Back a few years i purchased a tow dolly to get my son and all his stuff to college. i pulled his car a 1993 Eagle Talon with my pick up from Florida to Boston. No problems either direction, over the years everybody that knew i had one borrowed it.
Once we retired and on the moved up here to Tennessee, i towed our car. the dolly sat in the back corner of the barn for 3 years not used. we purchased our 2004 Fleetwood Terra and on our first long distance trip we decided to tow our new Jetta, i knew i could not tow it 4 down and it had to be on the dolly. dug it out of the barn, cleaned it up and decided i need to replace the tie down straps, i ordered a set with a new ratchets, pulled and repacked the wheel bearings, replaced the lights and wiring.
Car loads and sets good, off we go, to LA. to meet family for the reunion. we drove straight through long 10 hour day, of course 2 hours of that was setting in traffic just west of Jackson. It was dark when we arrived and being the last one to get there the only spot left was a back in. no big deal just unload the car right, wrong! i could not get the strap for the left side off, it had wedged itself down between the bracket for the wiring for the pad wear indicator and the wheel. After about 30 min laying in the gravel with a flash light and all the relatives giving advice i finally got it loose. tried to start the car, of course i had forgotten to disconnect the battery, got it jumped and off the dolly. about 15 min later with everyone's help we were all set up, started to pulled the car in front of the motor home and the brake wear light would not go off. i had pulled the wires out of the harness.
Three things i had done wrong. decided to go to a family reunion, did not make sure the new straps were the same size as the old. and did not disconnect the battery.
in spite of all the jokes we had a great time and a much more pleasant two day trip back home. I20 sure is rough.
2004 Fleetwood Terra 31H (no slides) F53 with V-10
