Car Tow Dolly, Before You Buy...
This article is going to review a few things you should consider before you buy a tow dolly. First, you want to consider the warranty. Most manufacturers offer a very limited 1 year warranty on the “assembly” of the tow dolly. That is very vague. There really is not much that can go wrong with the “assembly” of a tow dolly. The real warranty concern is that of brakes, actuators, bearings, hubs, and seals. These are the critical moving parts and really about the only thing that can malfunction or go wrong on a tow dolly. You should look for a company that offers a 5 year warranty on these parts. That is a good indication to you the high confidence they have in their product.
No one warranties lights, tires, wheel straps, ratchets. In fact lights and wheel straps are considered to be consumables on a tow dolly. You have a choice of four types of Car Tow Dolly. An idler, ( No Brakes ), an Electric Brake System, A Hydraulic Surge Drum Brake System, or a Hydraulic Surge Disc Brake System.
The idler system is most common for around town use, shuttling small cars from here to there around town. If you are to be traveling it is important to understand that many states require brakes of some kind on a Car Tow Dolly. Every year more states are added to the list. Also, if you ever want to re sell the unit you will find that 9 out of ten callers will want a brake dolly.
Electric Brake System is ok. But not ideal. Electric brakes require a Brake Control Box inside your RV. This brake control box has internal inertia sensors, and external adjusting knobs. If you are not very precise in understanding and adjusting these external control knobs then you probably actually do not have brakes on your Tow Dolly and just don’t realize it. In addition to that, if you ever have a brake problem you will have to trouble shoot beginning with the brake control box, the wiring from the brake control box back to the trailer plug, then the entire wiring system of the tow dolly. A real burden and expensive.
A Hydraulic Surge Brake System is the most efficient and trouble free system. It will cost a good bit more, but it is worth it. Almost all manufacturers use a Hydraulic Surge “DRUM” Brake System. This is actually old technology. Drum brakes run much hotter, have a tendency towards chucking or sudden hard braking. Because of the nature of a Tow Dolly Electric and Hydraulic DRUM Brake Systems are very difficult to adjust. The adjusting port is blocked by a spindle plate and one cannot access the adjuster port to adjust the brakes. Some dealers will tell you that tow dollies have brake adjusters. Well that is a play on words. They do have adjusters, but they are manual, not automatic. No one manufactures a trailer of any kind with self adjusting brakes. Even after just one long trip tow dolly brakes need to be adjusted our you just will not have brakes and may never know it. So, the ideal braking system is a Hydraulic Surge “DISC” Brake System. DISC brakes run much cooler, never need adjusting, they do not chuck or hit hard when activated and they are 4 times more efficient and powerful than a DRUM system. The pads are in clear view and very easy to replace with pads available at all auto parts stores.
The Ideal tow dolly will also come equipped with Maintenance free bearings. Bearings that never require lubrication. These are very common on very expensive high end equipment trailers but are seldom seen on small trailers. These are just a few considerations before you make your purchase decision. Take your time and shop carefully. Go to the manufacturer’s web site and see for yourself how much information they make available to you about their product.
The more disclosure the better. Safe Trailers Save Lives.
