Can you back up with a toad 4 down

have the toad running so the power steering works while having the wife hold the steering wheel. As several have said, yes you certainly can back up short distances, slowly, in a straight line, with a spotter. If you can't follow directions, don't do it.
previous arguments were that the tow bars were designed with their strength to pull, not push. a previous post echoed my previous comments that how does a gentle shove compare in force to slamming on your brakes in a panic stop, braking going down pike's peak, etc.?
Yes, the front wheels can cramp, so watch what you are doing.

somebody previously suggested that you could just use the toad to pull the MH backwards. sounds like a plan to me.
bumpy

Oh u might want to change the tow bar to a backup bar, hummmmmmm, never heard of a back up bar. Only a tow bar, wow good idea.the tow bar . Now it's a happy-camping thing

To me I hate to damage thousand of dollars for just little more time to unhook.That would make my trip much better.Hopeful I won't have to do.You do what suit you
not us.

We have only got ourselves into a situation that we could not go forward. Misjudged the amount of room we had to turn. We unhooked the toad, backed up and rehooked everything.

I had a Manx style dune buggy, and had my Roadmaster hitch attached to it, and my 30' Bounder. The Manx has about 75 - 100 pounds on the front end, so basically it will be the lightest vehicle ever! Only about 1,500 pounds total!

I tried backing it up in my driveway, and it did not work.

About the only way to back up a few inches at a time is to release the hitch pins, so that the hitch can collapse, and the vehicle will not 'need' to move at all! Most RV mounted hitches can move side to side by more than 8" without needing to move the vehicle. . .

You can push or drive the car backwards at the same time that the hitch is collapsed, and go several feet that way (about 8"-10" at a time). But if you pulled into a 50' long campsite, and want to back out in the morning, it would be much faster to disconnect, back out the car, then RV then hitch up again, a total of about 8 minutes with practice. . .

So if you pulled a little to far forward for the fuel pump to reach, pull forward to another pump, or go around the gas station and try again. ONLY if you need to back up 8" or less, that would be a reason to pull the hitch pins, and then back the RV up a little bit.

Good luck!

Fred.

I've done it before, but don't make a habit out of it!

Kidoo wrote:
From all the post, it seem mostly not doable, too much risk either to the toad or to the poor driver sitting in the toad.

I also read somwhere that even a dooly is pretty hard to back up. I do not have a toad yet, I bring my scooter on a platform. I do not like the idea of not being able to back up. Of course, you can allways disconnect, how much of trouble is it? Any advice on the type of hook up?

Correct. You notice there is only one person trying to convince you to do it and he thinks it's the same as backing a trailer. Clearly he does not know what he's talking about.

From all the post, it seem mostly not doable, too much risk either to the toad or to the poor driver sitting in the toad.

I also read somwhere that even a dooly is pretty hard to back up. I do not have a toad yet, I bring my scooter on a platform. I do not like the idea of not being able to back up. Of course, you can allways disconnect, how much of trouble is it? Any advice on the type of hook up?

msmith1199 wrote:

SDcampowneroperator wrote:
Of course you can. Its no different than backing a short trailer behind a long wheelbase truck, except for the front wheels of the towed.
For them, have a spotter watch them or. even get behind the wheel to keep them in line while backing.
For the naysayers that claim hitch damage could occur, how do you justify the hitch pressure that occurs when braking the MH when the towed does not have braking power?
Go to an empty lot. Try it. You can do it, noone will get their arms torn off, wrists broken , as suggested when I opened a thread on this same subject.

Go read it.
search for ' backing' in my posts.

Max

Nobody told you it would tear the arms off, but you were told you could break your wrists. There was an article in a motorhome magazine with an example of where the wife broke both her wrists. There was also a person on this very forum who told a torn of his wife breaking both her wrists while trying to hold the steering wheel straight while backing the toad. You are once again being very dangerous telling people there is no risk.

X2! Do not ever try to hold the steering wheel if you attempt to back up. Actually, just don't attempt to back up .....

Not safely.