Towing a 2015 RAV4 on a tow dolly

[josheldn]

I am planning to tow a 2015 RAV4 2wd vehicle behind my 33.2 2017 Palazzo. Does any one know if the steering wheel needs to be locked or unlocked when towing it using the acme eze tow dolly with hydraulic brakes?
John

[josheldn]

It is front wheel drive automatic

[znt1186]

Wheels need to be unlocked on a fixed platform dolly, which the Acme is.

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by josheldn

It is front wheel drive automatic

Yep, I did a search and found the answers.

[Scarab0088]

Car's steering lock (if so equipped) must be unlocked on the Acme EZE tow.
Many new cars do not have steering locks anymore.

The car will steer exactly like flat-towing as the car's steering swings in turns.

Also, parking brake released and transmission in park.

Best luck

P.S. We stow the ramps in a bin just to keep them safe (help keep honest people - honest). The tongue mount for the ramps is great...it's just a consideration.

[josheldn]

If the Rav4 steering wheel needs to be unlocked, I did find an article about a lexus 350 which is close to the rav4 and their solution was to get into the vehicle, close the door, start the vehicle, open the driver's side window, get out of the vehicle, close the door, reach into the vehicle and turn the vehicle off and hit the automatic up window. This allows the car to have an unlocked steering wheel and you can now have the proper unlocked steering wheel while towing it on a tow dolly. Does this seem like a reasonable solution to my issue?

John

[twinboat]

Just buy any of the many other brands of dolly out there.

No climbing thru windows.

[Don Voyage]

I used the Acme tow dolly for three years with a VW Passat TDI. The Passat had a push button ignition. In the manual their is what they call a car wash mode to unlock steering wheel It was opening the drivers door PRIOR to shutting off ignition. Then close the door and not to touch the outside handle as it had a sensor to lock the car and steering wheel. I was able to lock the car with the key fob and still have the steering wheel unlocked.
'
With this dolly front wheels need to be unlocked as it is a fixed dolly and does not have a pivot in it! If Rav is a manual shift see if the speedometer turns while in neutral. If it does then you have to disconnect the drive shaft to tow.
If it is automatic drive shaft has to be removed.

This dolly is primary designed for front wheel drive vehicles. Where as the back wheels are just floaters.

Tires for this trailer did not last very long......8-10K miles. But Acme sells a new Radial tire vs the bias for better tracking and longevity of tire life. If your ever near Acme in Kenersville NC I would stop in and have them inspect trailer and buy any additional stuff needed. Shipping costs for tires would of been big $$$$.

Note: when I changed the brake pads I had to cut a notch in the adjacent angle bracket to access caliber bolt and disconnect the fixed [non-flexible] brake line to perform change out. Then I had to get a suction type bleeder for the brake lines after assembly.

I also installed a tilt away third wheel mid frame to assist in moving trailer around. The type found normally on boat trailers. I stored my ramps in the trunk to prevent theft.

Passat had an aftermarket Class 1 hitch. Every now and then going up a business driveway apron or some road condition causes me to bottom out back of passat onto hitch receiver. Had a friend weld on a metal drag wheel to my hitch ball assembly arm to preclude this dragging.

MOST IMPORTANT!!!!!! When ever you stop, re-tighten straps as they stretch or loosen from the turning with dolly. Trust me.......They loosen up!

I have since sold my dolly and now flat tow a Jeep. I cannot tell you what a pleasure it is over the tow dolly. Except I could back up with tow dolly with key in surge brake housing. Cannot back up with Jeep.

Good Luck and safe travels!

Don

[Scarab0088]

Originally Posted by Don Voyage

I used the Acme tow dolly for three years...

Tires for this trailer did not last very long......8-10K miles. But Acme sells a new Radial tire vs the bias for better tracking and longevity of tire life. If your ever near Acme in Kenersville NC I would stop in and have them inspect trailer and buy any additional stuff needed. Shipping costs for tires would of been big $$$$...

Note: when I changed the brake pads I had to cut a notch in the adjacent angle bracket to access caliber bolt and disconnect the fixed [non-flexible] brake line to perform change out. Then I had to get a suction type bleeder for the brake lines after assembly.

I also installed a tilt away third wheel mid frame to assist in moving trailer around. The type found normally on boat trailers. I stored my ramps in the trunk to prevent theft...

MOST IMPORTANT!!!!!! When ever you stop, re-tighten straps as they stretch or loosen from the turning with dolly. Trust me.......They loosen up!

Good Luck and safe travels!

Don

All new Acme's come with the new size tires, so the tire question is only for buying a used EZE-Tow.

And, tire problems did not impact all owners. We still have the 10" rims (22"tires) and have just changed the tires after over 15,000miles.

Our new tires came by freight from Acme which was not expensive - plus were half price, 'cuz Acme was changing to the new 12" rims (23"tires).

I have inspected our dolly for a brake job (not yet needed) and did not need to cut any frame. There was enough give in the fluid line to remove/replace. These were probably early issues.

The weight on the tongue handle is maybe 40LB (equal to a loaded suit case) with ramps not installed. We can easily move the dolly by hand. And a hitch on the toad is a GREAT IDEA! We installed one on the toad, but have only used ours 1 time for the dolly...now it's usually holding a bike rack

Finally - TOTALLY AGREE about the straps. Just like any and all strapping from the dolly to straps on a big rig's load...should be checked at every stop. But, ours do not have any measurable stretch anymore.

Best luck to the OP

[josheldn]

OK toyota has been back and forth with me on whether or not you can tow the Rav4. first the answer was yes if the from wheels were on a towing mechanism. then yes the steering wheel has to be unlocked but then had to go back to get the information that to do this is you have a push button start to push the start twice and this will put the vehicle in ACC. Problem, it runs the battery down so then they said make sure everything is turned off as much as possible and at every stop to run the vehicle for 5 minutes to add time back onto the battery charge. then they came back and said yes everything they said was correct but they don't feel you should tow this way for long periods of time??????? in other words maybe yes maybe no and if something goes wrong the warranty is toast. I saw in an article that someone has been towing a corolla for 3 years with the acme tow dolly. If that person is on this thread please provide information on year of the vehicle and how did you get the steering wheel unlocked etc. Just 2 weeks until delivery and I will continue to seek answers to my questions on towing.

thanks to everyone who has responded.

[EZE Tow]

About a year ago we made a small change to the design to leave a lot of room for brake pad replacement. That is not an issue now. Dollies do not have suspensions so the tires wear much faster then passenger car tires. We sell replacements at cost.

The new 12 inch wheels are having great feedback and trouble free now for 7 months or longer.

Best design, best warranty, best service.......

[EZE Tow]

That unlocking process does work, you can test it at home if you want.

[Robf]

I purchased a used acme dolly ( looked brand new ) first trip out had a blow out, tires appeared to be in great shape, I am thinking I ran over something or started the day with low tire pressure possibly from a nail or something I picked up the day before? I Ordered a spare on line....quick and easy. Since then I have put several thousand trouble free miles on the dolly !!!. I tow a 2005 lexus es 330. steering wheel is free as long as I leave key in ignition. I put trans in park. And stop just before we leave neighbor hood to tighten the straps one last time. During the tire issue, Acme was there to answer any and all questions !!!! Great customer support !!!!

[Rich9592]

I own '17 Rav4 and Acme dolly. Josheldn - what was your final solution?