Pros and cons of towing a car with a motorhome

[Gary Fowler]

If your tow vehicle is front wheel drive the dolly is the easiest way to go.
If rear wheel drive you have to deal with transmission issues to tow it. Some even have to remove driveshaft!!
With a Dolly you can't back up so you have to choose your path.

You cant back up with a flat tow either so that is a none issue. My car is FWD so no issue with transmissions either.

 

[Gary Fowler]

What are you towing and what are you towing it with? Honda CRV
Is it a 45 foot diesel towing a SmartCar or a minimalist Class B towing a 1970's Cadillac?38Foot Class A gas powered V10
I've plowed parts of Alabama when the wheel broke off a UHaul tow dolly.

The best reason to just buy your own and keep it serviced. I doubt UHauls are serviced till they break. If you were renting a car hauler, you could just as easily find a wheel problem with them as much as a dolly.

 

[Gary Fowler]

O/T (and no offense)...but IMO the biggest "con" is getting stuck behind an RV towing something on a two lane...IMO all states should adopt the rule that if there is more than 4 cars behind a vehicle the one hindering the flow has to pull over and allow faster traffic by...

That wouldn't be an issue if states all had shoulders to pull off on which many don't have a safe place to pull over on to.
I think many motorhome guys don't run the speed limit when they have the power to do it is because of the increased gas consumption. I know my motorhome will power up most hills at 55 MPH but not on long 8% grades that go for miles. Once I lug down to 45 MPH that is it till I hit downhill grade. I can pass up most 18 wheeled truckers though

 

[Pixguy]

I have towed the same vehicle four down since I bought the car, a 2011 Honda CRV.i investigated tow bars and braking since we bought our first motorhome and the best, easiest and cheapest setup is the ReadyBrute with the integrated brake. It's proportional braking and feel it's the best way to go.

We drove up to Prince Edward Island this past summer and had no problem crossing the Canadien border and they didn't question the hookup. We lose about 1-1.5 mpg when we tow but after skipping the "toad" one time and having my wife have a medical emergency on the road, I will never be without the tow vehicle again.

I have never dollied a car before but some cons I've heard is:
It's a pain to strap the tires in inclement weather
Some campgrounds will charge to store the dolly because it's to long to store at the site
It's another axle to store when not using it

It literally takes me 5 minutes to hook up while letting the Honda idle in neutral for 3 minutes.

Not all vehicles can be towed four down due to tranny or the weight.

 

[ForestGrump]

With the dolly you have to park it somewhere. They can be a pain to use. They can be damaged and so can the car.

You must have brakes, be safe, period. Most states require them now.

That said I flat tow a Honda CRV all the time. Added a bulb in each rear tail light and wired them to a trailer pig tail up front. Put a switch on the dash for turning the accessory fuse on and off. Use the ready brake tow bar system.

Takes about 5 minutes to hook up and go and even less to unhook. Towed from So. CA to Alberta, no problems. Highway 18 from Big Bear to Lucerne is 16% grade, no issues up or down. Run eco tires on the CRV, General Altimax - have not shown any wear from towing.

Not all cars can be flat towed. None of the new cars with CVT's can be flat towed.

 

[BTDT2]

FWIW- I have been towing cars and pickups behind motorhomes for over 20 years. Hands down, flat towing is easier than trailers and dolly's. I also owned an RV resort in the Smoky mountains and 80% of the RV'ers that were towing did it wheels down. If you pull a trailer plan on spending more for the longer pull thru sites as most campground have a separate area for storage that make short stays a problem for those towing trailers. I never turned a flat tow vehicle away but recall sending a number of RV's towing trailers away because of space issues.

As to backing up, as soon as we arrived at the campground I would disconnect the tow car while my better half registered. It tales only a couple of minutes to disconnect a tow car versus unloading and finding a place for a trailer. If you did find a situation where you needed to back up, disconnecting the tow vehicle was no biggie.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have towed with a dolly and a trailer. I much prefer a stand alone trailer that gets all 4 wheels off the ground.

 

[Bird]

In 1973 I bought a new 18' Winnebago Brave with a 318 Dodge industrial engine (yep, they actually made a class A motorhome that small) and I flat towed an Opel Cadet behind it. In 1992, when we were full time RVers, I bought a new 40" Bounder motorhome with a 460 Ford gas engine and first flat towed a used Isuzu pickup truck, then traded for a new 1993 Ford Escort Station Wagon with a manual transmission, which of course, I also flat towed. I only had the proper lights on the towed vehicles, no brakes, and no problems. I've seen and talked to RVers with the tow dolly and with the trailer, and if I ever do it again, I'll still flat tow. It's so much easier to hook up, unhook, park, etc. Look at the RVs on the road. How many are using dollies or trailers vs. the number flat towing. BUT . . . any of the 3 ways work, so I'd said it's up to your personal preference.

I see some others responded while I was typing.:laughing:

 

[roadhunter]

Several have claimed it was cheaper, and easier towing, to put the car on a trailer behind the motorhome.

Bruce

At some point you are just dragging too much crap/weight. I always felt like I would rather find service for a pickup rather than a motorhome if I had trouble.

Those big motorhomes pulling cars in the mountains are a nightmare to get behind.

 

[Pixguy]

I posted, I tow my CRV. First I towed it with a 34' Class A with aV10 and then traded it in for a 25ft. '16 Itacsa built on a Sprinter 3500 diesel. The mileage of course is much better with the Sprinter chassis at 14mpg while towing while the class A was 7mpg.