Community Forums

milasman · 03-24-2013, 01:31 PM

X3 on Roadmaster 2000-1, had mine since 2005 no problems. Towed large Buick, full size truck and now a Corolla. Best one out there.

TGR · 03-24-2013, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoafan

KarKaddy SS 460 and love it.

Used it for 2 years so far, and it works very well.

vito.a · 03-24-2013, 08:04 PM

We purchased a Master Tow in NC and used it one way to CA. We sold it here for almost what we paid for it. It was easy to load and towed great.

If you check Equipment Trader, you can find some great deals on Master Tow.

akadeadeye · 03-24-2013, 08:10 PM

We tow a 2008 Toyota Sienna as our second choice toad on a Master Tow HD80. There is not much room between car fenders and Dolly fenders when turning but it has worked. We are taxing the weight limit of the Dolly but after 10,000 miles it has been fine with one set of new tires. The bias ply tires just don't cut it. We replaced with radials and also have had a brake job. The pads were wearing pretty thin.

Don

Sequim Guy · 03-24-2013, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom-NC

Sequieman,

THe beauty part of the electric brakes that it is adjustable not only for downhills but just for regular stopping. Even better yet you can turn it off when not needed.

Do you really know why surge brakes were made? I bet not so I will tell you. They were mainly made for boat trailers as most trailers boat trailers get their wheels in the water and as you know water and electricity (even though 12V) don't agree therefore surge brakes (which are hydraulic) don't care.

Just a further note, my tow dolly has gone over 60K miles with no problems and I don't have to crawl under to do anything with the ramps plus parking it at home or a campground has not been a problem.

I guess we will have say and this is not a plug, but Roadmaster 2000-1 is the best tow dolly out there!

If "Sequieman" is meant for me.........learn to spell.........

Why is it even better that you can turn off brakes when not needed, when do
you not need the brakes to work??

You are wrong, I do know the reason boat trailers have surge brakes. I'm
from the Pacific Northwest, ocean, lakes, and rivers.
Have worked on many boat trailers.

If you have to crawl under to do anything with ramps, you either have the
wrong kind of dolly, or you don't know what you are doing.

I'm sure your dolly is the best one, just like mine is the best one and each
person on these forums has the best one. Maybe it's just a coincidence
that the dolly each person owns is the best one. We all have the best one
because it's the one we picked and each one of us makes a better choice
than anyone else.......

Still need a sarcasm font.......

.

milasman · 03-24-2013, 10:57 PM

I turn the brake controller off when I am not towing the car on it.

spritz · 03-25-2013, 11:53 AM

We have a Kar Katty SS. Our Toad is a 1999 Cadillac Deville Concours Our MH is a 1982 Pace Arrow 454 4 bbl and it has no problems pulling it. Like a lot of other dolly's you can't back them up unless you lock the wheels straight and then I am not sure how it will work. I used to drive OTR and could back my 45 ft trailer into any spot with little difficulty. Good Luck

Sequim Guy · 03-25-2013, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milasman

I turn the brake controller off when I am not towing the car on it.

I can see why you have to turn the electric brakes off while running empty,
the same amount of braking force on the tires of an empty dolly would have
the dolly tires locked up often.
My poor choice of wording didn't make it clear that I meant a loaded
dolly would need the brakes working, not an empty dolly........sorry.
Surge brakes are basically turned off automatically when there isn't enough
weight on the dolly to activate them.
However, if you have a very heavy dolly, surge brakes might be activated
by a hard stop, I'm not sure.
I have a light dolly (400# but rated for 4985#

), so I have never had
that happen, that I know of.

And as I said before, the "best" dolly is the one we own, and we think
everyone else should own, too........

.

ronjhall · 03-25-2013, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoafan

KarKaddy SS 460 and love it.

Mine is 7 years old. Over 50,000 miles. With one set of tires. No major repairs. The best. Fully galvanized and folds up to shorter than it's width..

DarrelC · 04-03-2013, 09:50 AM

We're just getting into the Toad business and have decided to save $ by towing our Prius on an EZE-Tow dolly. To use this dolly, the front wheels need to swivel during turns. I know that engaging the electric parking brake on the Prius prevents the front tires from rotating but am unsure of their swivel capability. Does anyone have first-person experience with this scenario? Thanks for your input......

Scarab0088 · 04-03-2013, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarrelC

We're just getting into the Toad business and have decided to save $ by towing our Prius on an EZE-Tow dolly. To use this dolly, the front wheels need to swivel during turns. I know that engaging the electric parking brake on the Prius prevents the front tires from rotating but am unsure of their swivel capability. Does anyone have first-person experience with this scenario? Thanks for your input......

Congrats on the selection of an EZE-Tow.

Like you, I knew the toad's wheels needed to swivel for my EZE-Tow to turn correctly. And, I had the same question for my Hybrid Escape (with it's "Prius like" CVT Transmission and electric power steering), because some here said that there was no "regular" steering lock on a hybrid.

So, I just tested it myself...Key Off -> try to turn the steering wheel.
...Key out -> Try to turn the Steering wheel.
If there is a steering lock, it will engage in less than a 1/4 turn.

For me, I found that the key had to be placed in the "run" position, then to "off" - BUT - I had to leave the key in the key hole or it would engage a lock.

Better safe that sorry.

Best of luck

fighterpilot · 04-16-2013, 03:30 PM

With surge brakes while decending a long hill with coach engine braking does one have to worry about the surge brakes on the dolly being applied during the decent and consequently overheating??

Scarab0088 · 04-17-2013, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fighterpilot

With surge brakes while decending a long hill with coach engine braking does one have to worry about the surge brakes on the dolly being applied during the decent and consequently overheating??

Any dolly "CAN" overheat the brakes on a long decent...it would be a more common problem for drum brakes vs. disc brakes.
-Disclaimer- You can "turn-off" the braking with electric brakes...but WHY would anyone do that on a long decent? If worried (about anything), I would just pull over and check the dolly.

And, you can disable surge brakes with the backing lock-out (manual or electric) provided by the mfgt...but again, WHY would anyone do this?!

Since surge brakes provide an infinite level of braking pressure, the brakes are constantly modulated based on the pressure of the dolly pushing against the hitch. The brakes will push harder as the pressure against the hitch increases and less as it decreases - even to the least amount of braking when unloaded.

So, if a dolly with surge brakes is not overloaded, then overheating should not be a problem. But, if the toad is over the dolly's weight standards there could be a problem.

Best of luck!

fighterpilot · 04-18-2013, 05:58 AM

Assume max allowable load on the surge brake dolly. On a long decent, using engine braking, there will be deceleration force on the surge system. Will it brake and than as the pressure is released from the surge system, let up on the brakes, and with that event, than surge ahead again and start the cycle all over again, or, will it just sit at some level of steady breaking? Thanks