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Old 02-18-2018, 07:37 PM   #1
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Tips for lining up toad with dolly.

I have been using the eze towdolly for 4 years now. The biggest issue I have with this or any dolly is lining up the car so it centers properly on the dolly to obtain maximum/proper tie down. Trying to center the car as it comes up the ramps or on the dolly does not always work. The best result has been when the car is lined up 5 to 10 feet before the ramp. It would be great if there was a laser to align the car further away as it approached the dolly. I'm planning on trying a 25" tape measure run from the center out toward the car as a guide when our snow melts (got some free ones from habor freight). Has anyone come across a solution that works for them?
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Old 02-18-2018, 08:01 PM   #2
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Eze-Tow owner here. Well over 15,008 miles on our dolly.

Have used ours to haul several car's from a tiny 2 door Hyundai Accent to a full sized Econoline van (dropped the driveshaft).

We line up against the bottom of the ramps with the ramps set where the car needs to sit on the dolly. The style ramps we have can be placed anywhere along the rear dolly edge

Then, we simply drive up the ramps, slowly. We "guard" the brake peddle with the left foot...just to be safe.

Once aligned, we start the climb up the ramps without touching the steering wheel...that might be the issue if the car is lined-up at the start, but lands off center.

Best luck
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Old 02-18-2018, 08:07 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scarab0088 View Post
Eze-Tow owner here. Well over 15,008 miles on our dolly.

Have used ours to haul several car's from a tiny 2 door Hyundai Accent to a full sized Econoline van (dropped the driveshaft).

We line up against the bottom of the ramps with the ramps set where the car needs to sit on the dolly. The style ramps we have can be placed anywhere along the rear dolly edge

Then, we simply drive up the ramps, slowly. We "guard" the brake peddle with the left foot...just to be safe.

Once aligned, we start the climb up the ramps without touching the steering wheel...that might be the issue if the car is lined-up at the start, but lands off center.

Best luck
Do have the plastic ramps or the new steel ramps? I have tried what you suggest but with our Saturn Vue any adjustments that close or on the ramps ends up with one of the tires not being up against the front rail. If the car is lined up further from the dolly the tires will always be flush with the front rail.
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Old 02-18-2018, 08:30 PM   #4
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We have a small piece of tape on the center point of both the dolly and the car. DW lines them up as I drive the car up the ramps. I worked well for us.
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Old 02-18-2018, 09:03 PM   #5
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I think I will try a rope extended perpendicular from the center of the dolly instead of a tape ruller. That along with your suggestion of tape or mark on the center of the car should make it easy to align the car from a distance.
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Old 02-18-2018, 09:27 PM   #6
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Back in the 70s I towed a Ford Fiesta behind a Tioga Class C.

The car had an "A" frame tow bar (no adj for alignment).

I had a piece of 3/4 PVC pipe that was placed on the dash with mounting marks, I sited thru it to a aiming mark on the back of the MH. I was able to drive forward and and connect the tow bar 95% of the time on the first try, by myself. It took quite a few tries to find the correct marks with the help of the DW, but once found I could do it alone.

The next TOAD had a Roadmaster 5000. It made things a piece of cake.
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Old 02-18-2018, 10:02 PM   #7
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There is a truism in aviation that a good landing starts with a good approach. Applies to a good landing on a tow dolly.

I always try(not always successfully) to line the dolly up square with the back of the coach. Every so often I have to unhook it and move it a little by hand to straighten it. I have a pivot plate so I also square the wheel plates with the tow dolly tongue. Then I can back up far enough to see and line up with the ramps.

The problem is your head position while driving to the ramp is to the right of your left front wheel and to the left of the tow dolly tongue. No help on the car's hood or dolly tongue lining up with something that's not going to move as you approach.

I have a motorcycle in front of the dolly with lots of parts and the pivot pin of the windshield wiper. I usually pick out something on the motorcycle and line the wiper pivot point with it for the approach.

If I didn't have the bike as a reference I think I would put the car on the dolly with everything lined up perfectly then have a helper take a 6" strip of reflective tape and move it along the back of the coach until my eyes, the reference point on my wipers and the tape were all lined up with each other. I would then have her put the tape on vertically so my wiper reference point was just visually touching the bottom of the tape.

Are you a shooter? I've always thought about making a guide made much like the sights on a rifle or pistol with two vertical posts in the rear and one vertical post in the front where you approach the ramp keeping the front post centered between the two rear posts. To be transportable I was going to use a plywood ground plate with three removable "sights" of flexible fiberglass poles sticking up vertically from holes in the plywood.

To use it I would place it in front of the dolly axle square to the wheel pad so the front sight is the same distance from the center of the pad as my eyeballs are in the approaching car. If I keep everything lined up as I approach the center of the tire should end up in the center of the tiedown pad.

Haven't had to make one yet as I am slowly getting better going without it.

Who am I kidding? I'm just too lazy.
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Old 02-18-2018, 10:24 PM   #8
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You've giving me some ideas for making a sight to use when I have to load the dolly by myself. Something that could clip on my visor and align with a spot (reflective tape, excellent idea) on the MH. I recently got into 3D printing and think I can design a clip on sight. For guiding someone else onto the ramp I'm going to try a small rope or bright string. Magnet on the dolly end and a weight on the other to stretch it out. I think that a pivot plate would make this easier since it could move to allow both tires to press against the stops when alignment is slightly off.
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Old 02-19-2018, 05:30 AM   #9
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I routinely tow two different vehicles on my EZ tow.

I painted two orange strips on the left side of the dolly frame where the ramps hook. The left line is for my Camry, the right one is for our Civic.

When I drive up on the dolly, I stick my head out the drivers window, and line up so the cars front left tire just barely touches the orange line. Perfectly centered every time.
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Old 02-19-2018, 06:17 AM   #10
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They make a trailer hitch alignment thing that is a bright ball on the end of a telescoping rod and a magnet in the other end. Seems like you could use that in some way.
Also, I don't know how many times you have loaded your dolly, but the more I did it the better I got at it, and the less I relied on alignment aids.
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Old 02-19-2018, 06:46 AM   #11
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The eze tow does not have a pivot plate. This means that to get both tires touching the front bar at the same time you need to have the car chassis lined up perpendicular to the dolly from a distance. Any minor corrections when the car is on the ramps or dolly tends to result in one tire not touching the front bar. If one tire is within a inche I can usually pull it forward with the strap but will sometimes have to make corrections down the road due to tire movement. The best tie down is obtained when the car is close to center with both tires against the front bar. Then I can ratchet the tires down to where they are squishing down an inche. This condition is obtained when there is little or no correction for alignment after the car starts up the ramp. When you make larger corrections on the ramp or dolly you will end up with one tire not touching.
I've seen some good suggestions. Thanks.
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Old 02-19-2018, 07:20 AM   #12
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I towed a lexus es330 , (basically a Camry) on an acme tow dolly. I just this weekend went to a flat tow car. But I would always place the ramps in the same holes every time and line my driver front tire up on the same spot on the dolly every time. I would pull half way up the ramp, stop and look out window to make a few last minute corrections. Even if tires were not both touching the front of the dolly I would go ahead and strap it down ...... And before I got out of the neighborhood I would stop and tighten the straps one last time.
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Old 02-19-2018, 09:17 AM   #13
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Mdvs, you may be over thinking this. I have found that as long as the tires are within a couple of inches of the front stop it is fine. The dolly is designed to allow back and forth movement of the front wheels and it will adjust itself while driving. This is why it is a good idea to stop after a mile or 2 to check the straps.
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Old 02-19-2018, 10:01 AM   #14
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When I was using a tow dolly I used to stick my head out the window of the RAV4 and put the tire one inch from the edge of the ramp. That happened to result in the passenger side tire being one inch from the edge of the right ramp.
I you can’t estimate the correct “inch” for your combo, put a paint stripe on your ramp.
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