Selecting a tow dolly?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Bay Star 3215

New member
Joined
Nov 8, 2016
Posts
1
Looking for advice/suggestions/input on selecting a tow dolly for pulling a 2013 Lexus RX 350 FWD.  Pulling with a 2015 Newmar Bay Star 3215.  I feel there is a likelihood that someone on here has experience with a similar setup and no sense in not taking advantage of some potentially great advice before plunging in. I want to make sure that I select the right tow dolly.  Car is about 4340 lbs curb weight so I need a light weight dolly.  I definitely want a brake option on the dolly, surge, disc or electric. Would like to make sure that I don't get a dolly that ends up damaging the vehicle because of something I overlooked.
Thanks in advance. Steve
 
First, welcome to the Forum!

I will allow smarter people than me to speak about the various styles of dollies.
You are very wise to get brakes of some type on the dolly.

If you install a hitch on the car, you have an easy way to move the dolly when you can not leave it attached to the MH, such as back in spots or when you must disconnect away from your camp site.
 
Another basic decision on a dolly is a swivel wheel plat vs fixed. Master Tow, Stehl, Kar Kaddy, etc have swivels type, while the Acme EZ Tow & I thnk the Roadmaster are fixed. With the swiveling type, you lock the steering wheel on the car; with the fixed type the wheels on the car must be able to turn so that the car follows nicely in a turn.

Also be sure the dolly is wide enough between the fenders to accommodate your vehicle easily.

Brakes are a wise choice, but I think the type is matter of preference. Surge breaks don't need a brake controller on the coach, though.

Make sure the wheel tie-down straps that come with it are sized OK for your vehicle. Usually the standard ones are said to be sufficient for 14-16" wheels, but that is based on older wheel styles higher profile tires (75 or 80 ratio). Many newer cars have larger diameters (17-19") but lower profile (45-65) and sometimes quite wide too. Straps designed for more traditional wheels may not fit well on a 245/50R18 wheel.
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
131,973
Posts
1,388,463
Members
137,722
Latest member
RoyL57
Back
Top Bottom