Wagging tail doesn't mean I am happy

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.

Wasoki

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 29, 2012
Posts
269
Location
Holland, Michigan
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?
 
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.....
 
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!
 
xrated said:
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?
 
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
 
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...
 
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.
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
131,670
Posts
1,382,734
Members
137,455
Latest member
MtnRV
Back
Top Bottom