Four wheel down or aluminum car hauler trailer?

[Brakeman48]

Need some advice from you all. I'm debating four down which means I need to buy another vehicle, all the tow equipment, tow bar, auto brakes, base plate , etc. or aluminum car trailer. so if I bought a used $5000 vehicle plus tow stuff I am at $7000 minimum plus annual insurance, maintenance and tags. OR, buy an aluminum car hauler trailer with brakes for $4000. Trailer weighs 1240 lbs and Chrysler 300S weighs 3900 for a total weight of 5300 with full fuel, etc. I would be pulling with a 2016 Thor Hurricane 35C with V10 gas motor.

Your thoughts???

[suenmike]

Brakeman, I will be watching this post closely, we have a KIA and it can not be towed. We are leaning towards the aluminum trailer with surge brakes
Seems like this would be the cheapest way for us to go, without buying another car.

[gmc]

Originally Posted by Brakeman48

Need some advice from you all. I'm debating four down which means I need to buy another vehicle, all the tow equipment, tow bar, auto brakes, base plate , etc. or aluminum car trailer. so if I bought a used $5000 vehicle plus tow stuff I am at $7000 minimum plus annual insurance, maintenance and tags. OR, buy an aluminum car hauler trailer with brakes for $4000. Trailer weighs 1240 lbs and Chrysler 300S weighs 3900 for a total weight of 5300 with full fuel, etc. I would be pulling with a 2016 Thor Hurricane 35C with V10 gas motor.

Your thoughts???

First is to weigh your coach fully loaded and be sure you have the towing capacity you are thinking... And the additional tongue weight...
I expect 5300 will be a tight fit... But does depend on what you carry.

If both are viable, then really a personal preference choice.
Do you want to deal with loading on trailer and storing trailer ( home and campground) or pay more for the flat tow??

[schreinertms]

I have flat towed two vehicles and also used a tow dolly and at this point I prefer the tow dolly. The main reason is that flat towing is too specific to the vehicle to be towed. Baseplate, a braking system, wiring for lights, etc. Granted you can move the braking system and wiring to another vehicle but that might come with much work. I recently sold my Saturn Aura that was all set to flat tow and left the baseplate on it because of all the work involved in removing it (basically have to remove the front end to remove the baseplate). A tow dolly can be used with any front wheel vehicle and already has brakes (surge or electric) and lights attached to the dolly. Also I can use the dolly to transport vehicles non RV related (also have a pickup truck). When I decide to no longer RV, I can sell the tow dolly. The bottom line, investment in flat towing is a greater expense (limited to one vehicle) than tow dolly towing (multiple uses). As far as which option is easier to hook up when its time to tow, that is very subjective. I have done both so I find them equal as far as "work" to setup.

[captmetal]

forget the trailer, get a new car if you need 4 wheels down,

the trailer will have a tongue weight and with the long overhang of a m/h it would make for tricky driving, your load is going to be higher off the ground,

so 4 wheel down will be safer and a shorter tow

[Travelin' Texans]

My .02 cents worth, flat tow or dolly, NO trailer, too difficult to deal with once car is unloaded plus less tongue weight.

[penguin]

I vote dolly. The flat trailer takes up a lot of space when its not being used. I don't have that kind of storage space at my disposal. The dolly will roll under the coach at my storage space and not take up any room.

[airforceret]

We are putting our Chrysler 200 convertible on a 2009 Integrity 18 ft flat bed trailer next week and pulling behind our 26B Class C with a V10. The V10 is capable of towing much more than what we will be towing. We considered both flat towing and a dolly. Flat towing was not an option for our 200 and the cost of buying the dolly although convenient in some regards, is still about like a trailer to me. You have to load it, you have to tie it down, you can't really back it up (very far), and you still have to deal with it if you have a back in site. I find backing my 18 ft trailer far easier to backup than an empty tow dolly. My trailer also has 4 wheel braking vs 2 wheel braking on a tow dolly.

[Travelin' Texans]

Your V10 engine is not the limiting factor as to how much you can tow it's the weights, total weight & tongue weight. What's your motorhome rated to tow, what's the total gross weight of both coach & trailer loaded, what's the tongue weight of your loaded trailer compared to the hitch, what's your coach weigh? Notice none of these VERY important questions was "what motor is in the coach.".

[edanddonna]

How easy is it to unhook a flat tow if you get in a tight spot and have to back up the coach?

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by edanddonna

How easy is it to unhook a flat tow if you get in a tight spot and have to back up the coach?

2 minutes to disconnect, 5 minutes to reconnect. been there, done that, didn't need a new t-shirt because it was a no-sweat evolution.

[Chip]

Only about 2 years into the fulltime scene, but I've seen hundreds of folks come and go at the campgrounds I've been to. In that time I can't recall anyone flatbedding a daily driver type car, unless the rig was a Uhaul passing through. There's a reason.

My suggestion is to keep your eyes open for a turnkey toad in the classified and on Craigslist.

I searched Craigslist>Baltimore>"toad" and found this among others:

https://lancaster.craigslist.org/cto...273970051.html

[airforceret]

Everyone's needs are different and the depth of one's pockets is also an issue (at least for me). I already own a fully configured commercial flat bed car hauler. Second, it's used to 1) tow the car 2) tow the jeep 3) tow the Side by Side 4) tow the ATV 5) tow the Side by Side and ATV. If all I was doing was dragging a car around I would have sold the trailer and setup the car, but there's no towing the ATV or SxS on a tow dolly so it makes no since to own both!

[Bob Denman]

If we get to vote : I'd vote to see the toad up in an enclosed trailer.
If you're gonna tow anything: you might as well make it worth your while.
An enclosed trailer will give you more room for carrying along all of the things that you're worrying about right now...
No modifications to your toad either!

[WarEagleDan]

I love my KarKaddy SS. It pulls great and folds up to just a couple of feet. I just can't imagine wrestling a full size car trailer around a RV park.
Thanx,
Dan

[tigwelder]

tongue weight of enclosed trailer with car and all the other stuff?

[Skduck]

Wouldn't a load leveling hitch help with the tongue weight issue. Also it's easy to remove tongue weight by moving the load back on the trailer

[gmc]

Originally Posted by Skduck

.. Also it's easy to remove tongue weight by moving the load back on the trailer

Right up until you lose control of the trailer...
The math still says 10-15% of trailer weight should be on the tongue for proper and safe handling...
From the 'other' GMC (no affiliation...)
Tongue Weight Is Key To Safe Towing - GMC Life

[Mitch S]

We just got into Tennessee, and pulled our Uplander on a Acme tow dolly. Best choice for us, as I don't want to put brake controllers in every thing I may need to tow with. I went to North Carolina and picked our dolly at the factory. I was give a very good tutorial by on of the employees there. I went to the factory because it was cheaper than having it delivered. Freight is reasonablr at $199.00, but the instruction was worth the drive.

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by gmc

Right up until you lose control of the trailer...
The math still says 10-15% of trailer weight should be on the tongue for proper and safe handling...
From the 'other' GMC (no affiliation...)
Tongue Weight Is Key To Safe Towing - GMC Life

Yup!
If you don't keep enough weight up front: you WILL take a bite on the rear-end!