Tow Dolly

[kennyprice]

Want to tow my 2012 Kia Sportage (front wheel drive) behind my MH, not sure which dolly to get (w/ or w/out brakes), I have the Brake Buddy Classic (still in box) but like the idea of the disc brake dolly (just concerned about the braking that far forward) instead of at the rear of vehicle, and does anybody know of a quick connect (thru the grill) for the tail/brake lights (on a Kia) or do I need to use a lighting system, magnet or otherwise.....????? THANK YOU.... kp, Cottonwood, Ca.

[bobcovey]

We've towed a Toyota Sienna for almot 2 years on an Acme Tow Dolly. It was the only dolly I could find to tow a 78" wide vehicle. The company support is great.
I'm pretty happy with it. It has a couple of issues, though, the first is that the ramps are detached and reattached every time you unload/load the car, which can be a pita, especailly in the rain. There is also no provision to carry a spare tire on the dolly. That wouldn't be a big issue except the tires used are only available online. They are very reasonably priced from Acme (and other sources for more money) but waiting a couple of days beside the road for a new tire would not be so good.
I like the lack of articulation on the Acme because there is no way that a tight turn will put the side of the dolly fender into the car.
Frankly, dollies just suck, and I am going to go to flat owing something next year.

Cheers,

[WyoFree]

With a front wheel drive you'll need something like a tow dolly. Acme, Demco and Roadmaster are three of the big ones. They offer different breaking systems. Some electric, some with Hydraulic breaks some with electric. And they all have brake and signal lights included with them.

Bob says he's had problems towing but I've read numerous posts here on the forum where folks are very happy with them. But you have no other options with a front wheel drive vehicle. Unless you want to consider a trailer and thats a whole new kettle of fish!

[twinboat]

Get a dolly with brakes.

Trying to use the rear brakes of the towed car will probable need to be set very light and ineffective to prevent skidding.

I use a Stehl Tow dolly with surge, disc brakes. The LED tail lights are on the fenders.

It has a turning "wheel pan" so I don't need the key on, to unlock the steering. The ramps are built in and have never hit my Kia Souls body.

I bought it in a large hardware store in PA and hitched it up, at the correct hight. We loaded the car and drove to Florida.

No controller, no wiring, no adjustments.

We have about 25,000 trouble free miles on it.

[vettenuts]

I use the ACME EZE Tow for my Chevy Malibu. I carry spares tires in the basement of the coach that are on rims and have the balance beads in them. Basically, they are ready to mount. There is a provision to mount a spare tire on the dolly, but I don't do that for fear it would suddenly sprout legs.

The ramps are removable, however being that they are there is less chance of them hitting the bottom of the car that has happened with some of the dolly designs that keep the ramps attached while traveling. I stow the ramps in the trunk of the Malibu.

This dolly is light and wide so it is easy to move about and there is no fear of the fenders hitting the car being towed.

[bobcovey]

Originally Posted by WyoFree

With a front wheel drive you'll need something like a tow dolly. Acme, Demco and Roadmaster are three of the big ones. They offer different breaking systems. Some electric, some with Hydraulic breaks some with electric. And they all have brake and signal lights included with them.

Bob says he's had problems towing but I've read numerous posts here on the forum where folks are very happy with them. But you have no other options with a front wheel drive vehicle. Unless you want to consider a trailer and thats a whole new kettle of fish!

Oops! Sorry if I gave the impression that I had towing issues: the Acme tows great and the brakes work fine. We used to carry the ramps in the van and the spare on the dolly, but switched positions and that works better.
I made two mods that might be useful. I added a trailer jack that makes it much easier to wheel it around, and I wire-tied the tail lights into the brackets after losing two of them.
Oh yes, both fender brackets broke in the same place. I had a welder add reinforcements that make them much sturdier.

Cheers,

[EZE Tow]

Thanks for the feed back on the Acme EZE Tow Tow Dolly guys. Our dolly now weighs 380 pounds, and our fenders are press formed and very rigid. There are no metal fatigue issues now. Previously all the dolly vibration would terminate in the tips of the fenders. If one or more tires were out of balance enough the vibration could result in some metal fatigue in the brackets. All our tires now leave the factory pre balanced and the new fender brackets have several anti vibration design elements built in. Tucking the light into the corner and making it vertical is one of the changes. This eliminates excess weight on the most terminate point on the fender brackets. It has proven to be very robust and reliable design.

Thanks. Richard Brown

[Americanrascal]

Been totally pleased with our American Car Dolly. Had it for several years and have driven from FL to AK and back and many more miles towing out Focus.

I went with electric brakes and added a break away switch- and i carry a dolly spare tire.

Home | American Car Dolly

[Brockx]

I used an ACME for about 3 years with no problems pulling a KIA Soul. The Soul did not lock the steering unless I removed the key, so check that out on your Sportage. I am guessing it is the same so no extra wiring required. You did not mention the brand of MH but the Acme will fit under the rear of most Gas class A's for storage.

[barmcd]

Originally Posted by kennyprice

Want to tow my 2012 Kia Sportage (front wheel drive) behind my MH, not sure which dolly to get (w/ or w/out brakes), I have the Brake Buddy Classic (still in box) but like the idea of the disc brake dolly (just concerned about the braking that far forward) instead of at the rear of vehicle, and does anybody know of a quick connect (thru the grill) for the tail/brake lights (on a Kia) or do I need to use a lighting system, magnet or otherwise.....????? THANK YOU.... kp, Cottonwood, Ca.

When you're towing a vehicle with a dolly, you don't want to use the brakes on your toad. Think about it, if the rear brakes on your towed vehicle come on, it's going to try to pull your Toad from the dolly.

I have a Master tow with electric brakes. It was inexpensive, has positive controlled braking and has been dead reliable. I think you'll find most of them will do a good job, you just need to decide what features you want. I didn't want to have to unlock the steering of our Jeep Cherokee so we went with a dolly with a rotating pan.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by barmcd

When you're towing a vehicle with a dolly, you don't want to use the brakes on your toad. Think about it, if the rear brakes on your towed vehicle come on, it's going to try to pull your Toad from the dolly.

.

The same forces, except in the opposite direction, apply when stopping with the dolly wheels. The Toad is going to try to drive into the MH. The straps are designed to handle that.

The reason you want the dolly brakes stopping is that the largest precentage of a front wheel drive cars weight is on the dolly. That gives the dolly tires more traction.

[CWJK55]

We have a Demco Kar Kaddy SS that I found on Craigs List. I like the SS (Space Saver) since the tow bar and the ramps fold when not in use. The dolly goes from 10' long down to 5'. I can fit it into my garage in front of the Mini Cooper we tow.

[Scarab0088]

In CA, there is no requirement for brakes on the dolly. CA uses a stopping "formula" of X feet that RV's easily accomplish...BUT, brakes in the dolly are MUCH safer.

Also in CA, there is no requirement for turn and brake lights on the car -IF- the dolly has it's own turn and brake lights...BUT for driving at night, the statute requires marker (parking) lights to be within a short distance of the rear corners of the car. You can add lights to the car -or- like us, just turn on the car's parking lights when driving at night.

Your Kia will be happy up high on the dolly away from rock strikes and mileage added to the lower driveline of the car, like flat towing. Using a dolly is (to us) no more difficult than our travel partners who flat tow (side by side set-up and drop-off).

We use the Acme EZE tow for its light weight, simplicity, and reliability. We have the model with surge disc brakes so there's little worry about overheating the brakes and there is no controller needed at the RV's driver position, like needed with electric brakes. Surge brakes are totally auto adjusting for the infinite weights between unloaded, loaded, and loaded car with stuff...no adjusting or brake lock-up.

And, removable ramps are good to avoid under-body impact from fixed or retractable ramps

Best luck

P.S. The 22" tall tires on the Acme are available at many trailer supply stores, but Acme will sell you replacements at a good price if needed.

[jergeod]

Mastertow x2 💘 it