Tow Dolly

[88Silverado]

Looking at a possible way to simi flat tow my blazer behind my motorhome. Did a quick search but didnt find anything in the last 9 months. I cant afford, nor do have any room to store a full size trailer. Im concerned about trying to flat tow the blazer with a standard tow bar cuz the blazer has 4" lift and the hitch on the motorhome is probably 1 foot off the ground, plus no aux brakes.

I was thinking a tow dolly with surge brakes. This way I can just store the dolly easily, If I brake the front or rear I can still (probably) tow it home, would think it would be more stable, etc.

Anyone use a dolly? Any comments?

Thanks
Chuck

 

[imiceman44]

[ QUOTE ]
Looking at a possible way to simi flat tow my blazer behind my motorhome. Did a quick search but didnt find anything in the last 9 months. I cant afford, nor do have any room to store a full size trailer. Im concerned about trying to flat tow the blazer with a standard tow bar cuz the blazer has 4" lift and the hitch on the motorhome is probably 1 foot off the ground, plus no aux brakes.

I was thinking a tow dolly with surge brakes. This way I can just store the dolly easily, If I brake the front or rear I can still (probably) tow it home, would think it would be more stable, etc.

Anyone use a dolly? Any comments?

Thanks
Chuck

[/ QUOTE ]

I haven't but my neighbour does, he tows behind his motor home too, and he had a dolly with no brakes and after a panic stop that he almost didn't recover off, he installed brakes on it, now he says it's perfect.
I personaly do not like tow dollies, but that is a personnal preferance.
I actually now flat tow, and I feel it better than a tow dollie with no brakes because it doesn't jacknife as easy, but if you break and axle, you can't flat tow.
/forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[ugly_blazer]

Have you checked the weight ratings on the tow dollys? The ones on this site are for only 3500 lbs, maybe they make heavy ones? Other things to consider are that the tow dolly tires are small and the straps may not fit over the tires of your K5 if they are much larger than stock. Just some things to check out before your <font color="green"> $$$$$ </font> <font color="black"> </font> /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[Pookster]

no biggie- use a drop hitch in reverse to pickup the slack in height. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Flat tow is conveneient- A dolly vs a trailer is about the same amount of annoyances for me, but having trailer brakes outweighted the dolly.

BTW, you know they sell brake assist units that will apply brake force into your flat towed vehicle. THen you get the best of both worlds.

 

[88Silverado]

Thanks all for the input.
Any way I go looks like its going to cost some $$$ anyway I go for assisted breaking.
I have read on the RV sites that flat towing a blazer can get pretty squirly and without some sort of assisted breaking, forget it.

I may try and flat tow it locally on the back roads to see how it feels then go from there. I would like to tow it probably no more than a 3-4 hr trip. If im going to go cross country, im going to find me some old VW or something.

 

[imiceman44]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks all for the input.
Any way I go looks like its going to cost some $$$ anyway I go for assisted breaking.
I have read on the RV sites that flat towing a blazer can get pretty squirly and without some sort of assisted breaking, forget it.

I may try and flat tow it locally on the back roads to see how it feels then go from there. I would like to tow it probably no more than a 3-4 hr trip. If im going to go cross country, im going to find me some old VW or something.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can tell you from experience, I have been flat towing my blazer behind my crew cab and now behind a regular cab long bed, it's squirely when you hit twisties fast.
I don't do that anymore, and I stay with the lower speed limits.
Also about the brake assist on the flat tow, I know about it and it's more expensive than buying a used trailer or a dollie with brakes.
/forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[88Silverado]

[ QUOTE ]
Also about the brake assist on the flat tow, I know about it and it's more expensive than buying a used trailer or a dollie with brakes.


[/ QUOTE ]

Yea, ive seen that....the problem is with a 35' motorhome trying to tow a trailer into some of the campgrounds is a major paoblem since very few places have spots over 35' let alone a place to drop a trailer!

I even had a thought of selling the blazer and towing a Heep /forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif /forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif