Need a tow dolly - which one is best

[Cooperhawk]

Originally Posted by chboone

I also feel the Kar Kaddy 460SS is the best dolly on the market. Expensive new yes. I bought my 2005 Kar Kaddy SS used a couple of years ago for $2,000.

We are on our second Demco. We sold the first when we sold the last coach. They are well made and I move ours around by myself quite often.

Demco Karkaddy 3 - Tow Dolly - With Surge Brakes-pplmotorhomes.com

Tow Dollies - Kar Kaddy SS-pplmotorhomes.com

[poriggity]

I too would look hard at Demco. I work in the moving truck rental business, and all of our rental tow dollies are Demco. They are very well made, and easy to manuever on and off the tow vehicle.

Scott

[WayneGD]

Take a look at Home | American Car Dolly

I am considering this one for my Prius.

[nothermark]

Originally Posted by Scarab0088

Hank,



Congrats on the smart decision to dolly tow. Your Prius will be happy, up high away from rock strikes and free of mileage on the car's lower driveline. And kudos to you for thinking about brakes for the tow...they are not required in many places, but smart and safer

For your Sprinter based RV, weight might be a consideration. Some dollys weigh-in at 800-1000lb. Be sure to check your hitch and/or RV placards for max towing capacity.

We have an EZE-Tow. It is so simple and easy to use with auto-adjusting disc surge brakes. And, at only about 400lb it does not impact the total towed weight very much.

The most important point to consider with the EZE-Tow is that the car's steering must be unlocked to allow turns - just like flat towing. This is because there is no pivot pan on the dolly to pivot for turns. No pivot pan means a much lower dolly weight.

Many new Toyota's have a keyless ignition, so if there is a steering lock on your Prius, (many now do not have steering locks), you will need to ID the steering lock fuse to disable the lock for towing.

There really are no really bad dolly's, but those with fixed ramps can hit the underside of a low slung car when passing over curb gutters in driveways.


Best luck

Good information but that driveway would give anything problems. I'd just hook up the car in the street. That beats the heck out of messing with the ramps every time. The Stehl tow in the picture is a nice setup. I like ours because I do not need to mess with the steering over.

[Steve N Sal]

We had the Demco Kar Kaddy SS. Don't think you can find a better dolly.

[Scarab0088]

Originally Posted by nothermark

Good information but that driveway would give anything problems. I'd just hook up the car in the street. That beats the heck out of messing with the ramps every time. The Stehl tow in the picture is a nice setup. I like ours because I do not need to mess with the steering over.

Strongly disagree with the statement that the driveway in the video would give any dolly problems...
The removable ramps is one of the reasons we have the dolly we have. And many other brand dollies have retractable ramps for this exact reason.

Going into many places like gas stations, Wal*Marts, and similar could take the RV/dolly/toad over a gutter curb. We would not want the requirement to drop the toad, just to stop for dinner...street parking is not always available.

Stehl makes a nice dolly, but if towing a low slung car, fixed ramps could be a problem,

Safe travels

[milasman]

Roadmaster 2000-1 since 2005, towed at least 12 different front wheel drive vehicles with no problems. Probably 50000 miles or so, replaced brakes once and tires once, somewhat heavy dolly (600+), but very well made and dependable. Not the cheapest, but it will last and hold much of its value.

[kysportsman]

Look around for a good used dolly, I just purchased a Demco kar kaddy 360 with serge brakes for $650 the owner was changing to towing 4 down.

[navcom48]

Have considered an Acme dolly to pull our VW beetle, but my concern is tongue weight. I have a long Class C and rear axle weight has to be factored into the load. Anybody got any idea what the tongue weights are like with the Acme?

[coupevilleDF]

Originally Posted by kysportsman

Look around for a good used dolly, I just purchased a Demco kar kaddy 360 with serge brakes for $650 the owner was changing to towing 4 down.

That's a good price. I'm hoping to get twice that for my SS. Also going 4 down with our new to us CRV.

[twinboat]

I also I have a long class C (30ft).

Most dollys place the toad weight, over the dolly tires, creating little tonuge weight.

I have never measured my dolly tongue weight, with the car loaded. Not sure how I would. The dolly tongue, without toad, weighs 25 lbs , maybe.

I can say, I don't see any lowering of my suspension, when loaded.

Maybe when I load up in the AM, I will measure the ground clearance, before and after.

[jondrew55]

Originally Posted by navcom48

Have considered an Acme dolly to pull our VW beetle, but my concern is tongue weight. I have a long Class C and rear axle weight has to be factored into the load. Anybody got any idea what the tongue weights are like with the Acme?

Your cars tires are directly over the dolly's wheel so the tongue weight should be minimal. I've used my Acme dolly to tow my Murano with my Tundra and there is virtually no sag on the rear of the truck. My excursion hardly knows it's there.

[normandlegra]

I've been driving motorhomes since 2001, toading 4 wheels down for 10 years and then on a dolly the last 4 years and that dolly business was a big mistake and a pain in the rear; I'm back toading on 4 wheels a Smart for two this summer and hopefully for the rest of my life.

[Timon]

What is the problem using a dolly other that it's not quite as quick to hook up?

Is it that big a deal that one would seriously limit the cars one could take with them or is it just a matter of preference.