Jump to content

Tow Dolly


Recommended Posts

In the past I have always dinghy towed cars behind my 2008 Monaco Knight. The current 2020 Enclave cannot be dinghy towed, the two prior Enclaves and Yukon could be. Does anyone have a tow dolly recommendation? The car is #4800 lbs. How much hassle are they to deal with in a RV park?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Might want to rethink this. You won't be happy having to deal with the tow dolly.  I did have a tow dolly this is the one I did have  The KarKaddy SS folding one. When we bought the Yukon and started to flat tow. I'll never go back with a tow dolly.  Just my 2 cents

https://www.demco-products.com/rv-towing/tow-dollies/karkaddy3

 

Edited by Busnut
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have a Demco Kar Kaddy SS that we used for towing our Minivan. Works great and we were able to fold it and park it behind the coach in most parks. Some parks require that it be parked in a storage area and do charge for it. Last place we were charged at it was $30/week.

It tows very nicely, has surge  brakes, built like a tank and fairly easy to use. Other than replacing tires we have never had a problem with it.

We still have the dolly and it may be needed in the furture as it seems there are a lot less towable vehicles out there lately.

Both our current vehicles are towable and as Busnut says it is a bit easier to flat tow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been using dolly for seven years after Ford notified us to not flat tow Fusion. Dolly has electric brakes and it is simple to load and unload car. Worst is loading or unloading in rain. It's a bit of a hassle to manually park dolly in some parks, but better than paying to replace transmissions. Wife loves her car, happy wife, happy life. Master Tow dolly.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been using tow dollies for 16 years.  I've had them with no brakes, hydraulic brakes and surge brakes.  Don't go with no brakes, but hydraulic and surge brakes work well.  I had a Master Tow for many years, and now have a 10 year old Demko Car Kaddy that I bought used.   They all work, but I found the Demko was more of a problem when loading low cars (specifically a couple of Lexuses) as the front body of the cars (the body part that scrapes the raised concrete ends of some parking stalls) would sometimes snag on the dolly during loading and unloading and caused some minor body damage.  I installed 2x10's under the vehicle tire area on the dolly and no longer have a problem, but still load and unload slowly to control bouncing.  Maybe newer ones no longer have that problem. The Master Tow did not have that problem, although clearances were close with them,too.  The Master Tow wheel bearings require removing the wheel and brake drum to repack.   My Demko uses a sealed maintenance free wheel bearing, but does have zerk fittings that you lube with a grease gun (a whole lot easier) occasionally.

Both of my dollies came with bias ply tires that last about 15,000 miles.  I have had to replace fenders on both brands due to blowouts.  NEVER go without tire pressure monitors for the dolly!!  They have saved my butt 3 times in over 140,000 miles.  I now use radial tires and they seem to hold up better.  As I recall, the Master Tow lights did not have replaceable light bulbs, so you had to buy a whole new light if it burned out.  The Demko is probably a little heavier, i.e., a bit harder to move - but it does have a folding 3rd wheel on the tongue to facilitate moving it around.

Have I ever wished I had a vehicle that could be towed 4 down?  Yes, but I have never had one over 5 vehicles and 16 years, so I have never had to buy 5 different base plates, braking systems and maybe transmission/drive shaft gadgets to allow towing 4 down.  It is more hassle to use a dolly (but not a lot), but it is certainly cheaper and more flexible.  I can tow most vehicles.  I think I have had to park my dolly away from my camping site 3 or 4 times over 16 years, and never had to pay to park it.  So, dollies are perfectly workable but maybe tow bars are easier - don't know, never had one.  Hope this info is useful.

Edited by daveyjo
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just like to add, you might want to get the goodyear  radial tires "endurance". I ordered on line to try and save and got 3yr old tires. Hope this helps... Happy Trails.....  another item to consider would be the width of the wheel of tow dolly and vehicle being towed. Demco Kar Kaddy S.S is what I tow , is a bit of work. The fenders are cheap, previous owner had bias tires and drove it like he stole it, blew one fender off. I replaced with fenders from Tractor supply. Is well made. Cheers

Edited by jivingjimmy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd like to make an observation of Daveyjo's statement:  "The Master Tow wheel bearings require removing the wheel and brake drum to repack.   My Demko uses a sealed maintenance free wheel bearing, but does have zerk fittings that you lube with a grease gun (a whole lot easier) occasionally."

Years ago my fishing buddy bought his father in law's boat which had bearing buddy's on the axils. The boat was heavy and really hard to move around. After a few trips to a lake we decided to check the brakes. Pulling the drums we found them solid packed with grease to the point the shoes were always in contact with the drums. His father in law had always given a pump of grease before putting the trailer in the water and the hydraulic pressure ruptured the seals, that grease had to have someplace to go. Just lucky it never caught on fire.

Be safe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a 2001 Diplomat. I used a tow dolly 1 year.  Never again.   But... it depends on how you RV.  The above responses do not mention that.  How many miles on their rv?  I have 128,000 miles on mine.  4 trips of 1 month in 2019.   A few days here and there, a week or so one place, several 1 nights as we move.   If you snowbird south and sit for months maybe a dolly works.  Not for us.  Our RV has also been on 4 boats and a train.  We tow a 2005 Silverado... easy to tow.  Not trying to drive a Lexus like vehicle.  Ernie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, lotosrggp1 said:

I'd like to make an observation of Daveyjo's statement:  "The Master Tow wheel bearings require removing the wheel and brake drum to repack.   My Demko uses a sealed maintenance free wheel bearing, but does have zerk fittings that you lube with a grease gun (a whole lot easier) occasionally."

Years ago my fishing buddy bought his father in law's boat which had bearing buddy's on the axils. The boat was heavy and really hard to move around. After a few trips to a lake we decided to check the brakes. Pulling the drums we found them solid packed with grease to the point the shoes were always in contact with the drums. His father in law had always given a pump of grease before putting the trailer in the water and the hydraulic pressure ruptured the seals, that grease had to have someplace to go. Just lucky it never caught on fire.

Be safe.

I use bearing buddies on my boat trailer and do give it a shot of grease each season.  Your comment is good advice, and maybe this year I will pull the brake drums off and inspect things.  But please don't confuse bearing buddies with a Demko system.  The grease fittings on the Demko are to grease the kingpins and bushings, and the tie rod ends.  The wheel bearings never get greased as they are a sealed bearing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, daveyjo said:

I use bearing buddies on my boat trailer and do give it a shot of grease each season.  Your comment is good advice, and maybe this year I will pull the brake drums off and inspect things.  But please don't confuse bearing buddies with a Demko system.  The grease fittings on the Demko are to grease the kingpins and bushings, and the tie rod ends.  The wheel bearings never get greased as they are a sealed bearing.

Didn't mean to confuse the situation, they way I read your post about Master tow made it sound like greasing the wheel bearings. I assumed the kingpins had zerks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...