towed loads and brakes. Also, many coach manufacturers have a limit on an unbraked towed load. Ford has a 1000 or 1500# limit.

And the final issue is the laws of physics. You are towing a load and it puts more load on the coach brakes...whether is a car towed 4-down, on a dolly or a utility trailer load of rocks. It takes more braking to stop the added 3000# plus of dinghy.

Ken

[bachler]

The only time you will have a problem Is stopping;; I allways get a kick out of the poster .. I towed it 5000 miles with no problem.. That could be true.. If he would have had an accident/when he had needed the breaking system what would the answer be;; I am not trying to be negative; I only want to be sure towers understand You can tow to hell and back. Unless you have a panic stop breaks are normaly needed;;;; The thing to remember That weight is going to be pushing you into whatever and you the driver is the first to Feel the IMpact;;

[Herbdb]

I bought a Demco Kar Kaddy 360 SS last week. My first experience with not towing 4 down. We towed from PA to FL.

First the good. It was very easy to tow, stable and my mileage actually improved in spite of the increased weight. Surge brakes worked very well.

I had some problems getting used to the turn radius as the car on the dolly would track inside of where the MH wheels went. My 4down car tracked almost exactly with the MH.

The Bad. The clearance on the dolly is very low and it wasn't unusual to bottom out on campground roads.

The Worst. (not necessarily the dollies fault but something to be concerned about when using a dolly) Pulling into the camp site in St Augustine, the right front wheel of the towed vehicle came off the front of the dolly. The wheel strap came loose allowing it to slip off the front, and the safety chains kept it from going further forward. This jammed the dolly wheel and the towed vehicle twisted off center pushing the rt wheel of the dolly into the passenger door.

The towed vehicle needs body work and very possibly work on steering and brakes. The dolly has some bent structutal pieces. It goes to the shop this afternoon.

Lucky we were planning a two week stay

[Arch Hoagland]

I'm curious what happens with a tow dolly that doesn't have brakes, and there is no brake system installed on the car being towed, and the dolly breaks away from the coach.

[jabfado]

Thanks, all good responses and if and when I buy a dolly it will have a braking system.