Tow Dollies

JimNolan · 2012-03-18 10:55

Guys,
Have any of you used a Tow Dolly to pull a car with another car. I need to know what experience good or bad that any of you have had with Tow Dollies. My trailer is 20' and it's too big to put behind a car. Tongue weight is probably the big thing with a car and I wondered if there was a lot with a tow dolly. Jim

4banger · 2012-03-18 13:28

Hi Jim, I bought a 2012 Master Tow dolley w/electric brakes. First time dolly user. I towed from Pa. to Fl. ( 1300 miles ) with a 2003 Dodge Durango. 287 cu.in. I did not know it was back there, ha,ha It towed way beyond my expectations. Only set back is that you cannot and will not back up with a car on the dolly. Almost no tongue weight if any. I left my 57 on the dolly and unhooked it from the durango. I put a swing down wheel at the tongue. Any questions, I have the answers.

JimNolan · 2012-03-18 13:49

That sounds good. Jim
EDIT: I've read as much as my feable mind can consume on Tow Dollies. The thing that bothers me is that it is extremely important that the vehicle doing the towing is 750-1000 lbs heavier than the vehicle being towed. Both my cars are about 4000 lbs. I was evaluating the idea of pulling the 57 with the 63. No where and I mean no where have I found anything explaining WHY the vehicle towing another vehicle has to be heavier. I pull a 20' trailor with a 1/2 ton pickup and have no trouble.

JimNolan · 2012-03-19 11:34

4banger,
I'm looking at the Master Tow with surge brakes. I pulled a U-haul with surge brakes once and it was a treat to pull. I called the factory and the guy said he had never heard of a weight stipulation on the towing vehicle as long as the Tow Dolly had brakes. Jim

Zapato · 2012-03-19 13:39

my experience towing anything whether it has brakes or not is that its always nicer if the tow vehicle is heavier so that the trailer doesn't push as much when braking or going downhill that being said pulling either of those cars should be no problem if the dolly has brakes.

Zap-

shopratwoody · 2012-03-19 14:02

IMO what Zap said.

Ford Blue blood · 2012-03-19 14:39

If the towed vehicle is heavier then the tow vehicle the towed vehicle will drive the situation when exstremis is encountered....unless.....there is something to control the towed vehicle, that would be brakes. You need a device or something to absorb the energy in the towed vehicle, brakes on the tow dolly will do that, brakes on a trailer will do that as well. Having pulled a trailer with car (3200 lbs) behind a 73 F150 with no brakes and then with brakes I can tell you that I will never pull again with out brakes.

The rig I use now is a 24 ft. Featherlite with 4 electric wheel brakes, it comes in at 1580 lbs, add a 4000 lb car behind a 4400 lb 2010 F150 and I am not afraid to go anywhere with it. Matter of fact, left Billings, MT with a 60 Ford Ranchwagon and visited Mt. Rushmore. Did the hills and towns with no problems in the rain. Stopped by to see how bad Custer screwed up by wanting to be the hero too......

4banger · 2012-03-19 18:52

The reason I like the electric brakes, I can control the dolly with hand control without useing the foot brake, to straighten the car/dolly out. The bottom line is to have some kind of brake set up. The only other thing to think about is the transmission, if it is a car automatic, will it hold up. Back in the day I would flat tow with my 64 t-bird, 390 auto with no problems. Mountains are another issue with car automatic.

JimNolan · 2012-03-19 19:33

I'll be towing the 57 with the 63 Galaxie. It's got a high geared rear end (2.75 ) but it pulls out pretty good with the @ 390HP engine. The transmission is the wide ratio, built C6 w/stock trans oil cooler in radiator. I think they made a lot of heavy pickups with c6's. I looked at the frame on the 63 today and it looks like I can clamp a good reciever hitch to it without too much fabrication. I can show the car with a trailor hitch and not bat an eye. They don't have to like it. Jim

Lou · 2012-03-19 20:32

I would just like to add this, when you dolly tow a car remove it's driveshaft before you tow.

JimNolan · 2012-03-19 20:49

Even if its a manual transmission. The 57 is manual. No way I'm putting a bumper hitch on my 57. The Galaxie will be towing the 57. Jim

Hoosier Hurricane · 2012-03-20 07:33

Jim:

You already have a trailer, and I would think on a 20 footer you could position the '57 so that the tongue weight would be a couple hundred pounds so the Galaxie could handle it. Then you wouldn't have to fool with the driveshaft every time. JMHO.

John

JimNolan · 2012-03-20 09:35

John,
Correct me if I'm wrong but a car hauler needs tongue weight to keep the load from swaying. My car hauler weighs 1950 lbs. empty. I think the Galaxie could pull 5900 lbs. but they recommend a tongue weight that I don't want to put on the Galaxie. I would guesstimate that I use about 300 lbs of tonge weight when I pull the trailer with my pickup ( I use the leveling bars to adjust tongue weight ) The Tow Dolly on the other hand would have a small if not zero tongue weight and there would be 1500 lbs less weight to pull. Am I thinking wrong here. Jim

JimNolan · 2012-03-20 09:54

Thank you Rich Muise.
Rich sent me a personal email and inquired about something I hadn't even thought about. He wanted to know if my insurance company would insure my cars, if used for towing. I called Heacock Insurance Group in Tenn and got to talk to the nicest girl. I explained how I wanted to use the one classic car to pull the other so I could get both to a show or auto event. When she finally quit laughing and composed herself she indicated she thought my bright idea was fascinating but Heacock insured classic cars, not tow vehicles. She said if I had a truck insured with them and pulled something with it, it wouldn't be covered. Thank you every one for indulging my obvious wild haired stupid ideas. And thanks again Rich. Jim

Lou · 2012-03-20 12:43

Jim, call your insurance company main office and ask them. Heacock is an agent not a insurance company. (on their sight click on resources, then go down to insurance resources , to see who they represent) I do not think the person you talked to knows what she is talking about, if both cars are insured I see no problem. At one time I had a tractor that I towed on a vintage trailer with my 57 ranchero all were insured with out any problems. I only payed for the Ranchero and the tractor as the trailer was insured with as long as it was connected to the ranchero. This was on classic insurance.
When I was in Travlers we used to get 2 hostile calls a week from clients that were given incorrect information by their agents.

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Tow Dollies