Tow dolly

I tow flat and my son uses a dolly. I definitely prefer flat and I think my son would go flat if doing it again. Besides the other drawbacks, he's had problems with the straps for the wheels, coming loose, etc. Also, he says you can't back up with either. No problems with the tow bar except that you can't back up.

Depending on your tow vehicle, you may have a hard time with some tow dollies. Our tow dolly worked great on a Sonata that we had, but our Altima wouldn't make it up without tearing up the front end due to the lower front valance height. To correct this we had to use boards to drive the car onto the tow dolly ramps, thus giving us a less steep approach angle.

Yes, cost of four down towing is more expensive... but so is a divorce. The first time you start yelling at your wife because she's not able to position the vehicle on the tow dolly correctly while you're in the ice cold pouring rain giving her directions and hooking up tire straps, you might reconsider the money that you saved. (Don't ask me how I know. And no, it didn't turn into a divorce just a long silent ride home.) Just sayin'.

With flat towing the Jeep, you just have to get close to being where you should be and the adjustable tow-bar will allow you to hook up. Once hooked up the tow-bar self adjusts itself with a few slight turns of the MH steering wheel upon start-up and off you go.

Doug

At one time or another over the past 15 years, I have done every kind of towing possible: Four down (flat) towing; on a dolly; and on a trailer.
For a front wheel drive vehicle, dolly towing is perfect. to move the dolly around, go to Harbor Freight and get one of the two wheeled trailer dolly gadgets. It works great.
The American Car Dolly can be purchased for less than $1500, with brakes, delivered to your door ready to use. See it at: http://www.americancardolly.com/
Usually, dolly towing is forbidden by the manufacturer of All Wheel Drive or 4X4 vehicles, unless the rear driveshaft is disconnected. there may be exceptions, but I don't know of any.
Some (but not all) rear wheel drive vehicles can be towed on a dolly. Again, if the driveshaft is removed or disconnected, no problem.
It is imperative that you stop after a few miles and check the tie down straps, safety chains, etc. But then, you should do that when towing four down or on a trailer, also.
It is not recommended that a dolly be backed up. It is also not recommended that a four down tow be backed up ( I tried that once. Never again!). A trailer, however, can be backed anytime anywhere, even around corners, depending only on the skill level of the driver.
I may get a dolly again, so I can tow our PT Cruiser. If/when I do, it will either be a good used DEMCO Kar Kaddy II with brakes or a new American Car Dolly.
I will never have a dolly that is not built to steer!

Less cost yes (in general) but more time spent with a dolly hooking up and disconnecting, plus storing the dolly both at the campground and at home/storage.

Some vehicles can be flat towed and some can't, some can be dolly towed (front wheel drive) and some have to be trailered (4 up.) So it depends on what you want to tow and then you have choices on how to tow it.

As far as costs go for flat towing, much depends on what you want to tow. A Jeep Wrangler is easy to tow and is comparatively cheap to set up (tow bar, base plate, braking system) as most kits are ready made for Jeeps. Other vehicles like the Honda CR-V used to be able to be flat towed but are no longer.

I would start out by deciding what you want to tow and then work from there.

Moved to Dinghy Towing forum from Towing.