Lessons From A Tow Dollie Newbie

After moving up to a 32 foot Class C from a much smaller Rialta (21 ft) we quickly decided on the need to tow our car for increased mobility at our destinations. Unfortunately for us neither of the cars we currently own could be towed four on the ground. That meant either a new car or a tow dolly. We opted not to buy a new car. Used dollies are out there somewhere, but my searches didn't find anything close enough to our home so I began looking at new ones.

A few months later Camping World had a Roadmaster on sale and compared to the prices I had seen it was a reasonably good deal. The Roadmaster is a well respected name, and it was advertised for around $1,500. I called the closest Camping World, (80 miles) and made arrangements with a knowledge technician to drive over on the following Monday.

Everything that has happened since that conversation has been a learning experience for this newbie. After arriving at Camping World around 9 AM as requested, I learned that the knowledgeable technician had a family emergency and would not be in. Lesson: Monday is not the best day for any type of service. You may disagree, but much can happen over a weekend and Mondays seem busier in any event.

Lesson: Just because your new tow dolly's specs say electric brakes doesn't mean you won't have to buy electric brakes. If your RV is not already equipped with electric brakes for a tow you will need to purchase a system and have it installed to safely stop. While the system only cost a little over $100, it had to be wired into the RV.

After 7 1/2 hours, which included an oil change for motor and generator, I was ready to take my new dolly home. Lesson: If you don't have the car you will be towing with you; you will not know how to properly and safely use your tow dolly. After asking about proper usage, I was given a very short course in how to load and attach my car. It is the difference between theory and reality.

In a couple of weeks we were ready for our first trip towing a car. I dutifully read all instructions given and the car's manual on towing. With some trepidation I drove my car up the ramps and onto the tow dolly. The tow dolly has a pin that you remove to get the ramps to the ground and when your car is in place it pivots back in place. That is the theory. In reality my car wasn't heavy enough to make the tow dolly pivot back into place. Of course it cannot be used until the ramps are off the ground.

Fortunately a neighbor had a very large screw clamp that I was able to use to force the tow dolly into the proper position to reinsert the pin. Now all that remained was to properly utilize the straps to securely attach the car. Lesson reminder: Have your tow car with you when getting you tow dolly in order to see exactly how to secure vehicle. After some time and effort I finally managed to attach the car and drove it around the neighborhood.

Luckily, except for the light that fell out, we were able to travel without further incident. On our way out of Gulf Shores, Alabama, we got Camping World to inspect the tow dolly. They replaced the nuts designed to hold in the light. They discovered a bolt that was not in place on one of the ramps and tightened the nuts on all.

Final lesson: The more you know about tow dollies, the safer you will be.