What's that behind you?

[jklbus01]

We have a windsport 34F. We're thinking about getting a rig to tow behind us, but we've never towed anything before.
What should we know before making a purchase?

 

[16ACE27]

What should we know before making a purchase?

#1 and most important - can it be towed? Refer to the prospective vehicle's Owners Manual to be sure.

2 - Flat towed or on a dolly? - A dolly opens up the choices, but they become a PITA in the dirt and rain. Third choice is a trailer, but then you have to store it in the campground and take into account tongue weight.

Most everything else is a matter of taste, wants, MH capability, and conveniences. Choices range from a Smart car to a 3/4 ton pickup. You may already have a vehicle you can use. Otherwise, define what you want in a vehicle at a camping destination"

2 person site seeing car?
Off road capable vehicle?
Family hauling vehicle?

Define what your wants and needs are and we can help you pin something down.

If you are loaded to GVWR you have 4000 lbs to your GCWR. You'll need to weigh your rig to see what your actual weight is when loaded for camping to see if you can go any higher.

This is the 2014 Brochure with specs if you don't already have it:

https://library.rvusa.com/brochure/14_Hurricane_A.pdf

 

[The Rookie]

#1 and most important - can it be towed? Refer to the prospective vehicle's Owners Manual to be sure.

2 - Flat towed or on a dolly? - A dolly opens up the choices, but they become a PITA in the dirt and rain. Third choice is a trailer, but then you have to store it in the campground and take into account tongue weight.

Most everything else is a matter of taste, wants, MH capability, and conveniences. Choices range from a Smart car to a 3/4 ton pickup. You may already have a vehicle you can use. Otherwise, define what you want in a vehicle at a camping destination"

2 person site seeing car?
Off road capable vehicle?
Family hauling vehicle?

Define what your wants and needs are and we can help you pin something down.

If you are loaded to GVWR you have 4000 lbs to your GCWR. You'll need to weigh your rig to see what your actual weight is when loaded for camping to see if you can go any higher.

This is the 2014 Brochure with specs if you don't already have it:

https://library.rvusa.com/brochure/14_Hurricane_A.pdf

If using a dolly, you also need to consider the dolly and the width of the tow vehicle. Since the wheels of the towed vehicle sit inside the wheels of the dolly, it has a width limit.

Recommend you watch youtube vids on different towing methods to see what would work easiest for you. After, loading ours on a tow master dolly a few times, the wife started to think we maybe should have just found a flat towable car.

 

[16ACE27]

If using a dolly, you also need to consider the dolly and the width of the tow vehicle. Since the wheels of the towed vehicle sit inside the wheels of the dolly, it has a width limit.

Recommend you watch youtube vids on different towing methods to see what would work easiest for you. After, loading ours on a tow master dolly a few times, the wife started to think we maybe should have just found a flat towable car.

That is a very common progression. Many people balk at the cost of prepping a vehicle for flat towing (especially if they have to pay labor), and go the cheaper/"easier" dolly route only to regret that decision later.

 

[The Rookie]

That is a very common progression. Many people balk at the cost of prepping a vehicle for flat towing (especially if they have to pay labor), and go the cheaper/"easier" dolly route only to regret that decision later.

Basically what happened.

 

[Chateau_Nomad]

#1 and most important - can it be towed? Refer to the prospective vehicle's Owners Manual to be sure.

2 - Flat towed or on a dolly? - A dolly opens up the choices, but they become a PITA in the dirt and rain. Third choice is a trailer, but then you have to store it in the campground and take into account tongue weight.

Most everything else is a matter of taste, wants, MH capability, and conveniences. Choices range from a Smart car to a 3/4 ton pickup. You may already have a vehicle you can use. Otherwise, define what you want in a vehicle at a camping destination"

2 person site seeing car?
Off road capable vehicle?
Family hauling vehicle?

Define what your wants and needs are and we can help you pin something down.

If you are loaded to GVWR you have 4000 lbs to your GCWR. You'll need to weigh your rig to see what your actual weight is when loaded for camping to see if you can go any higher.

This is the 2014 Brochure with specs if you don't already have it:

https://library.rvusa.com/brochure/14_Hurricane_A.pdf

ACE is the Place... nailed it! Fortunately I had this forum for reference when I set up our toad. Did all the mental gymnastics considering the cheaper dolly vs more expensive flat tow setup. Luckily I had a ready-made low mileage Jeep sitting in the garage... which if I had listened to my wife 6 months before, I would have sold!

SO GLAD I didn't go the dolly route! My self-install saved about half the expense.

 

[atreis]

That is a very common progression. Many people balk at the cost of prepping a vehicle for flat towing (especially if they have to pay labor), and go the cheaper/"easier" dolly route only to regret that decision later.

After two years of towing on a dolly, I needed another car for the kids, so got one that could be setup for flat towing and did the work myself. No way would I want to go back to a dolly. I sold my dolly this past spring.

 

[ghnl]

I've never dollied or flat towed a car. My understanding (correct me if I am wrong) is that one cannot back up with a dollied or towed car. If so, which is quicker/easier to disconnect and move the car (separately)?

 

[16ACE27]

I've never dollied or flat towed a car. My understanding (correct me if I am wrong) is that one cannot back up with a dollied or towed car. If so, which is quicker/easier to disconnect and move the car (separately)?

No contest - A flat towed vehicle. I could disconnect my Sonic in under a minute, reconnect took slightly longer.

Other vehicles may take longer depending on the towing requirements/procedure. The Colorado would probably take 4 to 5 minutes. Although I had run that drill towing the Sonic a couple of times, I have not encountered that situation with the Colorado in tow yet.

 

[paulwadley]

Flat towing is the quickest way to unhook and hook up over tow dolly towing. It is so much easier and better to flat tow. I used to dolly tow and went to flat towing. I sold the tow dolly after one year of use and went with flat towing.

Paul

 

[jklbus01]

Thanks for your insightful feedback. Your point about considering what we want to do with a vehicle; 2-person sight-seeing, Off-road or hauling family (and stuff). That's something we hadn't discussed. Thanks again.

 

[jklbus01]

Thanks for your reply. We have already decided not to use a tow dolly. Our decision came from listening to our friends with RVs and from discussions on this forum, and for our former class C, I saw similar feedback on the Coachmen owners group.

We know we want a flat-towable vehicle, and I know it adds very little to the weight of the vehicle that way. Thanks again for your feedback.

 

[16ACE27]

Thanks for your insightful feedback. Your point about considering what we want to do with a vehicle; 2-person sight-seeing, Off-road or hauling family (and stuff). That's something we hadn't discussed. Thanks again.

OK, so flat towable it is. Now just decide what type/category of vehicle fits your wants and needs; come let us know, and you will be inundated with possible candidates.

 

[Lt Keefer]

I've never dollied or flat towed a car. My understanding (correct me if I am wrong) is that one cannot back up with a dollied or towed car. If so, which is quicker/easier to disconnect and move the car (separately)?

In my 30 years of flat towing I have had to back up one time, so that's really not an issue.

 

[Chateau_Nomad]

In my 30 years of flat towing I have had to back up one time, so that's really not an issue.

Cardinal rule is NEVER use the towbar to "push" the toad... essentially backing up. Most manufacturers warn about that as the equipment is not designed for that, and it will most likely void any warranty if damage is discovered.

That said, I sort of broke that rule this past summer... sort of. I had pulled into a rather tight fit gas station and erroneously pulled too far forward by about two feet... couldn't reach the fuel fill.

Since I was on a slight uphill grade, AND the toad and motorhome were perfectly straight... I cheated. Actually I didn't PUSH the toad, but rather just put the motorhome in neutral and let it drift backwards.

I previously had two occasions where I unhooked the Jeep and moved it in order to back the motorhome... learning limits early is the best path to take! It only takes 15 minutes or so to unhook, and potentially saves a catastrophic towbar failure.

 

[k_enn]

I went with a flat towing set-up. While it may be a bit more expensive initially, it does pay off in convenience. Connection is not significantly different in time and effort, only you don't have to mess with a dolly and attaching the towed to the dolly. You do have extra cost of the base plate and tow bars. As with most dolly set ups, you still need to add an umbilical electric connection, safety chains/cable, breakaway detector, and towing lighting. You do need to add a brake control system for your towed, but a dolly might need that. While you cannot back up in towed configuration, it only takes a few minutes to disconnect.

 

[RV Driver]

Flat-tow if you can. MUCH easier than any other method.

I flat-tow a 2017 Mini Cooper Countryman with the “All4” AWD system and a 6-speed manual transmission. The factory says you can’t flat-tow an AWD Mini.

The factory is wrong…

 

[Litespeed-THOR]

Flat towing

We tow a 2014 Honda CR-V AWD. Takes 4-5 min to get it in tow mode each travel day. We use a Ready Brute II tow bar which has an integrated surge braking system. It is simple and effective. 30k troubke free miles towing. We carry our bikes in the back of the Honda with the rear seat folded down, have not encountered a problem getting to a trail head and the Honda has been rock solid with very little maintenance. It weighs under 3500 pounds with bikes and full tank of gas.

 

[28Z24]

Looking at options, expenses and simple we decided on the Dolly option. We have a Mazda CX3 towed by a Thor 28Z on a Master Tow Dolly. Nice setup easy on and off. Highway cruise 65-70 with good handling qualities.

 

[paulwadley]

We flat tow our 2014 Ford Flex that seats 6. We wanted something to sight see in and drive to the store while out camping as well as something that could be used to hold everything we buy while out on the road. I had the Demco Stay N Play Duo braking system installed on the car and use the Blue Ox Alpha tow bar and Blue Ox base plate.

Paul