Tow Dolly or car hauler

[billyray50]

Thinking of towing our car for our seasonal stay to upstate N.Y. from Texas. Will either rent one or the other. Opinions on one the other. Have towed boats and TTs before but never used a tow dolly. Will be using my Reese.

[Bedlam]

Turns put greater side load on the receiver with a tow bar than with a trailer or dolly tongue.

[towpro]

I have a 2001 S10 that my Dad setup for Flat towing behind his motorhome. Dad passed on and I bought the truck with all the towing attachments.
last Saturday I was flat towing the S10 around with my Curt extension (just like your reese), set at 32" with a set of side angle chains/bars on it. Worked perfect.

32" hitch extension, slides into 2.5" truck receiver
2" receiver plugs into end of 32" extension and drops 6". this may add another 6" of length.
Tow bar plugs into lower connector of this 6" drop
Blue Ox tow bar to S10 (3000 lbs truck)
Original Brake buddy running in S10
Remco drive shaft disconnect on S10 (works perfect after I put a new cable on it and made sure it was a straight run from cab to driveshaft disconnect).

I just need to learn how to unhook the blueox. since nothing where I live is level it seemed to be a PITA to get the pressure off it.

Sunday I loaded the camper late in the day.

This week I need to measure everything to see how much extension I really need to tow the S10. (I can do 24" or 32").
Since I need to run this 6" drop receiver extension that is about 6" long for the tow bar, this extra length may allow me to shorten the extension to 24" and still clear the Fox landing. (I have enough space under truck that I can move back and forth between both lengths without cutting hitch extension.

anyway, hitch weight is very little, only the weight of the 6" drop extension and blue ox tow bar. Not sure but I don't think the towbar puts much side flex it puts on the extension as long as your only going forward.

[billyray50]

Thanks pbrook101... Appreciate it.

[pbrooks101]

I have the exact same extension and have no problems towing a dolly with a car.....



Have towed several thousand miles with the above set up and only had a sticky brake on the car dolly that, once adjusted properly, resolved the issue.

I now flat tow....



I used the same Reese extension with no issues. I have towed a small, single axle motorcycle trailer as well but I used a WD hitch on the extension. No issues with that but only towed a couple of hundred miles.

[billyray50]

Bedlam wrote:
If you use a dolly or flat tow, add side chains with turnbuckles. If you use a trailer for your car, you will most likely over work the extension or your receiver unless you updgrade to Torklift gear.

BTW: There are plenty of dollies available with surge or electric brakes if go that route. If you flat tow, you should look at at "Brake Buddy" type device inside your towed.

Thanks for all in the input everyone. Our car is a 2017 Ford Fusion Titanium. Curb weight is roughly 3600 lbs. Manual stated it cannot be flat towed but can be hauled on a tow dolly. Already planned on using side chains and turnbuckles.

[Grit_dog]

Listen to bedlam and burningman.

[burningman]

Well... a rented trailer is highly unlikely to be set up with a weight distributing hitch and that makes using that crazy extension very questionable Adding "toad" brakes is expensive... all things considered this is probably a dolly job, IF it's a car you can tow with the rear wheels on the ground.

[Bedlam]

If you use a dolly or flat tow, add side chains with turnbuckles. If you use a trailer for your car, you will most likely over work the extension or your receiver unless you updgrade to Torklift gear.

BTW: There are plenty of dollies available with surge or electric brakes if go that route. If you flat tow, you should look at at "Brake Buddy" type device inside your towd.

[SidecarFlip]

That is a pretty long receiver adapter. I bet your tongue weight will be pretty darn low. I think I'd flat tow the toad, that won't put any weight on your long receiver adapter and you can add remote brakes to your toad as well. Motorhomers (new word) do it all the time. However, if you flat tow it has to be a car capable of flat towing.

I'd say the alternative is a tow dolly (minimal weight on the long receiver adapter again.

I'd say a trailer is the last resort because of your tongue weight.

I would, with that receiver extension, add weld on eyes near the end on each side and lengths of chain with turnbuckles attached to the truck's bumper at the ends. That will remove any slop in the extension (which could be quite a bit at that distance and make for a better towing experience.

Jut my opinion, not that it means a whole lot....

[TJMarc]

I prefer the trailer...but have used a dolly with small compact cars without difficulty but never bothered backing up so I don't know what that is like.

I use the same extension cut down to 24" with a weight distrubution setup. I have to run it maxed out tw wise but it works well. It looks like you are using it as a 34" extension...if that's the case you the car+trailer will need to be 6000# max (with a wt. dist. setup) and a lot less without a dist. setup.


Provided you are not doing a one way rental, storing the trailer at your destinations may be an issue. Another consideration to keep in mind is how you are going to secure the car to the trailer...some cars are more of a challenge then others.

[burningman]

What kind of car? I ask because a trailer is a better option if it's not one that can be towed on its rear wheels. Other than that a dolly will work, although I don't personally like them.
With a trailer, you can back up, and you have brakes.
With a tow dolly you have a lot of weight back there without any brakes.

[Kayteg1]

How much weight you can put on your hitch?
Dolly puts minimal weight, trailer can do a lot.