Towing a Honda CRV one time - NC to Maine

[willald]

We are planning a trip up to Maine in a few months, up to the in-law's place up in Maine. We want to tow their 2018 Honda CRV vehicle with us, from North Carolina to Maine.

We normally tow our Jeep 4 down behind our Motorhome (see signature). Have been flat towing one vehicle or another behind our Motorhome for years, so we are very used to and comfortable towing with it. The CRV is not one that can be flat towed, nor would it make sense to spend all the $$ to set it up for such just for one tow. Sooo, we are looking at renting a tow dolly or flatbed trailer one way, to tow it behind the RV.

Here is the dilemma we are facing:

U-Haul’s tow dollies have no brakes on them. Although U-Haul says no problem towing this vehicle behind our RV, I'm not sure I like towing over 3,500 lbs. this far with no braking back there. Also, they limit speed with their tow dollies to 55 mph. There is NO WAY anybody could go that slow on the interstates we would have to take going up to Maine. You would absolutely be run over or cause a huge accident, hahaha.

Have checked with Penske and Budget rentals. Both of them do rent tow dollies, but only if you rent one of their trucks also to tow it. Not doing that. Sunbelt rents them also, but theirs do not have brakes. Cannot find anyone else that rents tow dollies that have brakes.

Am I being too paranoid about the braking thing, and should just rent the U-Haul dolly, and (cautiously) tow the CRV on up to Maine on the tow dolly and stop worrying? This is just a one-time thing, we most certainly would not be making a habit of this.

Does anyone know of any other company that might rent a tow dolly, that has brakes?

Tempted to just buy the one tow dolly I've owned before and really like (cartowdolly.com), use it and plan on selling it after we get back. But, that seems pretty foolish, and would be afraid we'd end up losing a ton of $$, or getting stuck with a $1600 dolly we have no use for.

Looked into renting a flatbed trailer from U-Haul. That resolves concerns about the braking and speed limitations, but creates a much bigger issue, in that it would almost certainly put me way over the Motorhome's hitch receiver limitations (500lb max tongue weight, 5k towing weight).

Ideas, thoughts?

[willald]

way2roll wrote:

CA Traveler wrote:

way2roll wrote:
There is no such thing as being cited for "violation of accepted towing practices". You can be cited for a legal infraction. However, being under GCWR accompanied with the fact there is no law in NC that requires a car being towed to have supplemental brakes means there is no legal issue here and thus no violation.

You have to meet the rules of each state as there is no reprocrity other than a drivers license. If any state requires brakes and you don't - well I wouldn't want to be in that situation.

Then how does Uhaul rent dolly's without supplemental brakes - in all states? And how do tow companies get around it?

This has come up many times on this forum. I don't recall ever seeing any state that had a law that referenced supplemental brakes on a towed car. Lots of references to a trailer but no cars. If you have anything stating it I am sure lots of people here would love to see it.

...Way2roll, I definitely appreciate you debunking the myths and BS that are coming up here for the zillionth time. 🙂

However, at the same time, I don't want to see this thread go the way sooo many have, and turn into just a debate between the legal liability 'police' and the rest of us that live in the real world.

I am well aware of the reality of how towing laws, insurance, and liabilities work. Rest assured if I thought this caused a real, serious liability issue, or truly violated any law, I would not even be considering it.

[way2roll]

CA Traveler wrote:

way2roll wrote:
There is no such thing as being cited for "violation of accepted towing practices". You can be cited for a legal infraction. However, being under GCWR accompanied with the fact there is no law in NC that requires a car being towed to have supplemental brakes means there is no legal issue here and thus no violation.

You have to meet the rules of each state as there is no reprocrity other than a drivers license. If any state requires brakes and you don't - well I wouldn't want to be in that situation.

Then how does Uhaul rent dolly's without supplemental brakes - in all states? And how do tow companies get around it?

This has come up many times on this forum. I don't recall ever seeing any state that had a law that referenced supplemental brakes on a towed car. Lots of references to a trailer but no cars. If you have anything stating it I am sure lots of people here would love to see it.

[CA_Traveler]

way2roll wrote:
There is no such thing as being cited for "violation of accepted towing practices". You can be cited for a legal infraction. However, being under GCWR accompanied with the fact there is no law in NC that requires a car being towed to have supplemental brakes means there is no legal issue here and thus no violation.

You have to meet the rules of each state as there is no reprocrity other than a drivers license. If any state requires brakes and you don't - well I wouldn't want to be in that situation.

[willald]

rjstractor wrote:
...Or, you could consider having the car shipped, although that would certainly cost more than either a trailer or dolly rental.

Already looked into that, and its obscenely expensive - around $1000.

I'd buy a new dolly that has brakes before I'd do that.

[willald]

CA Traveler wrote:
2018 CRV is not listed as towable including dolly. Have you considered liability if you were involved in a serious accident and in voilation of accepted towing practices? And that can include "not your fault". Don't think for a second that any towing violation won't be determined with a serious accident and claims can exceed insurance coverage....

According to Honda, yes, this CRV most certainly *IS* towable with a dolly. It can't be flat towed, but it can be towed on a dolly so long as it isn't AWD (and this one is not).

Yes, I most definitely am aware of how insurance and liability works. I'm also aware of all the myths around such that have been thrown up and refuted a zillion times, also (which way2roll did a very nice job of refuting this one in the previous post. Thank you, way2roll).

[way2roll]

CA Traveler wrote:
2018 CRV is not listed as towable including dolly. Have you considered liability if you were involved in a serious accident and in voilation of accepted towing practices? And that can include "not your fault". Don't think for a second that any towing violation won't be determined with a serious accident and claims can exceed insurance coverage.

There is no such thing as being cited for "violation of accepted towing practices". You can be cited for a legal infraction. However, being under GCWR accompanied with the fact there is no law in NC that requires a car being towed to have supplemental brakes means there is no legal issue here and thus no violation.

On edit - this from Etrailer:
Expert Reply:
The only way to tow a 2018 Honda CR-V FWD behind a motorhome is on a tow dolly

I would add trailer to that.

[willald]

Tom/Barb wrote:
Put it on a trailer,, its cheaper than fixing the CRV.

The Baystar will do the job easy..

Agreed, the Baystar drivetrain, brakes, chassis, etc. will probably handle this just fine. Not worried about that at all.

However, I'm not convinced the hitch receiver and attachment points that have a 5k/500 lb limit will handle nearly 6,000 lbs of total weight, and probably close to 600 lbs of tongue weight quite so easily.

Thats why I'm leaning more toward the dolly, if we do tow it. I just would prefer the dolly has some kind of braking, if possible.

[CA_Traveler]

2018 CRV is not listed as towable including dolly. Have you considered liability if you were involved in a serious accident and in voilation of accepted towing practices? And that can include "not your fault". Don't think for a second that any towing violation won't be determined with a serious accident and claims can exceed insurance coverage.

Drive it up, fly/train back and take the family up seems best from your post. Or shipping costs which would be offset by gas, food, motel etc.

[Tom_Barb]

Put it on a trailer,, its cheaper than fixing the CRV.

The Baystar will do the job easy..

[way2roll]

I think you'll be fine with the dolly, just take it easy. How many RVer's towing a car with no supplemental brakes, and we just learned that apparently everyone using a Uhaul tow dolly doesn't have them. My guess that stopping distance isn't that much longer. Looks like you have a shorter, light coach with some pretty heavy brakes. Even with the CRV you probably aren't near your GCWR.

[willald]

wenglish wrote:
I had no idea U-Haul tow dollies don't have brakes. I always assumed they had surge brakes.

That’s what I thought, too, but apparently not. It seems, they used to, but a few years back they took the surge brakes off of them, for whatever reason.

[wenglish]

I had no idea U-Haul tow dollies don't have brakes. I always assumed they had surge brakes.

[rjstractor]

It kind of comes down to fudging a bit one way or the other. Either you're towing without brakes (with the dolly), or exceeding your hitch capacity (with the trailer), although not by a huge amount. Pick your poison.

Or, you could consider having the car shipped, although that would certainly cost more than either a trailer or dolly rental.

[willald]

way2roll wrote:
How long is the drive? Granted it's a long day in the saddle but certainly do-able in one day. Seems like you have a few drivers. And if you are driving the MH why would you need to stay in hotels if you decided to break the trick up?

Its a good 16 hour drive, two solid, full days on the road. Really 3 days, as don't want to get there late in the day, as there's a lot of work to do to open the place up when you get there. We were planning on 2 overnight stops on the way up.

Yes, if I drove the MH and wife followed driving their vehicle, that'd avoid the hotels and we'd either boondock along the way or stay in campgrounds. Only thing is, there again, we're in separate vehicles, and really want to all ride together if we can. That, and I'm not sure my wife is crazy about driving their vehicle that far, haha.

We are trying to keep them from having to drive, so we have two drivers - me and Cheryl (wife).

[willald]

way2roll wrote:

Y-Guy wrote:
How about driving it up?

Good point. Even if someone drove it following the MH. Then it costs nothing other than Gas and mitigates any concern you have.

Thought of that, but only downside to that is, like I mentioned in previous post, then we'd be in two separate vehicles, and really like the idea of all of us riding together in the RV if we can.