Newbie to Dinghy towing....which dolly?

[Baja_Man]

New to Class C ownership. We now want to tow one of our vehicles which is a 2012 Scion XB automatic. I will be contacting Toyota to verify it can be dolly towed but I believe it can.

Weight of Scion is about 3000#. It sits low to ground like other small cars in this category.

My rig is in my sig.

I've read about Demco, American Tow Dolly, Tow Master, Kar Kaddy, and ACME. They all vary widely in pricing and brakes. From $1495 to over $3K. Some with electric drum/shoe brakes and some with surge disk brakes.


Weight of dolly is important as I do not want too add additional towing weight if not necessary.

Cost is also a factor, but not if it means low quality (i.e., you get what you pay for).

What type of brakes....disc surge or electric drum?

Anything else I should consider in my decision?

Thanks

[wbwood]

Mich F wrote:

wbwood wrote:

Mich F wrote:
After almost 4 years with my current MH, I finally got off the fence and ordered an Acme tow dolly with surge brakes, just this past Wed. Not looking forward to towing a car, although I've towed boats a number of times with previous motorhomes, it should be nice to have a smaller vehicle wherever we stop. :B

We think you will like it. Towing a car is easy. The hard part is remembering that it's back there.

With previous Class Cs of 22' and 24' I never had the need for a toad. This one at 32 1/2' is so much longer that there are many places it just can't go. I find a lot of times I have to back up, particularly in gas stations, that won't even be possible with a toad, so I'm not looking forward to that part. So many gas stations down here in the southeast, are not RV friendly, let alone RV/toad friendly. 😉

You are correct about gas stations and why we look for the big ones on the interstate. Particularly Flying J (bonus when they have RV lanes). Our Class C is also 32.5' long. And it's not only gas stations that you have to worry about, but its anywhere that you can get yourself into while towing anything (whether dolly or flat). You can easily find yourself unhooking/unloading in order to back up some and turn around.

We finally towed with the new ACME tow dolly this past weekend. Around 400 miles total (round trip). It performed well. I liked all the new changes with the exception of the adjustable tow straps. I much prefer the older ones. I noticed that when we got home that the outer actuator cap was missing. I know when I was hooking up the two dolly to come home, that I was sitting on top of that area while hooking up the safety chains/wiring. Not sure if I made it come loose or not. But anyway, I went onto ACME's website to order a new one as I remembered them selling them. They wanted $19.99 for the set (inner cap and outer cap) plus $11.99 flat rate shipping! No freaking way! Amazon had one for less than $2, but wanted over $8 for shipping. Found another place online, Pacific trailers, that had them for $1.64 each. I ordered 2 of them (to have a spare)and shipping was $4.11. $7.39 total price. Much better!

[Mich_F]

wbwood wrote:

Mich F wrote:
After almost 4 years with my current MH, I finally got off the fence and ordered an Acme tow dolly with surge brakes, just this past Wed. Not looking forward to towing a car, although I've towed boats a number of times with previous motorhomes, it should be nice to have a smaller vehicle wherever we stop. :B

We think you will like it. Towing a car is easy. The hard part is remembering that it's back there.

With previous Class Cs of 22' and 24' I never had the need for a toad. This one at 32 1/2' is so much longer that there are many places it just can't go. I find a lot of times I have to back up, particularly in gas stations, that won't even be possible with a toad, so I'm not looking forward to that part. So many gas stations down here in the southeast, are not RV friendly, let alone RV/toad friendly. 😉

[wbwood]

Mich F wrote:
After almost 4 years with my current MH, I finally got off the fence and ordered an Acme tow dolly with surge brakes, just this past Wed. Not looking forward to towing a car, although I've towed boats a number of times with previous motorhomes, it should be nice to have a smaller vehicle wherever we stop. :B

We think you will like it. Towing a car is easy. The hard part is remembering that it's back there.

[Mich_F]

After almost 4 years with my current MH, I finally got off the fence and ordered an Acme tow dolly with surge brakes, just this past Wed. Not looking forward to towing a car, although I've towed boats a number of times with previous motorhomes, it should be nice to have a smaller vehicle wherever we stop. :B

[wbwood]

Picked up our ACME tow dolly this past week. The one we owned before we bought new about 3 years ago. The one we just bought is brand new. They have changed a bunch of different features in the past few years. They do boast about always improving and it appears that they have. They did move up to a radial 12" tire. They changed the way the ramps and tow straps hook up to the dolly (old way was welded D rings. new way are actual cut out slots). The straps they use now are adjustable. They said more and more people are using larger wheels, so now you can adjust the straps to fit a lot more different sizes. The winches that the straps winch into in the front are no longer on a slide rail. You set them up specifically for your vehicle and bolt them on. The downside is if you tow multiple vehicles of different sizes). The LED tail lights are mounted a little different than before. The ramps are now secured by a large wing nut on a large bolt that the ramps slide on to. Rather than the strap like before.

They have half off shipping right now. But since I picked it up directly from them (hour away from me), they gave me a free spare tire/wheel, which I am happy about.

We still have to set it up for our car. If our impression changes, we will be sure to report it.

[wbwood]

Kind of late to the party here, but we area fan of the ACME. We bought one a couple years ago and put over 2000 miles on it. Picked it up directly from the manufacturer which is about 1 hour away from us. They were very nice and helpful. Mr Brown (owner) was quick to answer emails himself. We thoroughly enjoyed it. The only reason we go rid of it after a year was because the only car we had to tow was totaled when a lady ran a red light and slammed into me. I opted to go with an automatic Subaru (which can't be towed with a dolly). I sold the dolly shortly thereafter for about what I paid for it, as the prices of the dolly's went up. We now have another car that can be towed and are looking at the ACME dolly again. One of the things about the ACME we like is that they are always looking at improving. It appears that they went with a 12" wheel now instead of the 10". They also changed how you secure the ramps. It used to be done by straps. Now it's a locking screw down nut type of thing.

We love the surge brakes (not requiring a brake controller) and LED lights. They also 3 variations. One without brakes, one with electric brakes and one with surge brakes. Some other companies only offer ones with no brakes and/or electric brakes.

There is one person on the forum who is adamantly against the ACME, but yet they have no experience using one.

Right now, ACME is running a special of half price on the delivery.

[RJsfishin]

Told ya so ! 🙂

There is nothing finer than the Demco.
Does it have to be that fine ? I guess not, because the rest of them work ok too.
I now remember when I had mine, one time I forgot to pull the lockout steering pin. I had already made a few turns, and was on the freeway when I remembered. I knew there was no hurry to unlock it then, so continued to the next rest stop. Upon inspection, nothing was wrong,.....just pulled the pin. took up on the straps a couple notches like usual, and was on my way.
Im my way of understanding, leaving that steering pin in, made it the same as a rigid dolly like the Acme. But you can bet that when I made those few turns, everything got in a perdy good twist, and maybe even some tire slippage, but it works !!

[Baja_Man]

Well, I went to see the Kar Kaddy SS and.....

Purchased it on the spot! What a well-engineered dolly! As others have said, the "Cadillac" of tow dollies. It is galvanized, has a steering axle, swing tongue, and surge disc brakes. It appears to be very well made and it is obvious that this is not an entry level two dolly.

Now, I will prepare to tow my vehicle around my home and see how she does. Won't be until later this month or next, as I have a fishing trip coming up and will be towing the boat!

[Baja_Man]

Just ran into a used Kar Kaddy SS for sale by private party. $2500. Claims it is one year old, brand new and never used....went with flat 4 tow instead after loading car once he found it was to much work

I can get a NEW American Car dolly delivered for $1500 with swivel platforms, electric brakes, and removable ramps

Is the NEW American a better deal? An additional $1000 for a used unit is considerably more expensive. Is the Demco THAT much better and if so, WHY?

I'm concerned about non removable ramps hitting the rocker panel area and undercarriage of my low profile 2012 Scion XB

[Baja_Man]

I think at this point, all of the tow dollies mentioned work well. Yes, differences in how they are engineered, with various brakes, swivel platforms, rigid, ramps, etc... At the end of the day, they all appear to tow safely as I have found no info that states otherwise.

I believe I will be going with American Car Dolly as it offers the removable ramps, 14" wheels/tires, swivel platforms, and no vehicle mods are needed. My RV already has a brake controller, so that is taken care of. I prefer surge disc brakes, but that is not a deal breaker considering all of the other benefits mentioned.

[mowermech]

Baja Man wrote:

jpmihalk wrote:
We recently purchased a new Master Tow dolly with surge brakes to tow our 2015 Jeep Renegade for less than $1500. The Master Tow also has the swiveling pan. After our recent tow to Buffalo and back (almost 1100 miles) we found it to work as advertised and there was no contact with the fenders. With the steering unlocked, we did notice a bit of front wheel turn but that is to be expected with new straps. Of course, we stopped often to check and tighten the straps.

Are the steering wheels to be in locked position on dollies with swiveling platforms?

Google the Master tow dolly operator's instructions, and on page 4 you will find that the steering lock is to be engaged with the wheels straight ahead. If the vehicle is not equipped with a steering wheel lock, the wheel is to be tied down firmly with a ratchet strap or similar fixture.
Always read and follow the instructions.

[jpmihalk]

Baja Man wrote:
Are the steering wheels to be in locked position on dollies with swiveling platforms?

The manual did not specify that the wheels needed to be locked. In my case, I would have to tie the steering wheel down inside the cabin. I just tie a white rag around the top of my steering wheel so I can see it in the rear view camera and check during turns to see that it doesn't move too far.

[Baja_Man]

jpmihalk wrote:
We recently purchased a new Master Tow dolly with surge brakes to tow our 2015 Jeep Renegade for less than $1500. The Master Tow also has the swiveling pan. After our recent tow to Buffalo and back (almost 1100 miles) we found it to work as advertised and there was no contact with the fenders. With the steering unlocked, we did notice a bit of front wheel turn but that is to be expected with new straps. Of course, we stopped often to check and tighten the straps.

Are the steering wheels to be in locked position on dollies with swiveling platforms?

[jpmihalk]

We recently purchased a new Master Tow dolly with surge brakes to tow our 2015 Jeep Renegade for less than $1500. The Master Tow also has the swiveling pan. After our recent tow to Buffalo and back (almost 1100 miles) we found it to work as advertised and there was no contact with the fenders. With the steering unlocked, we did notice a bit of front wheel turn but that is to be expected with new straps. Of course, we stopped often to check and tighten the straps.

[Campinghoss]

I have the ACME tow dolly. It works fine as I have used it extensively since I purchased it. As you know on this forum you get a lot of opinions. Mine has the surge brakes and I pull a Toyota highlander. The tires are rated for highway speed and run around 90 lbs of pressure.

I don't remember who posted this but it is the best explanation of how it works I have seen for those who do not have one:

If you glued your front wheels to the ground, left your steering unlocked and could slide your rear wheels left and right that is called inverted steering. I have yet seen my dolly tires slide and the dolly tires do not show any signs of wear.

I actually hooked my dolly to my pickup, put the highlander on the dolly and had one person sit in the car and another one observe from the outside. I have never seen a problem with it. By the way this was done on my farm not the open highway.

That is what I have observed so far.