Best toads & flat tow vs dollie

[58Vette]

I have two questions, first, I'd like to hear opinions from those who have been towing a toad with their class A for awhile, is flat towing better than using a dollie, and if so why? We have a 31' 2017 Newmar Bay Star and have been flat towing an older Honda CRV that we used to previously haul w an older class A. I'm somewhat disappointed w the choice of towable vehicles, thus we are considering switching to using a dollie for being able to have more options on toads. We use the Blue Ox tow bar and brake system currently, is it true you don't need a brake system when using a dollie? Ok maybe I have 3 questions...if flat towing is the best way to go, what is the preferred toad? No complaints w our CRV to date but would like to hear from other RVers. Thanks for any info, this is a great site. Happy camping.

[ThomB]

We flat-tow a Mini Cooper Roadster S (6-speed manual). I'd bought a dolly when we had our automatic Mini but decided to go 4-down due to convenience. My reasoning was no matter what weather you need to spend about 30-45 minutes getting everything setup to dolly-tow. I can have my wife drive the car behind the RV and hook up 4-down in about 5 minutes and we are on our way. We have a 33' class-a coach and the Mini comes in at about 2600lbs. We're not using aux braking on the car (I know we should be) and have towed this past summer for 10K+ miles without incident.

[retired-guy]

I tow a 2015 Jeep Wrangler 4 door. Super simple to setup to tow. No fuse pulling or leaving keys in the ignition.

With a dollie, you will need to park it somewhere every time you use the toad.

The dollie should have electric brakes, I would think. For sure, a break away system of some sort.

[Waiter21]

Dolly - Offers more versatility, able to tow almost any FWD car. Little more difficulty in loading / unloading than 4 down. Great if you also run a company called "Dads towing and car repair"

4 down - initial cost higher, limited on what it can be towed, very easy to load / unload. Cost isn't realy transferable when you get a new toad.



ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS

We tow both 4 down and dolly. If we plan on unhitching the car for overnight stops, the 4 down is the way to go. There were many times when we pulled in for the night, and might like to hit a local restaurant, but decided not to because it was just to much pain unloading then loading the dolly.

[photopilot]

We towed our Prius on a dolly and the biggest pain is hooking up the safety chains and having to stop after a few miles to tighten the straps, though there have been posts on tips to getting the straps tight from the start. There is the issue of having to store the dolly somewhere. Our dolly had surge brakes with a break away cable- just one clip, so that was easier.

We bought a Ford C-Max because it can be towed 4-down and gets decent mileage as we are just snowbirds and only tow 4 months out of the year. Baseplate installation was straightforward (Roadmaster) and hooking up is easy. A little challenge getting the breakaway switch wire routed to the passenger compartment (I realized when I did my first air filter change that there is better access to the firewall with that removed- of course, after I did the install). If I did it again, I'd go with an Invisibrake or other system that doesn't require attaching a big box to the brake pedal, but space under the hood for brake away components is limited. I'd definitely get a proportional braking system. I bought a diode kit for the lights and a charger for the battery. You have to plug the supplemental brake device into the power port in the back as it's on all,the time, so I had to extend the power cable.

Lots of trade-offs. Just depends on what you want to spend!

Walt

[rk911]

we've been doing the RV thing since 1986 but didn't start towing until 2003 when we bought our first Jeep Wrangler. we looked into towing via a dolly but that would've been extra weight and a hassle at the parks and campgrounds plus hooking up and disconnecting from the MH would've taken longer and in wet or cold weather I didn't fancy dealing with the mud and cold ground.


flat towing adds virtually no weight to the hitch and takes just a few minutes to hook up and disconnect (once you get the hang of it). the list of flat-towable vehicles is a lot smaller than those than can be towed on a dolly. you'll likely spend less on a dolly than you will equipping to flat tow but I think the extra bucks are worth it.

[nothermark]

You will get a lot of full timers pushing flat tow. We don't because we do not want the small range of choices in vehicles. If we full timed we might. That leaves us dolly towing as it will handle any front drive vehicle we want for a daily driver. In general AWD and 4WD is an expensive overkill for the average NE snow country driver. They are the questionable dolly tows.

We dolly tow a Ford Escape with a 30 ft C. Dolly has brakes so no other braking system needed. Takes us around 10 minutes to set up. After she drives the car on to the dolly I put on the safety cables and baskets while she puts the mag lights on the rear roof and strings the wire inside. I run the wire under the hood and hook up to the MH with a bit of tape to keep the wires from flapping. I use a version of twinboats safety cables through the wheels so no reason go get flat on the ground.

At camp dolly stows under the back of the MH. Put a trailer hitch on the Escape so that I can maneuver the dolly with the towed in a non pull through site. Much easier. Also carry a come along in case I want it. We can usually roll it by hand if the space is more or less flat and level.

Sometimes we pull forward and hook up the dolly and car the night before if we expect rain or want a fast start. I try for a 45 deg angle or less on the dolly and car to minimize the turning circle to length of space in short back in sites.

[MSHappyCampers]

I would not use a tow dolly, period! Just too much trouble! We love our 2013 CRV!

[Winemaker2]

Originally Posted by Waiter21

4 down - initial cost higher, limited on what it can be towed, very easy to load / unload. Cost isn't realy transferable when you get a new toad.

My $0.02 is that most of the cost is transferable - tow bar & most brake systems - the 2 big purchases - you only need a new base plate ($300 - $400) but that's fairly reasonable and something many do themselves

Also you already know how 4 down works - borrow or rent a dolly for a trip and have real life experience. If you like your older CR-V you can upgrade to a newer 2014. We sold a '05 CR-V and recently upgraded to a '14 CR-V w/ 20,000 mi. Base Plate & LED wiring kit <$450

If none of the towables appeal to you the dolly may be the only option - if you do go that way just be sure what you are interested in a towable on a dolly - not everything is

[wildtoad]

First time towing when we got the MH/Toad in my signature. We went the 4 down route and have no regrets. Easy to hook and unhook. When you go 4 down you should be reconciled to keep that car for a while as it is expensive to prep a new vehicle unless you do the work yourself and you can reuse the base plate which is not likely. As mentioned by others dolly’s give you more options to tow without additional investment after the initial outlay for the dolly. But the flexibility comes with a more complex operation to hook/unhook/stow the dolly. Many don’t mind the extra work, I would.

[grizz_chaser]

Here is my take on it. We are full timers so we move around a lot.
We did four down with a Jeep Liberty but we also thought a dolly
would give us the freedom of having a larger selection of vehicles
to choose from. Bought a new dolly- new Ford Escape and got rid
of tow bars and other equipment. As far as I am concerned this was
a mistake. If I only had to hook up and unhook a couple times per year
it might be okay, but man handling the dolly definitely gets old quick.
Even with pull through sites you sometimes do not have the swing room
required so you have to unhook the dolly (unloaded of course) and then
the task of moving the dolly by hand in dirt on a slope or what ever.
As others have stated it takes longer to hook up or unhook the dolly
than four down, for my dolly I have to lay down on the ground to hook
up the safety chains. I'm going to lose my back side but I am looking
for another four down toad. We have done almost 6,000 miles since
may and the dolly did operate as needed, just not my idea of convenience.
I agree with the idea you might want to rent a dolly and try it out for
awhile and see how it'll work out for you.

[Mr_D]

Dolky requires braking in sonmme states and not others. But you must comply with the laws of the state you're in, laws of your home state mean nothing.

[JohnBoyToo]

Laying on the ground to hook up the dollies safety chains, etc...?
no way !


but to each his own !

[Davison206]

Originally Posted by nothermark

You will get a lot of full timers pushing flat tow. We don't because we do not want the small range of choices in vehicles. If we full timed we might. That leaves us dolly towing as it will handle any front drive vehicle we want for a daily driver. In general AWD and 4WD is an expensive overkill for the average NE snow country driver. They are the questionable dolly tows.

We dolly tow a Ford Escape with a 30 ft C. Dolly has brakes so no other braking system needed. Takes us around 10 minutes to set up. After she drives the car on to the dolly I put on the safety cables and baskets while she puts the mag lights on the rear roof and strings the wire inside. I run the wire under the hood and hook up to the MH with a bit of tape to keep the wires from flapping. I use a version of twinboats safety cables through the wheels so no reason go get flat on the ground.

At camp dolly stows under the back of the MH. Put a trailer hitch on the Escape so that I can maneuver the dolly with the towed in a non pull through site. Much easier. Also carry a come along in case I want it. We can usually roll it by hand if the space is more or less flat and level.

Sometimes we pull forward and hook up the dolly and car the night before if we expect rain or want a fast start. I try for a 45 deg angle or less on the dolly and car to minimize the turning circle to length of space in short back in sites.

How do you attach the safety cables, back or front of wheels?