To Dolly or Not to Dolly

[h3hound]

done both - flat towing is a real convenience for me. No straps, dolly storage, or drive up theatrics.
I can hook up and unhook in less than a minute 90% of the time. have the jeep grand cherokee now as the toad and my daily driver. Rockin the blue ox.

ymmv,
Ben

[Slickrick racer]

I used a master tow dolly with surge brakes for towing wife's car. Wasn't a lot of trouble when it wasn't raining but putting the straps on and checking them every few hours got old. If you decide to go that route, I would recommend installing a lite duty hitch and light wiring on your toad Incase you motorhome is disabled for any reason. Also helps if you ever get in a situation where you can't back up. Just unstrap, unhook dolly from MH and tow dolly away with your toad. I flat tow my Silverado now and it's much easier for me.

[mkapala]

The Acme Eze-Tow Car Tow Dolly is light enough that it's pretty easy to move around by hand. I can run mine over a bump and slightly uphill to the end of my drive way, then back the RV most of the way over it. It also can be stood up on its tail end to occupy minimal space, such as in a garage. This all takes a bit of muscle, probably more than many ladies would do, but I'm nearly 69 and no gorilla, and I can handle it without too much of a strain. It also comes with a cam-key thing that you can tape on, which will temporarily disable the brakes if you need to back it up.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/03_1...cOu5SnD5paDOhA

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by carlgorski

Storage? At Home? at your campsite. 1 more hassle.

Our EZE Tow also slides right under the rear of the motorhome both at the campsite and at our storage lot. Sometimes we go camping without it and it stays at the storage lot--no problems.

[gwensdad]

No one has yet mentioned that you must consult your car dealer or owner's manual to determine whether your vehicle can be safely towed flat, before you decide on a dolly (or trailer) or a tow bar. I tow a Kia Sportage on a Kar Kaddy II behind my Hurricane, because towing the Kia flat would damage the transmission. The Kar Kaddy, while higher end, has electronic brakes, and the tongue folds to facilitate storage. I did replace the as-delivered single wheel jack with a dual wheel jack. This makes it much easier to move over gravel or rough ground. It is next to impossible to back, because the dolly wheels "steer" a little. Even if I have to leave it in a storage lot, I simply fold the tongue in and secure it with a 1/2 inch cable and Master Lock, the shackle for which cannot be accessed by bolt cutters. Most places it folds small enough to go under the back of the rig, in which case I also thread the cable through the safety chain slot on the rig hitch.

[MLP]

Had a tow dolly for a car that could not be towed four down. Prefer not to have a tow dolly. That being said, if you go to a place to stay for a week or more, than the extra work it takes to unhitch a tow dolly and store it somewhere else in a park it isn't much of a problem. If you are lucky to have a pull through, no problem. You do have to pay a lot extra on toll roads and bridges for the extra axle. I was surprised how much an extra axle adds to the toll cost.

[engrprof]

Two big disadvantages of dollying: Axle width of dolly is usually as wide or wider than motorhome and road construction is so frequent with narrow widths that are very scary; The turn radius of a dolly is less than the motorhome making turns require wider paths than flat towing (all 4 wheels of toad on the road).

[Davidgrape]

The worst part of flat towing is making sure of getting in and out of gas stations.

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by Davidgrape

The worst part of flat towing is making sure of getting in and out of gas stations.

Same issue with a dolly.

[The Gritz Carlton]

All these posts confirm why I prefer to trailer. I can back up any distance. The trailer allows me to carry other heavy items, depending on where we are headed and what I wish to carry and they don't add to the weight of the chassis. Plus, for local events I can carry golf cart, smokers, etc. Every option has a downside...trailering will require us to camp on football fields...or have pull throughs everywhere we go. I'm not going to unhook a trailer at campgrounds...unless there's no other option.

[Billr580]

I've used a tow dolly for 6 years, literally the only maintenance on it is tires every 2 years and grease the fittings in the spring. It takes less than 5 minutes to take it off at the campground and about 10 minutes to put it on. I'm on my 2nd vehicle towed and haven't had to spend a penny setting it up and never had any tow related damage. The dolly itself easily rolls into the yard of the campsite and only had one time where because of the hills around the site I had to put it in a parking area.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Sorta funny...regardless of the system we use, when you pass another MH towing, you always slow down a bit, study their system and wonder...should I try that?? They're all good!!

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by MLP

Had a tow dolly for a car that could not be towed four down. Prefer not to have a tow dolly. That being said, if you go to a place to stay for a week or more, than the extra work it takes to unhitch a tow dolly and store it somewhere else in a park it isn't much of a problem. If you are lucky to have a pull through, no problem. You do have to pay a lot extra on toll roads and bridges for the extra axle. I was surprised how much an extra axle adds to the toll cost.

What extra axle? You have the same number of axles using a tow dolly as you do when towing 4 down.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Yep...either of the 3 options (dolly, flat or trailer) is 2 more axles...period. Unless you have a 3 axle trailer.

[Stolbert1]

So I have a master tow 80THB that has surge bakes and pulls 5000 lbs.

I am moving to flat tow for the following
1. Tow dolly is pain to store, move around
2. They require maintenance just like the car... Tires brakea lights grease
3. I drove an hour once and did my pit stop to check... And the belts were loose and dangling... So I must have done something wrong.. But what I have no idea.. But out of 10 trips once is enough.

So i have a tow dolly for sale .. Looking at blueox ascent with patriot .

[raffaelli]

I think you guys talked me into flat towing.

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by engrprof

Two big disadvantages of dollying: Axle width of dolly is usually as wide or wider than motorhome and road construction is so frequent with narrow widths that are very scary; The turn radius of a dolly is less than the motorhome making turns require wider paths than flat towing (all 4 wheels of toad on the road).

Coach is 99 inches and the dolly is 102 inches wide. Not enough difference to notice. With a 11'6" rear overhand and a 5' long dolly tongue, the dolly track in the duels tire tracks with a 50 degree wheel cut. just saying.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Originally Posted by raffaelli

I think you guys talked me into flat towing.

These threads on "how to tow" seem to pop up every 2 or 3 months and they go on and on for several pages. It's one of the few subjects that never get nasty and lots of good advice come from them...towing is a serious subject. It's like running out of good books and start reading the oldest one again. They always end with good results. Good luck on whatever system you choose...they all get the job done. It's not about where you are going that matters..it's all about how you get there!

[TheDustyGeek]

We've been dolly-towing a Prius (and a Chevy volt a couple of times) for the past two years since we purchased our motorhome. Yes, the dolly is one additional thing you need to consider when you're putting your rig into a site, it's never really been an issue for us so far (17 different out-and-back trips and about 10K miles, and one big trip with 10 different stops and another 5K miles).

I liked the idea that you could dolly-tow *any* front-wheel drive car that your coach and dolly could physically handle. That was especially great since that's what we had at the time.

At campgrounds, I either left it hooked up when using a pull-through or for back-ins unhooked the dolly, ran it into the back of the site and backed the RV up to it. I'd then hook it back up so all we needed to do was pull out.

Setup takes me about 5-minutes (since I have a pit crew of my boys and my wife to help get things set up and everyone knows their job, 10 min without) - blocks under the ramps to lessen the approach-angle, slow and steady up the ramps, put the hitch pin back in and ratchet the wheels down - done.

So due to some life changes, we did a car swap (eldest boy got the Prius, Wife took the Volt) and I needed to get a new car and chose a Jeep Wrangler intentionally so I could flat tow. The only significant difference I've found in the process so far is the question of what to do with the dolly when we're at a campground or home - but it's not as big of a deal as everyone is making it out to be. I didn't find much change in the actual act of towing itself and didn't find any need to change anything I was already doing. I still remove the tow bar at home since I don't want it left out in the elements when not being used, so that eats up about the same amount of time used to put the dolly away.

In case you're curious, my flat-tow gear choices: Blue-OX Ascent tow bar, LOD Signature full bumper + frame ties + Blue OX adapters, the MOPAR flat-tow light harness and a Blue-Ox Patriot braking system.

[petefoss]

Originally Posted by Norrirn

While using the tow dolly, we carried the "dolly dolly" too. It certainly made handling the tow dolly easier when not on the hitch but what a pain in the posterior to carry otherwise.

Yup there are times when I really appreciate the fact that I can tow the dolly with my toad too.