Dolly to Toad Safety Chain

[barmcd]

For you guys that are strapping and safety chaining your toad to your dolly--how are you connecting the safety chains to the dolly and where on the toad are you connecting the other end?

[HR2004]

our Stehl tow dolly came with the chains attached to the massive tray that front wheels sit on and under our Sonata is one tie down eyelet in the center of the car behind the front bumper.. and our Toyota celica gt has two tie down eyes, one on each side behind the front bumper.. I added two spring loaded 4k lb hooks to my chains to make it easy to hook and unhook

[barmcd]

Originally Posted by HR2004

our Stehl tow dolly came with the chains attached to the massive tray that front wheels sit on and under our Sonata is one tie down eyelet in the center of the car behind the front bumper.. and our Toyota celica gt has two tie down eyes, one on each side behind the front bumper.. I added two spring loaded 4k lb hooks to my chains to make it easy to hook and unhook

Thanks for the info. Were the chains attached to some kind of hook on the dolly or was it bolted to the dolly?

[twinboat]

I took the chains off, bought 3/8", vinyl coated cable with eyes in the ends.

I cut the cable and clamped the cut end to the outside of the turn table.

I push the loop end of the cable thru a slot in the toad wheel and hook the loop to a snap hook, in the hole where the chain used to be.

The stick in the middle is for photo purposes.

[HR2004]

they are bolted to the tray.. I suppose if I needed longer chains they could be removed and replaced.

[Dennis Dean]

Since you don't mention what type of dolly you are asking about...... I have the EZE tow, it has slots the safety chains go into. On mine and I read this in another thread, I use two heavy duty zip ties to secure the safety chains to the slot so they couldn't accidently slip out and I lose them. For my Elantra, there are two holes in the front frame I slip the chains thru and secure the car that way. Since the chains are an emergency for if the straps broke or the dolly came off, I am comfortable with the setup. Its the only thing about Dolly tow I dislike, but I have a heavy rubber mat I carry to throw down when I go under to hook them up. It only takes a minute so not that big a deal and Yes I can't count how many times I have hooked up in the rain or on gravel/dirt. The Mat is great to have. I still am happy with dolly towing and do not want to buy another vehicle and all the stuff to flat tow.

[barmcd]

Originally Posted by twinboat

I took the chains off, bought 3/8", vinyl coated cable with eyes in the ends.

I cut the cable and clamped the cut end to the outside of the turn table.

I push the loop end of the cable thru a slot in the toad wheel and hook the loop to a snap hook, in the hole where the chain used to be.

The stick in the middle is for photo purposes.

I'm looking to do something similar. I bought two five thousand pound vinyl coated chains with hooks on either end. I'm thinking of just slipping the chain through the wheel and hooking each end to that bar in front of the pan.

[barmcd]

Originally Posted by Dennis Dean

Since you don't mention what type of dolly you are asking about...... I have the EZE tow, it has slots the safety chains go into. On mine and I read this in another thread, I use two heavy duty zip ties to secure the safety chains to the slot so they couldn't accidently slip out and I lose them. For my Elantra, there are two holes in the front frame I slip the chains thru and secure the car that way. Since the chains are an emergency for if the straps broke or the dolly came off, I am comfortable with the setup. Its the only thing about Dolly tow I dislike, but I have a heavy rubber mat I carry to throw down when I go under to hook them up. It only takes a minute so not that big a deal and Yes I can't count how many times I have hooked up in the rain or on gravel/dirt. The Mat is great to have. I still am happy with dolly towing and do not want to buy another vehicle and all the stuff to flat tow.

I have a master tow, but I haven't seen a picture of one with toad safety chains. I'm trying to decide if I want to permanently mount the chains or just hook it to the bar on front of the pan.

Hooking up isn't that big a deal, but didn't realize how much I knelt on the ground until I did it in the rain.

[nothermark]

I also use a Stehl tow. Instead of the cable through the wheel I use a pair of 4 ft safety chains that I hook into a quick link on the square bar the ratchet mounts to:

Attwood 3/8 in. x 3-1/4 in. Stainless Steel Quick Link-12889L3 - The Home Depot

The chain runs over the lower A arm and back to the link.

[Scarab0088]

Our dolly came with 2 lose chains as part of the set-up. The chains have hooks on the ends of both. We put the hooks into the hard-point loops under the bumper and loop the chains down around the dolly frame.


When we towed other cars without the hoops, I have gone around the frame at the front of the car.
For those cars, if it was a routine toad, I would have added a loop of chain or steel cable with a "D' ring to loop around the front frame, cut/mounted to slightly hang down for easy chain access (to avoid getting under the car when loading/unloading).

The main idea is to prevent the car from leaving the dolly in the case of a strap failure (not too loose) while allowing the car free movement on the dolly as designed (not too tight).

I would NEVER attach the safety chain to a suspension piece for risk of damaging that piece. Modern cars relay on all the suspension parts working together for strength. The single pieces of the system could easily be tweaked if hit with the weight of the car in a mishap...but that is just my opinion.

Best luck

[nothermark]

FWIW the problem with a lot of cars is that there is no hard point to use as an anchor. All that leaves is suspension.

[barmcd]

Originally Posted by nothermark

FWIW the problem with a lot of cars is that there is no hard point to use as an anchor. All that leaves is suspension.

Our Cherokee is pretty much plastic from the windshield forward so there's nothing to hook a chain too. I can't even find a place to tie the front end of a kayak to. There is no access to anything under the front end of the car--first the bumper cover extends back about 12" under vehicle, then there is another plastic cover behind that. You have about as much access to the bottom of the car as you have to the engine from the top. That's why I thought running the chain through the wheels was the way to go.

[Waiter21]

Acme dolly towing a Camry.

On my Camry, there is a large hole in the lower control arm. I feed one end of the chain through that hole, loop the other end under the Acme frame member, and then connect the two ends of the chain together with a large "J" hook. The chain is basically hanging from the Camry, but is looped around the Acme frame.

The chain hangs about 2 inches below the Dolly and has enough slack in it so it will not bind in turns.

(I need to get a photo of this next time I hook up)

[jleamo1]

When we dolly towed I had a Ford Fusion, all of the front under side was covered by plastic. I had to lay on the ground and slide under, loop around the control arms which were tucked up pretty tight. Chains were bolted to the dolly frame, it was a Demco Kar Kaddy.