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Old 07-21-2018, 10:24 AM   #21
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Retired LEO, I would consider closely the flat towing. We researched the KarKaddy two years ago so we could load our Honda Odyssey for cross country trips. It is fairly heavy and as noted you need to store it when you get to a site. Also, it cuts into your Gross Carrying Weight.
We have towed our Honda CRV with two Diesel pushers and now the Greyhawk and hardly know it’s back there. Hope this helps. Jimmyd
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Old 07-21-2018, 04:01 PM   #22
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Retired LEO, I would consider closely the flat towing. We researched the KarKaddy two years ago so we could load our Honda Odyssey for cross country trips. It is fairly heavy and as noted you need to store it when you get to a site. Also, it cuts into your Gross Carrying Weight.
We have towed our Honda CRV with two Diesel pushers and now the Greyhawk and hardly know it’s back there. Hope this helps. Jimmyd
Thanks JimmyD. What do or would expect to pay to have a toad such as our fwd Highlander ready to pull flat, hook, plug and play?
Thanks for your help
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Old 07-21-2018, 04:10 PM   #23
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Ooops!!!! The Highlander can only be pulled with a dolly. No pull with all four down.
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Old 07-21-2018, 05:37 PM   #24
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Retired LEO, I just saw your post and was going to ask if you could town 4 down with your vehicle.
We originally towed a Kia Soul standard 6 speed cross country. In 2014 we decided to buy the CRV which was the last year built allowing flat towing. To date the car has 37,000 on the odometer not including about 25,000 in towing.
We had all the tow preparation completed for both vehicles in Ocala, Florida by a shop that does hundreds of systems per year. If memory serves me we spent about $900.00 for the tow plates and wiring installation. The BlueOx 10,000lb tow bar was around $700.00 and lastly we installed a Stay and Play braking system for around $1,000.00. Prices included all cables and wiring to tow. That was the pricing 4 years ago so it may be a little higher now. Flat towing is much easier than a tow dolly or trailer in my opinion. Hope this info helps with your future decisions. Jimmyd
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Old 07-22-2018, 03:00 PM   #25
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Retired LEO, I just saw your post and was going to ask if you could town 4 down with your vehicle.
We originally towed a Kia Soul standard 6 speed cross country. In 2014 we decided to buy the CRV which was the last year built allowing flat towing. To date the car has 37,000 on the odometer not including about 25,000 in towing.
We had all the tow preparation completed for both vehicles in Ocala, Florida by a shop that does hundreds of systems per year. If memory serves me we spent about $900.00 for the tow plates and wiring installation. The BlueOx 10,000lb tow bar was around $700.00 and lastly we installed a Stay and Play braking system for around $1,000.00. Prices included all cables and wiring to tow. That was the pricing 4 years ago so it may be a little higher now. Flat towing is much easier than a tow dolly or trailer in my opinion. Hope this info helps with your future decisions. Jimmyd
Thanks for the reply Jimmyd. According to Toyota it has to be on a dolly. I would also think a trailer for it to ride on would be ok but who wants to spend that money and add that much more weight? I would say buy a different toad candidate but we love our Highlander, know and trust it. I'm big on preventative maintenance to where a lot of people aren't.
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Old 07-24-2018, 05:01 PM   #26
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Tow Dolly

We have a Master Tow Dolly with surge brakes and lights and is steerable ,I also put magnetic lights on the back of the Jeep.We tow with a 2017 Seneca and just returned from a 6000 mile trip,worked great,I am going to do some fabricating on it just because its a little sloppy,it works fine I just like to tinker.It never sways and is easy to hook up and load,I was an equipment operator and hauled my machines from job to job so this is easy in my opinion.
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Old 07-25-2018, 12:41 PM   #27
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Class C + tow dolly

We have a 2008 Jayco Melbourne with about 45k miles on it. Have to sell due to husbands illness. All set with a tow dolly and will sell Honda CRV with it. Brand new tires, solar, 2 slides, in error, satellite etc. we also pulled The booth dinette and now have two wall hugger leather recliners in the space. in EXCELLENT condition. $38k for RV 6k for car and tow dolly
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Old 07-25-2018, 04:22 PM   #28
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That sounds like a good outfit. A little early for us though: wife is still a couple of years away.
I am so sorry to hear about your husbands health concerns. I am racing against the clock also in that dept. is why a Class C is a good prospect for us. I had a stroke 5 years ago, two holes in my heart repaired, knee replacement, ankle reconstruction, spinal stenosis, scoliosis, two herniated, one ruptured disc..........other than that I'm in great condition
I want something easy as can be. Class C with auto levels will fill the bill nicely. I have a assortment of health issues but I don't let them get me down "too" much. I actually still cut grass with a self propelled lawnmower I believe in either "use it or lose it"
I wish you and your husband the very best!
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Old 07-25-2018, 05:02 PM   #29
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I use a tow dolly for our Hyundai Santa Fe and Chevy Trax and it works fine as long as you remember to check the straps at every fill up for gas on your travels to make sure they haven't loosened (they usually do). That way we have an enclosed vehicle (instead of the motorcycle we started hauling that wouldn't start when it rained). For really long trips across the country, I would recommend rotating the car tires at your halfway point so you get more even wear on the treads. Also, by towing a car, you can put kayaks on the roof rack and bicycles on the back of the car (or a hitch-mounted bike rack between the RV and the car).
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Old 07-25-2018, 05:20 PM   #30
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I flat tow a 2016 Jeep Wrangler unlimited 4800lbs. I am not sure if the cost of a dolly is any cheaper then getting the jeep setup for towing. I think all said and done I spent about $1200. tow bar, light setup ( used existing lights in jeep) and brake buddy. You can find a lot of these items on eBay cheap. Best thing about not having a dolly is I do not have to store it while camping.

Oh one thing to verify the highlander can be towed via dolly, I thought I read somewhere it cannot be and also not flat towed either. Double check.
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Old 07-25-2018, 06:17 PM   #31
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I use both a car dolly for two of my cars and flat tow a jeep wrangler. The dolly works great and you don't know it is there, it has integrated lights, a shunt hydraulic brake system. However there are a bunch of reasons that I like flat towing compared to dolly.

Dolly, have to get the dolly and drag it over to the rv, sometimes the brakes are locked up and I have break the wheels loose by pulling it with my truck as I physically can not move it until the brake release. Once hooked up you have to move the ramps and put them on the unit. Drive up the ramps and center the car in the right spot, set parking brake, get out and remove ramps, and store, install straps, tighten straps, crawl under the vehicle and install safety chains( this is the one step that I feel breaks the bank on this whole process and if I did not have to do it the dolly would be fine) release ebrake. Check lights, drive a half mile or so and retighten straps. Whole process takes about 15 minutes. On the back side it takes about 5 minutes and again crawling under the car is the issue with the whole dolly use.

Flat tow. drive behind rv. set brake, hook up tow bar, hook up lights, hook up safety chain and break away cable. Release brake and put vehicle in neutral. Install and set rvi brake system. Check lights. Drive, takes exactly 5 minutes start to finish and no time on the ground. Disconnect, less than one minute.

Take away, if you don't mind laying in the dirt in rain/snow/dirt mud puddles etc the dolly is a great way to go. I still have the unit and will continue to use it to tow my various cars, if I have a choice I will take the Jeep. If you have medical issues that makes it difficult to crawl under a vehicle you might want to look at flat towing.
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Old 07-25-2018, 06:21 PM   #32
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Hi, is your Highlander all wheel drive? Ours is front drive only.
Sorry I just saw your responce. Yes it's AWD so I guess that's the difference. I looked on a Toyota site though that had them all listed as needing to be trailered even the front wheel drive ones.
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Old 07-26-2018, 06:15 AM   #33
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Complete newbe here.

Looking forward to a couple of years when wife retires to hit the road.
Right now it looks like our best choice will be a Class C. Probably on a Ford 350 or 450 platform. Would love the Mercedes platform but I think we will need more room than what is typically found with the MB. PLUS we love the mountains and to have a engine brake and the ability to tow a car behind us.

Question (finally)

Instead of going through all the work and expense of making our 2007 Toyota Highlander Base 4cyl 3,750 lbs. a toad or having to buy a dedicated toad I am thinking a dolly behind the Class C for a Highlander looks like a much more economical, easier solution.

Also after looking at Dollys the better ones have lights on them, do you still have to use a light bar on the rear of the Dollied vehicle?
Thanks in advance!
Ya'll are great!!!!
Tried all options and Flat towing a Jeep is by far the easiest and most reliable. Bought a used Brake Buddy and use the stock jeep lights. Blue Ox has served us well, quick to hook-up in the rain.....
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Old 07-26-2018, 08:30 AM   #34
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Tried all options and Flat towing a Jeep is by far the easiest and most reliable. Bought a used Brake Buddy and use the stock jeep lights. Blue Ox has served us well, quick to hook-up in the rain.....


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Old 07-26-2018, 12:27 PM   #35
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Are you good at backing a trailer? cuz if you get in a jam, backing up may be the only way out... a flat towed vehicle can easily be unhitched and you can back up the motor home with relative ease. The cost of the tow dolly will probably equal the cost of setting up your vehicle to flat tow.

But by now you've made your choice - - how did it work out?
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Old 07-26-2018, 02:46 PM   #36
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If I had the option I'd flat tow. Currently using the ACME EZTow disc break dolly. It works fine towing a Honda Odyssey. If you take a tight turn the dolly tires skip a little as the van's front tires don't turn much. 97% of the time you are going straight though. The part that is a pain is loading/unloading. You have to make sure you are on the dolly 100% straight. It takes a few minutes to tie down the wheels and make sure you are not rubbing any steering/frame components on the inside of the tire with the straps so they don't fray and break. The straps stretch a little so you need to check/tighten as necessary. You have to get under the vehicle/dolly to put safety chains on. Overall its just more work and hopefully its not wet or cold when you try to load/unload the vehicle.

I do use additional lights on the dolly attached to the van. I went for the wireless. I had enough to do loading/unloading the van on the dolly.
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Old 07-26-2018, 03:36 PM   #37
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Hi, Highlander front wheel drive is good on a dolly. Not four down.
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Old 07-26-2018, 03:45 PM   #38
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Hi, backing a dolly would be a accomplishment for anyone. Drove semi's otr and then city delivery including alleys and docks that were just barely that. Learned a long time ago how to keep from getting in trouble in the first place.
The Class C will be a reach financially when the time comes. Our Highlander is in way too good of shape and too good of car to get rid of.
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