Help for dolly towing a Kia Forte or Toyota Corolla

[edincleveland]

Hello,

First, I'm a new to the FMCA site and I'm enjoying reading the forums, lots of great information.

I’m approaching retirement and looking to buy a class C motorhome. Something on the order of a Four Winds 22B or 26B. But first I need to see if I can dolly tow a 2014 Kia Forte or a 2018 Toyota Corolla, both automatics.

Does anyone tow either of these cars using a dolly? Any issues with towing them?

Suggestions on the best dolly?

I’ve look thru the car manuals and neither recommends 4 wheels down towing and only the KIA book shows towing with front wheels up, but it shows a tow truck.

I would love to be able to flat tow but that would require buying a new vehicle which isn’t in the cards. If I would need to buy a new vehicle, I would end up with a pickup and travel trailer which isn’t the way I want travel.

Thank you for any help on this.

Edincleveland

[hermanmullins]

Ed in Cleveland, Welcome to the Forum.

You should have no problem as long as both are Front Wheel Drive. There are several good dolly makers out there. Some are steerable and some are not. Just be sure on setting either up you do it right.

Herman

[wildebill308]

Edincleveland, welcome to the forum. I used a dolly for a couple of years till I bought a car towable 4 down. I used a Acme tow dolly. It worked well and is one of the cheaper ones out there. I liked the fact it had disk brakes on it. 

Like herman said pay attention and set your car up for towing based on the instructions for the tow dolly you are using. Some you leave the steering locked and some you have to unlock the steering sso the wheels can turn.

Let me know what one you decide on (I do recommend one with brakes) I have some tips on how to tighten the straps so they stay tight.

Bill

 

[sunlover19]

I found out that l had to put a heavy brick on each side of the saddle that takes up the extra space so the car doesn't shift to one side of the tow dolly because the chains and straps don't keep it in place without the bricks. 

[kaypsmith]

12 hours ago, sunlover19 said:

I found out that l had to put a heavy brick on each side of the saddle that takes up the extra space so the car doesn't shift to one side of the tow dolly because the chains and straps don't keep it in place without the bricks. 

I towed on tow dollies over 12 years and never needed to put anything other than tow straps, and a safety chain. As WildBill308 pointed out, there is a correct way to install the strap, and one needs to know the correct way. I towed a Kia Soul for three years amongst other cars over that time frame with no problems.

[wildebill308]

13 hours ago, sunlover19 said:

I found out that l had to put a heavy brick on each side of the saddle that takes up the extra space so the car doesn't shift to one side of the tow dolly because the chains and straps don't keep it in place without the bricks. 

What make and model dolly are you using? 

Bill

[sunlover19]

It's a Carson tow dolly with swivel platform, it has a flat smooth plate the tires sit in so even with the chains and straps it moves some with our Toyota Corolla. It has a low front end on the car so l have to put a 2 x 12 on the ramp to clear the front end when it goes in the saddle so by using the bricks it makes the car come off easier otherwise l wouldn't use them. I do check the straps several times to make sure they are tight when traveling. 

[wildebill308]

4 hours ago, sunlover19 said:

It's a Carson tow dolly with swivel platform,

Interesting, I couldn't find them on the internet. I wanted to see how they were set up. What do you instructions tell you to do to load the car? Is the swivel platform lockable?

Bill

[sunlover19]

I bought it new back in 2016 in San Diego but l don't think they make them anymore except for other types of trailers, no the platform is not lockable but is a tilt bed. I did learn to start looking at tire codes finding out that a 2016 tow dolly had 2012 tires on it, but at least they weren't expensive to replaced unlike my motorhome will be when that day comes. Great chatting with you Bill and others on the Forums 

Mark

[kaypsmith]

I loaned my tow dolly to a neighbor last month, he returned it to me and stated that it was unusable because the back of the dolly was too high for his car. He didn't call me when he was trying to load the car, otherwise I would have told him that the dolly has a tilt feature that needs to be unlocked to load the car, and if the dolly is too high, all was needed is to raise the trailer ball on the tow vehicle. Oh well, this posted to enlighten those who have never used a tow dolly.

[edincleveland]

Thank you for your replies. I will let my wife know we should be good to go on using a dolly.

Wildebill308, I will let you know which model after we pick out the motor coach. For the motor coach, we are leaning toward a Four Winds 22B or 26B. The dolly will be one with the steering feature and definitely with brakes. 

With all pandemic stuff right now, going out to the dealers is real tough. Purchasing may be put off for a little while. 

Edited November 11, 2020 by edincleveland
Revise to add the comment for wildebill308

[jleamont]

edincleveland, When we started out we used a dolly. I picked up one of these used for $500.00. It worked great for the 2 years we used it, solid made with a steerable axle vs the deck plate pivoting. Not sure how Covid is effecting the used/new market on items like this but a quick Craig's list check in our area there were several (different brands) under $1000.00 

https://www.demco-products.com/rv-towing/tow-dollies/karkaddyss

 

[edincleveland]

jleamont, I've been looking on Craigslist and Facebook marketplace for used units. Some look OK, some are are beat, even saw one that was home made. As they say, buyer beware.