Dinghy vs Dolly

[lbyeary]

We are ready to start towing a vehicle with 2018 Greyhawk Prestige 29MVP and wanted to get some thoughts on dinghy vs dolly? We have a Subaru Outback and a Nissan Frontier, neither of which are towable dinghy or dolly so we are going to have to purchase a vehicle. Any suggestions on what and how?

[WinnieView]

We have towed many and prefer 4-down. Currently have a GMC Terrain.

[RVermont]

I bought a dolly as I only had front wheel drive cars. I will keep it for moving the kids to and from college but have just purchased a Jeep Wrangler so I can flat tow. Installed the base plate yesterday and now waiting for the brake system and to bar.

Dolly is good if you don’t want to change cars or have different cars to tow.

Here is a brief description of the loading process for the dolly.

Move dolly and position on the hitch. Hook up the safety chains, electrical connection check air pressure. Take the ramps off and put into position. Drive car onto ramp and into position. Set brake
Remove ramps and reset in storage location. Connect strap on one tire Tighten down adjusting as going. Then repeat on other tire. Now for the part that sucks. Crawl under the car and attach safety chains on both sides. Drive a mile or so and retighten the straps.

Reverse at other end of trip. Find place to put dolly.

Really fun under the car in sleet/snow and rain.


Four flat.
Drive car to about three feet from the rv. Put brake on. Connect tow arms, connect lights and safety chains. Set up brake system. Go

Reverse is even quicker. Tow bar stows on the rv so no need to move it.

If we are using the dolly it makes it difficult to run errands or get off on side trips. Friends flat towing disconnect all the time to do side trips.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

[Les7h]

I have a dolly ( it works ) and it is everything that RVermont says - i hate it and will get a Jeep Wrangler as soon as the budget allows
Les

[Love To Travel 2]

We flat tow behind our 29MV using a 2018 Chevy Equinox with automatic trans. There were some "death wobble" issues with the older Equinox models, but so far not with the 2018's. If you go with an Equinox, just make sure you get the models that can be flat towed, as not all 2018 Equinox's can be.

[cabinetmaker]

Another vote for 4 down...you will have to register and tag that dolly plus find a place to store it. Pain pain pain.

We have a Jeep 4 door Wrangler Rubicon Recon...when you arrive you can go exploring!

[jd99336]

I have a 2016 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk (KL model designation). I love it as a daily driver and as a toad. BUT you need to negotiate the "Flat Tow harness" and get the AD2 tranny in whichever Cherokee you buy. Not all salesmen are up to speed on this. The AD2 tranny has the button to put the transfer case (or whatever it is called on these) into neutral for towing. The flat tow harness is a $150 part and 400-600 install labor device to eliminate death wobble by providing power to the Electric Power Steering. You will want to run a hot lead from your MH to your toad, but that is necessary on most rigs to power the brake system or something.

I have 5K miles of towing from Washington to Arizona, Utah, Nevada and back without a worry thus far. I probably didn't need the Trailhawk (TH is what the Rubicon is to Wrangler....small lift and locking rear diff with a crawl ratio), but I love it's more aggressive look.

I put on Blue Ox base plates and use a ReadyBrute combo tow bar and brake. For lights, I went real simple with magnetic lights, but ran the wires under the vehicle with a plug in the back.

[Schrimscher]

We have towed both 4-down Suzuki XL7 automatic and a dolly with second PT Cruiser convertable fun car front wheel drive. We sold the Suzuki so needed a dolly to tow the front wheel car. Went with American Dolly which has electric brakes, delivered to my front door and no tags or registration required because the vehicle in tow is considered the tagged and registered vehicle. Therefore I did not have to buy a secondary brake system, tow bar, and car attachment brackets. The dolly costs about $1200 whereas the tow equipment for four-down is $2000 or more depending on what you want. It loads and unloads pretty easy, but biggest issue is where to put the dolly when not in use. Gets down to what kind of tow vehicle you already have and budget. I personally prefer the 4-down, but didn't want to buy another car plus tow setup expense. Best of luck
Paul

[koko]

Jeep Wrangler. Love it. Takes 5 minutes to hook up, if that.

[MrJackSprat]

Quick question for those who tow. Ford recommends using the tow/haul button when flat towing. Do you and why or why not?

[cabinetmaker]

Originally Posted by MrJackSprat

Quick question for those who tow. Ford recommends using the tow/haul button when flat towing. Do you and why or why not?

I use tow / haul because it gives you additional transmission braking.

[JohnWedell]

Tow dollies are banned on the new jersey turnpike.

[Bluesky46]

I use it. Not sure there is much benefit on flat level ground but going up and down hills it changes the shift points, and actually will shift down going down hills to keep your foot off the brake.

[Bluesky46]

Unless you need a family car, in my opinion go small and light on the tow dingy. Most class C's are rated to tow 5,000#, some even 7,500# I think. That’s too much. There’s only two of us on our adventures and we tow a Fiat 500 cabrio. 2,300#