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Hi All,
Would like to hear from anyone who has or is now towing a trailer with a small car on it. Pros? Cons? Is physical strength an issue for hooking up and unhooking? Issues at campsites? Cost? Maintenance? And so forth.

Happy Holidays to all. Thanks in advance.

Nikki

One of the biggest issues with a car trailer or dolly is that there is often no place to park it at an RV park site or even a campground. How difficult it is to load will depend on the type of trailer. It's doable if it is the only way you can tow your car.

I have no personal information, but a couple years ago at Grand Canyon, I saw a couple with a car on a dolly. I asked the woman how easy it was to maneuver and she said she couldn't possibly handle the dolly. Way too heavy she said so she had to leave that to her hubby. I think she said it weighed about 1,000 lbs. Not sure on that, but it seems unless you're in a pull thru where you can leave it hitched, you'd have to unhook and muscle the dolly somewhere it would fit on a smaller site. Don't know how that would work if you had a back-in site.
Sandi

When late hubby and I first started out, we had a tow dolly. If it had to come off, he did the moving so I don't really remember. Backing up with car in tow with a tow dolly is pretty much not doable. I looked up two Demco products and they weigh in right around 600 pounds. Strapping the car on was not a big deal.

Since I got the trailer for the Slingshot, I have had pull thru spaces for the most part. Backing takes practice. At Canyon Lake last week, I had to unhook the trailer and leave it in their boat storage lot. Pull thrus are nice because I can load the night before if I choose.

Strength wise, I think it would just be a matter of lifting the tongue just enough to get it hitched when you were lined up. Best maybe to go to a dealer and try it.

chalet05 wrote:Strength wise, I think it would just be a matter of lifting the tongue just enough to get it hitched when you were lined up. Best maybe to go to a dealer and try it.

It seems to me if the dolly was right behind your vehicle, all required would be to lift it up to the hitch. But what if you had to wheel it around to another area? Wouldn't you then have to drag it back behind your vehicle to hitch it up? In that scenario it seems more than just lifting it up.
Sandi

nothing that I know about either...but you see a lot of it and various ways of doing so... will see a lot of people un hitch and then the tow car follows
into the campground ect...if I was to do it which right now with the fifth wheel have no reason to but would want the type of towing that the car is 4 down
I'm sure that others that currently tow will pop in and explain what they do
sheila

Definitely, Sandi. One would have to make sure they were getting a site that didn't require that.

A friend of mine who full times tows her car on a dolly. She hates it but loves her car and it's not financially feasible for her to change now. But she will if/when she replaces the car. She put a tow hitch on the car to move the dolly at sites. In order to fit in some, she unhook, etc. Uses the car to move the dolly into the site, then backs her motorhome into the site over the dolly. Even not consisting that extra work it takes her considerably longer to hook up, etc, than me when we've been together. Some of the tow dollies are not supposed to be backed up when hooked, same as cars directly hooked. Some it's recommended only in emergencies, etc. So make sure you really learn what you can/should do.there are a couple forum members so have done both. I know Linda tried a dolly once deciding if it would work and decided against. Irmi and Steve had one and switched to towing all wheels down. I'm not sure why.

Many thanks to everyone who has replied. I know a lot more now than I did before I asked.
Nikki

Hi Nikki!
I don't have any advice about trailers, but was glad to see you post.

We used a car trailer only one year and have since sold it. At the time, we didn't have any vehicles that could be towed four wheels down, so it was lots cheaper to buy a trailer than another car. Steve didn't like having to crawl under the trailer and secure the car to the trailer, because of the little space available between the car axle and the vehicle. But we couldn't feel the car and trailer behind us and it did a great job. We got a great deal on a car that could be towed four wheels down, so we got rid of the trailer. What ended up being a several hour job, between loading the car onto the trailer, securing the front axle, then the back axle is now a fifteen minute job hooking up the car to the Blue Ox. We should have done it right the first time!

There is a company, whose name I am not remembering at the moment, that is able to make a modification to the transmission of some cars that allows them to be towable four down. It might be worth trying to find out if your vehicle can be modified or not.

We have towed many cars on our flatbed car trailer for our business. It is a pita to get them on and off the trailer and strapped down. I've pulled the trailer with a car on it, but DH is the one who does all the loading/unloading/strapping down, not me. Never towed one behind my MH though.

Thanks again, everyone. I don't think towing on a dolly is for me. I'm allergic to pita physical work.
Nikki

Evening Nikki! Sure miss seeing you on here.

The name of the company that makes car modification equipment is REMCO. Your RV guy will be able to help with some info. I know you will do your research on value impact to your vehicle if you do that. Good luck and don't be a stranger.