Community Forums

petrel · 03-09-2017, 06:07 AM

Another vote for some bag sand or concrete as weight.

JohnBoyToo · 03-09-2017, 06:15 AM

I'm in the lower air pressure and go crowd ...
at most, put some bungie cords from the outside edges to the tow vehicle hitch just to damping the side to side...

not saying the sand and concrete are bad ideas,
BUT... we like to pay what if here

a rock hits the sand bag, you sandblast everyone behind you and the bags WILL lose volume and all the bags will come off eventually

or
have you tried to move bags of concrete after it rains on them ?!?

nothermark · 03-10-2017, 05:21 AM

We get the problems. Sand and concrete are cheap. Extra contractor bag makes them harder to damage. If they leak it's not a big mess spread down the highway over miles. IF they are strapped individually they will not quickly all go away. That is why we suggested them.

twinboat · 03-10-2017, 05:48 AM

Just curious, what the adding of weight is going to accomplish ?

When you load a car on the dolly, you add mostly" sprung weight ". The cars suspension absorbs and dampen the shocks to the dolly tires and axle.

With sand, cement or bricks, you are adding only unsprung weight. The dolly tires and axles have to un-necessarily absorb the dead weigh of the load.

Wouldn't the shock of a bump, to the added unsprung weight, increases stresses to the tires and axle ?

69Stang · 03-10-2017, 05:58 AM

I pulled an empty Master Tow dolly from S. Georgia to Ohio. I lowered the PSI to 14 (per the manual) and it still bounced around like a basketball. I was surprised it was in one piece when we arrived. I think a few hundred pounds of sand would help keep it from bouncing around so much.

Playtime III · 03-10-2017, 07:06 AM

My Master Tow manual says to drop the pressure to 10PSI. I drove from Tampa to Albuquerque empty with no problems. However, I have surge brakes so they will compensate for the different weights automatically. Electric brakes would need to be adjusted at the controller in the cockpit.

Unplanned Tourist · 03-10-2017, 07:31 AM

Lots of people pull empty utility trailers, what's the difference? Just drop the tire pressure and go. Tying the turntable down sounds like a good plan.

Have a safe trip. Just keep a close eye on it with the rear view camera.

RobbieH · 03-10-2017, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unplanned

Lots of people pull empty utility trailers, what's the difference? Just drop the tire pressure and go. Tying the turntable down sounds like a good plan.

Have a safe trip. Just keep a close eye on it with the rear view camera.

My car hauler weighs almost 2,000 lbs. My tow dolly weighs a couple hundred. That's the difference.

My car hauler doesn't bounce around when it's empty.

wredman · 03-10-2017, 08:07 AM

adding weight would just change the amount of air pressure you would want in the tires, unsprung weight as described by twinboat

Unplanned Tourist · 03-10-2017, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieH

My car hauler weighs almost 2,000 lbs. My tow dolly weighs a couple hundred. That's the difference.

My car hauler doesn't bounce around when it's empty.

I was talking about the little 7&8 foot utility trailers people use behind small cars, etc.

kustom · 03-10-2017, 10:24 AM

we used to pull a tow dolly empty a lot it came with rig and first year we would fly in
rent a car then return it on the dolly did that many times

wredman · 03-10-2017, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unplanned

I was talking about the little 7&8 foot utility trailers people use behind small cars, etc.

the key design feature to look for is a leaf spring. Tow dollys have none. Most trailers have them.

dix39 · 03-10-2017, 11:11 AM

Just my thoughts, but the small trailers bounce some too, at least mine does.

I've only towed our dolly for 3 or 4 hundred miles empty and when that happened I was going to pick up a car and didn't know if air would be available when I got there. I towed it with full air pressure and watched to see how it behaved which was, IMHO, to a large degree dependent on the road surface. When the road surface was rough I slowed down. I also slowed down on curves because when it started bouncing there it could actually get into the other lane.

I would think that using a combination of the many good ideas posted here ( my thanks because I've learned too) along with judicious driving the trip should go well. Just keep an eye on the thing.

If you use the sandbag idea please be sure to tie them down securely. I remember hitting a bag of cement one time in full traffic going around Seattle with the TC towing a 23' cabin boat. It was full pucker time, but we survived without incident. It could have been much worse.

Best of luck.

Steve

barmcd · 03-10-2017, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unplanned

Lots of people pull empty utility trailers, what's the difference? Just drop the tire pressure and go. Tying the turntable down sounds like a good plan.

Have a safe trip. Just keep a close eye on it with the rear view camera.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dix39

Just my thoughts, but the small trailers bounce some too, at least mine does.

I've only towed our dolly for 3 or 4 hundred miles empty and when that happened I was going to pick up a car and didn't know if air would be available when I got there. I towed it with full air pressure and watched to see how it behaved which was, IMHO, to a large degree dependent on the road surface. When the road surface was rough I slowed down. I also slowed down on curves because when it started bouncing there it could actually get into the other lane.

I would think that using a combination of the many good ideas posted here ( my thanks because I've learned too) along with judicious driving the trip should go well. Just keep an eye on the thing.

If you use the sandbag idea please be sure to tie them down securely. I remember hitting a bag of cement one time in full traffic going around Seattle with the TC towing a 23' cabin boat. It was full pucker time, but we survived without incident. It could have been much worse.

Best of luck.

Steve

The key here is that the owners manual for the small utility trailers don't tell you not to tow it very far empty. Most tow dolly owners manual have that caution. My Master Tow manual says towing it empty will cause stress cracks in the dolly.