Buying Tow Dolly - any brands good or bad?

[CountryB]

I'm ready to buy a Tow Dolly to tow our Lexus RX350 (which has a 4,180 lb curb weight and GVWR is 5,660 lbs).

Are there any brands that you recommend (or to stay away from)?
- or are they all pretty much the same?

I see "EZ-Tow" (the one that has the surge brakes) and rated for 4,985 curb weight and sells new for $1800.

And "Demco Kar Karry 3" (has hyd disc surge brakes) and rated for towing a 4,800lb vehicle. Sells for $3,600

[nothermark]

I think you found the problem. I don't think most are rated for over 5000 lbs. You will have to do some shopping to find one for the heavier vehicles. I think the main issue is tire size but bearings and axles count too.

That said, all the major brands seem to have sufficient supporters to think they all are fine. You can get a choice of brakes on many/most of them. Once you find a couple bring the question back and see what you get for further comments.

What you will find tied to cost is the various ways they handle steering. If you do not have a locking steering column any of them will do. If you have a locking column it either has to be unlocked to travel or you need a dolly with a rotating pan or self steering wheels to track the vehicle properly.

[Mr_D]

Towed a Honda Odyssey van loaded with our goods for cat shows on a Demco KK-460. Empty the Ody was at least 4,400#'s and the cargo another 500#'s. Never any trouble with the dolly, except for the factory defect fenders which the sent me new ones at no charge.
Dolly has surge brakes so no controller required.

[Kiawah]

There are different technologies, so you should become familiar with them, so you can figure out what you want, why you might want one more than another, and why some are cheaper than others.

For brakes they come either have: none, electric drum, or surge hydraulic. Legally anything over 2K in many states require brakes. Electric brakes require an electrical connection to the coach and a braking module in the RV. Surge brakes require nothing to hook up. Discs are better braking/stopping than drums. Discs are better than drums in overheating situations.

For turning, they come in a couple flavors as well.
- Pivot pan where the car is strapped to the pan, and the pan pivots as you go around a bend. Very easy on the toad.
- Steering wheels, where the wheels of the dolly turn, Adds complexity to the dolly. Very easy on the toad.
- nothing, where the wheels are strapped to the dolly, and the suspension of the car gets pulled expecting to move enough to go around the bends. Stressful for the toad.

In regards to steering wheels of the toad, a steering wheel will be locked or unlocked when the key is out. You need to check your car. A pivot pan means that the steering wheel can either be locked or unlocked, doesn't matter. I'm not sure about a dolly with steered wheels. For a dolly that has no pivoting, the toad steering wheel must be unlocked.

So you need to understand what type of steering wheel lock your car has to start, then understand it's weight. The gross weight of your vehicle doesn't matter, as that is the maximum weight your car is built to be able to carry with people and stuff in trunk. You care about it's actual weight; it's published dry weight, your fuel, and whatever else you carry.

The other things to concern yourself with are the loading ramps, and whether you have to disconnect them and store them, or permanently mounted. Whether your car can drive up without hitting a plastic air dam your car might have. Whether your car fits width wise on the dolly, and the safety chains and straps.

I bought a Stehl, pivot pan, surge disc brakes....and have been able to use it with different cars to tow, and have towed it with both an RV and Suburban. Very simple and easy to load/unload our toad (takes 5-10 minutes max), and we have 25K+ miles on it across the country. Oh yea, make sure the tires are real 14" tires so they don't have to spin faster than normal stressing the bearings.

[twinboat]

I have the same Stehl Tow dolly as Kiawah and agree 100% with what he said.

It has the 14" tires and surge, disk brakes. I checked the brakes at 27,000 miles and they are about 1/2 worn. With a heavier car, they will wear a bit faster.

I just arrived in a CG in central Arkansas from central New York, taking the scenic routes. Its tows like it isn't back there.

[CountryB]

I glad I posted - I didn't know about the "pivoting". So I will look for a Dolly that pivots so I don't need to leave the column unlocked.

PS. I'm not sure how the column locks or unlocks on the Lexus. It doesn't have a key - it uses a FOB and just has a Start Button. With a Steering Pivot Dolly I won't have to worry about that.

Thanks!

[lrsses]

Check out a two dolly from uhaul before buy one and make your choice after you that. American Two Dolly is built to haul a large SUV and I use one to tow My SR5 Tundra back wheels on the Dolly no issues electric brakes and it pivots as well.

[Waywards]

I've got 10K on my ACME. Tires look practically new. Bearings are sealed so I don't need to service them. The rims are smaller (12") but the claim that it stresses the bearings more than normal strikes me as speculation rather than fact.

The claim that the non-pivoting design stresses the toad is dubious considering that driving the car also requires making turns.

Pivot pans models have been known to damage toads because the fenders on the dolly can strike the toad during turns (can not will). Odd that that wasn't mentioned.

The unlocking of the steering wheel is another knock you'll hear. Detractors make it sound like it's rocket science to leave a key in the ignition in the off position (not accessory, just off). I had a dummy key made for $6. Many cars do not even have locking steering columns.

Models with attached ramps have been known to strike the toad damaging doors and fenders.

The other common knock you'll hear on ACME is that the detachable ramps require getting down on the ground and crawling under the car. I don't do either and I've had back and knee operations.

You'll also find questionable claims that a bolted frame is stronger than a welded frame, welded frames are cheaper than bolted frames and that the ACME is heavier than it's competitors.

Another plus for ACME is it can be stored vertically. I keep mine the garage out of the weather against the wall next to where I park my car.

Dubious assertions about abnormal bearing stress, toad stress and the "difficult" process of unlocking the steering column vs. a highly reduced possibility of damaging your toad due to fender and ramp strikes, stronger frame, better bearings, longer ramps (less likely the car will contact the dolly) and lower maintenance made the decision easy for me.

All this is to say that take what you read here with a grain of salt and do your own research.

[Sunny1]

I pull a Honda Accord using the Acme Eze tow dolly with hydraulic disc brakes. It works great for me. I'm sure the other ones work well also, but the things that sold me on the Eze tow was that it doesn't weigh so much, and isn't too difficult to move around by hand. Can be stored vertically if that's something you want to do, and has the removable ramps, which removes the possibility of damage to the car from the ramps striking underneath the doors.

Go on their website and watch the videos of it being demonstrated by the company.

[nothermark]

Few if any folks are saying it's complicated to unlock the steering column. It's just something to deal with. With the column locked and using a non steering dolly you are pulling the front wheels against a solid steering system. The issue then becomes what is the weakest link as the MH drags the front sideways in a turn. That is why it pays to find out what one needs and plan accordingly or just go with a dolly that pivots or steers.

The smaller the wheel size the more revolutions per mile thus the more stress on the bearings. Basic geometry. Read any bearing spec sheet about wear vs rotational speed rating. Also check how many rotations the bearing is rated for. Sealed bearings are like battery ratings. Most come close to rated life then die.

The bigger bearing issue is probably how well the driver adheres to the maximum rated speed for the dolly. If it says 55 don't do 75. Do a finger check of the hub temperature at every stop.

At least the Stehl tow has a solid limit to the pan turning angle so it will not catch any sheet metal unless the vehicle is too wide. Never had a problem with the one piece ramps. Would not go to two piece as it's just one more detail to mess with. If the ramp was too steep on the Stehl tow I would just slide a wood leveling ramp under the low end so the car went up one ramp then the other. Carry the leveling ramps anyway for the MH.

My dolly sits at the back if the pad with the MH rear end over the dolly tongue. Makes vertical storage moot. Too much extra in the garage now to want the dolly in there too. ;-)

Not sure where they all come from but the dolly world is filled with duplicates with different brands. They all more or less work when used as intended. That is why most of us don't try to justify brand x over y but will tell you what we run so you can compare.

[Kiawah]

The issue on smaller tires is exactly as indicated. Small tires have a smaller circumference, so the bearings have to spin faster for any given mph. Also if you ever have a flat with one of the smaller tires, it could be harder to find a spare out in the middle of nowhere. Of course you could always buy and carry a spare to eliminate that risk.

The issue on a pivot pan versus a fixed rack is a geometry issue. Since a pivot pan dolly is free to pivot, you can watch how a car naturally wants to track when being pulled around a bend. If you make a left turn, the left rear tires will track inside slightly, and the front right tire is pulled rearward off the centerline of the dolly axle axis. The right front pulls backward away from the dolly axle centerline, and the left front tire pushes forward of the dolly axle centerline. Now if that front right tire was strapped to a rack on the axis of the axle (instead of being able to pivot forward or backward), the car frame is pulling against the strapped tire suspension on the right, and pushing against the suspension on the left. Both the distance changes, and the angle of attack of the tires on the dolly change. The steering wheel and tires will have to turn (hence the need to have an unlocked steering wheel), but them turning does not change the fact that the distance is stressing the suspension. There is no fix for that distance issue, except to leave the straps looser rather than tighter, and hope that the tires will slide or move an inch or two each within the strap enclosure.

I initially was interested in buying a fixed frame dolly and looked carefully at it, even making a trip to the plant to inspect them. It's nice for storage upright, simple, pand the tires being small take up less room. On the other hand, I have 40 years of first hand knowledge owning a small trailer with 12" tires (and replacing bearings and even an axle), and one of my personal requirements were at least 14" tires. The suspension stresses were the deal killer (for me).

My post was just trying to highlight there are real technical differences between different dollies, and one should understand what those differences are and pick the model that makes the most sense for their situation. Not all dollies are equal, and you just don't blindly buy the cheapest one or the most expensive one either. I'm not brand loyal, as there are a number of companies making the different technologies.

[DenverTransplant]

We have an American Car Dolly. It’s a little heavier duty - 6500 pound rating and a pivoting pan. Comes with steel ramps which remove and ride on the dolly tongue, 14 inch wheels and electric brakes.

We pull a Mini Cooper S so capacity isn’t an issue for us. Experience has been very good. I use a Tekonsha controller. We originally got the dolly mounted controller, but found it to be very sensitive so I dug out the the controller we used to use when we had a trailer. I prefer the inside controller so I can turn down the gain on gravel or turn it off when I’m pulling just the dolly. Only Maintenace we’ve done is yearly bearing grease and brake adjustment - it’s got Dexter EZ-lube axles.

Price runs about $1700 but that includes delivery to your door. No packing material or assembly to do.

[ThePowells]

I guess another way to explain what Dave is saying is to take a car / dolly (pivoting pan) combination and with the tow vehicle, dolly and toad in a straight line, measure from a fixed point on the dolly (back edge of fender, back of tire) to a fixed point at the rear tire of the toad. Do this on both sides. Then move the tv and make a left turn and stop in the middle of the turn and measure again. This is the change in the wheelbase. You don't need the exact wheelbase, just the relative change. Since the front wheels are not turning (steer type turning), the turn is being facilitated by the wheelbase being changed.
There are a few other visuals I can conjure up to explain it. I have been thinking about which dolly and I like the Acme, but the additional stress onto a toilet paper suspension system (Prius) vs the additional weight of the pan isn't worth it.

[CountryB]

Thanks again for the helpful info.

So now I'm thinking I can make either style work - a pivoting type or a stationary frame type.

I'm looking first for used, so it may come down to what is out there. But second choice is new with price around $2000-2,500. At this point I don't see much need to spend more.

I will look for a model with surge brakes and larger tires and the capacity to tow a curb weight of 4,200 lbs or more (I won't be loading SUV to max GVWR) which means Dolly axle capacity of 3,000+ lbs.

Tne models that I am aware of now are (with hyd surge brakes):
EZ-Tow --- $1,930 w/spare
Demco --- $3,640
Stehl --- $1700 (surprisingly little details/specs on manufacturer's website)
American Tow --- ?
Acme ---?

I'm putting together a list of features/specs, price, etc.
Maybe one will stand out above the rest. But most likely I'll get whatever is for sale used in my area - unless nothing turns up used.