Towing a vehicle.

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.
See posts with no answers
The road calls to me

The road calls to me

Active member
Joined
Mar 7, 2017
Posts
43
Location
Springfield Mass
Do you have suggestions towing a SUV behind your RV? I have an older SUV that I would to tow behind with a car dolly. I have seen this before any knowledgeable  suggestions would be helpful. And would you just put the vehicle in neutral to tow.
 
You don't mention what the SUV is. Some are small, some are large and heavy, some are front wheel drive, some are rear wheel drive, some are 4 wheel drive.

And would you just put the vehicle in neutral to tow.
Click to expand...

That is vehicle specific. You probably should look first in the manual for your SUV to find what the manufacturer says about being towed (perhaps recreational towing section?). You can damage the SUV's drive line if you get it wrong. You also need to compare the weight of the SUV (plus dolly, if you use one) to the towing capacity of your coach, as well as the specific hitch capacity.

You also don't mention which model Allegro, which can certainly affect things -- they're not all the same, even the ones that are the same length. For example, some are diesel and some are gas powered, and the gas powered may be a Ford chassis or a Workhorse (formerly Chevy) chassis.

So with more specifics you can get better answers.
 
I have a 2010 Ford Explore.V6 4.0L Sorry. The reason I would like to go this way is newer ones need a tranny cooler on them. this way here I do not it. They can go over 35mph other wise with out the cooler. So it sounds like a car dolly is the way to go. I have seen this done before. Just trying to get some feed back on this. Not sure of the model of the Allegro yet. All I know it is 33" long with 2 slide outs and no drivers door model.
 
Is the Explorer a rear-wheel drive? If so, dolly towing is not a good option because the rear wheels turn while towing and that drives the transmission even in neutral. Both RWD and AWD Explorers need to be on a full trailer to be towed. Is it's a 4WD Explorer, the 4WD transfer case can be put in neutral with the addition of what Ford calls the Neutral Tow Kit.

I'm not clear on what you mean by requiring a tranny cooler. I've not seen any requirement from Ford to add a tranny cooler for 4-down towing. It may be needed to tow a trailer in some circumstances, but that a different story.

See the 2010 Ford RV & Towing Guide for the official info on your Explorer. There is a section on Four-down towing.
http://www.fleet.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pdf/towingguides/10RVTrailer.pdf
 
Is it's a 4WD Explorer, the 4WD transfer case can be put in neutral with the addition of what Ford calls the Neutral Tow Kit.
Click to expand...

Just to clarify for the OP: this is for four-down towing. A 4WD usually is not good for dolly towing. And you still need to clarify which Allegro model you're looking at, since some have low towing capacities.
 
Yes a 4 wheel drive xlt. I stop at my Ford dealer to day saw the service manager as to his opinion and by the manual if you tow from the back wheels  meaning back on to the dolly and leave it in neutral is the way to tow these newer vehicles. any other advice is welcome.
 
Per Remco, this is 4 down towable with the neutral kit mentioned, BUT,  Remco said the kit is no longer available.

I would have concerns towing it backwards because the suspension was not designed for high speed, long distance travel backwards.
 
Ok I have decided to use Neutral Tow Kit - Ford (1L2Z-7H332-AB) from Ford. And hook a tow bar system. I think this is the way to go. and probably the cheapest but not dangerous way to tow. I will go to a hitch place that will set this system for me. Of course I will have to have the dealer install neutral kit. And I will be done and have a vehicle to use while at the camp grounds. Thanks for all your comments.
 
Backing up with any steerable front axle set-up takes a special skill because the front axle jack-knifes easily. Further, backing any short trailer is challenging and backing it with a long wheel base tow vehicle is even more so.

Dolly towing with the rear wheels on the dolly is risky at best and a really bad idea.  None of the dolly manufacturers condone it, nor do the car companies approve. The caster set-up of the car's front wheel alignment puts tremendous stress on the steering when towed backwards at highway speed. Caster is what makes the wheels return to center when you turn a corner going forward, but the same effect tries to turn the front wheels 180 degrees when backing. That's not a concern at 1-2 mph, but looms large at 55-60 mph. There is more than a small chance that the steering wheel lock will break, or even the steering linkage itself. The towed vehicle will fishtail badly if the steer wheels are not locked.
 
The road calls to me said:
Grashley. this be done by a hitch com locally that is there business. One more question is can back up while towing? Other than straight? Is like toing a boat?
Click to expand...

Backing with 4 down is effectively a no go situation too.  Yes, you can back up a foot or two but that's about it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 576 (members: 6, guests: 570)

Forum statistics

Threads
132,126
Posts
1,390,734
Members
137,844
Latest member
Dlord
Back
Top Bottom