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rereaves

Dolly Towing

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5 hours ago, rereaves said:

Would like feedback on best dolly for towing a 2017 Ford Escape.  Have experience flat towing but no dolly experience. 

Thanks

Ron

Isn't that the way it works, the one car you want to tow isn't towable 4 down. 

By the way welcome to the forum. 

Is this a all wheel drive? If so you may not be able to tow it using a dolly. If it is front only you should be ok.

I used a Acme tow dolly with the surge disk brakes and it worked well. 

https://cartowdolly.com/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=lg16 Search Tow Dolly - exact%2Fphrase&utm_term=tow dolly for sale&utm_content=Tow Dolly

Bill

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rereaves,

Welcome to the Forum.  Our first toad wasn't towable 4-down so we had to get a dolly.  It's a Roadmaster RM440.  It's a nice dolly.  Now, both of our toads are towable 4-down so the dolly just sits and collects dust.

Blake

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1 hour ago, WILDEBILL308 said:

Isn't that the way it works, the one car you want to tow isn't towable 4 down. 

By the way welcome to the forum. 

Is this a all wheel drive? If so you may not be able to tow it using a dolly. If it is front only you should be ok.

I used a Acme tow dolly with the surge disk brakes and it worked well. 

https://cartowdolly.com/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=lg16 Search Tow Dolly - exact%2Fphrase&utm_term=tow dolly for sale&utm_content=Tow Dolly

Bill

Your correct it always happens that way.  My Escape is a front wheel drive so dolly towing should work.  Like others I'm not a fan of dolly towing but may have to until it's new car time.

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I use a 2016 Escape, and dolly tow it.

I like the Acme brand also, but Acme requires the steering wheel to be unlocked, meaning that the key must be in accessory mode. One will be OK up to about 4 hours without a charge line. My dolly is a retired United rental that I modified to accept pulling the golf cart while towing the car.

If you do not want to use a charge line, be sure to look for a dolly with a swivel for your car. I have no problem towing with a dolly, can load in 7 minutes, unload in 5. Only draw back to dolly towing for me is storing it in some campgrounds. I did add a tongue wheel lift jack due to extra weight of the golf cart add on.

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1 hour ago, rereaves said:

Your correct it always happens that way.  My Escape is a front wheel drive so dolly towing should work.  Like others I'm not a fan of dolly towing but may have to until it's new car time.

Forgot to thank you for the link, greatly appreciated.

1 hour ago, rereaves said:

Your correct it always happens that way.  My Escape is a front wheel drive so dolly towing should work.  Like others I'm not a fan of dolly towing but may have to until it's new car time.

 

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Here is a little add on about towing I posted before. When I was towing with my Acme dolly I didn't have a problem with the battery. Well OK, once I left the car on all night and the next afternoon the battery was dead.^_^ A lot of it depends on what is powered on when the key is on.

When using the dolly the lights on the dolly are all that is required. Some add extra lights If you wanted to do that I would think some extra LED lights would be the way to go.

 When you load the car on the dolly stop with about 2 in between the tire and front stop.  Place the hold down straps over the tires. Now place the car in neutral. Now tighten the hold down straps. The reason for doing it this way is the straps will not slide on the tire. This allows the tire to rotate forward and take the slack out of the back side of the strap. After the straps are tight you can put the car in park and set it up for towing. (Acme)

Make sure you set the car up based on the dolly manufactures instructions. Some need the steering locked and some like the acme need the steering to turn. Not doing this part right will cause damage to your car.

One other thing is be aware the dolly tracks outside the track of your Coach. You need to be aware when turning corners or just going down the road. Your coach might be in the smooth travel lane but the dolly might be off the right edge running on the rumble strip or hitting the lane markers. Watch your mirrors and you can get the hang of it pretty easy.

Bill

 

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I used a dolly at first and hated it, probably because it was an older, whose name was it, no idea. I have trailered more because it allows for all the toys to go too. Toys: Honda 90 Trail bike, Bicycle, ATV, Car VW Corrado, now Chevy Tracker, and of course the Canoe and related gear. If you dry camp with solar in the desert you have to have something to do and at Alamo Lake one of Arizona's best bass fishing lakes all the stuff came into play.:D

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