Tow dolly

[KrisCatNC]

What happens if you back up with a tow dolly?

[paulwadley]

On my ACME Car Tow Dolly, I have to lock out the surge disc brakes. If the brakes are not locked out, they apply and will not allow me to back up. It comes in handy to be able to back up a few feet when needed. I had another motor home park directly in front of me at a roadside rest stop not giving me enough room to safely pull out unless I was able to back up a few feet.


Paul

[16ACE27]

You can't control the direction due to the double pivot points.

[Chateau_Nomad]

Originally Posted by paulwadley

On my ACME Car Tow Dolly, I have to lock out the surge disc brakes. If the brakes are not locked out, they apply and will not allow me to back up. It comes in handy to be able to back up a few feet when needed. I had another motor home park directly in front of me at a roadside rest stop not giving me enough room to safely pull out unless I was able to back up a few feet.

Paul

I'd call Wile E. Coyote for suggestions if it's an ACME tow dolly...

Yes... pretty bad, but I just couldn't resist!

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

I'd call Wile E. Coyote for suggestions if it's an ACME tow dolly...

Yes... pretty bad, but I just couldn't resist!

Surprisingly relatively rare Roadrunner jokes about the ACME dolly given so many people have one (myself included).

Unfortunately it doesn't come with "1 bomb"

[paulwadley]

The dolly I have doesn't have two pivot points like some others have. It moves forward and backward like a regular trailer. It uses the tow vehicles suspension to turn. If your tow vehicle has a locking steering wheel, you have to disable it for this dolly to work. Most newer cars no longer have locking steering wheels so that is not an issue. Other tow dollies have a pivot point to allow the dolly to turn separately from the towing vehicle.

Paul

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by paulwadley

The dolly I have doesn't have two pivot points like some others have. It moves forward and backward like a regular trailer. It uses the tow vehicles suspension to turn. If your tow vehicle has a locking steering wheel, you have to disable it for this dolly to work. Most newer cars no longer have locking steering wheels so that is not an issue. Other tow dollies have a pivot point to allow the dolly to turn separately from the towing vehicle.

Paul

Yup that is still two pivot points: At the hitch and at the car's front wheels.

The ACME is like that: can't lock the car's steering as the wheels need to be able to turn/pivot with the dolly.

[Jimbo56]

Originally Posted by KrisCatNC

What happens if you back up with a tow dolly?

To answer your question, if you try to backup, you’ll make it a couple of feet until the 2 pivot points try to go different directions. At that point if you don’t stop, you’ll stress the hitch on your coach. Same with flat towing. The only setup that can safely back up is a trailer.

[chunker21]

Originally Posted by KrisCatNC

What happens if you back up with a tow dolly?

All the answers about double pivot point apply if the car is on the dolly. If there is no car it's just like a short trailer. But it's difficult to see and backup.

[trowan]

Does it have brakes? You can backup if there is no load on the dolly. Brakes require the dolly to be empty.