Tow dolly what do I need

PastorCharlie wrote:

Effy wrote:

PastorCharlie wrote:

jerseyjim wrote:
IF you can tow 4-down, forget the dolly. 4-down is easier and cheaper. What you need is a baseplate and towbar. More than one company makes them...I use BlueOx for my baseplate and Roadmaster for my towbar. Then you have a choice of using magnetic lights or a diode kit for your toads' brake and marker lights.
I would suggest you not doing it yourself...at least this time. Check with an RV dealer or Camping World. Most likely under $1500 for everything.
IMO with your motorhome and the weight of the Ford Fusion, one of those "aux. braking systems" are not needed at all. But that's MY opinion.

Most all states require a braking system.... the MH will probably stop it on normal terrain but the LE will also stop it and give an invite to their justice center.

I hear this a lot on this forum that law enforcement will fine you etc etc. I would love to hear one documented instance where a MH was stopped pulling a toad simply to validate they had supplimental brakes. It's not required in a lot of states, hence why they manufacture and sell tow devices without them. You guys crack me up. Good idea? depends on your setup. Required? depends on state and set up.

http://www.brakebuddy.com/Towing-Laws

This has been beat to death on here, but these people are lying to you. The weights they are giving in these charts are for towing a trailer and even in some cases they have those wrong. For example in California you have to have brakes on a camping trailer that weighs more than 1500 pounds, but for any other trailer you can go up to 3000 pounds before it has to have brakes. A towed motor vehicle is not a trailer under California law and has braking performance requirements, and not a weight limit requirement. The people at Brake Buddy that put this chart together have probably received a million emails from people telling them this, but for some reason they chose to lie to you. I would have no problem if they want to say you should have the braking system, but I do object to them lying to you can tell you it's required my law when it is not.

Effy wrote:

PastorCharlie wrote:

jerseyjim wrote:
IF you can tow 4-down, forget the dolly. 4-down is easier and cheaper. What you need is a baseplate and towbar. More than one company makes them...I use BlueOx for my baseplate and Roadmaster for my towbar. Then you have a choice of using magnetic lights or a diode kit for your toads' brake and marker lights.
I would suggest you not doing it yourself...at least this time. Check with an RV dealer or Camping World. Most likely under $1500 for everything.
IMO with your motorhome and the weight of the Ford Fusion, one of those "aux. braking systems" are not needed at all. But that's MY opinion.

Most all states require a braking system.... the MH will probably stop it on normal terrain but the LE will also stop it and give an invite to their justice center.

I hear this a lot on this forum that law enforcement will fine you etc etc. I would love to hear one documented instance where a MH was stopped pulling a toad simply to validate they had supplimental brakes. It's not required in a lot of states, hence why they manufacture and sell tow devices without them. You guys crack me up. Good idea? depends on your setup. Required? depends on state and set up.

A few years back I did my own research on this issue. I didn't check all 50 states, but I went through about 20 of them including ones where people said they did have such a law. I think I found two states that actually had a law that described towing a motor vehicle and said that a aux brake system was required. I think Canada does have a law requiring the aux brake system. Most of the other states I check had braking performance requirements. Basically there is a chart that says at this speed you have to be able to stop this fast. This is the law California uses when it comes to towing motor vehicles. California does have a weight law on trailers, but not motor vehicles. The only way I know of that law enforcement can enforce this braking performance requirement is to have you get out on the road and get up the speed and slam on the brakes and see how fast you can stop. In all my years as a cop I never once saw this take place, even by the Highway Patrol.

kidkasha wrote:
can someone please tell how I should go about putting a 4 down system together for my Ford Fusion and exactly what I need and the approx cost. I am a little slow so please be patient.
Arnold

I don't think the 2012 Fusion is approved for four down towing. Ford had too many transmission fail so they stopped approving the Fusion. The hybrid might be towable.

You need to check with Ford to be sure.

can someone please tell how I should go about putting a 4 down system together for my Ford Fusion and exactly what I need and the approx cost. I am a little slow so please be patient.
Arnold

Effy wrote:

PastorCharlie wrote:

jerseyjim wrote:
IF you can tow 4-down, forget the dolly. 4-down is easier and cheaper. What you need is a baseplate and towbar. More than one company makes them...I use BlueOx for my baseplate and Roadmaster for my towbar. Then you have a choice of using magnetic lights or a diode kit for your toads' brake and marker lights.
I would suggest you not doing it yourself...at least this time. Check with an RV dealer or Camping World. Most likely under $1500 for everything.
IMO with your motorhome and the weight of the Ford Fusion, one of those "aux. braking systems" are not needed at all. But that's MY opinion.

Most all states require a braking system.... the MH will probably stop it on normal terrain but the LE will also stop it and give an invite to their justice center.

I hear this a lot on this forum that law enforcement will fine you etc etc. I would love to hear one documented instance where a MH was stopped pulling a toad simply to validate they had supplimental brakes. It's not required in a lot of states, hence why they manufacture and sell tow devices without them. You guys crack me up. Good idea? depends on your setup. Required? depends on state and set up.

http://www.brakebuddy.com/Towing-Laws

Pm me.
Bob

can someone please tell how I should go about putting a 4 down system together for my Ford Fusion and exactly what I need and the approx cost. I am a little slow so please be patient.
Arnold

We have a 2010 Honda Accord with very little mileage. After we bought our Motorhome, we thought about getting a towable vehicle but just couldn't justify the expense. We decided to purchase what I would call an upper end tow dolly with surge brakes and lights. It meets and exceeds the required laws here in Florida and I plan to tow it to wherever we travel. In OP's case, if my vehicle allowed 4 down towing, I would have purchased the equipment to tow our vehicle 4 down because:

1. Additional area needed to stow the dolly either here at home or at campsites and physically roll it to the stowed location.

2. More time consuming to connect.

3. Having to have an additional tire for a dolly spare and stow it.

4. I am getting too old to crawl under the car to insert or remove the tilt pin.

Lets separate fact from fiction. A top of the line tow dolly equiped with surge brakes and LED lights can be had for about $1800. There is a simple conversion connecter that converts your RV connecter to a flat 4 pin and it comes with the dolly or buy one for less than ten dollars. And it does not require two people to drive on or off the dolly unless you are an insecure, nervous or incompentent driver. The hardest part of the tow dolly is attaching or detaching the straps. My Master Tow Dolly was about $1800 complete. A really good 4 down system complete with a brake controller and installation often costs more than a tow dolly. An elderly person with a bad back or knees should go with 4 down. Many vehicles require additional drive shaft, oil pump or electrical modifications that can add to the expense. None of them are cheap. I drive on or off the ramps in a couple minutes by myself and it is easy. Doing the straps takes 5 to 10 minutes with a little practice. A tow dolly is great if you own more than one front wheel drive car (I do). Either a dolly or 4 down tow easy. The dolly has more flexibilty as it can tow a variety of cars without modifications. Depending on the vehicle to be towed, 4 down can require anywhere from a few to a lot of modifications. Your best price for a new tow dolly is buying direct, not thru CW or other dealers who mark up the price a lot. For most folks the easiest thing is to buy a car that can be towed 4 down with the fewest modifications. You probably don't want to have to disconnect a drve shaft, etc. If you insist on towing a vehicle that is not suitable then consider a car hauler trailer. Exotic car owners prefer enclosed haulers. But now you are talking some real bucks. Big toys for big boys are not cheap!

PastorCharlie wrote:

jerseyjim wrote:
IF you can tow 4-down, forget the dolly. 4-down is easier and cheaper. What you need is a baseplate and towbar. More than one company makes them...I use BlueOx for my baseplate and Roadmaster for my towbar. Then you have a choice of using magnetic lights or a diode kit for your toads' brake and marker lights.
I would suggest you not doing it yourself...at least this time. Check with an RV dealer or Camping World. Most likely under $1500 for everything.
IMO with your motorhome and the weight of the Ford Fusion, one of those "aux. braking systems" are not needed at all. But that's MY opinion.

Most all states require a braking system.... the MH will probably stop it on normal terrain but the LE will also stop it and give an invite to their justice center.

I hear this a lot on this forum that law enforcement will fine you etc etc. I would love to hear one documented instance where a MH was stopped pulling a toad simply to validate they had supplimental brakes. It's not required in a lot of states, hence why they manufacture and sell tow devices without them. You guys crack me up. Good idea? depends on your setup. Required? depends on state and set up.