Forum Discussion

wbwood's avatar
wbwood
Explorer
Jul 15, 2013

Man Oh Man

I keep thinking about the whole towing thing with our Class. The more I read on here about four wheels down and the all the stuff you need, the more I feel like that maybe I should just go with a tow dolly. I'm going to have to buy a base plate and have it installed, lights, some sort of braking system, etc...luckily I am going to be given the tow bar and that is a savings. But I can buy a decent used dolly on craigslist with brakes (seen both surge and electric which will need brake controller), for around the $1000 price. We will only be towing at the most a couple times a month and that will be within a 100 miles or so of home. Then maybe once or twice a year further away for vacation. I'm having a hard time justifying one over the other.

Can someone please help?
  • wbwood's avatar
    wbwood
    Explorer
    Jul 19, 2013
    Bobbo wrote:
    wbwood wrote:
    On the ready brake, when you are driving it when not RVing, and push the brake pedal, does the cable push out the front ?

    Yes, by about an inch. Not much at all. If you pay attention to your brake pedal's movement, it only moves a couple of inches, and the Ready Brake cable is about halfway up the pedal arm. That means the cable moves about half the distance your brake pedal moves.


    Thanks!

    Explained the whole thing of both ways with the wife. We aren't ready to make a decision yet...lol Going to discuss it some with my father in law when I see him next time. For the time being, we will not take the car with us on short weekend trips unless we are going somewhere specific that we will need a car and then my wife can just follow me. For longer vacation type trips, we will make a decision of her to follow me or just rent a car when we get there. Depending on the location and distance away.

    Thanks for y'alls help!
  • Bobbo's avatar
    Bobbo
    Explorer II
    Jul 17, 2013
    wbwood wrote:
    On the ready brake, when you are driving it when not RVing, and push the brake pedal, does the cable push out the front ?

    Yes, by about an inch. Not much at all. If you pay attention to your brake pedal's movement, it only moves a couple of inches, and the Ready Brake cable is about halfway up the pedal arm. That means the cable moves about half the distance your brake pedal moves.
  • cjoseph's avatar
    cjoseph
    Explorer
    Jul 17, 2013
    427435 wrote:
    wbwood wrote:
    One thing is that the car (07 Toyota Yaris) is already at 170,000 miles. It's my daily commuter vehicle to work. I put between 15,000-20,000 miles a year on it. I am not sure how much longer I will have it. I'm not in the market for a new car as I am not having any issues with it, but that could change at any moment. If I had any problem with the car that required significant and costly repairs, I would just get a new one.

    On the ready brake, when you are driving it when not RVing, and push the brake pedal, does the cable push out the front ?



    No. Cables don't push very well.


    Yes it does. That is the only shortfall of this system IMO.

    I will figure out a way to fix/cover it up or remove for the winter. During RVing season, doesn't matter to me. I think I'll put a quick disconnect of some type at the brake pedal. Then the excess at the bumper will be behind some type of license plate (no front state plate needed in WV). The excess at the pedal will be tucked up in the dash or hooked onto something under there.

    If I do a decent job and its quick and easy, it will become part of the SOP when hooking/unhooking.
  • 427435's avatar
    427435
    Explorer
    Jul 17, 2013
    wbwood wrote:
    One thing is that the car (07 Toyota Yaris) is already at 170,000 miles. It's my daily commuter vehicle to work. I put between 15,000-20,000 miles a year on it. I am not sure how much longer I will have it. I'm not in the market for a new car as I am not having any issues with it, but that could change at any moment. If I had any problem with the car that required significant and costly repairs, I would just get a new one.

    On the ready brake, when you are driving it when not RVing, and push the brake pedal, does the cable push out the front ?



    No. Cables don't push very well.
  • wbwood's avatar
    wbwood
    Explorer
    Jul 17, 2013
    One thing is that the car (07 Toyota Yaris) is already at 170,000 miles. It's my daily commuter vehicle to work. I put between 15,000-20,000 miles a year on it. I am not sure how much longer I will have it. I'm not in the market for a new car as I am not having any issues with it, but that could change at any moment. If I had any problem with the car that required significant and costly repairs, I would just get a new one.

    On the ready brake, when you are driving it when not RVing, and push the brake pedal, does the cable push out the front ?
  • 427435's avatar
    427435
    Explorer
    Jul 16, 2013
    wbwood wrote:
    First of all, driving the other vehicle will not always be an option. We bought a motorhome so that we could ride in it together and not have to be seperated. Although we did this for a two week vacation recently, mainly because we towed a utility trailer with the golf cart.

    As far as how much faster (a matter of a couple minutes) between the two ways of towing is really null to me. A few minutes is not going to matter.

    AS far as where to park the tow dolly. Most campgrounds that we go to have sites big enough for them or a place for you to store it if necessary. We are talking about a very small car as well. If we were towing something twice as long, then I could see this better.

    I have thought of the ready brake. But I am not 100% confident in having a cable pulled that is wrapped around the brake pedal. Seems kind of iffy to me. There is also the cost of installation for all this. Base plate, lights, ready brake, etc. Plus the base plate will be only for this car. If I get rid of that car, then I will have to buy another base plate, have it installed and get another ready brake cable installed, and a new light set up. The tow dolly will tow any car that can be towed on a dolly within the certain weight limits.

    The tow dolly doesn't require car modifications. Which to me is a plus. I can also let others borrow it if they need to move another vehicle.

    I don't know..I will have to think about this more and discuss it with the wife.



    I hate to mention it, but as a retired mechanical engineer with lots of experience with mechanical devices, the Ready Brake system is pretty bullet proof. It wasn't too hard to install either and didn't require any vehicle modifications other than a couple of small holes drilled in the firewall. No modifications to the front of the vehicle.

    As for added lights, you will need them with a dolly as well.

    As for changing toads and base plates, get a good one and keep it----------that's what I am doing. Today's cars will run 200,000 miles with a little maintenance. Don't get too hung up on toad weight either--------my "low" hp V10 at 310 hp does a fine job with our 5000 lb toad.
  • homedad's avatar
    homedad
    Explorer
    Jul 16, 2013
    I've done both and currently have a dolly. It's a PITA compared to a bar. I've never had a problem storing it at a CG. If I had a lot of money I would go back to a bar with a smaller vehicle. However I've towed 3 different vehicles in 2 years which would be cost prohibitive with a bar. I just miss the 3 or 4 minute connection and disconnection and not having to crawl underneath.
  • cjoseph's avatar
    cjoseph
    Explorer
    Jul 16, 2013
    wbwood wrote:
    Looking at base plates and it looks like the front air dam of the car would need to be cut for the pin holes. hmmmmm I imagine if we went with a ready brake that there would need to be a whole put for the cable as well.


    More than likely, yes.

    Some installs can place a bracket right at the edge of the bumper or some place similar. The key is the cable must be at a fairly straight shot to the connection point on the brake system.

    On our Jeep, that was right in the middle of the front bumper. I drilled a hole there. I will fashion some sort of license plate bracket/cover one of these days.
  • cjoseph's avatar
    cjoseph
    Explorer
    Jul 16, 2013
    Before making our choice, I tried to imagine pulling into some of the CGs we frequent. I thought it through in my head, thinking about what I would do with a dolly versus 4-down.

    When having two almost equal options, I like to choose the least expensive of the two.

    The dolly would win that contest and provide more flexibility down the road.

    We went 4 down. I thought it would eliminate headaches along the way. We bought a vehicle that we're committed to for the long haul. That is the key, I believe.

    If you like to swap cars, trade frequently or buy well used, the dolly is a no brainer. If you can pick a vehicle and stick to it for a long time, the baseplate, lights, etc... are no problem.

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