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03-10-2018, 10:29 PM
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#15
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 35,349
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rockriver
no preference yet..
but a question.
you are pulling your toad on a dolly.
you come to a great big steep hill and you have a gasser.
you decided to just drive the toad up and down the hill so you take it off the dolly..
what do you do with the 400 # dolly?
pull it empty up and down the hill behind the mh?
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Strange question, but sure you can pull the empty dolly up a hill. It doesn't need a car on it for that.
My dolly says not to tow over 200 miles, empty. If I need to tow it long distance, I drop the air pressure in the tires to 15 psi. That takes the bounce out of it.
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03-11-2018, 11:26 AM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 3,009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rockriver
no preference yet..
but a question.
you are pulling your toad on a dolly.
you come to a great big steep hill and you have a gasser.
you decided to just drive the toad up and down the hill so you take it off the dolly..
what do you do with the 400 # dolly?
pull it empty up and down the hill behind the mh?
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Our present travel style is to work our way cross country stopping at interesting places or near friends houses whom we want to visit. When we stop we take the toad off the dolly and do day trips up to 100-150 miles round-trip in the toad.
If our next stop isn't more than about an hour away we usually don't bother putting the toad back on the dolly and my DW drives it while the coach pulls the empty dolly. We do the same drill in the mountains. Our DP can pull the toad fine but I have a motorcycle right behind my radiator interfering very slightly with cooling airflow. We sometimes camp above 9,000 feet in the Rockies. Better safe than sorry.
I added a Class I hitch and receiver to the toad and we can and do tow the empty dolly with it. My DW sometimes doesn't have the necessary lane discipline forgetting that the dolly is the legal maximum width of 102 inches wide and one needs to stay centered in their lane to keep the dolly wheels between the white lines. She's bagged a couple of cones and the right side tire spends some time on the shoulder and beyond.[emoji32]
__________________
2005 Monaco Knight 40PLQ; Cummins 8.3L ISC330, Pacbrake, Allison 3000, Roadmaster RR8R, ScanGauge D, 2004 Kawasaki Vulcan VN750(Geezer Glide) on a Versahaul carrier pulling a 2013 Kia Soul+; 2.0L, 6 speed Sport shifter(great car) on an American Car Dolly(great dolly.)
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03-11-2018, 11:41 AM
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#17
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 35,349
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FL420
She's bagged a couple of cones and the right side tire spends some time on the shoulder and beyond.[emoji32]
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Better cones then flag men [emoji32]
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03-11-2018, 03:17 PM
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#18
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 3,009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by twinboat
Better cones then flag men [emoji32]
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Amen or in other words, tru dat[emoji6]
__________________
2005 Monaco Knight 40PLQ; Cummins 8.3L ISC330, Pacbrake, Allison 3000, Roadmaster RR8R, ScanGauge D, 2004 Kawasaki Vulcan VN750(Geezer Glide) on a Versahaul carrier pulling a 2013 Kia Soul+; 2.0L, 6 speed Sport shifter(great car) on an American Car Dolly(great dolly.)
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03-13-2018, 06:26 AM
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#19
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Senior Member
Winnebago Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: West Georgia
Posts: 1,001
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Quote:
Originally Posted by allis1952
I have been researching car dollies for a while and need help making a decision on which one to purchase. I'm kind of liking the American car dolly made in Colorado. I'll be towing a Nissan Sentra with our 35' Class A Airstream Land Yacht. Never towed before. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
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We've now been towing an American Car Dolly for 5 years. Probably up to about 50,000 miles of travel. From Georgia to Alaska and back, numerous 1K trips to FL and back, up and down the east coast, and 3 trips to the west coast.
Many more miles to come.
Its been great for us. We tow a 2007 Ford Ranger or a 2008 Ford Focus depending on our mood. Both tow very well behind our rig.
I do my own maintenance. I'm kinda fanatical about checking and caring for brakes and bearings, yet have never found any problems (I worry too much).
The DW and I play pit crew loading the toad on the dolly always trying to beat our best time of 8 minutes. We get a hoot outta beating someone hooking up parked next to us that tow 4 down. Can't laugh too much- we used to tow 4 down but love towing with the dolly much better.
__________________
Joe a/k/a "Americanrascal"
2016 Winnebago Adventurer 38Q +tow dolly
8th RV to sit in our driveway in 40 years
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03-13-2018, 01:29 PM
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#20
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 36
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I am interested in the American for towing my 2017 VW beetle. Do you think it would be low enough, and work ok?
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03-13-2018, 02:14 PM
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#21
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 3,009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cassiesam
I am interested in the American for towing my 2017 VW beetle. Do you think it would be low enough, and work ok?
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Our Kia Soul Plus has 16" wheels and Edmunds says it has 6.5" of ground clearance. Edmunds says your VW comes with 16" or 17" wheels and has 5.7" of ground clearance.
Unless someone chimes in who has towed their Beetle with the same size wheels on this dolly your best bet is to call the designer/builder/owner Gary at 970-380-3305.
__________________
2005 Monaco Knight 40PLQ; Cummins 8.3L ISC330, Pacbrake, Allison 3000, Roadmaster RR8R, ScanGauge D, 2004 Kawasaki Vulcan VN750(Geezer Glide) on a Versahaul carrier pulling a 2013 Kia Soul+; 2.0L, 6 speed Sport shifter(great car) on an American Car Dolly(great dolly.)
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03-13-2018, 10:43 PM
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#22
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Western Montana
Posts: 972
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cassiesam
I am interested in the American for towing my 2017 VW beetle. Do you think it would be low enough, and work ok?
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My Sonic RS hatchback has about 5 inches of clearance - I use a 5.5 inch drop hitch on my Coachmen Prism 24g to lower the hitch height on my ACME EZE Tow dolly to about 13 inches - any higher and the front air dam hits. Sorry I can't provide info on the American Dolly and clearances but I would suspect the key to loading a low(er) clearance car is to get the front of the dolly closer to the ground.
__________________
Mike & JoAnne
Montana Summer / Arizona Winter
'16 Prism 24G / '02 HitchHiker 38 LKTG
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03-14-2018, 05:16 AM
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#23
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Senior Member
Winnebago Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: West Georgia
Posts: 1,001
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cassiesam
I am interested in the American for towing my 2017 VW beetle. Do you think it would be low enough, and work ok?
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Our Focus sits VERY low and while I have not measured the difference it seems to be lower than the VW Bug we had a while back. The Focus does fine- and we took it up the Alaska Hiway on several dozen miles of some pretty rough and uneven road with no problems.
The pan and axle on the dolly are very low to the ground thus keeping the car at a very slight angle to the road on the dolly.
__________________
Joe a/k/a "Americanrascal"
2016 Winnebago Adventurer 38Q +tow dolly
8th RV to sit in our driveway in 40 years
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03-14-2018, 10:51 PM
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#24
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Senior Member
Thor Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Denver
Posts: 164
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cassiesam
I am interested in the American for towing my 2017 VW beetle. Do you think it would be low enough, and work ok?
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Our Mini is the perverbial ‘two tacos high” (extra points for where the quote comes from) and it works very well on the American Car Dolly. The removable ramps have a lot to do with it. I do have to be a bit careful to not approach from uphill or the front air dam can scrape on the way up. I’ve found that a 2x6 just in front of the ramp end helps a lot in that situation
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03-15-2018, 08:03 AM
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#25
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Lake Camanche, CA
Posts: 404
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Anyone have the American Dolly EZ Brake control for your dolly and if so is it mounted on your tow vehicle or dolly? Is it worth buying?
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03-16-2018, 04:03 AM
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#26
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Senior Member
Winnebago Owners Club Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: West Georgia
Posts: 1,001
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Seon
Anyone have the American Dolly EZ Brake control for your dolly and if so is it mounted on your tow vehicle or dolly? Is it worth buying?
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Yes ours has one installed and it works well. It's mounted on the dolly and saves a whole lot of wiring effort to install a controller in the motorhome. It connects to the motorhome with a typical male 4 pin trailer wire plug. I use and adapter to convert to the 7 pin on the rig. Its activated when the brake lights are activated by pressing the brake pedal on the motorhome which sends power to the motorhome brake lights and thus signals the brake controller to activate on the dolly . Sweet system. You don't use the dolly brakes (there is a switch) when the dolly is empty as its so light and would otherwise lock up the brakes.
For safety and legal benefit we added a break away switch and battery which took all of 15 minutes to install and connect.
__________________
Joe a/k/a "Americanrascal"
2016 Winnebago Adventurer 38Q +tow dolly
8th RV to sit in our driveway in 40 years
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03-16-2018, 12:57 PM
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#27
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 599
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I bought the EZ brake system and did not work for me. It is too agreesive. I tried different adjustments with no luck. I talked with the factory and got no where with their recommendations. Some people say it the car needs to be heavy to work well. My Patriot did not work. I put it aside and connected to a Tekonsha. No problem. If you want mine, you can have at half the cost. Just PM me.
__________________
2016 Leprechaun 311 FS
Enjoying retirement
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03-16-2018, 12:58 PM
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#28
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 599
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Another thing on the EZ brake. It is a delay system vs a proportional one. Big difference. Google it and you will learn a lot.
__________________
2016 Leprechaun 311 FS
Enjoying retirement
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