Community Forums

wheelsturnin · 01-07-2014, 12:00 PM

Has anyone towed a vehicle backward on a dolly and had problems. We want to dolly an Infiniti EX35 SUV. This is a rear wheel drive with auto trans. I contacted the manufacturer on how to tow and they recommended either flat bed or backwards with rear wheels up. I contacted a dolly manufacturer DEMCO, they advised against it because of the lack of weight in the rear could cause the steering mechanism not to work properly. Please give any advice on yeah or neah and recommendations on a dolly and the advantages of surge brakes vs electric.

As always, thank you to all for your assistance.

bdickson · 01-07-2014, 12:17 PM

I would not be comfortable towing a vehicle backwards on a dolly. The steering wheel would have to be locked or else the front wheels will caster off and lock up. I would think a flat bed trailer would be a much safer solution.

GaryKD · 01-07-2014, 02:07 PM

Hi wheelsturnin,
Back in the 80s I towed two different vehicles backwards. I do not remember what the dolly's manufacturer was. One vehicle was a Ford Pinto station wagon and the other vehicle was a Datsun B210. After several years of towing with this setup the vehicles were gone and I switched to 4 down with the next vehicle purchase. It was about 8 years total towing backwards. Never had a problem with the vehicles or with towing.

I still have a dolly (Kar Kaddy SS) to tow the wife's car (forward facing front wheel drive). I also tow 4 down with the GMC ENVOY XUV 4X4. The Kar Kaddy SS has surge brakes.

Gma-n-Gpa · 01-07-2014, 02:11 PM

Wheelsturnin,
A while back i towed a Ford Ranger backwards for a couple years behind a Class C on a Demco dolly. the Demco had "steerable" wheels and i locked the steering wheel on the Ranger - worked fine. Course i may have been so uninformed that i would not have been able to identify problems - who knows that is my experience

Brockx · 01-07-2014, 02:20 PM

Towing backwards on a Dolly should not be a problem, I was a wrecker driver for years and pulled backwards very frequently. However; I would not trust a locking steering column lock to do all the work, it may but I would not trust it. What we did was to loop a good piece of rope around the steering wheel and a spoke in the wheel, slam the driver door on the rope and then tie a large knot in the rope outside the door so it could not slip. Never a problem.