Hell-tow dolly?

I am seeking an inexpensive method of towing my parts and otherwise broken cars around. Having rented these a few times, they do the job. I do know that I want one that I can back up with. Any experience or recommendations?

i like tow dolly's. they're smaller to store. if you're going to pick up a car, at least half of the trip your fuel economy will be decent. i'd love a nice aluminum one. but alas, I must use the flimsy steel one I bought off a guy for $75.

I've never been able to find one for less than $750.

I got a nice one for IIRC $395 however I DID need to replace the tire straps. Still wasn't that expensive. The disadvantage to those is backing up with a car on it...but just plan ahead.

I just missed a late model Stehl that had everything for $500. Naturally it was like three miles from the house. Doh!

Bought a used Stehl a few years back for 400 and it paid for itself the first weekend I had it. Doesn't take up too much space and tow's fine behind a light duty 3/4 ton van like it isn't there, only problem is backing up. It doesn't really work in my experience. I have tried a few times and it's kinda OK going straight back until it starts to jack knife which it will in short order.

I do know that I want one that I can back up with. Any experience or recommendations?

Yup! Give up on that backing up thing RIGHT NOW. There is no dolley that you can back worth a E36 M3. Even the ones with unarticulated decks still allow the vehicle itself to move to some slight degree that makes the thing more or less un-backable. Ive had my dolley for probably 10 years now and ive only HAD to back it up once because a guy in a hotel parking lot told me i couldnt stay at his hotel with my vehicles because their parking situation was so berkeleyed. And you know what i did? I took the car off the dolley, took the dolley off the tow car, turned everything around, and put it back together. Oh, i TRIED to back it up. But it's like trying to back up a freight train thats not on tracks and all the wheels have been replaced by swivel castors. Just dont try.

Ive only had to do that once in almost a decade and i may never have to do it again. Im ok with the fact that the dolley cant be backed up with a car on it. But if you go into this thinking you can find one that CAN easily be backed up, you're setting yourself up for failure when you drive right into a situation that you never would have if you just accepted that you couldnt back up.

I've backed up plenty of times with the U-haul ones, including turning around on a dead-end street. Just takes a bit of practice and zero fear.

Vigo wrote:

I do know that I want one that I can back up with. Any experience or recommendations?

Yup! Give up on that backing up thing RIGHT NOW. There is no dolley that you can back worth a E36 M3. Even the ones with unarticulated decks still allow the vehicle itself to move to some slight degree that makes the thing more or less un-backable. Ive had my dolley for probably 10 years now and ive only HAD to back it up once because a guy in a hotel parking lot told me i couldnt stay at his hotel with my vehicles because their parking situation was so berkeleyed. And you know what i did? I took the car off the dolley, took the dolley off the tow car, turned everything around, and put it back together. Oh, i TRIED to back it up. But it's like trying to back up a freight train thats not on tracks and all the wheels have been replaced by swivel castors. Just dont try. Ive only had to do that once in almost a decade and i may never have to do it again. Im ok with the fact that the dolley cant be backed up with a car on it. But if you go into this thinking you can find one that CAN easily be backed up, you're setting yourself up for failure when you drive right into a situation that you never would have if you just accepted that you couldnt back up.

I've got one .... no you can't back when it's loaded ... without a car on, it's as easy to back as any trailer

The articulated ones are going to back up a lot better than the simpler solid ones. If you can back a hay wagon, you can back a loaded articulated car dolley. Easier on the tires too.

In reply to Kenny_McCormic:

Yep, Grew up in the country. I remember being like 10 and everyone laughing at me trying to back up a hay wagon. I have backed up loaded rental ones before. Slow and easy.... Just wish there was a way to lock the thing straight for backing.

I pulled into a hotel parking lot I thought was a drive around with my car loaded on a tow dolly from U haul. Took some time and I had a bit of an audience but I did get turned around. Never again if I can avoid it. That being said I can't find any around here for under $500.

No, articulated ones are NOT easier to back up because you can end up with the front and back wheels of the towed apparatus facing in different directions and the only way you can undo it is to pull forward again. And if the tow vehicle's rear wheels aren't pointed the same direction as the dolleys wheels the whole thing essentially binds up and trying to back up just pushing everything against each other without moving anything. And what causes this situation? Turning while backing. The ONLY thing you can do with an articulated dolley while backing up is go straight, slowly, with a bit of luck.

See, if you think you CAN back up a dolley, you'll get yourself into a situation where you're blocking traffic because you thought it was SO EASY to back up a loaded dolley, and everyone will get pissed off at you. It is safer to assume that you cant and just avoid any situation that requires loaded backing. I've been doing it for years, just fine.

It is totally different from a hay wagon. Somebody should make one of those hilarious browser-based physics games like the ones where you try to balance something or make a stick figure walk, and make it about backing a loaded, articulated dolley. They should have a 'berkeley me even harder' option where you can also unlock the towed vehicles steering wheel..

But yes, it is easy to back up while empty. It can get out of shape really quickly due to the short wheelbase (for lack of a better word) so you cant back one up quickly, but it is easy if you go a reasonable speed.

Sorry... I can only offer this to the thread:

I bought one for $500 and sold it for $450 four years and who knows how many cars later.
It had a swivel pin that was removable. If I left the pin I could back it up for almost and entire city block. When it finally started to turn I just pulled forward slightly and took another run at it. The thing was quite handy and several people would borrow it and give me $20 (these were good car club friends).

I am next door in Stone Mountain/Lilburn and have a 20ft Featherlite trailer. If you ever need help let me know. T

i hate- HATE- tow dollies... but give me an 18 foot car trailer for hauling cars and i'm in heaven.. trailers also work a lot better for cars that don't actually still roll, and you can haul other stuff like tractors, snowmobiles, trees, and lumber on them when you aren't using them for car hauling duty...

Yeah, too bad i dont have anything to pull a full trailer with. I keep thinking about buying full size trucks but i always come back to the same thing: they get E36 M3 mpg so i'd only drive them when i had to which means it would take half a decade or more before even a cheap truck would pay for itself. I towed some tandem axle trailers with a dakota and didnt like it (mostly due to dakota brakes) and sold my dakota and dont really want anything bigger than that.

Ive been getting by with a dolley and small (car-towable) trailer for a long time now. When i need a full size trailer for something (once every few years) i borrow the truck and the trailer.

curtis73 wrote: Sorry... I can only offer this to the thread:

How did you get Carol Channing to help you back up a car?

In reply to Gasoline:

Thank you Gasoline! Very kind. This is why I love this forum.

Vigo wrote: Yeah, too bad i dont have anything to pull a full trailer with. I keep thinking about buying full size trucks but i always come back to the same thing: they get E36 M3 mpg so i'd only drive them when i had to which means it would take half a decade or more before even a cheap truck would pay for itself. I towed some tandem axle trailers with a dakota and didnt like it (mostly due to dakota brakes) and sold my dakota and dont really want anything bigger than that. Ive been getting by with a dolley and small (car-towable) trailer for a long time now. When i need a full size trailer for something (once every few years) i borrow the truck and the trailer.

i paid $500 for my 3/4 ton GMC and another $500 for the tires.. so i've got $1000 into a truck that spends 99% of it's life sitting in the yard, but it's oh so worth it when i need it... i hauled $600 worth of scrap iron in it in one day, and $400 the next.. it only gets 9mpg, but it's also not a daily driver, either, and the $30 it costs me every month to keep basic bare bones liability coverage on it is worth having it at the ready whenever it's needed. now if i could just fnd a decent 18 foot open car trailer for $1k i'd have a killer car hauler setup just sitting around waiting to be put to use...

I had an ext cab 75 f150 360/c6 that was mechanically superb for a while (got 13mpg btw but was totally gutless). I only towed with it one time, which went ok, but the thing was so uninteresting to me at that time that i traded it for a jeep cherokee + cash. In the end i sold that Cherokee too, just like the other 4 cherokees ive had and sold. So in the end, should i have kept that f150 which worked perfectly and had the potential to be very useful, vs picking up another Cherokee which i have a track record of getting rid of without ever modifying? Yes, i probably should have kept the one full size truck i ever had.

A tow dolly requires the wreck I'm dragging home to have two tires that hold air, at the same end. And wheel bearings that will turn. That so aint always the case!

Much prefer a trailer with a wench so I can completely drag whatever junk I'm bringing home up onto it and not worry about it.

foxtrapper wrote: Much prefer a trailer with a wench

Ok, I have a question that had been bugging me this while thread:

My understanding is that if a vehicle is on a tow dolly it needs to be registered to be legal, how do you guys deal with that with parts cars? Or does the vehicle on the dolly not have to be registered in your state?