Hauling a dolly across the country

[Snowman9000]

I have an ACME dolly. I want to haul it EMPTY behind the MH for 2000 miles.

I have hauled it empty for 15 miles a couple of times. With full tires it hops a lot. With the tires reduced to whatever the ACME guy recommended, it still bounces. Not as much, but it still does. I don't see it being good for the dolly if this was for 2000 miles.

Actually it will be 4000 miles, because there will be a return trip. I'm trying not get into the thread going sideways deal here, by not providing too much other info. 🙂 Bottom line, we will be hauling it 2000 miles, then using it for two months, then hauling it home empty again.


First idea:

Load the dolly with something heavy that can be removed and stored. We will have a place to store whatever it is. So, what, and how much? A couple of 55 gallon barrels of water would weigh 900 lbs. I could drain them to be able to handle and store them. Then when time to go home, mount them and fill em up again.

I can buy used food grade 55 gallon barrels for $20 each. So $40 for a pair, plus the hold down stuff. Well within budget.

That seems the most sensible? Although, I don't have the dolly handy at the moment to see if anything would be crushed by the barrels sitting inboard beyond where the car tires sit. Wires, brake lines, whatever. I would think not, but I just can't say right now.

I would think I should be able to properly secure the barrels if I don't cheap out on straps. I could add temporary wood cradle material to assist with securing them. I'm saying the barrels would be laid down, not standing up.

Would 900 lbs be enough to keep the dolly on the ground?

Other ideas?

[carringb]

An Acme dolly should be light enough to carry on a hitch rack?

If that's not feasible though, I agree with sandbags, combined with dropping the tire pressure. I sure don't like carrying my dolly empty though. Even with only 15 psi it bounces more than I like, and sure makes a racket!

[Snowman9000]

Having the car on there transfers the bouncing to the car, which has suspension. The dolly combines with the car's tires & wheels to become the unsprung weight, and the rest of the car is sprung weight. Essentially, the dolly becomes part of the car.

If the dolly weighs 400 lbs, it's as if each of the car's front wheel assemblies weighs say 250 lbs instead of 50 lbs. All of that stuff stays on the road, just like the car's tires would normally. (I'm simplifying the explanation, so I hope no one criticizes me for not being literal here.)

So now, an unloaded dolly with no suspension:
Hit a bump, it bounces.
Add 500 pounds, and hit a bump. What happens? It still has to bounce, other than whatever the tires absorb, which is not that much. So on a bigger bump, you still got the dolly bouncing, but with more load on it. The dolly is not designed to bounce down the road.

I'm concerned that is not a good approach. (edited that sentence a couple of times, I think I finally said what I meant, lol.)

[klutchdust]

Snowman9000 wrote:
The more I think about it, the more I feel that since there is no suspension, extra weight just creates more stress.

I like the idea of putting it on the back end of the MH. I'll have to look at that a bit.

Not sure how extra weight would cause more stress, what about the weight of the vehicle.The cars suspension doesn't benefit the dolly, it's just carrying the weight and the dolly's tires are really the suspension.
I would use sand bags.Inexpensive and won't move around. Start out with a few hundred pounds and add as needed as you travel if it's not enough.

[John___Angela]

Snowman9000 wrote:
The more I think about it, the more I feel that since there is no suspension, extra weight just creates more stress.

I like the idea of putting it on the back end of the MH. I'll have to look at that a bit.

Our trailer weighed about 400 pounds but my guess is a dolly with the tires off will come in around 250 pounds.

Good luck. Let us know what you decide.

[Snowman9000]

The more I think about it, the more I feel that since there is no suspension, extra weight just creates more stress.

I like the idea of putting it on the back end of the MH. I'll have to look at that a bit.

[fpresto]

I am sure that you have looked at their website but just as a reminder they say lower the tire pressure to 25 psi and go. Unlimited mileage when towing empty. No mention, that I can see of adding any weight. They do say that you can store the ramps in the towing vehicle; I assume to stop rattling.

[Snowman9000]

Yes, that's a good idea, but how much weight will do the job? That's why I was thinking of 900 lbs of water.

I'm not sure if the weight matters much. As mentioned earlier, having a car on the dolly acts to keep the dolly on the road. The car goes up and down on its suspension, which lets the dolly tires stay down.

[tyoungs]

If you have a water softener at home, you could pick up bags of softener salt, load dolly with those, store when you get there, use on way home and then have a copious supply of salt for softener.

[John___Angela]

We had to mule our smart car trailer back to Canada, maybe 1500 miles. We had four brackets welded onto the back, (75 bucks) and the took the tires off and strapped it to the back. We cut the brackets off when we got home. Worked.

[2gypsies1]

Why would it be necessary to haul an empty dolly across the U.S. then use it and haul it back empty? This has to be a first!

[Heisenberg]

rent........I cannot imagine pulling an empty dolly that far. even with sand it has no springs! Their design uses the springs on the toad.

[Campinghoss]

I picked ours up at the factory as it was only a four hour drive. Pulling it home with my truck it did not really bounce around that much I didn't think. We lowered the air pressure down to what ACME recommended. I have also pulled it empty several times around here to move cars for friends when needed.
Personally as long as you have your ramps secured tightly and the tire pressure down I don't think it will hurt it at all. ACME is a very well made dolly. Just my thoughts.

[old_guy]

go to ace hardware and get some sand bags used in back of pickups during the winter months.

[RJsfishin]

I towed mine 130 miles when I bought it. After stopping several time to deflate, ended up w/ 5 lbs to get it somewhat stable, bt was still not good.
They are not designed to be towed even 5 miles empty, don't do it. Rent one instead.