Dolly or 4 down?

[SharpPI]

Part of our buying decision is to get a tow dolly or tow 4 down, any thoughts or experience with either? Which is easier and which causes less wear on the tow vehicle?

[GL1800Rider]

Dolly will save wear on the front tires but for me that is the only advantage. 4 down its easy and no worries about storing a dolly.

[RedLdr1]

While I could flat tow our C-Max I still went with a Acme dolly. Most Ford hybrids can be flat towed but there are some issues that can be "gotcha's" that aren't covered very well in any of the guides. A visit to a forum for your TOAD may be helpful in finding any of those issues.

As for which is easier I suspect flat towing would be quicker in almost all cases. But then I can tow just about any front wheel drive vehicle with my dolly with minimal adjustments and no added expenses. Both methods have their advantages. See Here and Here for some previous discussions on flat versus dolly....

By the way if you go with a dolly I suggest having a hitch added to your TOAD if it doesn't already have one installed. I had one added to my C-Max and that allows me to use it to move the dolly around very easily.

[SharpPI]

Red .... Thanks for the links. I currently have a 2014 Ford Escape.

[DXSMac]

As another option, try going toadless! I don't tow a car at all (cuz I'm too chicken.... and I think it adds time to "pack up" although you could hook the tow up the night before...).

Here's my blog: RVing Toadless

Takes a little more planning, but I get by......

[RedLdr1]

Alec,

According to the Ford 2014 RV & Trailer Towing Guide, Page 11 (See Here) you cannot flat tow an Escape. If your Escape is AWD you cannot dolly tow it either. But if it is a FWD you can use a tow dolly. You can confirm this with your local Ford dealer but the Ford guide is pretty clear on this one.

If you have a FWD and want to dolly tow it I highly recommend the Acme dolly linked in my signature.

[DXSMac]

Originally Posted by RedLdr1

Alec,

According to the Ford 2014 RV & Trailer Towing Guide, Page 11 (See Here) you cannot flat tow an Escape. If your Escape is AWD you cannot dolly tow it either. But if it is a FWD you can use a tow dolly. You can confirm this with your local Ford dealer but the Ford guide is pretty clear on this one.

If you have a FWD and want to dolly tow it I highly recommend the Acme dolly linked in my signature.

Beg to differ. I once owned a Ford Escape Hybrid 2005 and I specifically asked that question about 4 down. Was told I COULD! Ok, Ford doesn't make the Escape in a Hybrid anymore, maybe it's been changed...... But I don't tow anyway so was moot for me....

[RedLdr1]

Originally Posted by DXSMac

Beg to differ. I once owned a Ford Escape Hybrid 2005 and I specifically asked that question about 4 down. Was told I COULD! Ok, Ford doesn't make the Escape in a Hybrid anymore, maybe it's been changed...... But I don't tow anyway so was moot for me....

Differ all you like... But the linked 2014 Ford Guide is pretty clear for his vehicles model year. All the manufactures change around towing capabilities quite a bit every new model and or year. That's why you really have to check very closely to see if a specific year / model / engine / transmission is towable.

We go "toadless" well over half the time. But if we are staying in one spot several days I want a car. I looked at just renting a car at the destination. But the cost of the tow dolly over time is much more attractive for me.

[SharpPI]

Originally Posted by RedLdr1

Alec,

According to the Ford 2014 RV & Trailer Towing Guide, Page 11 (See Here) you cannot flat tow an Escape. If your Escape is AWD you cannot dolly tow it either. But if it is a FWD you can use a tow dolly. You can confirm this with your local Ford dealer but the Ford guide is pretty clear on this one.

If you have a FWD and want to dolly tow it I highly recommend the Acme dolly linked in my signature.

Thanks .... the RV dealer told me it could be toad 4 down. Shows me that I need to do my own research and not trust the dealer knowledge.

[SharpPI]

Originally Posted by DXSMac

Here's my blog: RVing Toadless
.....

I enjoyed your blog .... thanks for sharing.

[RedLdr1]

Originally Posted by SharpPI

Thanks .... the RV dealer told me it could be toad 4 down. Shows me that I need to do my own research and not trust the dealer knowledge.

In God We Trust, the rest of you #@!$%&!* get verified. An old military security saying that applies here as well....

My wife's 2016 Ford Fusion is a case in point. The hybrid versions can be flat towed, they have the same drive train as my C-Max. We didn't want a second hybrid so she purchased a 2.0 EcoBoost which cannot be flat towed. I was told by a dealer it could be flat towed. When I pulled up the 2016 Ford Towing Guide the sales person claimed that was a new change... I could have pulled up the 2015 Guide, or the 2014 Guide, to show them it wasn't a "new change" but it wasn't worth the effort.

The good news is her Fusion fits the Acme dolly just fine so we can chose between it, or my C-Max, as our TOAD for any given trip. At ~45MPG the C-Max usually wins...

[ResQfrog]

Just wondering if you are securing your steering wheel from turning while using the dolly. We just picked up a 2016 C-Max Energi 3 weeks ago and it does not have a locking steering column. Love the 700 miles so far and still have 1/2 tank of gas left.

[RedLdr1]

Originally Posted by ResQfrog

Just wondering if you are securing your steering wheel from turning while using the dolly. We just picked up a 2016 C-Max Energi 3 weeks ago and it does not have a locking steering column. Love the 700 miles so far and still have 1/2 tank of gas left.

No, I'm not... We have a SEL with push button start as well. I did a lot of reading here, the C-Max forum, and talked to my local Ford dealer and Acme about that.

Here is a quote from the Acme website:

"If you have a locking column, make sure it is left unlocked thus allowing the steering wheel to turn."

See Here for the page that quote is from....

I'm jealous over your Energi. I wanted one but the Energi weighed too much to tow behind the MBS we had as our last motor home. That extra battery pack ain't light! I'll just suffer with my ~45MPG for a while longer I guess.....

[LindaFrank]

I would recommend going to the real authority for a definitive answer. See page 185 of your Owner's Manual online for your 2014 Ford Escape: http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Fo.../14204om2e.pdf
Emergency towing only: • Maximum speed is 35 mph (56 km/h). • Maximum distance is 50 miles (80 kilometers).
Towing behind an RV: CANNOT be flat-towed (all wheels on the ground), as vehicle or transmission damage may occur.
Front-wheel drive must be on a tow dolly and all-wheel drive must be all 4 wheels off the ground.
I had an Acme tow dolly for a year and it worked perfectly. I bought a 4WD Wrangler because it's much easier to hookup and unhook.
By the way, the Acme tow dolly requires the steering to be unlocked.

[oldsmasma]

X 1000 on research! We recently bought a new vehicle and wanted to keep the option of a dolly open. (No flat towable vehicle met our needs/wants and we don't want to go back to 2 vehicles). One dealer swore their AWD SUV was flat towable and that caught our interest. Good thing we did our research because it turns out to not be true. Could have been an expensive lesson. Our Moho is small and we do well without a toad and have used Enterprise at times. Options options options.

[rvpezzano]

All of the older escape HYBRIDS are flat towable, the gas models are NOT!

[SkipnTerri]

Originally Posted by GL1800Rider

Dolly will save wear on the front tires but for me that is the only advantage. 4 down its easy and no worries about storing a dolly.

X2!!

[DXSMac]

Originally Posted by RedLdr1

We go "toadless" well over half the time. But if we are staying in one spot several days I want a car. I looked at just renting a car at the destination. But the cost of the tow dolly over time is much more attractive for me.

Yeah, I guess model years could differ on towong....

I know towing with dolly or four down is cheaper than renting. I do rent cars a lot. I just don't want to hassle with the hooking up the tow car or where to stow the tow dolly cuz a lot of places don't have room for you to stow the tow dolly....

Oh, if you do rent cars and use an AMEX card, sign up for Amex's rental car protection, it's $19.95 PER RENTAL up to 30 days if you are a WA resident, up to 45 days in other states. Well worth it. On the other hand, it's a bit steep if you rent for ONE day, might be cheaper to take the rental company's coverage. Although personal car coverage does extend to rental cars, I don't currently have a personal car so I use AMEX's coverage. Also, even if you do have a personal car, if you use AMEX's coverage, and have a problem, you won't have to go through your own insurance first, AMEX becomes primary. But it only covers the car, doesn't cover liability. I carry broadform insurance for that....

[Bob Montgomery]

Originally Posted by SharpPI

Thanks .... the RV dealer told me it could be toad 4 down. Shows me that I need to do my own research and not trust the dealer knowledge.

NEVER trust your dealer. While they may mean well, verify everything. I bought an Demco Kar Kaddy from a dealer recently that was not set up properly...I should have checked everything but my trust cost me $1,000 in repairs to my car. I have a post about it under towing, check it out.

[DXSMac]

Originally Posted by rvpezzano

All of the older escape HYBRIDS are flat towable, the gas models are NOT!

Aw. That was it. I had a hybrid and Ford said it could be towed.