Need a Toad?

That is a 450 smart convertible. Base weight around 1610 pounds for the diesel. The door handles are vertical on a 450 and horizontal on a 451.

Company list the weight as 1,808 lbs.

Max weight with passengers is 2,315 lbs.

JackD wrote:
Your Smart will appreciate the ride....:)

Wow, what is the weight of that smart?

I do not have a toad but I pull a trailer and a motorcycle. I tought about pulling it for a long time before I finnaly decided not to take the trailer on my Alaska tour. I am happy I did not pull it because I do not know where I would have used it. I personnaly did not see many side road that I could not go with the truck camper and did see motorhome where I went. I did go the DAlton up to the Artic Ocean but you should be able to get there with a 32 foot.

It is a long trip to have something behind just in case.

Your Smart will appreciate the ride....:)

Not sure I understood this last statement or maybe a typo. Why wouldn't a smart car have access to gravel roads. Maybe I misunderstood.

I would be concerned about ground clearance and bottoming out on some of the gravel backroads.

We have driven it on well maintained level gravel roads without a problem (Amish roads).


The three cut-n-pastes above illustrate the concern I was trying to raise about the Smart car:

0) (part of the context): Most of the "tourist" destinations in Alaska will be able to accomodate your MH. Nevertheless, a toad of any sort would be more convenient for driving in and around Los Anchorage, Squarebanks, etc.

1) Other than the convenience factor, I was presuming you might want to take your toad some places that the MH might not "go" or that might be dicey with the MH

2) My concern about the Smart car was what was posted above: ground clearance and bottoming out.

3) Others have used their Smart car on "well-maintained" gravel roads. Some of the places that one might take a toad (the road to McCarthy comes to mind as does the Hatcher Pass road) aren't always well maintained. Other places even if "frequently" maintained aren't smooth and have significant bumps, dips, and rocks. Most of the gravel roads in Alaska aren't as good as the Country Roads, Farm-to-Market Roads, and other common gravel roads in the Continental U.S.

4) Even some of the paved roads in AK aren't that great and there are places (such as a trip to Eureka just last August or the Chitina cut-off, to keep with the McCarthy theme) where I won't take the Prius that I have up there simply due to the washboarding, dips, and rough pavement.

If you want to take the Smart car to better get around town and for more convenient running about, that would be great. My caution would be that you'll have to be aware of the paved road conditions AND that the Smart car won't get you that much more access beyond what your MH will give you.

We took ours all over the back roads of Sedonna with no problem. Drive around the big holes, avoid getting run over by the huge oversized pink jeeps. Took the tires down to 20 PSI first. Slow and steady does it every time. We routinely take it off the beaten track but obviously there are limits. Tough little car though with good front and rear approach angles. Solid German engineering. Almost ran it out of diesel once, went 60 miles on empty. Must have a good reserve. Its only a five gallon tank. :)

We have a Smart car that we haul in our Voltage toyhauler. We have driven it on well maintained level gravel roads without a problem (Amish roads).

But, I am not sure I would tackle any of the severely washboarded potholed gravel roads in AK with one. Or even some of the frost heaved sections of road. The Smart simply does not have the clearance to handle that type of beating at highway speeds. You'd have to drive slower than you could walk if the gravel road conditions deteriorate after a rain, as they often do... Even the paved roads could be treacherous - the heavily traveled sections around Anchorage in particular have SEVERE tire ruts - they measured them at 6" deep when we lived up there. Being that the Smart has a narrower wheel base than those ruts - you'd be in for one heck of a fun ride!

Absolutely LOVE our Smart for commuting and getting anywhere here in DC cheaply. Not sure we'd drive it much in AK, though.

I would be concerned about ground clearance and bottoming out on some of the gravel backroads.

PA12DRVR wrote:
With your Smart car, you won't be able to go many places that you couldn't take your MH; For most of the sightseeing destinations you mentioned, you'll be able to get there with your MH.

There'll be places in town that it would be more convenient to drive the toad ratehr than the MH....but the Smart won't give you access to any gravel roads: I'd suggest leaving it behind.

Not sure I understood this last statement or maybe a typo. Why wouldn't a smart car have access to gravel roads. Maybe I misunderstood.