Planning to Flat Tow

You'll fry like an egg hanging out/boondocking in the desert southwest in the summer :)...unless you go to high elevation places like Flagstaff, Grand Canyon NP, Bryce NP, etc. We go to the coast in the summer. Just be careful not to dehydrate yourselves. Very easily happens when you don't drink enough water.

During your travels, you may find a car for sale already set up to tow (used as a toad) from another RVer. Then you may just have to buy a tow bar (can also find used ones). This is how we bought and sold our previous toad via craigslist.

FYI, you can get adapter endpieces on tow bars to match a different brand car base plate. For example, We have a Roadmaster Falcon All Terrain tow bar that I hook onto a Blue Ox baseplate on our car.

By the way, we also bought our current toad (barely used) from a dealer here in AZ. It already had the base plate on it! The story the salesman told us was that a Canadian RVer bought the car new from them. But when they drove it back to Canada, found out they had to pay big bucks at the border. The RVer drove the car all the way back to AZ to return it and get a used car instead (less value). Meanwhile, the RVer had already installed a base plate onto the car. Lucky for us! Not sure we believe that story though.

You need to find which tow bar mfg makes a mount for the car you choose.

You will be offered a choice as to the 12v hookup. I hardwired my cord and store it under the engine hood , zip tied and coiled in place. That way i cant forget or lose it.

I use a brake buddy II , that way i can swap it on any car.

Lights, running , brake and directions. i drilled holes inside the rear taillight housing to accept a simple 1157 bulb thats wired to my cord that i plug into my rv. If im running at night, i turn on the cars running lights as well to give addition running lights. I also ran a charge line to charge my cars battery. I need to keep the ignition to the acc position while towing. My car battery remains fully charged and i do not need to pull any fuses doing it the way i did.


Try to mount the break-a-way connector in a place where it wont get smashed by someone backing into your car while parking. Sometimes installers mount them so far out ahead of the front bumper where they get broken.

docsouce wrote:
I have a 2020 Jayco 26XD Class C just my wife and I.. I would like to start acquiring the equipment I need to flat tow a vehicle. First of all I need to pick up a vehicle. I'm looking at a 2015 or so Jeep Patriot 4x4 with a manual transmission. Weight 3200/3300 lbs. I'm not zeroed in on this vehicle but it looks like the weight and the manual trans is not limited by distance or speed according to the 2015 "Guide to Dinghy Towing". Opinions please. After that I need to pick up the equipment, tow bar etc. I have no idea what I need. I see items listed but I rather get my information from here on what works best. Example: all terrain tow bar vs regular tow bar, brake assists on and on. I'm not going off road but we boondock all the time. We are going on an extended road trip in early June to Sept. and hang out in the desert southwest, then north to US2 east to home. I'm thinking I might come across some of the tow equipment I need used from the folks we meet on the road. As always I appreciate your advise. And again, I'm very flexible on a vehicle to tow.

Whatever you decide on (I'm all Blue Ox, RV dealer installed, pricey, very happy with it, works well) think about adding some way to charge the towed's battery if you go with a Patriot. It requires the key to be in the ACC position (probably to free up the steering?) and it will probably deplete your battery, unless the Patriot manual suggests otherwise, like adding a battery disconnect, or fuses to be pulled. Another reason for a charging method is auxilliary towed braking power. At that weight, most jursidictions will require it (insurers, too) and unless it's entirely mechanically operated, it will also draw some 12V DC power from your towed. My Blue Ox Patriot II 2016 braking unit draws 2A-3A when activated, but only milliamps when idle.