I had an idea to get myself one of those car transporter dolly trailers for taking my MK to and from trackdays. Found a few of the type with wheels on the outside rather than underneath which look quite stable. Only problem is that it looks as if they are illegal for what I want. All the info I have found says that unless the combined gross weight of the trailer and car is under 750Kg they can only be used for basic recovery to a safe place/nearest garage. My MK comes in at about 550Kg, but suspect the gross weight is 550+75+75Kg and the dolly would be about 250Kg. Anyone know the law on this and any advice would be welcome, hate being wrong if plod pulls me up!

Hi Zetec

Just an idea; Try a phone call to your insurance company, I bet they would know. You might find you would need a trade policy.

Paul G

its been stated many times that dollys are only legal for recovery to a nearby place.

i cant ever recall seeing a car using one.

also, as you say, they are not braked,


atb

steve

It is ilegal to tow a car on a dolly if the towed xcar is not road legal, ie tax, mot and insurance. I know a few racers that have gotten away with it but i know a few that have been done as well, it only takes a copper who didn't get his leg over the night before...
Tim

It is ilegal to tow a car on a dolly if the towed xcar is not road legal, ie tax, mot and insurance. I know a few racers that have gotten away with it but i know a few that have been done as well, it only takes a copper who didn't get his leg over the night before...
Tim

You always see those big camper vans towing a micra/fiat on dollies. Dunno if they come under a different weight class though.

FWIW,
Ian

Why not just make a rigid towing frame that can fold away?
Nowhere near as heavy or as bulky as a towing doly.

All you need is a towing hitch on a small frame with pivots at the back for two rigid tow bars. These attach to the underside of the towed vehicleframe.

That way the towing frame is only going to add maybe 10 kgs to total towing weight! As long as towed vehicle is road legal there should be no problems.

As an aside, I saw a Ford Escort being rigid towed up the M6 behind another car at over 110mph!
It took the Police nearly 5 miles to catch up!

When they came past me I floored it to see what speed they were doing and was just passing 110mph without gaining when I noticed the Police car coming off the slip road. They must have clocked me, but ignored me in favour of the towing car.

Terry

Spyderman -

Were you suggesting something like this:


I've seen Triumph Spitfires towed with a bar like that - it bolts right to their bonnet hinge boxes.

JC Whitney sells 'em - item 18ZX8936X for US$114.95 plus shipping . . . or you could just tow it home (dragging on the ground) if there's a store that sells something like it in your area.

[Edited on 15/2/04 by carcentric]

the thing that puts me off dollys is, god forbid you stuff the car, then your left with know way of towing it home, i could not have got the GT1 back from cadwell last year if i had took it on a dolly..........

just a thought.........

Spot on Jon. IMHO if it iant going to/from a track day on a proper trailer, it is pointless towing there in the first place.

Besides, A frames and dollies put a lot of strain on the front wishbones.....

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Like many others I have no space for trailer storage at our house - so a fold-away trailer design is under development.

Dave

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Oops, so it isnt legal to tow an un road worthy car then? i towed my new project, rolling chassis from Cumbernauld to Telford all the way down the M6! saw a few coppers but none of them looked in our direction, Just as well eh!

I think this was discussed a while back when I asked about towing a donor.
We ended up doing the booking an MoT blag but never needed it, didn't actually see any cops and got home safe any sound. Took about 2.5 hours to go 30 miles though and my little 1.4 was struggling a bit

my brother in law is a plod
he says if its got wheels on the road it has to be road legal even if only two of the four wheels are touching the road
he seems to think most of the time they will turn a blind eye but its not worth it plus if you crash big time how are you getting it home
cheers dave

quote:

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Originally posted by dblissett
plus if you crash big time how are you getting it home

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Wasn't someone going to post us some trailer plans a while back?

I'm to idle to look for the thread!

Cheers

Er..you know

quote:

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Originally posted by dblissett
my brother in law . . . says if its got wheels on the road it has to be road legal even if only two of the four wheels are touching the road . . .

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Chris. Sounds like a good article for your news letter.

quote:

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Originally posted by chrisg
Wasn't someone going to post us some trailer plans a while back?

I'm to idle to look for the thread!

Cheers

Er..you know

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Just a thought - pushing the book again!
Lightweigth racing car trailer plans/building information also in HSLC

Go on - buy a copy

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