Flat Tow or Dolly Tow

Done it both ways and prefer four down. Have used dolly for other folks ride

Captain Ray wrote:
Bought a 2017 Chevy Traverse and trying to decide if I will Flat tow or purchase a tow dolly as prices are almost the same. Help

I used a dolly for 25 years, and have towed 4 down for the last 15+ years. Looking at the list of towable new cars and the restrictions, I may end up with a dolly again at some point in time. To your question: Many vans have a hard time on dollies as the front fender panels hit the dolly. (quite a few past threads on the topic). I looked into a dolly for the new rig and thought about towing the Sienna. At that time only the ACME dolly said it was compatible with a van. Just something to look at as you make your decision.

I used a Tow Dolly for two years before we sold it cheap.

Invested $2000 and did the labor myself. Will never go back.

Just checked prices on the internet...

$999.00 Blue Ox Patriot Brake Unit
$656.00 Blue Ox Aventa 10,000 tow bar
$336.00 Blue Ox Base Plate (Jeep Wrangler)
$75.00 Wiring Harness (Essentially plug-n-play)
$67.00 Blue Ox Umbilical Cord
$78.00 Blue Ox Safety Cables
-------
$2211.00 Total

We paid $1595.00 for the Tow Dolly (With Electric Brake) I regretted that $1600 knowing that for a few more "Hondo" I could have not had to crawl around on wet pavement (or gravel) getting the car up on the ramps and strapped down.

I had a tow dolly for two years. Now have a Blue Ox system. One of my happiest days was when I watched the tow dolly leave.

Captain Ray wrote:
Bought a 2017 Chevy Traverse and trying to decide if I will Flat tow or purchase a tow dolly as prices are almost the same. Help

Simple - Analogy - Soap cost the same if you hand wash or use the DishWasher - but the Dishwasher is just Easier.

Think you will find that the 4 down is Just EASIER.

JMHO,

lanerd wrote:
Thanks DG.. appreciate it.

Ron

You are most welcome!
Just got an email from NSA, with some new accessories, they're now offering.
Interesting that one item is a turnbuckle for adjustment. I called them after installing one of my own, (I wasn't the only one to do so) some years ago and had a long discussion with them about it. At the time, they said they were trying to make things as simple as possible and keeping the cost down. They did say that they would consider this in the future, so now here it is, but the url provided wouldn't work. One can obviously pick these up cheaper at their local hardware or big box store.

"Turnbuckle Sling
If you have ever had to adjust our Sling Cable for the Ready Brake this is a must have item.
$15.00"

Never had a dolly. Due to the simplicity, storage issues,stability, and running on the 4 car tires was the reason for our decision to go 4 down. If you change cars frequently the 4 down can be costly changing base plates.

We have a portable braking system that transfers to any vehicle ( brake buddy) as its not tied into one car.

I would be hard to be convinced to ever tow with a dolly. I can hook up within 6-7 minutes and unhooked within 2, not that that's the reason for our decision. But not having to crawl around on the ground and under the car hooking up stuff to worry about was part of the deciding factor.

We have done both and are currently towing using a Master Tow dolly with surge brakes. The reason behind that is that our towed is a FWD vehicle and can only be towed on a dolly. Our previous towed was a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited which was towed 4 down and was simple, but we chose to downsize the daily driver and change our towing method. For those who say they have to get on the ground to get hooked up and secure the vehicle, the most we have ever had to do was put one knee down on the ground when using the dolly.

It turns out the dolly was way cheaper than setting up the Jeep with tow bars, a baseplate, lights and brakes.

It's just a matter of choices... pick whatever works best for you!

Dutch_12078 wrote:

tropical36 wrote:



"Turnbuckle Sling
If you have ever had to adjust our Sling Cable for the Ready Brake this is a must have item.
$15.00"

Clicky

So, ya found it online and really didn't do much looking for it, other than the link, posted in my email.
Thing is about my fine adjustment with the turnbuckle, I haven't had to touch it since and we're now using it on another coach.
Just pulled the tow bars out of the old hitch receiver and put them in the new one, for being good to go.
Still a great asset for getting it right in the first place.
The base plate adapters in the pic, look just like mine for using a DEMCO base plate. However the bars are shipped with whatever is required for your choice of base plates.