Community Forums

lmldura · 05-17-2018, 11:30 AM

Hey guys so I know transfer case in N and trans in gear is what manual says

I am buying a class A and the seller wants to add a tow dolly for $800 when he paid $1800 and I verified it’s really nice

If I dolly will it add miles to the Jeep ???

All insight will be helpful please

Dale & Mark Bruss · 05-17-2018, 11:41 AM

For us, a dolly is a pain, something to load the vehicle on. If you get in a bind, you have to unload the vehicle and trailer versus just disconnection.

Cost wise the flat tow equipment with be as much as the dolly, or more.

wildtoad · 05-17-2018, 12:26 PM

You WILL spend more than the $800 to outfit the Jeep for towing, lots more. But that is the least of it. Do you want to deal with the dolly which is a bit more trouble than flat towing. To me there are only two advantages of a dolly over flat tow. 1) you have the option of bring other cars with you without any added expense. Most FWD cars can be towed with a dolly, few can be flat towed. 2) related to the first, is you don’t have to futz with your car to get it ready to tow which costs a bundle.

We chose to flat tow for the convenience, know that I’ll keep the car for a while. I just have to fight new car fever...

PJStough · 05-17-2018, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmldura

Hey guys so I know transfer case in N and trans in gear is what manual says

I am buying a class A and the seller wants to add a tow dolly for $800 when he paid $1800 and I verified it’s really nice

If I dolly will it add miles to the Jeep ???

All insight will be helpful please

Is your Jeep flat towable?

**TonyDi** · 05-17-2018, 01:27 PM

A dolly is nice for toads that can't be towed 4 down. However if you have a car that is capable of towing, then 4 down is the way to go. Easier hookups and disconnects, plus you don't have to worry about storing it when you are at a CG. I've been to places where there was no room to store a dolly at the site, and they had to be towed to a common parking area.

If you make any mistake (and we all do) and find that you have to back up, it will be much easier to unhook, than having to unload the car disconnect the trailer and then doing the opposite to get going again.

les.warden · 05-17-2018, 01:32 PM

You may not be able to dolly-tow your Jeep. Type dependent.

brucev · 05-17-2018, 01:33 PM

I have a JK 2 door Wrangler and flat tow is the only way to go for me. Very easy to connect and disconnect, doesn't add miles to the odometer. But I do have to be very careful that the transfer case is in neutral and trans is in gear. However, the cost to equip for flat tow can be up-words of a couple grand or more. I got lucky as the jeep I found was already setup so I bought the tow bar and brake unit on Ebay. For $800 it may be worth it to try the dolly and see if you like it, if not, sell it. Congrats on the new RV.

Cooperhawk · 05-17-2018, 01:33 PM

Better question is do you want to spend a couple thousand setting up your jeep to flat tow when all you have to do is load it on the dolly?

We dollyed for years with our VW Passat. Not really a problem but did require getting underneath to hook up the safety chains. That's the only part I hated. What I did was keep a mechanics creeper in the trunk to use for that.

The Explorer we tow now had to be set up with the tow plate, tow bar, and brake set up. I plan to keep the car a long time or I wouldn't have done that.

As far as time involved, by the time I can hook up the tow bar and set up a brake buddy I can also load the car on a dolly and be on the way. Not much difference.

Your choice.

**Lt Dan** · 05-17-2018, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmldura

Hey guys so I know transfer case in N and trans in gear is what manual says
I am buying a class A and the seller wants to add a tow dolly for $800 when he paid $1800 and I verified it’s really nice
If I dolly will it add miles to the Jeep ???
All insight will be helpful please

Jeep Wranglers with 4wd can not be towed on a dolly, period. Your only options are to tow four down or on a trailer. Towing four down does not add mileage.

hohenwald48 · 05-17-2018, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lt Dan

Jeep Wranglers with 4wd can not be towed on a dolly, period. Your only options are to tow four down or on a trailer. Towing four down does not add mileage.

What he said. ^^^^^

Read your owner's manual (Recreational Towing) for the specifics.

I love the posts giving you bad info and telling you how a dolly is cheaper. I wonder if they included the cost of an exploded transmission or transfer case every time you tow a 4wd Wrangler on a dolly?

FIRE UP · 05-17-2018, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmldura

Hey guys so I know transfer case in N and trans in gear is what manual says

I am buying a class A and the seller wants to add a tow dolly for $800 when he paid $1800 and I verified it’s really nice

If I dolly will it add miles to the Jeep ???

All insight will be helpful please

Imldura,
First, no one has told you that, your Jeep JK IS NOT TO BE TOWED ON A DOLLY! Your Jeep is meant to be FLAT TOWED, PERIOD. Second, personally, they only way I would take a dolly is if they gave it to me and then, I'd just sell it. Flat towing is seriously easier than towing on a dolly. There's no additional piece of equipment hanging around at each and every campsite/RV spot each time you stop.

With all that being said, it's not very hard or, that costly to set up your Jk for flat towing. An aftermarket front bumper with recovery tabs on it is all you need. Then, some adapter brackets for your tow bar to adapt to those recovery tabs and, you're set. A Hopkins tow harness for the lighting and, that takes care of that.

I may make it sound simple because, it IS simple. When you get to your campsite/RV spot, about 30 seconds to a minute and, you're disconnected. Everyone's got to pick what way to choose for various reasons. For our whole RV career, we've had flat towable vehicles. We picked them BECAUSE they were flat towable. I like simple.
Scott

twinboat · 05-17-2018, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

Imldura,
First, no one has told you that, your Jeep JK IS NOT TO BE TOWED ON A DOLLY! Your Jeep is meant to be FLAT TOWED, PERIOD. Second, personally, they only way I would take a dolly is if they gave it to me and then, I'd just sell it. Flat towing is seriously easier than towing on a dolly. There's no additional piece of equipment hanging around at each and every campsite/RV spot each time you stop.

With all that being said, it's not very hard or, that costly to set up your Jk for flat towing. An aftermarket front bumper with recovery tabs on it is all you need. Then, some adapter brackets for your tow bar to adapt to those recovery tabs and, you're set. A Hopkins tow harness for the lighting and, that takes care of that.

I may make it sound simple because, it IS simple. When you get to your campsite/RV spot, about 30 seconds to a minute and, you're disconnected. Everyone's got to pick what way to choose for various reasons. For our whole RV career, we've had flat towable vehicles. We picked them BECAUSE they were flat towable. I like simple.
Scott

You left out the required tow car braking system.

tizzyfit · 05-17-2018, 03:50 PM

Recently went through this thought process and ended up buying a tandem axil 16' car hauling trailer. I solved the moving the trailer around by putting a hitch on the MX-5. The empty trailer is well within the E-trailer limits for the hitch and at slow speed, as in under 10 mph, it's easy to move the trailer to the campground trailer storage area if they require the trailer not be at the site.
Now that I've got the brake controller system in place, the trailer, with the car, handles fine and adds no additional distance to the overall braking.