EvilC Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Well as some of you know I have hauled quite a few cars around in the past year. From s30's to Camaro's...even 3 cars in 30 hours over a spand of 600 miles! I was nervous towing my first car over a year ago and always took precaution. I do not own my own trailer so I always rented from Uhaul and always got the AutoTransporter (where you try the entire car on), and I have only used a dolly once before for maybe a trip of 80 miles. Ok so last week friday I was very excited to finally tow my Z home after 1 and half years of it being upstate Ny with me in school. Finally got the Ls1/T56 in and loaded up the car and jeep to go home ( 340 miles). The day I was leaving I picked up a dolley from Uhaul said my goodbyes to David's family (1tuffz) which was kind enough to let me stay there for sometime after I was done with school to work on the car and hit the road 11pm. I usually leave at night because I-90 is a 2 lane truck route and is less busy at night. So in my head I find it easier to tow at night with less idiots on the road. 25 mins into the trip I go to change lanes and the trailer starts to sway from side to side at maybe 20 degrees. So I back off the gas and let it settle itself out and pulled over. I double checked everything on the dolly and then locked the steering column and started to drive again. About 20 mins later I make a comment to myself thank God I passed the point where I broke down just three weeks before when I attempted to go home. No more than 25 mins later as I am coming around a sweeping right hand turn, I feel a jerk in the wheel. I am doing about 67 mph and I look up in the rear view and I do not see the Z! I look in my driver side mirror and there is the dolley and Z at a 70 degree angle in reference to the jeep. As I get off the gas, the corner is coming to an end and turns into a straight line.....the dolly and Z snaps back into the other direction pulling the Jeep toward the gaurdrails. I kept my foot out of the gas or brakes and just tried to steer the out of this mess. Then the dolly and Z snap back in the opposite direction pulling the Jeep across two lanes....from there snaps back in the other direction back across the same two lanes almost causing a v-shape to take place. I jumped back on the gas to get the Jeep "ahead" of the trailer. This violent episode to place for maybe a quater mile and finally stopped when I got the Jeep slowed down to about 25 mph on the highway. For maybe 10 seconds there, all that went through my head is, "everyone is going to have to guess what happened." When I pulled over my hand were changing and my legs felt very weak. Trust me I have done lots n lots n lots of stupid things before in a car that the avg person would have been nervous to even think about doing. I walk back and check so see what the hell happened and it was something I did. I did not check my rear control arms to see if they were bolted up correctly and it almost cost me my life maybe. One of the knuckles on the pasn side (front one) backed itself off and cause the rear wheel to toe in completly. So basically the rear was steering itself at 65+ mph. I was able to get the car home the next day with an AutoTransporter from Uhaul almost 19 hours after I left which was only a 5 hour trip to start. Lesson here is to double and triple check everything when doing anything, esp when it comes to cars. Most times when you do something 100 times, it is the 101th time you do it something goes wrong. Also when you feel like you are losing control of your car...the brakes is not the first thing to do. I am pretty sure at that speed and the dolly swaying from side to side..pushing and pulling the Jeep...if I had hit thr brakes....the story would have been a lot differernt. I know this was a lot to read but it might help one person out one day. Clive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdarkme Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Wow that is crazy, at least you made it out ok and nothing major happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TeamNissan Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 " When I pulled over my hand were changing and my legs felt very weak." I like that feeling lol. All said and done that IS a good lesson to learn. I'm glad nothing too serious happened man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Biggest lesson to learn here is NEVER use a car dolley...ALWAYS use a full trailer/hauler. Glad you eventually made it where you were going safe. Warren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Your one lucky dood..... glad you made it through this, and able to pass the lesson on to others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbk240z Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Clive, do you need new underwear? LOL! J/K At least you are ok, that is most important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilC Posted July 6, 2007 Author Share Posted July 6, 2007 Clive, do you need new underwear? LOL! J/KAt least you are ok, that is most important. No but I need 2 new tires for the Z. All that zig zag'n tore up the rear tires! And yes ALWAYS use a full car trailer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRTY260Z Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Glad to hear you're O.K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravRMK Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Wow! Glad to hear everything turned out the way it did, rather tha what could have happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbc3 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Glad to hear you survived..... I am sure I am not the only one to have see a towing mishap or two. Several years ago while coming home from vacation on 95N in Virginia, I saw a small SUV (I think it was an Amigo) pulling about a 12' enclosed U-Haul. Both the SUV and trailer were way overloaded. The tail of the Amigo was dragging and the trailer was swaying. I told my wife and kids, "watch this idiot, the faster he goes, the more he sways" We crested a hill and began going down hill, He just kept pushing it, so I stayed behind him. We hit about 75mph and the trailer was swaying so much, he began to spin 360's down 95. After about 4 complete spins, the trailer flipped over, twisted the hitch off the Amigo, dumped his stuff everywhere and he was able to stop the SUV without flipping it, even after being up on 2 wheels twice. I think he was lucky to be alive. Seeing a truck and trailer spin at that speed was quite a sight! Fortunately everyone else around him saw what was about to happen, so they backed off too, and he didn't take anyone else out with him. I guess he couldn't read the "MAX SPEED 45 MPH" signs on the fenders, or he didn't know what to do when he felt the trailer swaying all over the road for the past 10 miles or more. All too many times you see people dragging overloaded junk down the road with vehicles that should not be towing. Balancing the load, not overloading your rig, getting the tongue weight right and having safe equipment is so important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparks280zt Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Biggest lesson to learn here is NEVER use a car dolley...ALWAYS use a full trailer/hauler. Glad you eventually made it where you were going safe. Warren Gonna have to disagree here. There is nothing wrong with a dolley, as Clive said just check everything. I have towed many cars with dolleys with no problems. I just always recommend using chains and binders to secure the car to the dolley and do not trust the straps the dolleys have on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwik240z Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Gonna have to disagree here. There is nothing wrong with a dolley, as Clive said just check everything. I have towed many cars with dolleys with no problems. I just always recommend using chains and binders to secure the car to the dolley and do not trust the straps the dolleys have on them. Glad you are ok clive! I too disagree with that statement. A tow dolly can be safe. I own a tow dolly and have towed many cars with it. A tow dolly can be a good way to tow a car if you follow the instructions and keep to the recommended speed limits. My tow dolly is a 2005 model and came with heavy duty 4" wide straps that go over the tires and into rachets to tighten it all down. They are very secure and have never let loose. I have towed cars at speeds up to 65MPH. I would not want to go any faster then that. One disadvantage of a tow dolly is that you really can't back up well with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwik240z Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 Biggest lesson to learn here is NEVER use a car dolley...ALWAYS use a full trailer/hauler. Glad you eventually made it where you were going safe. Warren Gonna have to disagree here. There is nothing wrong with a dolley, as Clive said just check everything. I have towed many cars with dolleys with no problems. I just always recommend using chains and binders to secure the car to the dolley and do not trust the straps the dolleys have on them. Glad you are ok clive! I too disagree with that statement. A tow dolly can be safe. I own a tow dolly and have towed many cars with it. A tow dolly can be a good way to tow a car if you follow the instructions and keep to the recommended speed limits. My tow dolly is a 2005 model and came with heavy duty 4" wide straps that go over the tires and into rachets to tighten it all down. They are very secure and have never let loose. I have towed cars at speeds up to 65MPH. I would not want to go any faster then that. One disadvantage of a tow dolly is that you really can't back up well with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaliceIntent Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I know Im kind of diggin' this thread up from the grave, but I just wanted to add some info I learned about using a tow dolley: My aunt is an insurance agent and she told me that any time you are moving a vehicle, and atleast one wheel is touching a public road, you are required (at least in California) to have liability insurance on the vehicle. That includes using a tow dolley. So be carefull or you could end up with fat ass ticket! I think the fine for no insurance is like $300-$750 depending on if you go to court, and what kinda mood the judge is in lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.