Question for those of you with more towing experience than me:

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a tow dollie vs towing your toad on all four wheels?

Ken

Advantages of a tow dolly are you can tow any front-wheel drive vehicle or a rear-wheel vehicle backwards, it comes with its own brakes, and you can back up the motorhome with the car attached (unless you are towing a rear-wheel drive vehicle backwards). Disadvantages are they are much slower to hook up and unhook up, you have to check the cables often since they slip, you need a trailer license, and you have to find a place to put the tow dolly in the campground.

I know multiple people who started with a tow dolly and moved to four-wheel down, but cannot recall anyone going the other way.

Edit: I do know someone who moved to a tow dolly because his new wife wanted to bring her car on trips and they had all manner of problems so they ended up driving separately.

-- Edited by bjoyce on Thursday 17th of June 2010 07:35:48 PM

I have to agree with Bill. Most everyone I've know that started out with a dolly ended up going to 4-wheel down towing.

Most said that it was just too much trouble to hook up and unhook the car.

You can tow many vehicles 4 down, and with modifications from a company like Remco http://www.remcotowing.com/ you can tow just about anything.

Jim

Since I've done both I will share my thoughts. Tow dolly - As mentioned it takes much longer to hook-up and load/unload the vehicle. I also had to check all connections whenever we stopped as the straps can loosen. I did not have to license the dolly. The dolly had friction brake. I couldn't back up with mine as it had the floating axle. The advantage is you can tow just about any vehicle with no modifications. Back-In sites are not good. And you need to store the dolly when you get where your going. 4 down - Very easy to hookup. Requires modifications to toad. If you change vehicles you would need to outfit the new vehicle. Much easier and cleaner setup. Costs would be less for dolly. Cost me about $3k to outfit my Jeep with base plate, tow bar, and M&G brake system. The dolly cost about $1.5k.

Thanks for all the answers to this topic. I am a favor of my Honda Fit being towed 4-down, George wants a dolly. His question is what about extra miles that are put on the Fit when it's towed 4-down? My comment is that there will be less towed miles than I drive NOW back and forth to work :) MY question is this - is there a way that the miles do not record if the ignition is not on? Thanks to all of your knowledge :)

Not sure about the Honda, but on most cars, the transmission has to turn to record miles. If yur transmission is turning, you may have a problem.

Lot's of good info and feedback. Thanks everyone!

Ken

My Jeep has an electronic display for the odometer and it does not record miles towed. The tires and brakes should be the only parts that "feel" the mileage.  Using a dolly would save on the brakes and 2 tires.


-- Edited by NorCal Dan on Friday 18th of June 2010 03:13:38 PM

Not really Dan, you have brakes and tires on the dolly.

laurly wrote:

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Thanks for all the answers to this topic. I am a favor of my Honda Fit being towed 4-down, George wants a dolly. His question is what about extra miles that are put on the Fit when it's towed 4-down? My comment is that there will be less towed miles than I drive NOW back and forth to work :) MY question is this - is there a way that the miles do not record if the ignition is not on?

Thanks to all of your knowledge :)

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Honda's do not record mileage while being towed.  You will cause extra wear and tear on the tires, so rotate them more often.

 

Thanks so much Bill. I'll research my Fit's system before we make our final decision :)

Great information! We tow our Jeep Wrangler 4 down and the odometer does not record miles. Your Fit should not record milage.

Thanks Mike!