Tow dolly in my future?

[purrin along]

Originally Posted by Kenc1325

I am considering on going to a dolly instead of flat towing. A little concerned about getting in and out of rv sites the backing in type. Are they hard to handle if you have to man handle it. We presently tow a 2013 MKX and considering on trading in and not sure which way to go . Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks
Ken 2013 Tuscany xte 2013 mkx

My coach is small so a lot of campgrounds have me back in.I have a master tow
dolly that I just unhook and move around with no problem.When I'am at home
I use a two wheel dolly to move the car dolly around. If the day comes that
it feels to heavy, I will take the two wheel with us.

[quad80]

Originally Posted by twinboat

If that MH was turning right or left, out of the driveway, instead of heading for the neighbors front lawn, that may not have happened.
It seems totally staged..

The vehicle in video is a modified wheelchair van. The floor has been dropped to accommodate a wheelchair. I have the same vehicle for my chair. This is why I use bought the Tow-EZE so it would not bust out ground effects due to low ground clearance behind front wheels. So far over 5000 miles towing with no issues. I am considering the 12in rims/tires.

[quad80]

For my dolly I had a friend install wheel/jack from tractor supply to tongue. This makes it easier than lifting tongue.

[vettenuts]

Originally Posted by quad80

For my dolly I had a friend install wheel/jack from tractor supply to tongue. This makes it easier than lifting tongue.

Just be careful you don't pinch your brake lines with the clamp of the jack.

[Americanrascal]

Kenc1325- I disconnect our American Car Dolly after unloading the car at a back in site. Often we try to drop the car after entering the campground but before arriving at the camp site, then move to the site to avoid creating a traffic jam at the camp site.

For back in sites, I then easily disconnect the hitch, lift the dolly off (40-50 lbs) then roll it to the rear of the site by hand. Once there my wife watches as I back over the majority of the dolly, watching to make sure we have no contact between the dolly and moho. Works great, plenty of room, and only the wheels remain uncovered by the rear of our motorhome.

If you believe your dolly tongue is a bit too heavy you can use a tongue dolly to place under the dolly hitch and roll it more easily. I use one of those around the house when not using the dolly. For the short distances at a camp site though I leave the tongue dolly at home and just roll it into the site by hand.

Most of the time when we only make an overnight stop we seek out pull through sites to make disconnecting unnecessary

[nothermark]

Usually we move the dolly by hand. If not we have a hitch on the car that will usually do the job. If that fails I also carry a comealong and tow strap. The strap is better if you have to go around a tree as well as giving me more length to an anchor point.

[affreeman]

Originally Posted by quad80

For my dolly I had a friend install wheel/jack from tractor supply to tongue. This makes it easier than lifting tongue.

That's installed right where the ramps get stored, isn't it?

[affreeman]

Originally Posted by Americanrascal

For back in sites, I then easily disconnect the hitch, lift the dolly off (40-50 lbs) then roll it to the rear of the site by hand. Once there my wife watches as I back over the majority of the dolly, watching to make sure we have no contact between the dolly and moho. Works great, plenty of room, and only the wheels remain uncovered by the rear of our motorhome.

+1 That's what we do as well.

[mikeezezez]

I have an eze tow also. I have only pulled my toyota camry around a little bit with my f150 ford but it seems to be just fine. I have a new pace arrow 38k that we will be picking up the 24th.
The dolly should do fine behind the new coach.
We went with eze tow for price, ease, and most of all surge disk brakes.
I talked to two people in person about a dolly that were swivel units and they liked the ones they had. That being said both people had dents in the doors of there cars from the fenders of there dolly. After seeing that I made the decision to buy the eze tow.
Mike

[quad80]

Originally Posted by affreeman

That's installed right where the ramps get stored, isn't it?

Yes, you loose the ability to store ramps on dolly. We just store in back of minivan. It is a trade off, but seems worth it for our situation.

[Kenc1325]

Originally Posted by purrin along

My coach is small so a lot of campgrounds have me back in.I have a master tow
dolly that I just unhook and move around with no problem.When I'am at home
I use a two wheel dolly to move the car dolly around. If the day comes that
it feels to heavy, I will take the two wheel with us.

Thanks for the reply i like the idea of a dolly instead of getting another plate installed every time you trade in your vechicle. We have been in some pretty tight spots . If you have the room i guess you could back it in .

[Kenc1325]

Originally Posted by Americanrascal

Kenc1325- I disconnect our American Car Dolly after unloading the car at a back in site. Often we try to drop the car after entering the campground but before arriving at the camp site, then move to the site to avoid creating a traffic jam at the camp site.

For back in sites, I then easily disconnect the hitch, lift the dolly off (40-50 lbs) then roll it to the rear of the site by hand. Once there my wife watches as I back over the majority of the dolly, watching to make sure we have no contact between the dolly and moho. Works great, plenty of room, and only the wheels remain uncovered by the rear of our motorhome.

If you believe your dolly tongue is a bit too heavy you can use a tongue dolly to place under the dolly hitch and roll it more easily. I use one of those around the house when not using the dolly. For the short distances at a camp site though I leave the tongue dolly at home and just roll it into the site by hand.

Most of the time when we only make an overnight stop we seek out pull through sites to make disconnecting unnecessary

Thanks Joe for the reply is a tongue dolly the same as what you would have on a boat trailer . Would you say that it is a better way to go than flat towing. I like the idea of not having to worry about trading in your vehicle and going through the cost of installing a plate each time and the wiring as well.

[twinboat]

I picked up a caster wheel and U bolts from Tractor Supply.

I bolted the caster just behind the surge brake actuator. It keeps the tongue just off the ground.

I drop the dolly off the ball and the DW and I each push on a fender to steer it around. No lifting and dragging. It does take a bit of coordination between us.

[Americanrascal]

Originally Posted by Kenc1325

Thanks Joe for the reply is a tongue dolly the same as what you would have on a boat trailer . Would you say that it is a better way to go than flat towing. I like the idea of not having to worry about trading in your vehicle and going through the cost of installing a plate each time and the wiring as well.

I may be using the wrong terminology but I have attached a pic of the small dolly with wheels that I attach to the hitch of the American Car Dolly around the house. I don't really need it but its handy and makes movement faster and easier around the house. We don't take it when camping (I could I guess its light and small). When I use a back in site I can fairly easily lift the dolly by its handle on the tongue and roll it easily to the rear of the site.

I have backed it on occasion when attached to the rig, but you have to be patient , slow (and REAL good) to pull that off. Its easier for me just to roll it into position by hand.

I picked my little trailer mover gizmo up at a place here whose name rhymes with Harbor Freight, but I've seen them elsewhere also.

I have towed both ways flat- from 1989 to 1995, and then on a dolly for the past 3-4 years. I had a bad experience towing 4 down and liked to have had a major accident because of the way my tow and toad was set up. I may not ever tow 4 down again.

My experience is that our hook up time 4 down vs dolly- is nearly the same. I'd give 2-5 minutes advantage to 4 down, but I'm not running a race. The DW and I have gotten pretty slick though and have fun timing ourselves ( a-la- pit crew style) when loading up and we make a fast and good team. Usually 8 minutes is a bad loading day LOL. I tend to go a bit extra on tie downs and chain my vehicle front wheels to the dolly in addition to strapping the wheels. Not totally needed but it gives me some peace of mind.

I've towed on a dolly from Georgia to Montana and back; and also from Georgia to Anchorage and back on some pretty tough roads. I still come down on the side of dolly towing.

I like the way the dolly sets up and keeps the front of the car lifted upwards slightly. In the past 3-4 years in all this cross country towing I've not had one rock ding to the car---- and I probably should have had some bad dings considering where I have been. But I have literally worn the paint off the dolly from rocks and road debris thrown by the motorhome and just finished repainting it. If I had been 4 down all that damage would have been to the toad grill and front end without substantial protection.

Cost has been a significant issue to us. When I added it all up I just could not beat the price on a good new tow dolly . The DW insisted on a front wheel drive automatic sedan (we tow a Focus)

I read in a response that some had experience side damage to the car from a pan dolly in turns? I have had no damage to my sides and mine centers up on the dolly well and the pan has limiters from allowing too much swing that would cause such a problem.

There isn't a right or wrong answer in choosing here. You just have to find your comfort level, budget, vehicle type and set up that fits your bill.

You are asking the right questions and thinking it through well.