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tarnold · 05-20-2011, 05:45 PM

Just bought a very used KarKaddy II this afternoon to pull a new Prius. Looks like I will be replacing wheel bearings right off and will have to come up with an extended ramp to get the Prius to clear while loading. First BIG question is where the tongue breaks (you lift a safty trigger, twist a large dia. round pull pin and pull forward) there is a hole drilled on each side of the frame that rocks up, but there is not a corresponding matching hole in the frame. It looks like there should be a "safty pin" that would go thru the hole(thats not there!) as an extra safety to stop the tongue from rocking down if there was a failure of the other pin? I know I could drill out a new hole but is this how other Kar Kaddys are built? Another question is these wheels/fenders are made to follow the track of the towing vehicle. However there is a locking pin that seems like it will prevent any castering of the wheels if installed, in other words keeping the wheels straight ahead. I question this as narrow as the Prius is, it really fills up that loading deck, with less that 2 inches of clearance on either side.(we still haven't loaded it yet) And I don't want to come close to hitting the doors on the DW new car in a tight turn. Any thoughts there?

DAN L · 05-21-2011, 02:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tarnold

Just bought a very used KarKaddy II this afternoon to pull a new Prius. Looks like I will be replacing wheel bearings right off and will have to come up with an extended ramp to get the Prius to clear while loading. First BIG question is where the tongue breaks (you lift a safty trigger, twist a large dia. round pull pin and pull forward) there is a hole drilled on each side of the frame that rocks up, but there is not a corresponding matching hole in the frame. It looks like there should be a "safty pin" that would go thru the hole(thats not there!) as an extra safety to stop the tongue from rocking down if there was a failure of the other pin? I know I could drill out a new hole but is this how other Kar Kaddys are built? Another question is these wheels/fenders are made to follow the track of the towing vehicle. However there is a locking pin that seems like it will prevent any castering of the wheels if installed, in other words keeping the wheels straight ahead. I question this as narrow as the Prius is, it really fills up that loading deck, with less that 2 inches of clearance on either side.(we still haven't loaded it yet) And I don't want to come close to hitting the doors on the DW new car in a tight turn. Any thoughts there?

first, i have a stehl dolly with a turntable. i use a 30'' and a 24'' 2x6 under the ramps when loading and unloading to keep from damaging my front air dam. i routed a 1/4'' slot in the top of the 2x6's to sort of anchor them under the dolly ramps. the other end of the ramps are cut 45 degrees. i made the boards unequal length to help keep them fron being spit out. this setup works well for us.

second, there is a 36 page pdf document on the internet about your dolly. if it works, i will attach it here. if not, google the kar-kaddyll and check it out. sorry, irv2 says the file is too big to post.

i would not lock the dolly steering straight ahead while towing. that would put a lot of strain on the wheel tie-down straps.

Steve N Sal · 05-21-2011, 03:48 AM

There is one safety pin for the tongue so that it either can be swung to the side for storage or straight forward for the towing stage. The safety pin controlling the steering linkage must be removed before you load your vechicle. That allows the steering to track with your moho. When you unload your vehicle put that pin back in place as it makes it a whole lot easier to manuever the dolly. Cannot comment on the packing the bearings as Demco advertises their bearings to be lifetime lubed. Myself, I question this and will have mine looked at as well. Hope this helps.

tarnold · 05-21-2011, 08:10 AM

DanL... I've looked at a few of the Demco PDF but mine unit seems to be much older than what I've found. Even those that I've seen show the hole that I'm refering too, but do not show a bolt or safety pin going thru it???? This thing I have dosn't have a cable lever to "break" the frame for loading, but a very large dia. pin that you have to twist and pull back to lower the ramps. I can't find any ID plate for a serial number but think it must have one some place? I'd like to look at adding electric brakes soon. Looks like the axle has a steel plate that a braking drum could be bolted to. Anybody made this conversion yet?