First Time Towing

[Johnynorthland]

We are planning on kicking our tow dolly to the curb! My back can’t take it anymore!

We are thinking of going with a Dodge Durango as a dinghy tow vehicle. Anyone have any experience towing this vehicle? Anyone have any advice?

I’m thinking of the Durango because it’s auto trans can be flat towed, there’s no speed restrictions, no hourly restrictions and it’s an eight passenger vehicle which we need. The only thing I’m concerned about is its weight with an average of 5300 pounds I’m sure it’s going to feel much different than my 2700 pound Kia set up.

 

[GuidoDoc]

Blue Ox towbar with Currie Rock Jocks tow plate works great on my 2017 JK as long as you plan to keep stock bumper.

 

[hawkster-JAY]

We are planning on kicking our tow dolly to the curb! My back can’t take it anymore!

We are thinking of going with a Dodge Durango as a dinghy tow vehicle. Anyone have any experience towing this vehicle? Anyone have any advice?

I’m thinking of the Durango because it’s auto trans can be flat towed, there’s no speed restrictions, no hourly restrictions and it’s an eight passenger vehicle which we need. The only thing I’m concerned about is its weight with an average of 5300 pounds I’m sure it’s going to feel much different than my 2700 pound Kia set up.

It should work ok but the hitch may be rated at 5k. I'm pulling a grand Cherokee which should be the same 4wd you have. I add a 300 motorcycle to the back of the Jeep on the hitch which puts me around 5100 lbs. You can tell it's there but I have towed it over 8k grades. All said my 3800 Rubi towed easier but the Grand Cherokee is a better daily driver.

 

[berwin]

We got a Chevy Colorado to be my daily driver and toad when we travel. One thing to be aware of is that this vehicle has electric power steering which means that the battery must be disconnected with being towed. I have to figure out the best way to get power to our Blue Ox portable braking system now since it will not be able to be plugged into the lighter plug.

 

[RWK-JAY]

Not all vehicles can be flat towed. Not all vehicles can be used with a tow dolly.
You need to check the specs on your vehicle.
As for towing over 5K, don't do it if you haven't upgraded the cheap hitch Jayco installed. Don't do it if loaded your coach and the toad combined exceed your GCWR. If you get in an accident and have been found to be towing out of spec it could be bad. There are legal and insurance ramifications....
I know tons of folks do it, but I wouldn't.

 

[Gunfighter]

For those of you who have posted thank you. If you do not have your RV and equipment listed under your signature its hard to make comparisons. So state the tow bar and maybe the baseplate but do not list what your RV is. Helpful if you did. Thanks.

 

[john.tucson-JAY]

Toad

Jayco Precept 31U
'17 Chevy Colorado
Roadmaster Sterling tow bar
RVI 2 Brake controller

We started out using Enterprise and got tired of the extra layer of difficulty when setting up and moving, particularly at more rural locations.

Our set-up has served us well and the newer small portable brake controller is easy to setup and remove. Plus it pays off if you change toads as we did.

 

[Rustynuts]

We have a 2015 JKU Rubicon, it’s actually my daily driver. We use the Ready-Brute tow bar with the built in brake system and mounting it with a Currie Enterprises low profile/skid/tow plate. I went with the Currie mounting plate as it is hardly visible once installed, doubles as a skid plate and is cheaper, I could not find any replacement bumper I liked and will build my own around the Currie plate. I wired the Jeep using a CoolTech harness that plugs into the Jeep harness and uses the existing tail lights. The newer JK Jeep are so easy to hook up and be on the road, they don’t have a steering wheel lock so no need to tow with a key on or pull fuses, pop the transfer case into neutral and with our towbar setup I can be hooked up and ready to roll in about 5-8 minutes. I couldn’t be happier with the simplicity and tows like a dream. I do have a 2.5 lift on my Jeep with 35’s and with that combo and the Currie mount height it is a straight shot into the Seneca hitch with no riser or drop.

https://www.cooltechllc.com/2007-2018-jeep-wrangler-jk/55-jk-tow-harness-kit.html

https://www.currieenterprises.com/jk-tow-bar-mounting-kit

ReadyBruteâ„¢ Elite RV Tow Bar

 

[john.tucson-JAY]

For the new Chevy Colorado we had a disconnect installed right at the battery and a new 12v receptacle put in under the dash and direct wired to the battery. For the tailights we went with the led kit that the bulbs mounted right in the Chevy tailights and were wired direct to the plug in the grill up front.

 

[cfisher523]

We have an Alante 31R and we tow a 2016 Chevy Traverse - so far about 6000 miles and things have been great. We use a RoadMaster Falcon 2 bar and a Brake Buddy Classic. Like others on here we opted for the integrated wiring/lights which has made everything nice. Our toad is a bit on the larger/heavier side, but you'd never know it was back there. I will reinforce the fact that keeping the bar within a couple inches of level is important and we use a 5" drop to achieve that, which has actually worked out well as we found a 'Hi/Lo' combo drop which gives us a second 2" receiver above the one that the tow bar is in and we use that for a bike rack.

All in all, I wouldn't worry about towing. It's not much extra work and the benefit of having your own vehicle at your desintation(s) is great. It's also comforting knowing we have a 'life raft' with us in the event the motorhome ever breaks down on the road.

 

[foretm]

Following this intently as we've recently upgraded from a TT to a motorhome. Glad to see alot of Allante 31Vs around. We're researching TOADs now as well. RVT.com has toads that are already configured for towing, use the "tow behind cars" RV type when searching for those.


We're looking for possibly a small truck to pull behind to carry kayaks and bikes, etc. Kinda kicking myself now for selling a 2002 ford ranger a few years back with the manual transmission.



Hindsight you know...

Found a 2008 Saturn Astra (I know I never heard of it either) with 113K miles, in great shape, ready to tow. Weighs in around 2880 (went by the CAT scale the other day), pulls very easy. Came with the following:


- Blue Ox Aventa 10K Tow Bar
- Blue Ox Base plate installed
- RVi Brake 2
- All Cables, wiring, extras


All for $3500... We've since wired the car to use the onboard lights and ditched the magnetic lights. We're pretty happy with the find and the car runs and drives great.


Mike

 

[Cryn]

We have the portable blue ox brake. Swapped toad and brake swapped easily.

That's what we settled on, have the Patriot 3.

 

[JayneAnn]

I just bought a Precept 31UL and I wanting to get a tow vehicle other than a wrangler what is good to tow ...

 

[Johnynorthland]

DO YOUR HOMEWORK!
Start here;
Downloadable Dinghy Towing Guides | MotorHome Magazine

I’ve been racking my brains out with this. The biggest thing I’m concerned about is not having a vehicle with restrictions. Look at the columns carefully some vehicles will only go 65 miles an hour and need to be stopped and started to have their transmissions called off, others have no restrictions whatsoever. Also take note those vehicles that have very lengthy fully neutral flat tow instructions.
And there’s a lot of vehicles listed that must be four-wheel-drive vehicles and some require special to speed transfer case.
Many of the Ford models can be towed. Also I’m trying to stay around 4000 pounds even though my classic until 7500. Right now I dolly tell around 3200 pounds and it does not diminish my gas mileage is all that bad.

Most likely I’m going to go with an suv, the Jeep Cherokee trail hawk is the best vehicle for us I feel, you need not worry when purchasing one as a flat toad the trail hawk Cherokee model is perfect for it!

Good luck let us know what you decide?

 

[foretm]

I agree with Johnynorthland, the Dingy towing guides are the best source of information on what you can tow and what its restrictions are. As a general rule, most manual transmission vehicles are towable, but this is not a hard and fast rule. I would recommend looking on rvt.com. On the left side choose "Tow Behind Cars" then any other criteria you may have regarding price, etc. These cars have all been towed so are already setup for it and in some cases come completely turn-key, like mine did. See a few posts up.


- Mike