Electric vs. Plunger Brakes For Tow Dolly

[gmoreno]

We are a young family, first timers to RVing and, know very little about towing. We will be towing my wife's 2002 Mini Cooper. The Mini Cooper dealer and owner's manual state front wheels up (Cooper is a CVT). Living in New England, we will be traveling to Canada, as well as the states. I'd like some clarification on the topic of brakes needed in Canada when towing and, if brakes are necessary on your tow dolly when traveling in the states. I'd also like some input on electric vs. plunger brake system.

First, I understand that if you tow in Canada, Canadian law mandates that your tow dolly must have brakes. Is this correct? What about tow lights on the Mini-cooper? Plunger or electric? Same questions for towing in the states.

Next, can you back-up your rig using a plunger brake system, or will the plunger brake activate, sensing the pressure from the rig pushing against the curb weight of the Mini cooper? I know I'll need a brake controller for the electric brake tow dolly. Nonetheless, can you back up a rig with either system?

Finally, some additional info some readers might need to know to better answer my questions. Class A motorhome (gas, 35') with 4-pin set-up. Ford Triton V-10 engine, with 5,500 lbs. towing capacity. Cooper GVW 2315 lbs.

Thanks,

Robert

[NavyDad89]

It is generally not recommended to attempt to back up with a tow dolly and mounted auto. From personal experience, it is almost impossible to back up without jack-knifing the equipment even on level ground and trying to go straight backwards. As to the electric brake or surge brake question, I had a dolly with surge brakes and towed a nearly 4000 lb. Buick Rendezvous with success for a couple years. I had installed a wheeled tongue jack and then added a tow receiver to the Buick to make moving and parking the dolly much simpler than trying to park it by hand or with a 36' class A motorhome.

I switched to a vehicle that was 4 wheel down towable when we went full time. Now that we are part-timing again, I would consider using a dolly if we had a front wheel drive car or van. I have also toyed with the idea of an open car hauler too, so that one could back up if needed but have the concern of where to store the trailer in a small campsite.

As to your question regarding the need for brakes, there have been many discussions on this and I believe that in MOST situations brakes are required if the combined weight of the car and dolly exceed 3000 lbs. I would recommend that you do a search for the requirements in each of the states and provinces that you might be towing in and pay particular attention to the laws in your state of domicile since most of the time you would not have a problem if you were complying with the regulations of the state in which your vehicles are registered. If my recollections are correct, the manufacturer of the tow dolly, that I purchased, had links to the applicable laws on their web site that I reviewed and then decided that I needed a dolly with brakes even though many people were towing without brakes.

A set of magnetic mount brake, turn, and tail lights attached at the rear top of the mini would cost somewhere under $50 and would be much safer in low light or low visibility situations whether or not they might be a requirement IMHO. I had made a "Y" connection with 4 way flat plugs for the 4 wire brake, turn, and tail light leads so that adding them was easy and fast.

[garykd]

Hi gmoreno,

Welcome to the FMCA forum. I echo NavyDad89's post. I tow with a dolly and four on the ground. Only dumb luck will allow you to back up the dolly with a vehicle on it. Make sure you have a working brake system on the dolly. I have surge brakes. It matters not what kind of brakes you have as long as they are working. This is to protect you and yours from very bad lawsuits if the unthinkable happens. When using the dolly, I have suction cup mounted light bar for brake and turn signals. As to the weight, to understand if the coach can tow the dollied Mini, get the configuration weighed. Compare the weights with the coach/chassis specs. Then you'll know if you need to do something or not.

[gmoreno]

Thanks everyone for your answers.

Indeed I'll purchase a dolly with brakes and purchase some magnet lights to place on top of the mini. Looking to find a dolly in the "used" arena. Price range here in the Boston area for something decent starts at around $750 (used) and of course, new, top out at about $2,000. I've hit craigslist and ebay. I've performed some google searches as well. As always, you usually, get what you paid for, but I'm still thinking I can find something in the $500 price range. Leads from any readers will be helpful. Also, is there a way to test the integrity of either brake system if I find a used dolly?

Thanks,

Robert

[jackarea]

I have a tow dolly with surge brakes (plunger) that I tow a Chrysler Sebring 3000#. It works very well. It is capable of backing up by inserting the safety pin into a different slot to take the pressure off, however it is next to impossible to back a tow dolly any distance whether it has electric or surge brakes, so do not consider that when making your decision.

I also have a 16' trailer that I pull with a pick up that has electric brakes. You will have to add a brake controller to use electric brakes, but one advantage is that you can adjust how much braking force you want. Low force for light loads, high force for heaver loads.

A few states do not require brakes on tow cars, but for your own safety and less wear on tow vehicle, you should have them. When going down a steep grade, even a lighter car such as your mini will give you quite a push and over use of brakes-- get them over heated and prone to failure.

Have a safe trip.