Vicki
Northern Illinois
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We are thinking about getting a tow dolly to tow our car because we have a Mazda Tribute and it can't be towed 4 down nor can it be retro-fitted. Possibly in a year or two we want to get a new car and change to a tow bar. For the dolly we will be putting in a breaking system. Can that same breaking system we add to the coach be used with the tow bar or does it require a whole new system?
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BarneyS
S.E. Lower Michigan
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For the dolly you will either have electric brakes that you control with a brake controller in your motorhome, or the dolly will have surge brakes that work without the use of a controller. If the dolly has electric brakes, that same controller can be used with any other trailer that you tow that also has electric brakes.
If you tow with a tow bar and 4 wheels down on the toad, then you need a completely different system. That system mounts in/on the towed car and does not depend on a brake controller in the MH. Brake Buddy is one brand that I am familiar with but there are others. The only connection to the MH besides the tow bar are electrical connections to signal the Brake Buddy to start operating. The Brake Buddy then operates the car brakes through the car brake pedal just as your foot would.
I am going to move this to the Dinghy Towing forum as you will probably get better response there.
Good luck.
Barney
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VintageRacer
Dundas, Ontario
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One simple solution is to keep the towed vehicle under 2500 - 3000 lbs and you don't need brakes on it in most places. A middle ground is get a dolly with electric brakes and just use the breakaway feature for added safety - that's what I am doing, towing a Kia Rio 5 on a dolly behind my bus. In my case no issues with having enough brakes, the bus is still about 4,000 lbs under it's GVWR with the car on the dolly combined weight. A third solution, as mentioned, is simple surge brakes on the dolly, no need for a controller, which would be a good setup for your Tribute. Same with a brake system for towing 4 down. It's a separate system that acts on it's own, no controller in the tow vehicle is needed. If you don't need it, I would stay away from the added complexity of the electric brake controller. not that they are bad, it's just un-needed complexity. As noted if you contemplate ever towing a sizable trailer with electric brakes, obviously you need to bite the bullet and install the controller at that point.
Brian
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HarryWM
Wherever we are parked this time.
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BarneyS wrote:For the dolly you will either have electric brakes that you control with a brake controller in your motorhome, or the dolly will have surge brakes that work without the use of a controller. If the dolly has electric brakes, that same controller can be used with any other trailer that you tow that also has electric brakes.
If you tow with a tow bar and 4 wheels down on the toad, then you need a completely different system. That system mounts in/on the towed car and does not depend on a brake controller in the MH. Brake Buddy is one brand that I am familiar with but there are others. The only connection to the MH besides the tow bar are electrical connections to signal the Brake Buddy to start operating. The Brake Buddy then operates the car brakes through the car brake pedal just as your foot would.
I am going to move this to the Dinghy Towing forum as you will probably get better response there.
Good luck.
Barney Barney, are you sure this is how the Brake Buddy works? the only connection on mine (other than the remote alarm system should it become inoperable) is electric cord to cigarette lighter. The braking is caused by change in inertia caused by tow vehicle degree of deceleration. Am I wrong??
Harry
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jauguston
Bellingham, WA
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jauguston
Bellingham, WA
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No
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BarneyS
S.E. Lower Michigan
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HarryWM wrote:BarneyS wrote:For the dolly you will either have electric brakes that you control with a brake controller in your motorhome, or the dolly will have surge brakes that work without the use of a controller. If the dolly has electric brakes, that same controller can be used with any other trailer that you tow that also has electric brakes.
If you tow with a tow bar and 4 wheels down on the toad, then you need a completely different system. That system mounts in/on the towed car and does not depend on a brake controller in the MH. Brake Buddy is one brand that I am familiar with but there are others. The only connection to the MH besides the tow bar are electrical connections to signal the Brake Buddy to start operating. The Brake Buddy then operates the car brakes through the car brake pedal just as your foot would.
I am going to move this to the Dinghy Towing forum as you will probably get better response there.
Good luck.
Barney Barney, are you sure this is how the Brake Buddy works? the only connection on mine (other than the remote alarm system should it become inoperable) is electric cord to cigarette lighter. The braking is caused by change in inertia caused by tow vehicle degree of deceleration. Am I wrong??
Harry,
You are probably correct in how the Brake Buddy determines when to brake and how much brake pressure is needed but, as far as I know, the actual brakes are operated by the BB unit pushing on the brake pedal. I may be wrong about the electrical connection to the motorhome though. I don't have one, but my son does and I have watched him hook it up numerous times and I knew he had an electrical connection to make. His also plugs into the cigarette lighter but I assumed that was only to supply power to the unit to run the compressor. I could very well be wrong.
The point I was trying to make to the OP was that the BB is a separate unit that works the toad brakes and is not controlled by the motorhome with a controller like normal trailer electric brakes are.
Because of that, the same braking system will not work for dollies and tow bars. 
Barney
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magicbus
LBI, NJ or Nantucket, MA
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I would expect that when any of these systems - BB, ReadyBrake or any other - applies the brakes, there will be a significant force exerted by the street-contact wheels to pull the car from the dolly. I would doubt that the straps holding the car to the dolly are designed to handle this - they would always expect the street-contact wheels to be free-wheeling.
Dave
Life doesn't come with a safety fence around it... enjoy it anyway.
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Deen
Vancouver, WA
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Vicki wrote:We are thinking about getting a tow dolly to tow our car because we have a Mazda Tribute and it can't be towed 4 down nor can it be retro-fitted. Possibly in a year or two we want to get a new car and change to a tow bar. For the dolly we will be putting in a breaking system. Can that same breaking system we add to the coach be used with the tow bar or does it require a whole new system? Is the Tribute front wheel drive ONLY? If rear wheel drive then you need to remove the driveshaft to tow it. If AWD and it can't be towed four down then you need a trailer as it can't be towed on a dolly either. Some will say check Remco, but after the three failures of Remco products I know of I wouldn't go that route.
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BarneyS
S.E. Lower Michigan
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magicbus wrote:I would expect that when any of these systems - BB, ReadyBrake or any other - applies the brakes, there will be a significant force exerted by the street-contact wheels to pull the car from the dolly. I would doubt that the straps holding the car to the dolly are designed to handle this - they would always expect the street-contact wheels to be free-wheeling.
Dave
Dave,
The BB, ReadyBrake etc are only used when a vehicle is towed 4 down. They are not used with a tow dolly. A tow dolly uses its' own brakes so there would be no "pull" from the car. There would be some "push" from the deceleration however.
Barney
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