So, my sister and niece have flown into Southern CA to meet the mouse and other tourist attractions for the week.I have just made a marathon run from GA to CA to link up with her and join in the adventure.So, I am signing in at this particular KOA, and a guy behind the counter tells me that this park has so many spaces per acre that I will NEVER be able to pull my toad and make it to my space.Lets not make pretend here, my 38" Damon on the Workhorse chassis has the chassis cut and extended a few feet, and it does NOT turn on a dime ... more like Frisbee.So, in the end, I agreed with him that my RV does not turn very sharp, and is does require backing up in some places.However, as I walk out of the door, his words rattle in my mind and the words change from "taken advice" to "challenge accepted"!I do a walk through on foot. I see one area where parked vehicles, and a placed sat TV dish are going to make it tight ... but the angles look good.So, of course, when I actually drive the route to my site, there is only one turn where from the drivers chair I feel I need to finagle the angles through the turn.One of the biggest issues I have with turning is the HUGE overhang behind the rear wheels. When I go left, I have to REALLY ensure there is nothing close to the right rear.The most critical part of making the turn was clearing the parked cars on the right with the rear as I swung tight left to clear the protective posts on the front right, all while clearing the concrete walled dumpsters and some guys sat TV dish on the left. Made it to the site with toad still attached! ("challenge accepted and I WIN!")When I first purchased the RV I could have NEVER made that turn. But, like anyone who honestly tries to improve with practice, it really was not all THAT hard; just needed to pay attention.I'm getting where the last few times I fill up with gas, or dump, I am getting enough references from the mirrors that I am no longer having to constantly step out, take a look, and plant myself back in the pilot's seat to make an adjustment.

So, congratulations on squeezing into a campground where it was probably too tight to do so without hitting anyone..glad you made it, this time..:E....Dennis

Turning really sharp is a easy way to bend the tow bar, or perhaps put a lot of side stress on the towing brackets.Glad you made it - without damaging anything.Fred.

Generally I would accept the request to disconnect first, as a requirement, maybe even a campground rule that should be followed as a requirement to stay. The driver is imposing his risk taking on the owners of the parked cars, satellite dishes and is open to corrective comment

It just seems so easy a thing to disconnect the toad, even if you have to walk a ways back to it once parked. Why chance it. It's up to you whether you worry about your MH or not, but taking chances with other people's stuff is totally unacceptable IMO. Heck I do not even use my "neighbor's" lawn mower he offered because that would be taking chances with his equipment. No thank you!

Would it not of been easier to just unhook the toad and then drive MH to site???

Class A in this campground is to big with toad...

43 Replies

hooligan
Explorer
May 26, 2013
sprig: So- you were faced with a challenge, looked it over, decided it was within your capability, and you successfully maneuvered to the campsite. Sounds good to me.

I don't understand the critics who feel it would have just taken a few seconds to unhook the TOAD beforehand but would have been an unreasonable delay and terrible imposition to have to unhook the same toad enroute.

I agree the campground folks face various degrees of competence in the RV'ing public. When we had a TT years ago, at check-in, was told they had no sites available. I had noticed several empty sites.... He then added,"Well, If you can back in, I have plenty of sites". We got a nice one. (That was at Topsail Hill before it became a State Park...)
Toot_Mc
Explorer
May 26, 2013
I have found that the overhang from the rear wheels of the MH cause the towd to not even get close to curbs or mail boxes on the inside of your turn. Any where I can drive my rig the TOWD will follow and never touch anything. Just do not get to where you might have to back up.....!!!!!!This is a different story all togather. I have found that if you are turning with TOWD and have to back up a couple of feet make sure you leave the MH steering wheel in same position so car will roll back same direction it was turning.

On a side note also remember that if your motorhome engine quits in a busy intersection (it has happened to me) The wife got in our Honda accord (towd at that time) started the engine. kept her hands off of the steering wheel and I drove the motorhome to the nearest strip center parking lot with her pushing me. I still had ait for brakes and level. She pushed me about half a mile. We got out of the way and waited to be towed the next day.

Forgot to mention the wife and I communicate with walkie talkies while she pushing me.
koda55
Explorer
May 26, 2013
We always unhook the toad after we check in. My DW follows me to the camp site. You can try to tell me how to back in but I will do as I need to no matter what someone other than my DW tells me to do. IF my gut feeling tells me to stop and check something out I do. Learned that the hard way.
SpinRite
Explorer
May 26, 2013
huffmeister wrote:
I went to a campground in Rapid City some years back. The check-in guy said he would go back and guide us in. I told him my wife was more than capable of directing me. He said he was required to do the guiding to make certain there would be no problems.

So, I followed his 'precise' directions and even after pointing out where a potential problem existed, he told me he had been doing this for a long time and had never had a problem.

So, to make a long story short, his 'directions' led me to a place where a post (marker) scraped the side of my rig to the tune of ~$3-5000. When I asked for their insurance info, I was told it was my responsibility.

As we all know, when you post any question on this (or, any other) forum you will get a wide range of answers from your fellow RVers.

Some replies are from those who have personal experience with the subject matter at hand.

Some answers will come from those who are "internet experts" and are just "conjecturing".

A few will even come from those who "...remember it as clearly as if it really happened."

These same folks are the ones who are often work-kamping as campground hosts, so expect a similar range of expertise as they 'assist' you in parking -- some very good, some not so much.

In fact, well... that's pretty much the same with everything else in life, too, isn't it?
grldst
Explorer
May 26, 2013
Which is why the ONLY ones I will let spot me are my wife & my uncle! Anyone else wants to...well, I'll just ignore him!

The above reminds me of a story my brother tells......

His wife is guiding him back into a RV site, waves him back, he hits a big tree branch. He gets out and asks, "why didn't you signal me to stop"? She said, "I thought you could see that one"!!
NorCal_Dan
Explorer
May 26, 2013
I see nothing wrong with the OP and how he handled getting his rig parked. CG's usually offer advice if asked, but it is up to each driver to make the decision. The last couple of host jobs we've had no longer allow hosts to "spot" drivers into a parking space. They do not want to assume the liability if the driver hits anything.

I know Good Sam awards parks points for having an escort, and it's okay to lead customers to the site, but it makes more sense to allow customers to park themselves.

It's been my experience that very few follow my directions anyways. I used to always "test" drivers by telling them to stop after they backed up a few feet, just to make sure they were following my directions. Very few actually stopped, and at that point I would just stand and watch them back in. I now prefer to just take them to their site and let them handle how they get their rig into the site. When they finish I make sure they are in the site and not blocking the road and tell them to enjoy their stay.
Jarlaxle
Explorer II
May 26, 2013
huffmeister wrote:
bluwtr49 wrote:
Good for you but I have to reason to push the maneuverability limits with a toad attached. Seen those that did than block the road to unhook at the site.....they really look foolish.

For an overnighter I always ask for a site that I can get into without unhooking but still, it only takes a couple of minutes to unhook/hook and time is cheap, paint expensive.

I went to a campground in Rapid City some years back. The check-in guy said he would go back and guide us in. I told him my wife was more than capable of directing me. He said he was required to do the guiding to make certain there would be no problems.

So, I followed his 'precise' directions and even after pointing out where a potential problem existed, he told me he had been doing this for a long time and had never had a problem.

So, to make a long story short, his 'directions' led me to a place where a post (marker) scraped the side of my rig to the tune of ~$3-5000. When I asked for their insurance info, I was told it was my responsibility.

Which is why the ONLY ones I will let spot me are my wife & my uncle! Anyone else wants to...well, I'll just ignore him!
wallynm
Explorer
May 23, 2013
At a so called resort in We were the afternoon entertainment as we drove to our assigned space. The SFB's even crowded to the edge of the drive as we made three right turns and one left turn. After driving and backing cotton trailers in my youth is was not much of a challenge.
AllegroD
Nomad
May 23, 2013
"Challenge accepted" is not a phrase I would use. Seems fraught with the idea that "no matter what" you would prove him wrong. You may not have intended it that way but is the way I read it.

Having said that, you did exactly what I would have done. I have walked the route to a site and knew I could maneuver with the toad.

Some CG staff would recommend unhooking to every rig over 32 ft just because there are those, as mentioned earlier, who do not know their rig or limits.

There are some CG that it is better to unhook first, not because you cannot make it but that you will block traffic. It takes us a few minutes to unhook and then back in. I know of 2 CG which we visit that we do that with.
bobkatmsu
Explorer
May 23, 2013
I understand your thought process believe me. I'm as competitive as they come and love a challenge, especially when someone tells me I can't do something, but I always try to remind myself of the old Clint Eastwood line in Dirty Harry. "I man has to know his limitations." That thought has probably saved me from a few disasters. On the other hand I'm still up for a good challenge.