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Old 08-14-2018, 10:47 PM   #21
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My wife and I were in the same boat as OP. We decided right away that we needed a toad. Driving our Georgetown around sightseeing or running to the store for supplies was not going to happen.


Our plan was to search local Craigslist adds and try a tow dolly (yep we are cheapskates at heart). Low and behold we found a nice dolly with surge brakes in great condition for $800.00. We used it a few times towing our Jetta TDI manual transmission. It was do-able but a lot of screwing around.



typical process:
wrangle dolly to get it hooked up to RV
Lay out and adjust ramps
Line up car and drive up ramp (this has to be pretty precise or things might get bent)
Place wheel straps (straps are dirty if you've been driving anywhere at all)
Place chains (climb under dirty car)
Make sure all is well with car
Check dolly lighting
Go for it
Must stop after a few miles to ensure straps are tight (most times we needed to tighten them again)


Get to camp:
Get campsite then drive to unhook area.
Crawl under car and unhook chains (dirty)
Unhook wheel straps (dirty)
Place ramps
Drive car off dolly
Store ramps (some flip up, some are separate, both need to be stored and/or locked)
Drive RV to campsite
Unhook dolly and push into back of site
Back RV into site then push dolly under RV as far as possible


We sold our dolly for what we payed for it and went to flat towing our Chevy Sonic:

Drive toad into position behind RV (we leave tow bar connected and covered on RV)


Extend tow bar arms and connect to plate on car.
Hook up safety chains (on front of car, no need to crawl under) and electrical
Hook up brake and runaway cables (we have a Ready Brute towbar)
Make sure car is in neutral with steering wheel unlocked
Pull slightly forward to ensure arms are locked
Head out


At Campsite:
disconnect at designated area
fold and cover tow bar
drive to site and back in


FWIW: I found a slightly used Ready Brute tow bar system on Craigslist for $350.00 (owner was getting out of RVing). We purchased a new tow plate for our Sonic for around that same price. I installed the plate myself (wasn't too difficult but the steel they use for the uni-body rails is some kind of tough stuff to drill into). All included, with lighting harness for the toad and other odds and ends, we have less than $1000.00 in our setup and could not be happier.
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Old 08-15-2018, 06:44 AM   #22
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Originally Posted by Gypsy7932 View Post
Hello,

We are going to be new to towing, but have had our Isata 3 a couple years. A towable will be a great addition to our travels. With that said, we are ordering a Mini 4-door as a replacement car/towable vehicle and would like some advice...

We’re trying to decide between a dolly or flat tow setup.

The advantages I see for the dolly - less costly, either manual or auto transmission, use for other cars.

For the flat setup - maybe easier to connect. No storage for the dolly.



We would like any feedback as to folks preferences. The good or bad of either option.

Thanks in advance[emoji106]


If the “mini” you are ordering is referring to a Mini Cooper you need to double check since they are not factory authorized to be towed 4 down.

There are a lot in the road and knowing someone that tows one 4 down they are fine but would not want to void the warranty on a new car.

We went 4 down in a new Hyundai Elantra sport 6 speed. Four door and hardly know it is behind our Forester.

Getting older and as mentioned above did not want the hassles of straps, etc of doing a dolly. Flat tow hookup much easier for us.
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Old 08-19-2018, 12:53 AM   #23
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I use a tow dolly only because I have too. Toyota advised against towing the Prius at all and others said it's OK on a dolly. It works on the Dolly. Yes it is awkward to handle, I too have hurt my back, I now use a trailer hand truck to move it, another thing to haul around.
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Old 08-20-2018, 02:09 PM   #24
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I have searched this site and many other RV user sites about whether I can dolly tow a Fiat 500 A/T car. The car's manual says it's not allowed, but some seem to have done it. But they don't report on whether there are problems. If a Fiat 500 M/T can be flat towed (as many seem to do), what modifications need to be made to the rear tires? Would appreciate shared experiences with dolly towing this car.
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Old 08-20-2018, 02:38 PM   #25
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Originally Posted by Gene Bruce View Post
I have searched this site and many other RV user sites about whether I can dolly tow a Fiat 500 A/T car. The car's manual says it's not allowed, but some seem to have done it. But they don't report on whether there are problems. If a Fiat 500 M/T can be flat towed (as many seem to do), what modifications need to be made to the rear tires? Would appreciate shared experiences with dolly towing this car.
I flat tow a Fiat 500 Abarth. The key is that is has an M/T. Same with the Mini, I recall. A/T not for flat towing so a dolly would be needed. Keep in mind: Once you tow on all four, you will not want to use a dolly again.

My 2014 Abarth is great since the steering wheel does not lock. This means you do not have to have the key in ignition or the key on. It is also a joy to have a part time car with an M/T, especially with the quickness and exhaust note of the Abarth in sport mode.

Cheers,
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Old 08-20-2018, 02:45 PM   #26
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We have been going around and around this one. We have come to the conclusion that the 4 down is going to be the best bet for us. Current plan is to use our 2015 Ford Fusion Hybrid for the toad. If we decide to change in the future the largest cost will be for a plate for the replacement vehicle. Everything else will stay. One thing that pushed us in the direction of 4 down was ease of hookup and the ability of my wife to meet me and the dog along the road without having to pull an empty dolly around the country side.

Currently we travel without the toad, we have rented a car a couple of times when it was absolutely necessary, a few other times we have used some sort of car service (Uber, Lyft, or taxi) to get around.

I suspect there is no one size fits all, just what is going to work best for you.

Aaron
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Old 08-20-2018, 02:50 PM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gene Bruce View Post
I have searched this site and many other RV user sites about whether I can dolly tow a Fiat 500 A/T car. The car's manual says it's not allowed, but some seem to have done it. But they don't report on whether there are problems. If a Fiat 500 M/T can be flat towed (as many seem to do), what modifications need to be made to the rear tires? Would appreciate shared experiences with dolly towing this car.

Have you contacted etrailer.com? They have a lot of smart people that can answer nearly any question about towing. I was very pleased with the help they provided to me when I was getting my Jeep Wrangler set up.
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Old 08-25-2018, 11:10 AM   #28
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Concerning dolly rentals, we looked at renting one to tow our Prius before we bought a dolly. None available had brakes. Some of our destinations required brakes for our towed weight. YMMV, check your own requirements.
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Old 08-26-2018, 09:54 PM   #29
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Concerning dolly rentals, we looked at renting one to tow our Prius before we bought a dolly. None available had brakes. Some of our destinations required brakes for our towed weight. YMMV, check your own requirements.
We tow our Prius on a dolly with disc surge brakes. More than 20k without real issues. Be careful loading as the Prius has a long area in front of the tires and is very low. We got some plastic Auto ramps that we put under the dolly ramps to reduce the entry angle. Also if towing the dolly, without a car loaded, be very careful and extremely slow when going over speed bumps or in our case a cattle crossing. Our dolly went almost vertical and broke tire plies when it landed.... New tires required.
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Old 08-27-2018, 04:13 PM   #30
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I have an American Tow Dolly (Co mfg) in Carlsbad CA that is available. Electronic brakes, brake controller and spare tire with custom mount, about 800 miles on it, pm me if interested. MODERATORS - Apologies in advance if not allowed in this particular forum.

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Old 09-06-2018, 03:46 PM   #31
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I use an ACME surge disc brake dolly to tow my Scion XB automatic Front WD. Mainly because of the cost. We had the XB and a Subaru AWD Crosstrek and neither of them were stock flat towable. I don't always have a toad, but when I need it this has been working great.
Love our XB, its a stick so we can flat tow.
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