A tow bar attaches the towed vehicle to the motorhome. A tow dolly is a small trailer the front wheels of the towed vehicle rest upon to prevent damage to the towed vehicle's transmission while towing. Both have their places.
A tow bar, most times, stays on the motorhome while the baseplate tabs stay on the motorhome. It's easier to hook up and unhook and takes up very little space as it stays attached to the MH.
A tow dolly many times must be unhooked and put somewhere other than your site. Sometimes you can unhook and slide it under your coach depending on the model/brand you have.
Lights can either be hooked up through the towed vehicle's lighting system or externally mounted. The external ones are held in place by large magnets, so unless you're towing a Corvette they will work properly. Best price is at Harbor Freight. If hooking through the towed's lighting system, diodes are necessary. These are small one way switches that allows current to flow to the lights but not back through to the coach.
IMHO, both should be used with a braking system. Many tow dollies come with brakes but the cheaper ones do not. The best combo for a tow bar is the ReadyBrute from Night Shift Auto. It has a braking system built into the tow bar so you don't need an auxillary system such as a BrakeBuddy or SMI. Use the ReadyBrute tow bar with either a Roadmaster or BlueOx baseplate....
Ask any question that wasn't answered...hope this helps..Dennis
We can do more than we think we can, but most do less than we think we doDennis and Debi Fourteen Years Full Timing
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