Bednarski1 wrote: I'm new to the forum and really enjoy the feedback. I plan to purchase my RV from Nexus in the next months. I'm having trouble finding a new dinghy to pull behind the RV. So many require manual towing or lowering your transmission fluid and starting every time time you stop. Any feedback is really appreciated.
I would suggest a dolly and use the car you have now-much cheaper
Todd
Good point. But, not all cars can be dolly towed.
Yup you are correct, but most all front wheel drive cars can easily be dolly towed.
Todd
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2011 Itasca Cambria 30C
2011 Demco KarKaddy 460SS
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Bednarski1 wrote: I'm new to the forum and really enjoy the feedback. I plan to purchase my RV from Nexus in the next months. I'm having trouble finding a new dinghy to pull behind the RV. So many require manual towing or lowering your transmission fluid and starting every time time you stop. Any feedback is really appreciated.
I would suggest a dolly and use the car you have now-much cheaper
Todd
Good point. But, not all cars can be dolly towed.
Yup you are correct, but most all front wheel drive cars can easily be dolly towed.
Todd
X2, a tow dolly will cost around $950, and most front wheel drive vehicles can be towed with no modifications! When you start to figure the tow bar and attachments, wiring and brake assist you are talking around $3,500 and you can get the extras to cost lots more! Tow dolly is the way to go!
The problem I see with a dolly is that after you get the car off you still have a "trailer" to deal with. My tow bar was $175 so I'm way under your $3,500 estimate for 4 down towing.
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The big problem with a tow dolly is where do you put it when you arrive at your destination - not all RV parks have space for them - would a $950 tow dolly have BRAKES????? Very important - or at least the OTHER persons lawyer will think so. Be careful of towing cheaply.
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ASPENMAN wrote: The big problem with a tow dolly is where do you put it when you arrive at your destination - not all RV parks have space for them - would a $950 tow dolly have BRAKES????? Very important - or at least the OTHER persons lawyer will think so. Be careful of towing cheaply.
Hi ASPENMAN,
My Demco cost 2400 new, I built it myself, I does have surge brakes and folds to half its size also get smaller when you slide it under the back of the Cambria. Last few times camoing I did not even have to un hook it. It takes less than 15 minutes to to hook it to the mh and load the car on. When we do stops for the dogs I check the straps and connections. Pretty easy to use.
Todd
travisc wrote: Some jeep vehicles tow very easily-- I have done the wrangler & cherokees.
And us with a 2006 Jeep Liberty with automatic transmission. It's 4x4 transfer case works great to disconnect the trans for towing, just put it in neutral and you're done.
hohenwald48 wrote: The problem I see with a dolly is that after you get the car off you still have a "trailer" to deal with. My tow bar was $175 so I'm way under your $3,500 estimate for 4 down towing.
What did you pay for the base plate? How about the light system...and of course, how much for the axillary brakes for the toad?
With my system, I do have a little over 2 grand wrapped up in setting up my 4-down toad. 350 for the base plate, 750 for the tow bar, 65 for the diodes and wiring for the lights, 25 for the connectors, and about 1000 for the brakes (Unified Brake sys). Of course, I did my own install, so if you have someone else do it, you can easily add another 1000 to that. But, I don't have to worry about finding a place for the dolly at each destination, or tires for the dolly or maintenance for the dolly...nor loading/unloading the toad from the dolly in increment weather.
To the OP, there are lots of towable vehicles out there. I'm not sure how many miles you plan on driving every day, but for me, 300 to 350 is max and that is typical distance where the mfg's want you to start the engine on the toad. So I fire up our car when I hook up (which I would have to do any way to get it into position) and I also fire it up again when we reach our daily stop (again which I would have to do anyway to use it at the destination). When we stop for fuel/food/rest, I never run the car....just do a walk around to make sure everything is ok.
Our toad (as do many others) does require a fuse removal prior to towing. I installed a simple off/on rocker switch that replaced the fuse so I only have to flip the switch and I'm ready to go.
Some toads require a systematic shifting of the trans prior to towing...but again, no big deal. Takes all of a few seconds to accomplish.
I would steer clear of any toad that required lowering of the transmission fluid (Ford Escape, I believe). There have been some very negative reports on the Escapes transmission...not sure if they have that problem fixed with the new redesigned 2012 Escape.
As mentioned previously, check out motorhome magazine for the complete dinghy guide. Lots and lots of possibilities.
Hope this helps
Ron
Ron & Sandie
'08 Safari Simba SBD35 CAT C7
Toad: 2011 GMC Terrain SLT2
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Toad Brakes: Unified U.S. Gear
TPMS: Pressure Pro
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A couple of statements seemed to imply that if you use a dolly there is no need for braking. The weight of the dolly added to the weight of the car on it gives a greater need for a brakinig system. I have done both with a dolly and 4 down. If I hae to go back to using a dolly I will quit using a MH. It is so easy to pull in and unhook the car and then to rehook it when ready to leave that I will NEVER fool around with a dolly again. I can do it alone now in about 2 minutes.
2003 Newmar Mountain Aire, Workhorse W22, 2008 Saturn Vue, Falcon 5250, & US Gear Unified Tow Brake
I got rid of my travel trailer mainly because I was tired of maintaining the wheel bearings, adjusting the electric brakes and not to mention the blowout of tires on the side of the road.
My opinion, a tow dolly is to much like a travel trailer in maintenance. Others have mentioned storage which I have none @ home and have seen problems in campgrounds.
You can purchase like new used tow equipment for a fraction of the cost new from the internet or local Craigs list. I purchased used Blue-ox tow bar (previous owner used 2x's), Brake Buddy. New I purchased the base plate (Blue-Ox) and add-a-light light kit, Toad Charge and various wiring harnesses etc. My total cost was right @ $ 1,000.00 (I did all the install work myself).
Lanerd,
No base plates needed on a Wrangler. Towbar bolts right to the frame. Lights were $29 at Wal-Mart and I don't even want to turn this into another toad brakes thread. Probably towed over 200K miles in the last 10 years behind 6 different motorhomes and can hookup in less than a minute and unhook in less than that.
I tried a dolly with my Mazda and got rid of it after putting a couple of dents in the Mazda where the dolly fenders hit the car in a sharp turn.
You don't have to spend a fortune to tow a car. I probably have less in the Wrangler and tow setup than most folks spend on a fancy complicated towbar.
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