Thought I'd post again, and share my towing experiences today.
Called U-Hall on Friday; they said they had a dolly at a tired old gas station in town, and on my way home from work. I went by the lot where they keep their UHauls and saw that the dolly was almost brand new. Everything was in great shape. I've never seen a piece of UHaul equipment in half as good of condition. I really thought that UHaul just buys Ryder's old trucks and paint them orange.
Picked up the dolly Saturday AM. When I went in the office, there was a customer in there and I could hear that UHaul central had screwed them on their reservation (they were great at taking the reservation, but not so good at keeping the reservation...).
I had zero issues with the dolly, straps, ramps, etc. I liked the LED lights. Tires were like new.
I haul with my SUV. According to curb weights, it weighs just more than the 56 and dolly. I've hauled as much before (not vehicles), but not in a while. The SUV is getting older, so I was concerned about its muscle. That's why I went a dolly - this trip is primarily uphill on interstates, and I thought the extra 1500 pounds of UHaul's two axle trailer over the dolly would push the SUV over the edge. Sure, a new Silverado and a trailer with real brakes would have been better, but I don't happen to own those at the moment.
Driving the 56 onto the dolly made me think I made the wrong decision. I could see the SUV jump as I drove (not so smoothly) up the ramps and then stab the brakes at my spotter's signal. I was quite surprised, though, at the level stance of the SUV when I got out and looked around. I had a few different sized drop hitches for my receiver, but kept with what I had on.
I did read and dismissed the story here somewhere of the guy with the Barracuda that jumped into gear while being towed. Then the guy helping me told a similar story, so I figued I might as well pull the driveshaft. I also concluded that it would also reduce drag. I was surprised at how easily the rig rolled (rear end was recently serviced). I tied up the steering wheel and was on my way.
The dolly was pretty well balanced. No tail wagging the dog. Braking was better than I expected, too.
The 150 mile ride had a lot of uphill. For some reason, the interstate was much busier than normal. Bummer. I figured out that if I kept speeds up more than I planned, like close to 70, I could pull the grades pretty well. But if I just drove 55 or 60, I was downshifting into fourth pretty soon. As I said, the whole rig drove much better than I expected, so I was OK with traveling at those speeds. Busy interstate, but no metropolises to go through.
Biggest slowdown for me was going up Fancy Gap. I just tucked in behind a couple of big trucks and putt putted up in third gear at about 40. Temperature gauge never budged from normal, but just as a precaution I turned the heat on. Glad I brought a cooler full of drinking water for me!
Anyhow, there was another thread here close to mine also about towing. I thought I would pass along my experience. If a braked trailer option would have been feasible, I would have considered it. If I was going to travel through a city, or on a two lane road, I would have been less comfortable with the dolly. However, for my situation, the roads I was traveling, the terrain, my vehicle, and the rare, amazing condition of the UHall dolly, the choices that I carefully considered and decided worked out well.
