New to R.V. ing- Tow dolly

[Gallion]

Picked up a nice 34 ft. bounder. The wife has a P. T. Crusier. Assume I will have to use a tow dolly (it's a auto) Any advice out there?
Thanks for any info. You guys and gals are a great help to us just starting out.
Jim

[Gallion]

Picked up a nice 34 ft. bounder. The wife has a P. T. Crusier. Assume I will have to use a tow dolly (it's a auto) Any advice out there?
Thanks for any info. You guys and gals are a great help to us just starting out.
Jim

[GaryKD]

Hi Jim and welcome to iRV2. The best place to start is the owner's manual that came with the car. It will tell you what the manufacturer allows when it comes to towing. This is the only place, I know of, where it is stated in writing. If the manufacturer says no towing with the drive wheels on the ground, there are three choices.
1. tow dolly - This choice assumes the front wheels are the drive wheels. There are several makes of tow dollies on the market. Go here to see one manufacturer and the choices offered.
2. Transmission lube pump. Go here to see a sample of what Remco offers.
3. drive shaft disconnect The above mentioned Remco link will also tell you about drive shaft disconnects.

Based on my signature, I use both a dolly and tow bar. It depends on the trip as to which vehicle I tow. There are +/- to both methods. The bottom line is personal preference and how you interact with the tasks that must be completed to tow.

The best advice I can offer is to find a dealership or two close to your location. Go and see the devices. Have them demonstrated. Then you try what the sales person just demonstrated. This usually answers the questions you may have about how you will do the various tasks. For some, the dolly is a bit much to handle when hitching and unhitching. For the 4 wheels on the ground, different components take different amounts of time and complexity to setup and tear down.

If you decide to tow with 4 wheels on the ground with choice 2 or 3, you will need a base plate, tow bar, electrical hookup for the towed vehicle lights and supplemental braking for the towed vehicle.

If you decide to go with the dolly, the dolly can be purchased with brakes and lights. There is no alteration to the towed vehicle.

[mountainkowboy]

Yea what he said!

[speed racer]

I have used a tow dolley for 3 years now and have been from coast to coast with no prblems. Make sure you get a good one. I have a demcoss because it folds up into a smaller package. With a tow dolley you can tow just about any thing. I saw a guy towing two motor cycles. You can tow a rear weel drive car backward,ive done that. Just make sure your front wheels are straight and locked.

[Gallion]

One other thing. I will be putting a P.T. crusier on the dolly. How much will this effect the rear clearance. the P.T. sets pretty low front and back.
Thanks for the great replies.
Jim

[GaryKD]

You have a good question. Can you take the car to the place selling you the dolly and see if you can put the car on their dolly demonstrator? An alternative is to use car maintenance ramps most shade tree mechanics have. Drive the car up the ramps and see what the clearance is. Gut feel says there should not be a problem.

[David K]

I use a tow dolly for my 2006 Ford Freestyle. The lower trim is too low to allow me to drive on the tow dolly -- it drags. I have cut 2 2x8 boards about 5' long and I set them on the tow dolly ramps and then drive up them to get on the dolly. Store the boards in the basement storage of the MH.

[DeanLinAZ]

We have towed a 2005 PT Cruiser GT convertible with the automatic transmission on a Demco KK460SS tow dolly over 20,000 miles the last three years. We towed a Miata four-down with Blue Ox equipment about the same distance before that. The decision of which way is best is sort of like chocolate vs. vanilla, Chevy vs. Ford, blondes vs. brunettes, etc. Most rigs you see on the road are towing four-down, but I will not trust my PT's tranny to a Remco pump with its checkered reliability record.

Good luck and happy towing.

[David K]

Some more thoughts -- I believe if the car needs to be modified "a lot" to get it ready to tow and the tranny is going to turn while being towed 4 down, I will use the tow dolly. If the tranny is not going to move while being towed 4 down, then I will go 4 down. I have a Ford Focus, manual tranny that is towed 4 down. No speed limitation (use common sense here) and no distance limitations (ie, have to stop and run the tranny, run a pump, etc). I also have a 2006 Ford Freestyle automatic tranny -- that vehicle is towed on a tow dolly. Easy to tow on the dolly (Stehl dolly with electric brakes, break away switch, etc.).