Question Towing w/o a trailer

[Vint]

LMBO I have no idea where folks get quotes for setting up 4 wheel flat towing. 10K plus?

I just got a quote to do my Colorado ZR1......Baseplate, Air Force one, lighting, battery disconnect. All installed $3,295. Add a towbar $1,200 so $4,495 max.
Buying a quality, new Master Tow Dolly and accessories about $2,300 (your 2023 price)
Now lets look at ease of set up for a flat tow..............
Connect tow bar to toad, plug in connector, connect air hose, on my vehicle, switch off battery. All standing upright, rain or shine
Now lets set up a vehicle on a tow dolly................ take out and set up tow dolly ramps, make sure vehicle is centered, slowly drive your vehicle up the ramp and make sure not to drive over the stops. Get under vehicle and remove ramps, one per side, attach the ramps to the tow dolly. Now get down on the ground and tie down the vehicle, passenger side, now go around to drivers side and do the same. Then go in front, get down and connect safety chains.
I am exhausted and if its raining its worse, I am drenched and exhausted.
So a roughly $2,200 difference but now, every time you hook or unhook on your tow dolly you have to get on the ground and go through that process.
I can hook up my flat tow and get in tow mode in 3 minutes, while you are still setting up your tow dolly ramps.
The same amount of time? I will bet 100k that its not even close

When I am home I do not have to find a place to store my tow dolly.

Surge brakes are better then an AF1?

Not so my friend. LMBO at your ignorance. And, I posted $5K to $10K, sounds like your setup was pretty much in range.

Master Tow Dollys, the ramps are attached, pull the tilt bed pin, drive on to the dolly, put car in park, lock steering wheel, set parking brake. Insert bed pin, strap left front tire, standing up, ratchet down, repeat opposite side, release parking brake, done.

 

[Underboss]

Not so my friend. LMBO at your ignorance. And, I posted $5K to $10K, sounds like your setup was pretty much in range.

Master Tow Dollys, the ramps are attached, pull the tilt bed pin, drive on to the dolly, put car in park, lock steering wheel, set parking brake. Insert bed pin, strap left front tire, standing up, ratchet down, repeat opposite side, release parking brake, done

Semantics, pull the pin....... does your dolly not require additional safety chains in case the straps fail, as they have?
100k bet 10k is in the range of 5k?

 

[Vint]

Nope

 

[Underboss]

Nope

That shocks me as I know some dollies have them. Thats akin to hooking up a tow bar and not using the safety cables.
So, to clarify, with a dolly, you do not have safety cables connecting the toad to the dolly and you do not have a braking system in case the tire straps fail and the toad comes off the dolly, which I have seen happen.
I guess if you add a toad braking system to the tow dolly price of $2,300 thats at least another $1,600 plus breakaway cables, another $100, you are at the $4,000 range, for an equally safe set up.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

I wish our flat tow setup only cost $4000. Parts alone for the tow bar, Air Force 1 on coach and car, base plate, wiring and miscellaneous was right around $5,000. We wanted to pay someone to install it all, that was going to cost another almost $2,000, but that was going to require that we take it to 2 different people in 2 different directions with more than 6 hours of total driving time + time off work.
So I installed it myself over a few weeks.

After all that work and sunk cost into just one vehicle, will probably keep that vehicle longer than we typically keep a vehicle. Trailer/dolly provides more flexibility in changing vehicles. One of the reasons we will consider a change from flat tow back to a trailer in the future.

 

[Underboss]

I wish our flat tow setup only cost $4000. Parts alone for the tow bar, Air Force 1 on coach and car, base plate, wiring and miscellaneous was right around $5,000. We wanted to pay someone to install it all, that was going to cost another almost $2,000, but that was going to require that we take it to 2 different people in 2 different directions with more than 6 hours of total driving time + time off work.
So I installed it myself over a few weeks.

After all that work and sunk cost into just one vehicle, will probably keep that vehicle longer than we typically keep a vehicle. Trailer/dolly provides more flexibility in changing vehicles. One of the reasons we will consider a change from flat tow back to a trailer in the future.

I am curious how you got to that price point
AF1 for coach and toad $1,329. https://www.etrailer.com/Flat-Tow-B...2020&hhmake=Winnebago&hhmodel=Forza+Motorhome
Baseplate Averages about $625
Tow bar, mid upper range $1,300
Wiring Kit $150
Total $3,400 for parts with the coach AF1 included.

My coach already will have the AF 1. I got two quotes for install, I already had the tow bar. Both quotes with install were within $5 ..........$3,295 and $3,300
The $3,295 is my usual installer, the $3,300 was someone closer that my friend just used and bugged me to have him quote it.
I will drive the hour to the $3,295 installer as they are the best.

 

[Holdmybeer]

Nope

That's not a great idea. They're called safety chains for a reason.

 

[Holdmybeer]

I wish our flat tow setup only cost $4000. Parts alone for the tow bar, Air Force 1 on coach and car, base plate, wiring and miscellaneous was right around $5,000. We wanted to pay someone to install it all, that was going to cost another almost $2,000, but that was going to require that we take it to 2 different people in 2 different directions with more than 6 hours of total driving time + time off work.
So I installed it myself over a few weeks.

After all that work and sunk cost into just one vehicle, will probably keep that vehicle longer than we typically keep a vehicle. Trailer/dolly provides more flexibility in changing vehicles. One of the reasons we will consider a change from flat tow back to a trailer in the future.

It struck me as weird that my former 2011 Grand Cherokee could be flat towed but the manual prohibited dolly towing.
But yeah, I dolly tow for a variety of reasons. As long as I'm able to get down ( and probably more importantly back up) on the ground and run the straps and chains I will. I'm not really concerned with saving time. And I'm a patriot, I'm not going to the moon, but I do this "and the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard".