Motorhomes Do you tow a "dinghy" vehicle?

[Dennis Olson]

Just wondering if those of you who have motorhomes tow a "dinghy" car behind it, and your experiences in doing so. Have there been any towing issues, gas mileage issues, etc? How hard is it to get on and off the tow dolly? I'm surfing for info here because I intend to use my minivan for this purpose.

 

[Publius]

I do know if your flat towing you have to set your rig up for breaks so the car or in this case van kicks in its breaks at the same time the motor-home does.

Towing a trailer you will more likely have electric breaks and you will need a controller and wire it up and a few have a surge break system like a U-Haul

 

[Dennis Olson]

I found a cheap tow dolly (2 wheeled), that the front wheels of the van sit on. No trailer brakes on it though. Most cars can't be towed flat because it will ruin the transmission of the towed car. I checked with the Dodge mechanic as to whether or not I could flat-tow the van. "No." Fine.

 

[Publius]

I found a cheap tow dolly (2 wheeled), that the front wheels of the van sit on. No trailer brakes on it though. Most cars can't be towed flat because it will ruin the transmission of the towed car. I checked with the Dodge mechanic as to whether or not I could flat-tow the van. "No." Fine.

Check with a local RV shop they can advise you on what's needed, but you have to take the load off the tow vehicle brake system and you will be able to decelerate shorter distances or faster, I like the idea of being able to stop.

There is outfit called Camping World and they have one their stores in Madison Wisconsin. http://campingworld.com

 

[Dennis Olson]

I'm used to driving an 80,000# semi-truck. I follow the "six second" rule. Allow six seconds of following-time, and add a second over 40 mph. So I leave a lot of space between myself and the vehicle in front.

 

[Relic]

Dennis-

Yeah, but as a trucker, you KNOW what happens when a trailer decides to "take a walk on the wildside"- you have the option of surge brakes or an electrical controller, but you still must (for safety reasons) have a breakaway chain- in many/most states it's the law.

It's MUCH harder to load misc goods into a trailer evenly weightwise- add that to loading your RV evenly and handling can be compromised.

(Wisdom is the memory of SOMEONE ELSE'S mistake!)

ND & I decided NOT to tow our motorcycle(s) loaded van with our OLD camper because we were not assured of capability and safety issues.

 

[night driver]

Beside, most of the fulltimers we know call em "Toads".....

 

[Roadkill]

Get a Jeep.

I pull my 4WD Cherokee flat behind our 29' Jamboree with a Stowmaster 5000. Takes about 2 minutes to hook/un-hook. Can't even tell it's back there. Does drop mileage about 1 mpg.

 

[night driver]

Hummer "H3 T"

Set up for one button conversion to towed....tows 4 down.