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Old 01-07-2019, 06:13 AM   #1
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Car Dolly

We have not towed a vehicle with our Greyhawk as we own a Highlander, which cannot be towed 4 wheels down.

I am thinking of getting a dolly to bring the Highlander along and have several questions:

I see some have brakes and some do not.

Are brakes needed?

Any tips from dolly users?

Brands to stay away from or prefered brands?

Sources for used dollies?

Thanks,

Mark
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Old 01-07-2019, 06:31 AM   #2
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I tow 4 down but before I made that decision I did a lot of looking and considered a dolly. I definitely would go with brakes. I don’t know the legality or requirements but it is the safe way to go. Dollies with surge brakes are much simpler than the electric style and don’t require a controller. Do a google search and you will be overwhelmed with info but I’m sure you will get a lot of good input from other folks on this forum. Good luck.
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Old 01-07-2019, 06:57 AM   #3
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Old 01-07-2019, 07:32 AM   #4
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Brakes are required in most states.

I have an acme dolly with led lights and disk shunt brakes, the forward momentum of the tow car pushing into the MH applies the brakes, works great with a couple of issues. one is you can not back up as the brakes are applied and I have had issues with the disks rusting up during winter storage, not sure how to solve this yet but it can be a pain to get them loosened up.

I recently bought a jeep to flat tow as the dolly can be a chore to work with.

My main issue with the dolly is having to crawl under the car to place the safety chains, these need to be secured around the front axel and the only way to do this is to lay on the ground. This is especially a pain with my wifes beetle with no ground clearance.

It takes me about 15 minutes to load the dolly and about 5 to unload it. The acme has removable ramps which at times can be a pain, if the tires are not on perfectly it can be difficult to get them on or off.

Flat towing takes about 5 minutes to load and 2 to unload. little or no physical motion needed.

I just moved my son back to school and the dolly came in very handy for this once or twice a year process however for our camping season i will stick with the flat towing for a easy and simple process and no laying on the ground in the rain.
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Old 01-07-2019, 08:08 AM   #5
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Old 01-07-2019, 09:54 AM   #6
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Dolly brakes

I believe some states require electric brakes. I would check your state law on it.
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Old 01-07-2019, 11:54 AM   #7
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This link has all you need to know https://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/trailer-brakes/
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Old 01-07-2019, 03:49 PM   #8
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A couple more thoughts on dollys.

The steering wheel needs to be free to turn on the acme dolly, other dolly's have pivoting platforms that are for use with locking steering column cars. i have to leave the key in my wifes beetle as the column locks. I am not a fan of this. in my sons car i can lock the car up and take the key as the wheels are free to turn.

With a dolly even as simple as they are you have extra routine maintenance. Two extra tires (plus a spare), disk brakes, wiring etc. and you have to have a location to put the dolly on a site or at home. I just inspected the disks on my dolly and both inside surfaces are groved and need to be honed flat, the calibers are not closing correctly and now i have the added expense of repairing these prior to the next trips.
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Old 01-07-2019, 04:00 PM   #9
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Key in vehicle

My brother in law had a spare key made that was not a “smart key”. Allowed him to unlock the steering wheel but car would not crank.
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Old 01-07-2019, 05:36 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PapiG View Post
We have not towed a vehicle with our Greyhawk as we own a Highlander, which cannot be towed 4 wheels down.

I am thinking of getting a dolly to bring the Highlander along and have several questions:

I see some have brakes and some do not.

Are brakes needed?

Any tips from dolly users?

Brands to stay away from or prefered brands?

Sources for used dollies?

Thanks,

Mark
Do you have a front wheel drive only Highlander or a all wheel drive?
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Old 01-07-2019, 06:30 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RVermont View Post
A couple more thoughts on dollys.

The steering wheel needs to be free to turn on the acme dolly, other dolly's have pivoting platforms that are for use with locking steering column cars. i have to leave the key in my wifes beetle as the column locks. I am not a fan of this. in my sons car i can lock the car up and take the key as the wheels are free to turn.

With a dolly even as simple as they are you have extra routine maintenance. Two extra tires (plus a spare), disk brakes, wiring etc. and you have to have a location to put the dolly on a site or at home. I just inspected the disks on my dolly and both inside surfaces are groved and need to be honed flat, the calibers are not closing correctly and now i have the added expense of repairing these prior to the next trips.
I am glad you talked about this; I was about to purchase this exact dolly. Don’t know what to do either?
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Old 01-08-2019, 06:18 AM   #12
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I use a Demco KarKaddy and tow a 2017 Highlander. I am very satisfied with its performance and have 10k miles on it with no issues.


Some important notes:


Something has to provide steering. If your Highlander is like mine, it has a push-button start and hence a motor driven steering lock that can not be overridden. Therefore, with my Highlander, I needed a steerable dolly. The KarKaddy SS has a 12 degree steering capability and has performed with no issues. Also the SS model has the collapsible tow arm which makes it very nice for storing it in my garage. Surge disc brakes also work fine. I bought mine used and was not able to find one until late in the RV season (October). I just kept searching on KarKaddy SS and finally one showed up on eBay within a 6 hour drive. Jumped on it. I also purchased the stone shield and a spare tire. The stone shield does a very good job and installs/de-installs easily.


Be glad to answer any other questions you might have.
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Old 01-08-2019, 09:08 AM   #13
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Handy chart for us Highlander lovers. It looks as if the only Highlander that should be on a Dollie is a Front Wheel Drive Only model. All wheel drive models are a trailer haul only.
https://www.toyotaoflancasterav.com/...wing-guide.htm

"If it's a rear-wheel drive, four-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, or hybrid with all-wheel drive: These Toyotas can only be towed with a flatbed trailer. The rear wheels cannot be uncoupled from the gearing and
hardware that implements rear- or all-wheel drive. The only way to tow these vehicles is on a flatbed with all
four wheels off the ground."
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Old 01-09-2019, 07:31 PM   #14
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I hate my dolly

A dolly works great but it is a pain to deal with in good weather and AWFUL in bad weather Les
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Old 01-09-2019, 07:43 PM   #15
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We figured we'd rent a dolly if we want to drag our mini around with us (it's an automatic, so can't go flat). That way we can test out how the dolly works before we buy.

I see dollys on craigslist all the time, though... at a fraction of the new price tags.

And, yes to needing brakes... any car is too heavy to be towed without aux braking ability.
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Old 01-10-2019, 06:54 AM   #16
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I use my Master Tow dolly and have not had an issue. A little noise when it was new when turning, but now very satisfied.
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Old 01-10-2019, 07:04 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crumgater View Post
I see dollys on craigslist all the time, though... at a fraction of the new price tags.
Probably because they are a PITA to deal with; but you know that going in.
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Old 01-10-2019, 07:35 AM   #18
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For a lot of people (myself included) it can be a matter of economics. The cost of a new dolly is the same or less than the hitch and brakes for a four down setup. If you find a used dolly your way ahead of the game.
THEN, if your car can't be four down but able to be put on a dolly after buying a coach and the other extras or you're just plain on a tighter budget the extra expense of selling a car that you already own and know, to go out to buy a car just because it can be pulled four down would just be another expense not needed.
Sometimes a little extra work to be able to afford to travel more is time well spent.
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Old 01-10-2019, 08:08 AM   #19
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Originally Posted by RetiredLEO View Post
For a lot of people (myself included) it can be a matter of economics. The cost of a new dolly is the same or less than the hitch and brakes for a four down setup. If you find a used dolly your way ahead of the game.
THEN, if your car can't be four down but able to be put on a dolly after buying a coach and the other extras or you're just plain on a tighter budget the extra expense of selling a car that you already own and know, to go out to buy a car just because it can be pulled four down would just be another expense not needed.
Sometimes a little extra work to be able to afford to travel more is time well spent.
Perfectly said.

I still have mine and will keep it. Reasons i got the jeep to flat tow. Lease is up on beetle, ripped the cowling off the bottom of beetle, brakes rusting during storage and the safety chains. Have I mentioned the chains.....
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Old 01-16-2019, 01:54 PM   #20
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I own a 2019 Redhawk and an Acme tow dolly.. I also have a Toyota Hylander, however, I can not tow my 2011 Hylander because it’s all wheel drive. So we purchased a used 2013 Kia Soul to tow on our dolly. I agree with Others, it’s a bit of a pain to hook up and disconnect. I am not in any shape to do it any more and always need someone else to help me. I am looking to flat tow some day to make it easier on my body!

What I do like about it is you can store it standing up in a garage, the surge break system works very well, you can tow any front wheel drive car with it, no registration is need and you don’t need auxiliary brake/tail lights.

The break rotors do rust up if you don’t use it every few months. And I wouldn’t store the dolly outside it will accelerate the rusting. You will need to carry a spare, (I got a flat) and make sure you get the 12” rims and tires especially if you tow a heavy car or SUV.. I bought my dolly 3 years ago and they came with 10” wheels. The tires started to wear funny and I had them replaced by the tire companies warranty. Acme has since changed over to 12” because of issues. AND YOU MUST RUN THEM WITH 90 psi or risk a blow out.

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