Dinghy tow dolly questions

[mkl654321]

Going to tow a small Mazda on a dolly behind a small Class C (21 footer). I am wondering about a few things:

1. The car has pretty low ground clearance (an Achilles heel for this car IMHO). Am I likely to encounter any problem with its butt scraping on the ground while it's being towed?
2. What additional length (roughly) will the dolly with the car mounted on it add to the rig?
3. Is the rig going to be substantially challenged towing this size car and dolly? I know it will be a total slug climbing mountains, but what about overall MPG and performance? Is this too much to ask of a small class C?

I am assuming for the sake of discussion that a trailer, due to weight, length, and difficulty of handling/unhooking/storing, is pretty much a bad idea.

[jerseyjim]

I agree with HEALEYMAN...but to a point: If you do tow 4 down...and the owners' manual says not to....if you find transmission parts all over the highway, it's on you...and no warranty claim. So be careful. It's also my understanding (?) that all-wheel drive cars cannot be 4 down or even on a dolly. For them...a full car trailer.
I would hazard a guess that most stick shift 2WDs can be 4 down...but I'm sure there are exceptions. OWNERS MANUAL!!!!!!

[Healeyman]

I have towed 3 Mazda Miatas (2000-2010-2012) nearly 70,000 miles and everybody says it cannot be towed either.

I know nearly 100 owners towing their Miatas and I know 3 who are towing Mazda 3s.

BOTH Roadmaster and Blue-Ox make baseplates for some of the 3s, so if they have invested time and money in research and manufacturing, you can bet someone is towing them.

By the way, I pulled the 2000 over 35,000 miles from Dallas to both coasts with a 22' Four Winds with a Chevy 350 engine. Everything went fine.

If I didn't have clearance issues with the Miata, you won't have them with a 3.

Don't let the naysayers beat you down.

Tim

[jerseyjim]

I can't tell you about "performance" on a Class C pulling a car...but my Class A, with the Ford V-10, by the "seat of the pants" judgement...not much. The only difference, is mpg: 7.8 NOT pulling, 7.3 pulling.
As far as toad modification goes...they all take a baseplate. Other than that, my '96 Contour, 5 spd took nothing more. My HHR automatic, all one does is pull a 2 amp fuse....and my "11 Ranger needed a "Transfer Case Neutral Switch" kit. Ford only item, 400 bucks installed.

[Y-Guy]

It really depends on the Class C. I see the Mazda 3 has a weight range of 2,865 to 3,028 lbs. Some Class C's do not have a 5,000# hitch and might be 3000 lbs. or 3500 lbs. Key is to know your vehicle weight, the maximum hitch rating, then you can get a weight for a dolly or a trailer and see. You'd be hard pressed to find a trailer for less then 1000 lbs, so that might change which Class C you buy.

That was a factor for us when we went to our Class A, I was finding most Class Cs didn't have a 5,000 hitch rating or enough capacity to tow that much weight.

[mkl654321]

OK, folks, maybe I should have been more clear.

I already own the Mazda--it is a Mazda 3, manual trans, front wheel drive. I am sure that there are many fantabulous vehicles out there, but this is the one I own. I don't want to buy another one.

I realize that towing four down is wonderful and scrumdiddlyumptious, but you can't tow this vehicle four down. That's true of 97% of vehicles out there, and you need a fair amount of modification to the vehicle, so it's not a panacea in any event.

I don't know what Class C I'll be using, but it will be 21-23 feet, probably along the lines of a late 90s Minnie Winnie. It doesn't really matter for the purposes of my question, as far as tow RATING goes--the car and dolly will be comfortably within the range of any such RV. A trailer will be heavier, but still within weight limits. The question, which I asked but hasn't been answered, is whether performance will be significantly degraded.

If the ground clearance issue forces me to tow the Mazda on a trailer, can a smaller Class C handle the load and the length?

[Healeyman]

mkl654321 wrote:
Going to tow a small Mazda

What sort of small Mazda?

Manual or automatic transmission?

Tim

[wilanddij]

I pulled a Prius one summer on a dolly. Didn't have any problems with rear clearance when pulling, but I had to extend the ramps with a couple of 2x6's to keep the front clip from scraping when loading.

FWIW, I didn't care for dolly towing. Among the things I hated about it were storing it at the parks, and laying on the ground to hook up safety cables (seems like it was raining every time I did that). Much prefer 4-down towing.

[navegator]

Go measure the height of the dolly where the tire sits, then measure at the front tire of the vehicle dead center on the tire to the wheel well, then raise the car by the amount of the dolly so that the wheel well has the same height above the dolly's wheel height, remember that you will no be using the tire measure at all since the suspension will unload.

To recap ground to wheel well measure add dolly height from ground to where the tire will rest, raise vehicle and then check clearance from rear tire to bumper that will be what is called the escape clearance angle, just remember that any uneven pavement of gradient will infringe upon this angle as in gas stations and parking lot entrances, for me I would use a trailer rather than a dolly.

navegator

[Bobbo]

With that low ground clearance, I would be afraid of a dolly.

[tonymull]

A trailer is much easier to back up than a dolly. Not that much more of a problem to store either.

[dbates]

You need to provide more information!
1. What are the specification of the MH you're planning to pull the dolly with?
2. Have you checked with the dolly manufacturer to see if the dolly can handle the Mazada properly?
3. Does the dolly have a braking system?
4. Is the hitch on the MH strong enough to handle the dolly and toad?

Even though I've pulled my Vibe on a dolly for over 10 years and 50,000 mile I'll agree with jerseyjim that 4 down is better but it's getting harder to find toads that can be pulled 4 down and can you afford changing toads?

Dave

[jerseyjim]

Any info on this in the owners' manual? damaging the rear undercarriage can be nasty and expensive. Like the rear bumper...to say nothing of the gas tank. Be careful. Maybe even consider a full car carrier trailer. How about another car? One that can be towed 4-down? I used a Chevvy HHR for quite a few years. Good car, good "toad"..and now only can buy them as used....maybe really inexpensive?
My first "toad" (in 2001) was a used 1996 Ford Contour...5 spd stick. Was a Mazda with a Ford badge. GREAT toad..., in 2007 went to Mazda to buy a new car to be used daily and as a toad....was told that one cannot tow a (newer) Mazda 4 down no matter what. That is why I did research and bought the HHR. No trailer, no dolly. Just 4 down. And....IMHO, that is best way to go. (My current 4-down "toad" is a 2011 Ford Ranger 4WD, automatic. )

g'luck!