Acme Eze-Tow On The Way

[affreeman]

I just ordered the Acme Eze-Tow tow dolly and hope to have it here and set-up in time to tow our 2013 Ford Edge behind the MH when we head to Maryland for Thanksgiving week.

I chose this dolly because I've heard good things about it here and elsewhere, and because it can be stored standing on end. Our motorhome ives in an enclosed storage facility and my plan is to store it standing on end up against the wall, then pul the RV up to it. That will keep it out of the way and at least make it a bit inconvenient to steal.

Hopefully in a couple of weeks I can report that it all worked out great.

[Scarab0088]

CONGRATS!!

We have an EZE Tow and have towed several front wheel drive SUV's over 15,000 miles with no issues.

About storage...yes, standing up against the wall in storage is very easy. But since your RV is a gasser, you could also park over the dolly with it under the rear overhang...lock it with chain from the dolly frame to the RV's hitch(?).

Either way is great and we have done both. It is very easy to roll around unloaded.

Safe travels

[Snowman9000]

I also have one. As Scarab says, it will fit under the rear of the MH.

[vettenuts]

Careful standing up, the brake fluid can leak out. I know some store it that way but some have also had leakage.

[Dennis Dean]

I too have the EZE Tow Dolly, have had no problems towing my Elantra. I usually just store under the rear overhang or lock it to a post beside the coach. It is easy to move by hand.

[hdzcar]

Mine is stored in my garage upright and has never leaked any brake fluid.

[rgvtexan]

Why did you choose to dolly rather than flat tow? Just curious.

[Scarab0088]

Originally Posted by rgvtexan

Why did you choose to dolly rather than flat tow? Just curious.

First and foremost is there's no need to buy, register, and insure a dedicated flat-towable car...of which fewer and fewer new cars are safe to flat-tow.

Safety benefits:
~No permanent modifications to the toad (mechanical or electrical) especially in the critical impact/crumple zone of the car,
~Reduced risk from rock strikes w/ car riding up-high on the dolly,
~Built-in brakes with brake-away device easily available on the dolly.

Financial benefits:
~No mileage accrued on the Toad's lower drive-line,
~No explanations about the hidden miles and front fascia cut-outs at car resale,
~Painless to swap cars at-will with any front wheel drive auto.
~In a new-new or used-used comparison, a dolly is typically less expensive than the full suite to flat tow (if you use supplemental braking*).

The "it's so much harder to load - unload" argument is easy to overcome with just a little practice.

*Hope everyone uses supplemental braking - not required in many places, but obviously smart and safer.

Safe travels

[Longmire]

I picked my Acme dolly up at the factory in North Carolina last week and towed it home to Alabama with my Jeep Cherokee front wheel drive (the tow vehicle that will become the towed). To be honest, I expected to drive up, sign the paperwork and leave. Instead, one of the employees of Acme showed me how to set up the dolly and explained all of the features- excellent customer service, very friendly and professional. I made it home with no problems at all and am impressed with the construction quality of the dolly. As several people have mentioned earlier, the dolly is very easy to move around when disconnected and has a handle welded onto the side of the tongue. We are going to North Georgia this weekend for our first road trip with the Cherokee on it, wish us luck!

[affreeman]

Originally Posted by rgvtexan

Why did you choose to dolly rather than flat tow? Just curious.

We have 2 cars; a Dodge Grand Caravan which cannot be flat towed and a Ford Edge which could but which seems to be a pain to set up for flat towing.

For the Edge, most of the front end needs to be disassembled to install the base plate. It has to be towed with the ignition in the accessory position, which creates issues with battery drain.

And then there's the added expense. Tow bar and braking system and installation is significantly more than the cost of the tow dolly. And then when we change cars we'd have to spend it all over again to set up the new car.

So we chose the tow dolly. Cheaper and gives us flexibility on which car we take with us for any particular trip.

[Dennis Dean]

Originally Posted by Scarab0088

First and foremost is there's no need to buy, register, and insure a dedicated flat-towable car...of which fewer and fewer new cars are safe to flat-tow.

Safety benefits:
~No permanent modifications to the toad (mechanical or electrical) especially in the critical impact/crumple zone of the car,
~Reduced risk from rock strikes w/ car riding up-high on the dolly,
~Built-in brakes with brake-away device easily available on the dolly.

Financial benefits:
~No mileage accrued on the Toad's lower drive-line,
~No explanations about the hidden miles and front fascia cut-outs at car resale,
~Painless to swap cars at-will with any front wheel drive auto.
~In a new-new or used-used comparison, a dolly is typically less expensive than the full suite to flat tow (if you use supplemental braking*).

The "it's so much harder to load - unload" argument is easy to overcome with just a little practice.

*Hope everyone uses supplemental braking - not required in many places, but obviously smart and safer.

Safe travels

excellent post Scarab..... I think after over a year of my dolly i see no reason to go Flat. Load and Unload is not really an issue and if i am in a position that i need to do it because i got myself in a bad predicament, well rushing probably wont help.

[Snowman9000]

It just seems to be that fewer and fewer vehicles are flat towable any more. That's why I decided to get the dolly.

There are hassles with a dolly. But with a flat tow, depending on the vehicle: worrying about the transmission, getting the braking system set, starting and idling the car some time during the day, disconnecting batteries, going through 12 step sequences to get everything set, bah.

If we do buy something to flat tow, it's going to be something with no special pre-tow needs. And I don't think there are many choices. And probably none if you want a small car?

[affreeman]

The dolly arrived yesterday and I got it uncrated and assembled, but ran out of time to get the tow straps set-up and actually test it out (DW wanted to get home and have dinner).

Today we hooked the dolly up to the RV and loaded the car onto it. The Ford Edge is about as wide a car as will fit on the Eze-Tow. We strapped it down and I did a loop around the back of the storage lot parking lot, stopped and there was a lot of slack in the wheel straps so tightened them up again. Then we took it for a 10 mile drive.

The Edge is a fairly heavy car at ~4300 lbs. Add in 380 lbs (I think) for the dolly and it's a fair amount of weight added to the motorhome, and it definitely made itself felt when accelerating away from a stop or when going uphill.

All in all I'm quite happy with the dolly. I'm going to adjust the way the straps fit a bit before we put it to a real test next weekend and drive down to DC.

While strapping the car down to the dolly I noticed that I really need to buy new tires for the car. Yikes!

[Scarab0088]

Allen,
Even after many years of use, we still stop to tighten the straps on our EZE-Tow after making a good left and right turn...things always settle.

The only other "tricks" we do are:
-Ramps and spare are in a locking bin to prevent theft.
-Safety chains from the dolly frame to the toad/car are loose, but not too loose.
-The dolly easily slides under our RV when unloaded to store out of the way.
-When driving at night, the dolly lights are 50 State and CN approved minimums for brake/turn -and- we turn-on the toad's parking lights to show the corners of our set-up (corner marker lights required in CA).

Safe travels