Towing Minivan with car dolly

After reading through some of threads again. I did not consider the weight of the dolly. Also, I keep looking at GVWR and not curb weight of the vehicle being towed. So a minivan like Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna seems do-able.

bobndot wrote:

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.

State laws will vary slightly . Not 100% sure but I think most of the towing/braking laws use the word 'vehicle' not so much 'trailer'. Trailers are vehicles and vehicles with motors/engines are considered motor vehicles.
Therefore, it might be worded as such. If it states "a vehicle over 3000# must have an individual braking system while being towed behind an RV" ………...then that would include a car or trailer.

I can't stand under why so many people worry about "state laws". The brakes on any vehicle are designed to safely stop the GVWR of that vehicle, plus a reserve for safety. If your GCVW is larger than your GVWR, and you do not add brakes somewhere, you are ridding in that safety margin. Would you let your kids ride in front of a vehicle that you knew the brakes where overloaded? You understand somebodies kids are always in front of you?

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.

State laws will vary slightly . Not 100% sure but I think most of the towing/braking laws use the word 'vehicle' not so much 'trailer'. Trailers are vehicles and vehicles with motors/engines are considered motor vehicles.
Therefore, it might be worded as such. If it states "a vehicle over 3000# must have an individual braking system while being towed behind an RV" ………...then that would include a car or trailer.

We flat tow a 2003 Ford Exploder XLT V-6 4x4 behind our 2004 Winnebago Minnie 29B. I have weighted the Explorer loaded for a trip like when we tow it. The thing weighted in at just shy of 5K lbs. Heavier than I thought for sure. We have not had a problem pulling this. We do slow up slightly on hills.

Wow, that’s a lot to take in. My tow dolly does have hydraulic brakes. I’ve loaded up my rig with gas, fresh water, five passengers, and clothes for 2 weeks. Weight was 13,200lbs. RAV4 was a pretty easy to pull, maybe I’ll look for something just a little bigger than.

Flat towing, if approved by the minivan manufacturer, will save several hundred pounds. Make sure you have proper auxiliary braking.

JRscooby wrote:

way2roll wrote:


GVWR from the factory are not always correct.

TILT! WRONG! BULLSNOT! This statement as written is FALSE! GVWRating is set by the manufacturer, so it must be right. Now the stated "curb weight" and therefore carrying capacity can be off, but that does not change the rating. But you are right, the only way to know what you can tow, within ratings, is weigh it and subtract from the GCVWR.

You are right, my bad, I mix up GVWR and curb weight, but yeah, without weighing it , your capacity is a guess.

way2roll wrote:


GVWR from the factory are not always correct.

TILT! WRONG! BULLSNOT! This statement as written is FALSE! GVWRating is set by the manufacturer, so it must be right. Now the stated "curb weight" and therefore carrying capacity can be off, but that does not change the rating. But you are right, the only way to know what you can tow, within ratings, is weigh it and subtract from the GCVWR.

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.

rjstractor wrote:

way2roll wrote:

rjstractor wrote:
IIRC the op's motorhome chassis has a GCWR of 20,000 lbs. So if it has a 5K hitch it can tow the 5K. Base curb weights on minivans I looked up are about 4500 lbs, so with tow dolly weight it would be a little over 5K. A hitch upgrade could mitigate that, but like has been said, that's a lot of weight to tow.

Without weighing the RV loaded, it's a guess at what the tow capacity is.

If the GCWR is 20k, but loaded you weigh 18k, then it doesn't matter that you have a 5k hitch, you only have 2k capacity left. Even if you only weigh 16k, you still only have 4k. Add the weight of the dolly and you really don't have a lot of tow capacity.

A hitch upgrade makes no difference unless you make the appropriate chassis upgrades as well. I can add a 15k hitch to my rig, it doesn't mean the chassis and the brakes, drivetrain, everything else can handle it. GCWR is based on the chassis, not the hitch. That's why the tow capacity is the LESSER of the two.

Right. But the OP stated he has a 2004 E450, the GVWR of which is 14050. 20000-14050= 5950. So unless his motorhome is grossly overloaded he will have the GCWR capacity. And you are correct that a hitch upgrade does not change the GCWR.

GVWR from the factory are not always correct. Often they only include fuel and not contents, people, water etc. How does the factory know how you load your RV? Ever notice how they are always nice even numbers? The only way to really know is to load it for travel and weigh it, then subtract from the GCWR.

To each his own, I feel like I am beating a dead horse at this point. Not trying to be the weight police, and there are probably a lot of people overloaded and don't even know it and never have issues. But there is a proper way to do it. Whether folks do, or even care about it, is another matter. But without weighing, you are guessing.