Advice on tow bars & dollies.

[Clyde9]

From: wendell  (Original Message)   
Sent: 7/14/2004 4:32 PM


I'm thinking of beginning to tow a small car (VW Beetle--manual tranny) behind my 74 Winnie.  I'm trying to decide whether to get a tow dolly and tow the car with the front wheels off the ground or whether to tow it with all four wheels on the ground.

Interested in your experiences either way.



From: denison   
Sent: 7/14/2004 7:17 PM


I think of the tow dolly as being good for limited use - we just towed a car on a dolly from Va. to Texas, but we left the car in Texas. If I were going to be towing a car behind the winny on a routine basis, I would want to eliminate the dolly. It would mean getting the attachment points for the towbar installed on the car, probably connected to the subframe; as opposed to using a general purpose -fits-all type of towbar attachment. It would also mean having lights at the back of the towed car that connect to the tailights of the RV. I like the scheme of having an extra bulb inserted into the tail-lamp housing, rather than a set of lamps that sit in the rear window of the car or clip on the roof. It depends on how far and how often you will be towing it - and how often you will use the car during your trips. You get tired of connecting and disconnecting things if you need to do it often. And of course you have to make sure the car can be towed with all 4 wheels turning. I would think a 2 wheel drive manual tranny could be, but I understand there are cars with a manual trans where this is Not the case - are the all wheel drive Subarus of this type?



From: biggrock1
Sent: 7/14/2004 8:59 PM


I inquired about having the points attached to my Honda and the cost was $2000.00.
Maybe a used dolly would be cheaper.



From: DanD2soon   
Sent: 7/14/2004 11:42 PM


Wendell,

Pretty much the same advice and experience as Denison - and I have & use both...

We have a used Ademco dolly that I bought from U-Haul 3 years ago for $350 - we use it to pull my wife's Dodge Minivan and it's a sweet pull, tracks well & you hardly know it's there. I have a "Y" splice in the dolly light wiring so I can plug in a set of magnetic lights that we run on the rear roof of Minivan in addition to the dolly lights. It's EASY to see! One little "hitch" - sorry for the pun - It is almost imposssible to get a car on & off a dolly without getting down on your hands & knees / getting dirty - securing the safety chains to the car frame, getting the wheel webbing around the tires, etc. We generally take the Minivan only when we need the extra seating/cargo capacity at our destination.

Then I have a Blue OX Aventa II tow bar rig for my 1992 Jeep Cherokee and its light wiring is totally separate from the Jeep wiring - simple kit - additional bulbs installed in the stock tail light lenses - as Denison said, it is faster to hook & un-hook, more convenient, etc. If we're going to be making lots of side trips, changing campsites often, or the weather is nasty (makes the dolly "hitch" even worse.) we tow the Jeep.

Don't know if your VW will tow all "four down", but if it will, I'd go for the towbar option. Now curiousity's got me - Is yours an old beetle? Cause if it is, it's rear engine / rear wheel drive and a tow dolly won't help unless you put the car on it backwards - let us know how you go...

Good luck either way,
DanD



From: wendell   
Sent: 7/15/2004 11:46 AM


Thanks for the advice.  It's a new Beetle, 1.9L Turbo Diesel, front-wheel drive.  45-50 mpg.



From: Marksbestfan6   
Sent: 7/15/2004 9:41 PM


If its manual trans. put it in neutral should be ok i'd think but it would be best to ask a dealer this question or maybe your owners manual will tell you how it can be towed!
    I think the dolly would be the best & least expensive!



From: DaveVa78Chieftain   
Sent: 7/15/2004 10:12 PM


I took a look at the Motorhome magazines 2004/2003 dingy towing giudes (http://www.motorhomemagazine.com/) however, I do not see VW listed.  They also have ones for 2001/2002 .  Typically, you can find towing information in the vehicles owners manual.  Having a new beetle, you should dtill have that I assume.  To know for sure though, you need to go talk to the dealer.

Dave



From: Discoverer   
Sent: 7/16/2004 2:03 PM


on the topic of these dollies.........are ones with BRAKES going to be required - and the ones that do not have brakes then be illegal to use in most states ? how many states NOW require brakes on these units?



From: Sea Hag   
Sent: 7/17/2004 8:59 AM


I don't know how many states require brakes on a two dolly but I would highly recomend getting one with brakes . I would if I were going to purchase one . The main reason is that the brakes on your rig are designed to safely stop only  the GVW of your rig . Not the GVW plus the weight of a tow vehicle . - Sea Hag



From: denison   
Sent: 7/17/2004 11:02 AM


In Va, as in some other states I checked on, a trailer or towed vehicle that weighed 3000- lbs or more was required to have brakes that operated in concert with the towing vehicle or under drivers control. I borrowed a tow dolly without brakes from a friend - it weighed 470 and the car I had on it weighted 2200, so I was under the limit and had no problems stopping. But I wasnt in hilly country either, eastern piedmont and gulf coast. I also didn't have to drive on any scales. If I had to put a car on the dolly that was well over 3000 lbs I might want the dolly to have brakes - which almost doubles its cost. Driving in the rocky mountains I would want the tow dolly to have brakes for sure. Out there I would want brakes on any thing I was going down hill with, even a GEO towed 4 wheels down. And anytime a highway patrolman decides you are towing too much he can check you out. All states have portable scales.



From: nailhead   
Sent: 8/7/2004 10:51 PM


Brakes on a tow dolly... I put a 3880 pound four wheel drive Mazda MPV on one without brakes behind my 9550 pound coachman class C.  I could stop twice from speeds over 50 mph (with enough praying) before my brakes would need a recharge with some highway cooling miles.  Heading into a Campground south of hershey park heading west into harrisburg there's an exit ramp with a brand new stop sign at the bottom and some unrepaired sod with some dually tracks sunk in.  I know nothing about it.



From: Matt_Elyash   
Sent: 8/10/2004 10:10 AM


Yea, the old bugs you could tow 4 down with just an inexpensive towbar you bought at the VW part store, but the new ones....

Matt



From: SeaRaySRV16O   
Sent: 8/11/2004 9:31 PM


I picked up a used front wheel dolly for under $500. It's a KarKaddy II and I have pulled vehicles weighing up to 5,000 lbs with no problems at all(with a '83 diesel Suburban). Haven't tried towing anything with my Winnie but I really see no problem there. The dolly is equiped with it's own set of lights and turn signals and brake lights. The dolly works great. I have pulled cars from Texas and from Florida up to Michigan that way. It is the least expensive option that I could find. For the price of renting a dolly from a rental company two or three times, you will have the cost buying your own. They will pay for themselves after only a few trips.



From: HeavyHaulTrucker   
Sent: 4/13/2005 8:34 PM


I bought a Universal Towbar from U-Haul for $140.00; its 5000 lb rated, complete with brackets.  Later, I might upgrade to one of the receiver-mount tow bars (the ones that don't use a ball), but for right now, this is good enough.

John



From: borderbuster  (Original Message)   
Sent: 3/26/2005 3:34 PM


We are new to this group and would like to know what tow bars the members prefer and why. Specify brands and model if it is legal in this forum please.
We recently acquired a 1978 Executive 26 (don't laugh, it's almost a winnebago) and plan to flat tow a small Pickup or SUV, probably around 2500 pounds ready to roll. The MH hitch is frame mounted equalizer socket type so I would prefer to use a tow bar that uses the socket.
Thanks, Randy



From: HeavyHaulTrucker   
Sent: 3/26/2005 9:54 PM


You might check out the Blue Ox tow bars... they have several models that use the box-type hitch.

http://www.aemfg.com/

John



From: Slantsixness   
Sent: 3/27/2005 12:45 AM


Welcome to CW. The best place on the planet for old Winnies!
There are several non-winnies in the Group, too, so  stick around, we'll be glad to have you here!

What chassis is under the executve, and  is it single dually rear axle or double axle rear (there are quite a few but most are over 29ft)?
It's probably a M400 with a 440, so a small SUV would be fine, but best if you have a transfer case that you can put in "neutral" this will save you time and money!

Aside from that...... look into Blue Ox... and stay away from the cheesy ones at uhaul dealers, and the universal bumper mount ones... you'll be glad you did.

Enjoy, post some rig photos, and most of all, have fun!

Tom   



From: Derrek   
Sent: 3/27/2005 12:37 PM


Hi Randy

  I would recommend searching for a used tow bar and baseplate if you can afford to wait.  I have a Blue Ox towbar (not sure which model it is, off the top of my head) and baseplate that I use to tow my Honda CR-V. After about 6 months of patiently search and waiting, I was able to purchase both on Ebay for less than the cost of the baseplate alone. I used the search option on Ebay that would send me an e-mail whenever items matching my search were found.

Derrek



From: DanD2soon   
Sent: 3/27/2005 2:29 PM


Hi Randy!

Derrek's suggestion to "shop" a towbar is a good one - a little patience can svae you a lot of money.

I use a Blue Ox Aventa II to tow a 1992 jeep Cherokee - It "plugs" directly into the hitch receiver and I love it, but I have no experience with anything else other than a tow dolly we use to tow our Dodge minivan and the towbar has it all over the tow dolly as long as your "toad" can be pulled "all four down".

We bought the Aventa II from our local RV shop after finding it online for about $90 less than the dealer wanted & He matched the price when I showed him the copy of the Online page!  I ordered the baseplate online from Towing World  & installed it myself in an easygoing afternoon - UPS delivered it to the house 4 days after I ordered it and even with shipping fees, I saved $20 on the cost of the baseplate plus $130 the dealer wanted to install it.  Good instructions included and needed only basic tools.

These is the link for Towing World - might be something there that suits your needs...
http://www.towingworld.com/


Good Luck,
DanD