who uses a dolly to tow to events then ?

[smckeown]

Just sold my trailer due to spriraling storage costs. Been looking into dolly's, of course have read all the legalisties etc.

Am just interested in how many people here use one (or know people that do) and which manufacturer is it from ?

Looking to transport my 750kgs 205 to track days and sprints.

cheers
sean

[GORDON STREETER]

A mate of mine who was a car trader used one all the time and reckoned it was worth its weight in gold as he also had to pick up non runners and didn't have to employ anyone else. As long as you make sure the setup is not overweight its not a bad option as you can store them on their end, I have seen some that take to pieces and will store in the back of an estate car. The downsides are that if you buy one new the best types cost more than a trailer, and they are easier to steal (as they can be put in a big van) also if you did some serious damage to the racecar you would have a problem getting it home.

[rescue dude]

Originally Posted by smckeown

have read all the legalisties etc.



Looking to transport my 750kgs 205 to track days and sprints.

cheers
sean

So you are aware that the race car HAS to be road legal?

[smckeown]

Originally Posted by rescue dude

So you are aware that the race car HAS to be road legal?

yep and mine is

[GORDON STREETER]

The one my mate had was a "STOWBOY" but you couldn't tow it legally without a car on it. As regards "road legal " this can be a very grey area. The AA use them all the time and do they check to see if the car has all the right
documents ?

[smckeown]

ah! the stowboy was the one I looked ages ago, was hoping someone would list the name..cheers

[GORDON STREETER]

http://popular.ebay.co.uk/ns/Cars+Pa...ing+Dolly.html
Have a look !

[rescue dude]

Originally Posted by smckeown

yep and mine is

Thats ok dude just double checking.

[jonners]

Didn't know that one about the towed car having to be road legal - I thought the whole point was that once attached to the dolly, the dolly and towed car are actually construed as a trailer.

Have thought about one of these myself but ruled it out due to the 40mph speed limit and the fact that you're only supposed to use them for recovery purposes - or at least that's what the MOT told me over the phone man years ago.

Has this changed??

Can anyone explain the legalities accurately and authoritatively???

Jonners

[rescue dude]

From what i remember from working at a hire shop that used to hire out trailers. The car has to be road legal as it's sat on the road and is only the same as being towed. But don't quote me on that as various web sites seem to contradict themselves.

I can't remember a lot more other than the legal side with towing dollies was a minefield so we stopped hiring them out.

From one site;
What unbraked trailer can I tow? You can tow a maximum of 750 Kg with an unbraked trailer but you cannot exceed half the kerb weight of the towing vehicle. You can tow a trailer with a Gross Weight higher than your car’s towing limit as long as you only load it up to that limit. It is illegal to exceed the car’s towing limit.

[rescue dude]

More here;http://www.ttas.co.uk/towsafe.cartransport.html

[jonners]

As i thought - towing dollies are for recovery only, not for transportation.

Thanks anyway

[GORDON STREETER]

The towing rules aren't black and white depending on the tow vehicle / towed vehicle, and normally confuses the police unless you are doing something really silly like towing a truck with a Smart car. We have had threads on here regards towing setups before, but not on dollies. Its a whole can of worms.
I speak with some experience of this as I was taken to court over a towing overweight case that I won on a technicality because the police hadn't done their homework !

[b1ackcr0w]

This seems to be going round in circles a bit in here (Hillclimb & Sprint). Let's move it to racers and see if it gets a wider audience and a more definative response?

[rcarr]

We bought one in the early 90s from Louise Aitken Walker we used it to tow our vintage/classic racer to and from the circuit until one day it decided to fall off about a mile from the circuit gate. It was retired and the classic was driven to the circuit until we bought a transporter/ trailer. We part exchanged it and a Chevy Silverado for a Range Rover.

[Notso Swift]

750 kg car plus (say) 100 kg for the dolly, you happy, or indeed legal, with 850 kg un-braked?
Sorry, not for me.

[Al Weyman]

Right when I used to do Road Saloons (sorry Tim if you are reading this but never did like the idea of driving a race car back from the track after hard use :-)) I used the one where all four wheels of the car sit on the road and the car self steers, now that type I would say no argument car has to be 100% road legal taxed and as well. I even towed a car as heavy as a Chevy Monza Spyder V8 but would not recommend it and nearly lost it on the back roads into Mallory. Incidently I wrote my Sunbeam Talbot off at Oulton and could not get it back on the 4 wheels on road type dolly so thats what made me buy the front wheels off the ground articulated type.

This was a McArdle towing dolly which lifted the front wheels off the deck and these were far more stable in fact I would say more stable than most trailers, just dont try to reverse with them as its like reversing an articulated farm trailer and is nigh on impossible. I used to cart my camaro around on this but to be honest I think it was a bit over the top but I never ever got a tug. My mate actually built one which was a lot lower and more stable but as the wheels went to the outside of the car the thing was ridiculously wide but I guess no wider than a wheels outside trailer. This thing towed very well and he raced a Camaro as well.

I did ask various coppers the legality of the things and no one was able to offer a definitive answer but I would say disable the car being towed to be on the safe side (its broken down guv 'onest!) and I would also say if the wheels were off the ground I cannot see how they would be required to be road legal because if so then surely the same would apply to spectacle lift recoveries and if a car has been in a wallop how can it be road legal and if they were required to be there was another option I considered but never tried, one of the spectacle recovery trucks dollys under the rear wheels lifting the thing entirely off the deck.

So to summerise I would say to drive and use great unless you have a bad crash or trouble with the rear end of the car, legality a grey area but in my opinion and after seeing some horrendous trailer related crashes over the years a safe option as very stable.

[Al Weyman]

Originally Posted by Notso Swift

750 kg car plus (say) 100 kg for the dolly, you happy, or indeed legal, with 850 kg un-braked?
Sorry, not for me.

Most of them have brakes and I would strongly advise one with brakes. Mine did not have but should have had.

[midgetman]

Well, here it is from the horses mouth - DfT comment:

http://www.ukmotorhomes.net/a-frames.shtml

Hope this helps

[rescue dude]

Reading the part at the bottom specifically for dollies it really isn't realistically possible to tow a car which would make the maximum laden weight over 750 kgs.

As for 40mph on a motorway.