car dolly

I tow both 4-down and with a dolly depending on the situation and the car we want to take. There is no doubt that 4-down is easier. And there might be issues with what to do with the dolly at times.

However my experience is that the type of trip will define how much that really matters.

If its a trip where we are going to go to a destination and stay for several days or longer, its not much difference because we don't need to load and unload the dolly very often.

If its a trip where we move often then the 4-down approach is much more convenient to hitch and unhitch more frequently.

We used to tow with a Tow Dolly and towing lighter vehicles is much easier. The first two vehicles we towed was a Mitsubishi Expo and a Mazda Protege, both small vehicles. Bagman.

I have an Acme tow dolly and pull a Toyota Rav4. Once you get used to loading and securing, it's not that bad. I haven't towed flat so couldn't tell you about the procedures there.

I pull a Patriot on an American Dolly with no problems. I don't even feel it is there except for the rear view camera. It takes us less than 15 minutes to get ready to go. When taking the car down is even faster. I bought it because our two cars, Patriot and Cherokee FWD are not allowed to be flat towed. Also we saved some money vs flat towing stuff.

I use a Master Tow dolly that I bought used 6 years ago. Driving up onto the dolly should be done carefully with another person to help direct. Once you have done it several times, it can be done alone, but again very slowly up the ramps. Hopefully the dolly has brakes which are needed to save wear on the motorhome brakes. It does take more time to get the car up and secure on the dolly than a tow bar, but you will get used to doing it. the only problem that I have had was when I bought a new car and the front of the car hit the ramps because car is so low in the front. Solution was to add wood onto the ramps enough to raise the car up. Check the straps when you stop at a rest area as the straps tend to stretch and you need to ratchet up a little. Good luck !

I drove many different kinds of semi's, trucks and trailers for many years but never used a tow dolly. (did use a converter dolly on 2 semi trailers)
Last fall I bought a 2016 Kia Sportage from Hertz Car Sales 140 miles from home.
I rented a dolly from U-Haul and towed the SUV home with my Chevy PU.
It was very easy towing and I had no problems, BUT every time I looked in the rear view mirror I was shocked that someone was tailgating that close! :)
I ran 65-70 mph most of the way home.
My best advice is make sure everything is latched/pinned/clamped/plugged in as it should be!
It would be easy to miss a detail, you might even make up a check list to work from.

I have backed it up a few times as well, not easy as it has 3 pivot points, kinda like trying to push a rope in a straight line. ;)
I just try not to get into places without enough room to turn around.

STBRetired wrote:
Pulled a car on a dolly for a couple years before we bought our Edge, which can be towed 4 down. Towing on a dolly is not difficult but it can be a pain at times. You need to kneel down to get the safety chains connected to the car and stow the ramps. Storing the dolly and moving it around when not using it can be a hassle. Once the car is on the dolly and hooked up, the actual towing is easy. Hopefully you got a dolly with brakes. The car will track pretty well behind the motorhome. Just remember, you cannot back up with the dolly attached to the MH.

You can back up it just takes some practice, I do it all the time.

Pulled a car on a dolly for a couple years before we bought our Edge, which can be towed 4 down. Towing on a dolly is not difficult but it can be a pain at times. You need to kneel down to get the safety chains connected to the car and stow the ramps. Storing the dolly and moving it around when not using it can be a hassle. Once the car is on the dolly and hooked up, the actual towing is easy. Hopefully you got a dolly with brakes. The car will track pretty well behind the motorhome. Just remember, you cannot back up with the dolly attached to the MH.

We had a dolly for a few weeks, since it was part of the package we bought from a couple getting out of RVing. We towed our car home on it, 150 miles or so. It was a cheapie Stehl-Tow and didn't have brakes but it loaded easily and tracked well.
I don't think you'll dislike DRIVING with a Dolly, and I hear they'e easier on the car than four down. What you may not like is storing and parking the dolly. The best tip I've heard for dolly users, is add a hitch to the car. Then you can jockey the dolly around with the car if you need to.