Wagging tail doesn't mean I am happy

[Wasoki]

When we are on the road, the dolly tows straight and generally behaves itself.

When Moving the MH to storage, I was towing an empty dolly.  In the rear view camera, I saw the dolly happily following the MH.  I knew  it was happy because it was wagging back and forth.  Slowing down from 60 mph to 55 mph reduced the swaying, but it still wagged  like a happy puppy.

I realize the an empty dolly has no suspension of its own,  but there must be a way to keep this exuberant puppy in line.  Tire pressure?

 

[captsteve]

Silly question for you, if it was empty, how did you get home?

Deep in that question is the answer you seek...Put your TOAD on it . Just the Dolly without the car will always bounce and can get violent enough to tear things up. If you have to tow it, do so slowly to control the b b b bounce.....

 

[xrated]

It's all about tongue weight.......or in your case, the lack thereof.  It's no different than loading a flatbed trailer with more weight in the back of the axles than in the front and the tongue weight is less than 10% or so of the trailer weight!

 

[Rene T]

It's all about tongue weight.......or in your case, the lack thereof.  It's no different than loading a flatbed trailer with more weight in the back of the axles than in the front and the tongue weight is less than 10% or so of the trailer weight!

How much weight is actually on the tongue of the dolly with the car on it. I never had one so I don't know. Are the front tires of the car directly over the dolly axle or just forward a bit?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The dolly manufacturers recommend very low air pressure in the tires when the dolly is empty. Like 10-15 lbs.  That reduces the bouncing that sends a dolly all over the place.

Increasing tongue weight would be a plus, but there is no practical way to do that on a dolly, short of strapping an old battery or a concrete block onto the tongue.

MasterTow Dollies has their manual online and the instructions pretty much apply to any brand of dolly with a swivel "table" for the car wheels to rest on.
https://www.mastertow.com/image/pdf/Manual.pdf

 

[Mile High]

I would think you could install a sliding sway control on it like a TT would have.  They are cheap enough and they DO work   I had mine to tight on a TT once and the truck wouldn't turn on gravel!  https://www.campingworld.com/curt-manufacturing-curt-17200-63-sway-control-kit

 

[Wasoki]

Silly question for you, if it was empty, how did you get home?


Wife was waiting for me at storage facility.  She had her own errands to run...

 

[John From Detroit]

I would also recommend a reece anti-sway (Sliding friciton type) bar for the EMPTY dolly. You likely will not need it full.

OF course if you tighten the adjustment down like I did for my trailer.  The dolly will track like it was part of the Motor home  Or a "uni-pod" trailer.. .or a hitch mounted cargo tray.

That is it will not turn but slide sideways .. Yes that adds wear to the dolly's tires but not loaded. Not much wear.