Rethinking our Toad plan

Snowman9000 wrote:
We had been planning to tow a car behind our 25' Class C for a while now. I just can't seem to bring myself to commit. Sure, it would be nice to have the car. But then we turn into a mini big rig. No more easy maneuvering, tiny campsites, street parking, and such.

A toad makes perfect sense for a trip to a single destination. But to drag it across the country with a lot of stops and multiple destinations, I am afraid I'd come to hate the thing. My wife feels the same, even more so. If we had a big MH, I think there would not be a choice. But with the little C, it's not so clear cut.

We also have about the same size rig. And feel much the same. Would not be able to go many places we like. Never seem to have much problem going to see what ever we want. Takes just a couple min to unhook and re-hook and after living aboard boats for 10 years its really little work. Also really just do not have an answer.

I went back and forth on this issue as well. Once I decided to go with a toad, the next issue was whether to go with a tow dolly or tow bar and base plate on my car. I went the tow bar route and am very glad that I did. As others have mentioned, hookup and disconnect is exceptionally easy, and it is nice having a vehicle with me. After a short learning curve about maneuvering around some tighter gas stations while towing, I'm pretty comfortable with the setup.

I assume your wife drives also. if so just take them apart and each drive one in the city or these other "cramped" areas you seem to be concerned with. a 25 footer with small toad will be no longer than a large Class A. my BIL started without a toad, then said that often just after getting set up the wife would say, Oh we have no milk/bread/etc. then he started towing a toad.
bumpy

My thinking too. So I make my long sightseeing without a towed vehicle, yet tow one out to the lake when I'm going for a few days to a couple of weeks, because my C is too big for running errands. I would certainly take the toad if snowbirding.

Hooking up and unhooking is not the issue, it is only a few minutes at each end, not much relative to the longer stays. The bigger issue is the loss of mobility, not being able to back into parking spaces.

I don't understand. Sounds like you both dread the idea of towing a car. So why have you been planning to do so?

We used to have a 23' Class C without tow car and got along just fine. Now we have a bigger MH with tow car. It's just a different style of RVing, camping and sightseeing. While we are very happy to have our tow car now, I can tell you that we reminisce with fondness when we could just go everywhere (on Forest roads, etc.) with our little Class C.

As others indicated though, hooking and unhooking a tow car is easy and takes 5 minutes.

When I motorhomed I almost always pulled a toad, and it's just not a big deal. In the unlikely event you need to unhook to park, just unhook. You do need to make sure you don't box yourself in, and use a checklist when hooking up. Missing a step or doing something incorrectly can get very costly, but the same goes for most things RV.

I have no toad. I find alternatives to sight see.
Might be parking in a Walmart lot that has public transport and taking a bus to downtown. Just did this in Nashville bus was 85 cents each way. Or reserving an enterprise $9.99 a weekend day car. Or calling the local chamber of Commerce to see if the MH can be left there while sightseeing.
Planning is the key

Only you ca decide what you want the toad to do. If that can be accomplished without pulling another vehicle, then so be it.

It needs to be your choice, but for me I like having transportation wherever I am at. My MH is only 27' long and I don't mind the inconvenience of towing a car since I know that I have it wherever I go. JMO

We had a 22 foot Class C and before we bought a towed, in 3 years, we covered about 36 states, never spending more than 2 nights in the same place. We parked next to "The Wall" in DC and a block from the Liberty Bell.

Then we bought a Miata and finished up all of the lower 48 and most of Canada in the next 3 years.

Having not towed, then towing, we would NEVER go back to being without a car.

We went from serial stops, unhooking to explore at every one, to a hub and spoke pattern, parking in the middle of an area and exploring in all directions.

Try pulling a car... You WILL like it....

Tim