Towing Minivan with car dolly

carringb wrote:

klutchdust wrote:

So if you tow with a dolly that has no brakes how do you explain that gray area. You have 5K behind you with no brakes but if it was 4 down you would get scolded on here for not having a braking system.
Discuss and get back to me....:h

In most states, brakes would be required on a tow dolly, if the the dolly+car are above that state's braking requirement. Many states are 3,500 so any minivan would be over that. Some states are lower, some are higher. Oregon has a performance standard, so it just depends on how good the tow vehicle's brakes are.

My last dolly had no brakes, but I only towed a Fiesta. If I bought another, it would have brakes. But I'll probably go with an enclosed trailer (also with brakes of course)

I am cringing as I am writing this for fear of opening a can of worms, but state laws on braking related to towing is pretty specific to trailers, not cars. I don't think anyone on this forum has ever cited a state law that specifically spelled out towing a car. I would love to be wrong. Lots of laws about brakes on trailers. And the scare tactics that companies selling braking system put these laws on their websites, but if you read the fine print, it's about trailer towing, not car towing. All that said I would NEVER advise towing any car, flat or on a dolly, without a braking system. For the small price it's a no brainer that when you add an additional 3500-6000 lbs, you need extra braking to compensate. That's just common sense. People that spend all this money on RV, cars, and ways to tow them and skimp on brakes to save a few hundred bucks make me shake my head.