Anyone use a Uhaul "tow dolly"?

[kat]

I have a lowered Ford truck that ground clearance isn't the best on it when you put some tounge weight on the trailer hitch. And Ive been looking at some Broncos about 5 hours away from me. So instead of borrowing a friends trailer and risking me having a wreck on I-75 (a beast of a highway) I was looking at renting a Uhaul tow dolly, but don't know how a lifted truck with 35's might ride on it.
Thanks

 

[broncobsession]

Yes. I did it with 37's. Pulled the rear driveshaft and did the straps over the knuckles rather than the tires. But I was only going from Tulsa to Oklahoma City (1.5 hrs).

 

[kat]

Yes. I did it with 37's. Pulled the rear driveshaft and did the straps over the knuckles rather than the tires. But I was only going from Tulsa to Oklahoma City (1.5 hrs).

Did it feel good pulling it??? Would you do it again??

 

[T-Bird]

if renting for the day, its only about $20. more to rent the tandem trailer from Uhaul,
and it has a surge braking system.

 

[Joe473]

I did the tow dolly with a stock'01 f150 4x4 pulling a sock bronco on 30x9.50's.

There were a couple of spots where expansion joints caused oscillation and almost got ugly. Pulling and stopping were not an issue but stability over 45mph in the above situation was.

With 37's and a lowered tow rig, this could be more amplified I would suggest trying to borrow a friends f250 or 2500 and use the full trailer.

 

[jw0747]

Whichever unit you rent from U-Haul don't ever tell them you're going to tow a vehicle with 35" tires. Their policy is not to rent to guys hauling big tire vehicles and it has to do with the width of the rails and the front over-the-tire straps for tie down. But believe me that the bigger tire vehicles are easily towed but you probably need your own tie down straps.

 

[nathan.hall1]

I found out uhaul won't rent to me and my 09 Ford Explorer. They said most of there law suits involved an explorer so they won't rent to you. But Mercury mountaineers are fine....

I had to comment so I can see where this thread goes, I want a uhaul type dolly to tow my bronco to one of the big events next year, it's about 7 hours away.

Just worried about the Explorer and how it will tow and if is at 45-55 that will be 10+ hours. I would do a trailer but the weight adds up fast on a 5000lb tow capacity

 

[brianstrange]

Don't do it! If your column doesn't lock, it will crab on you. I made the mistake of trying to lock the steering wheel with straps, and that didn't work well at all. Rent the car hauler.

 

[sykanr0ng]

Maybe add air bags to the rear of the truck to boost the suspension when towing?

 

[Case]

the one any only time i used a tow dolly was with a 1/2 ton dodge towing a wrangler. anything over about 45 got very interesting, would start to sway bad. It got bad enough that twice i thought it was going to loose it. The only fix was to let off the gas and slowly slow down. Touching the brakes would make it substantially worse
real fast. what did i learn from this.... putting anything with a high center of gravity and short wheel base on a tow dolly can get sketchy. With no trailer brakes when the shit hits the fan you have no way of applying trailer brakes to straighten it out. The lighter the tow vehicle the worse it gets. if you want to tow it with an Explorer (or any time you get a new vehicle and have not towed with it much) i would go rent a tow dolly ( or what ever trailer you want to rent) and try it out early on a Saturday or Sunday before there is a lot of traffic. see how it goes and remember, if you hit a big bump things can go bad real fast. Going for a test run before you have to use it will lessen the chance of you saying, well i have to get it done now so lets see how this goes.

 

[Mustangs2]

if renting for the day, its only about $20. more to rent the tandem trailer from Uhaul,
and it has a surge braking system.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What he said...I've done it multiple times...Best extra $20 you'll ever spend.
(Iowa to Montana)
You'll need your own straps
I like Mac's

 

[5001craig]

I've towed mine with a dolly. Actually my wife towed it with her Durango after I pulled it for an hour making sure it worked. After this initial trial run I had some minor chaffing to the straps so I covered the tires with an old towel for the long run prior to putting the straps on. Six hour round trip. I pulled the shaft on the way there (Silver Lake Sand Dunes--three hour drive) but didn't on the way home as I broke something in the transfer case and have big plans for an Atlas...

I will say that I purchased new straps made for 33" tires and ran diagonal straps from knuckles to the trailer. I spent considerable time thinking this through and everything went well. I must have read every thread on CB about dolly towing. But I was concerned as my wife doesn't tow--ever. However, we stopped several times to tighten straps and look things over (the straps tend to stretch or loosen). To say I was concerned is an understatement (I was towing a travel trailer). I actually expected to look back and see my baby doing barrel rolls down the highway MANY times.

Using a dolly would NOT be my first choice. I would MUCH rather use a trailer. That said, our trip went well and with the new straps and everything we actually traveled fast. Probably much faster than we should have. Her SUV towed it very well from what I could tell. She didn't have any trouble in the hills and I was pulling a TT but I have 385hp/850ft lb '13 Cummins.

 

[knack]

I hauled a Bronco purchase home from CO to WI on a tow dolly. Driveshaft was disconnected, 31" tires.
Tow vehicle was a 3/4 ton Chevy pickup.
No stability problems at all - cruised at 75mph just fine.

 

[kat]

Thanks for all the feedback guys....I think I might try to use my buddys truck and car trailer. I just hate borrowing things. The truck I own is a 2010 Screw with a 5 inch drop so it is about as low as a car...Not a lot of wiggle room....

 

[sprdv1]

Thanks for all the feedback guys....I think I might try to use my buddys truck and car trailer. I just hate borrowing things. The truck I own is a 2010 Screw with a 5 inch drop so it is about as low as a car...Not a lot of wiggle room....

No worries if it's a friend. They know you'll take care of their stuff.

That's what we got friends for right

 

[Teal68]

I have had good experiences with tow dollies and a bad one. The bad one we so awful I will never ever use one again. Never! I now own an all steel car hauler.

 

[savage]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What he said...I've done it multiple times...Best extra $20 you'll ever spend.
(Iowa to Montana)
You'll need your own straps
I like Mac's

X-2 on U-Haul trailer it was easy to load and tracked really well, and tell them you have stock size tires or they will not rent it to you.

 

[kat]

X-2 on U-Haul trailer it was easy to load and tracked really well, and tell them you have stock size tires or they will not rent it to you.

I know this thread is old but how much tounge weight will a U-Haul trailer put on my truck pulling it?? Looks like I lot of weight is on the front of the trailer, is there any way to center the Bronco on the trailer? Thinking of going to an event this weekend but realy scared I might break something in the process so want to pull it. I have a 4 door F150 but its lowered 5 inches in the back. My 17 foot Bass Tracker aluminum boat is ok with it but its not as heavy as my Bronco