How To Use A Tow Dolly

Wilmington on Movies: Cars 2

Cars 2 is another Pixar feature cartoon for kids, adults, old people and everyone in between – especially if they have a crush on post-‘50s car culture. I don’t, but I could feel the curious, obsessive auto-loving fever pouring out of the movie as I watched it.

 It’s a sequel to the 2006 feature Cars. T he new one is directed (with Brad Lewis) by Pixar head honcho and avowed car lover John Lasseter , who also directed the first, and it continues the earlier film‘s story of a world populated and run by talking cars (no humans anywhere) and of a flashy, egotistical flame-red racing car named Lightning McQueen (voice by Owen Wilson , allusion courtesy of movie star/racer Steve McQueen ). McQueen gets trapped in a Southwestern town called Radiator Springs, bonds with the residents and a local good ol’ boy tow truck, named Tow Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy a.k.a. Daniel Whitney ) and learns, not for the first time in a big Hollywood movie, that just plain folks (excuse me, just plain jalopies) are the very best kind.

 Like most sequels, this one tries to be bigger (and more full of marketing opportunities) — and succeeds. Instead of sticking to “be-it-ever-so-humble” little Radiator Springs, McQueen and Mater have taken off for a grand championship Grand Prix auto race competition held all over the world, in Tokyo, Paris, the fictitious Riviera-like Porto Corsa Italy, and in London.

Among their new playmates are Finn McMissile ( Michael Caine , who gives a perfect performance), a secret agent in the body of an Aston Martin, and Holley Shiftwell ( Emily Mortimer ), another agent with a classy foreign chassis. Running the race is car mogul and alternative fuel innovator (something called Allinol) Sir Miles Axelrod ( Eddie Izzard ). Their new rival is John Turturro as the Italian car stallion Francesco, a prima donna who is for Formula One racing what Turturro‘s narcissistic player was for bowling in The Big Lebowski . Their nemesis, seemingly, is mad auto scientist Dr. Z ( Thomas Kretschmann , the German soldier who brought Adrien Brody the sandwich in The Pianist ).

Lessons From A Tow Dolly Newbie « rvfacts

 After moving up to a 32 foot Class C from a much smaller Rialta (21 ft) we quickly decided on the need to tow our car for increased mobility at our destinations. Unfortunately for us neither of the cars we currently own could be towed four on the ground. That meant either a new car or a tow dolly. We opted for a tow dolly. 

A few months later Camping World had a Roadmaster tow dolly on sale and compared to the prices I had seen it was a reasonably good deal. The Roadmaster tow dolly is a well respected name, and it was advertised for around $1,500. I called the closest Camping World, (80 miles) and made arrangements with a knowledge technician to drive over on the following Monday. 

Everything that has happened since that conversation has been a learning experience for this tow dolly newbie. After arriving at Camping World around 9 AM as requested, I learned that the knowledgeable technician had a family emergency and would not be in. Lesson: Monday is not the best day for any type of service. If your RV is not already equipped with electric brakes for a tow you will need to purchase a system and have it installed to safely stop your tow dolly. While the system only cost a little over $100, it had to be wired into the RV.