Not moto related. Wondering if some folks may have some experience on pulling a tow/car dolly. I'm looking to buy a car that doesn't run and plan on renting a uhaul tow dolly. My question is about the tongue weight. My car, a 13 Outback, is rated 200 pounds on the tongue with the factory hitch. What can I guesstimate the tongue weight to be with about a 3000 pound car. From some research, I've found about 100 pounds to 10-15% tongue weight. What say thee?
If you are using a conventional dolly, I'm not sure you will have any tongue weight to speak of, since the weight of the towed vehicle is on the dolly itself. I'm not sure what engine your Outback has, but if your hitch only allows a 200 pound tongue weight, you might want to see what the max towing capacity is. If you have a class 2 receiver, you may be limited to 2,000 pounds. It also depends on how far you need to make the tow. Across town or down the road? Good luck.
The outback has the six cylinder and a 3000 max tow. I've never pulled a dolly only regular trailers. I've noticed the front wheels of the car will be just forward of the trailer wheels that's why I'm wondering about tongue weight.
I checked with my boss (I work for a truck & trailer rental company), tongue weight will be 200lbs or less. Are you using a frame mounted hitch or a bumper ball? If you're using a bumper setup, you might damage your vehicle when making turns because the neck of the dolly could hit your bumper.
U-haul's website will let you plug in the vehicle info from both vehicles, they normally inspect the tow vehicle before renting anything to you. Why not rent a truck and dolly from them?
How far are you planning to tow the car? I would check on price of having a tow company flat bed it to your destination! Buying a car that runs is another option
Thanks for the insight all. I went a slightly different tow vehicle route. I will be borrowing a Durango that will be a little safer to tow with at this weight than my Outback. Still renting a dolly though. The car I'm buying is a 72 Torino for a project car.
