Towing dolly - disco recovery - possible - Where from??? Derbyshire

[stuntman]

Hello everyone, I've bought a disco and need to get it home, where can I get a dolly from or does anyone I can borrow on monday? based in alfreton - pick up from derby!

All advice welcome

Oh and it's URGENT!

[redhand]

I'll be the 1st. IT'S illegal you know.  [-X  [-X  [-X   :lol:  :lol:  :lol: but seriously you'd be safer and better off hiring a trailer for the day or getting a breakers yard to collect it for you. probably only charge you £40 or £50 to do it.

[Lucy1978]

purple trailers in clay cross £35 a day for a car trailer that'll easily take a disco.

[Disco Matt]

Bear in mind that anything that lifts only one set of wheels could cause problems with the centre diff too. Hire a proper trailer, it'll make life much easier.

[Tommo]

if you had a dolly with a braked axle then cant see it being too illigal, but i cant say awt, just towed a beemer 50 miles with a rigid bar today lol.

[Wireless]

Using a dolly, braked or not, to move a disco is in effect towing two trailers, the second being over 750kgs and without brakes fitted that can be operated by the driver of the tow vehicle (illegal), and the combination subject to a 20mph speed restriction (40mph on Motorways), on top of that the towed vehicle has to be fully road legal; taxed, insured, MoT'd.

Such a combination travelling on a public highway screams to plod 'Stop me!'.

You can only use a towing dolly to rescue a vehicle to a place of safety in an emergency, NOT to tow a new purchase back home.

[Tommo]

been through this with the motorhome crack and once you put an a frame on a car it becomes a trailer and has to conform to trailer rules so im guessing its the same for a dolly. the thing with dollys and a frames is even if the car weighs less than 750kg's its gross weight or whatever will be 3-400kgs more so no cars are legal really. but what i was saying with the dolly is if its braked then in effect you have a 2 axle triler with one braked axle.

[Disco Matt]

There are some vehicles that are legal for A-framing IIRC - the Q-Pod for one but they are few and far between. Think those little French micro-cars are ok too but I'm not sure I'd want to use one of those after seeing some of the idiots on our roads!

Best advice there is just buy a smaller motorhome and find the places to park. My parents have a 22ft Hymer and don't seem to have any problems with it, most supermarkets don't mind so long as you park out of the way and you can usually find either a park and ride or a big enough car park near a city centre for it.

[stuvy]

When i had my Ka i towed a Fiat Punto 40odd miles with no problems we even got up to 60 at one point!!

[redhand]

When i had my Ka i towed a Fiat Punto 40odd miles with no problems we even got up to 60 at one point!!

When Hitler invaded The rest of europe he got all the way to Stalingrad without any problems, That's not a good reason for anyone else to copy him.

[stuntman]

Ok, I get the gist  :P

I'll book a trailer with purple trailers tomorrow  :P

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Andi K

[redhand]

Not according to the caravan club, the problem is it's not the unladed weight but the gross weight of the car pluss the A frame has to be below 750Kg.

However, if you use a dolly that has it's own brakes and those brakes are rated to stop the laden weight of the car on top then they are in fact legal, it is not classed as 2 trailers but as one, provided the car is securley fastened to the dolly.  However, if the Disco has 2 wheels on the road it must be taxed, MOT'd and insured.

Perhaps you need to have a chat with the Department of Transport, as they seem to have got it all wrong then  :doh:

Note on A-Frames and Dollies, issued by the Department for Transport

When an "A" frame is attached to a vehicle (e.g. a motor car) and towed by a motor vehicle (e.g. motorhome) we believe the "A" frame and car become a single unit and as such are classified in legislation as a trailer. As a consequence the car and A-frame are required to meet the technical requirements for trailers when used on the road in Great Britain. These requirements are contained within the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 (SI 1986/1078 ) as amended (C&U) and the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 (SI 1989/1796) as amended (RVLR).

Trailers having a combined axle mass not exceeding 750kg are not required to have brakes fitted. However, if the trailer (regardless of mass) is fitted with a braking system, then all brakes in that system must operate correctly. The regulations do not include design constraints on how this should be achieved but, for example, it could be met by direct linking of the trailer brakes to the brake system of the towing vehicle or by automatic inertia (overrun) operation via the towing hitch. Inertia systems can only be used for trailers with a maximum combined axle mass of 3500kg.

Regulations 15 and 16 set out the braking requirements - including minimum braking efficiencies for trailer brakes. Subject to certain age exemptions, the regulation requires the braking system to comply with the construction, fitting and performance requirements of European Community Directive 71/320/EEC along with its various amending Directives. The most recent consolidated directive is 98/12/EC. Alternatively the braking system can comply with the corresponding UNECE Regulation No.13.09.

In addition, C&U Regulation 18 requires the braking system to be maintained in good and efficient working order. If the brakes of the towing vehicle do not directly operate the trailer brakes the use of an inertia (overrun) system is acceptable. If the trailer braking system has power assistance (i.e. servo or full power) it is likely that this assistance will be required while in motion to meet the required braking efficiencies. This is because once the vacuum reservoir is depleted it is possible that the brakes will not meet the braking efficiency. To prevent the trailer being used illegally a remote vacuum pump, powered from the tow vehicle, could be installed to recharge the reservoir, alternatively a source could be made available from the tow vehicle. From 1 October 1988 the inertia braking system was required to allow the trailer to be reversed by the towing vehicle without imposing a sustained drag and such devices used for this purpose must engage and disengage automatically. This will be very difficult to achieve on an "A" frame using an inertia (overrun) device.

Other provisions from Regulation 15 and Regulation 86A of C&U require the fitting and use of a secondary coupling system in which the trailer is stopped automatically if the main coupling separates whilst the combination is in motion. Alternatively, in the case of trailers up to a maximum mass of 1500kg, the drawbar must be prevented from touching the ground and the trailer able to retain some residual steering.

Whilst being towed, trailers are subject to the relevant requirements given in RVLR, including the use of triangular red reflectors. There would be further requirements for the display of the appropriate number plate, etc.

The use of "dollies" is intended for the recovery of broken down vehicles, not for the transportation of a vehicle from "A" to "B". Under Regulation 83 of C&U a motor car is permitted to tow two trailers when one of them is a towing implement and the other is secured to and either rests on or is suspended from the implement. Therefore as a trailer if the maximum laden weight of the dolly exceeds 750 kg it must be fitted with operational brakes, additionally the brakes on the wheels of the second trailer (the towed car) must work and meet the specified requirements. Again this would be very difficult for the rear brakes of a motor car, on their own, to meet the 50% braking efficiency required for a trailer. The dolly would also be required by Regulation 22 of C&U to be fitted with suspension. Regulations 19 and 22 in C&U permit a broken down vehicle to be recovered without complying with these requirements. However, there is further legislation under the Road Traffic Act that introduces a limitation on the maximum speed that the combination can be driven; this is 40mph on motorways and 20mph on other roads.

[Wireless]

Thanks redhand, I didn't have the time to find the relevant documents/web page references, I was quoting from memory, cheers for that!