toad or no toad

Take the toad. If you don't you will regret it. By the time you get home you will probably regret not towing 4 down.

I drag my smart car everywhere. I can't see it behind me (no camera). The bugger weighs 1,800 lbs (US). I can't feel it behind me - except when driving over a park's speed bumps at 5 MPH.

We did a month long trip of the western national parks pulling a toad last year and getting fuel was a non issue. We used the Gas Buddy app to plan our fuel stops based on price and access. Nancy (navigator) would use Google maps to get the lay of the land before we committed to a particular station. If I could do it with diesel it would be a piece of cake for a gasser.

We pulled our toad over the hog's back of Utah 12. It did have my undivided attention but it was no problem.

We put a hundred miles on the toad in Yellowstone in one day alone.

Make your reservations early. Arches is awesome but the camping area is small and sells out early.

With a 26' class C you could always unhook and break camp everytime you wanted to go somewhere! But I think you will find that it ismuch easier with a toad. AS someone said if you go toadless, you will miss out on many experiances. IMHO, you need to take the toad.

We took a 3month trip this year from Fl to Wyoming, Montana, Dakotas, Nebraska, well you get the idea.
We have a 30' class C and a Honda CRV…wouldn't leave home without the CRV!! We used to have a 27' Lexington that we didn't tow a vehicle and it was a pain…we did rent a couple cars, but logistics always put us backtracking to take the rental back. Never had a problem in those three months on finding places to pull into to get gas…never. Having said that, we have WalMart,Sams,FlyingJ/Pilot apps on our phones that tell us nearest locations. We don't allow the tank to go too much past the half mark before we start looking.
And I agree with the previous poster about safety…in the event of a breakdown, we can throw stuff in the car, including the pups, and we're off.
In our opinion, having both travelled with and without a toad, its a necessity not a luxury.
Enjoy your trip and safe travels.
Andi

I know the OP is talking about a 28' C but just for grins consider the possibilities that present themselves if your rig is just a tad smaller. We have only had our 24' Class C for four months but have covered over 8,000 miles. We do not have, nor do we need much less want a Toad. Our 24' C has every amenity we could ever want and I can park it just about anywhere. It will go down any road safely and I have yet to find a site that it won't easily fit. Now if you cannot live with a rig this size it becomes a different ball game altogether.

We got our 24 because we knew it would meet our needs without the "need" to pull a second vehicle. For 4 years we towed a 22' TT and had the nearly the same amenities as the 24' C with the TV available for errands and site seeing so we know there is nothing we are missing. Since we are in mostly campgrounds going into town for something is as simple as turning the ignition key and if we happen to have 30 amp service disconnecting takes about 30 seconds.

IMHO: In a Class C or B/B+ of 25' or less a Toad is an expensive, needless appendage which defeats the simplicity of having such a rig in the first place. If you have just got to have a bigger C maybe you might find a better fit with a Class A which will certainly handle a Toad better.

As always.... Opinions and YMMV (especially if you are dragging a Toad). :B

what about finding a parking spot at a restaurant ?

as for power i have a chevy 6 litre not a v10. and i already know i get 9 mpg with a toad and 10 without a toad.
from what i can figure we are talking about 8500 miles round trip !

what about car rentals at certain places. like i already checked into renting a car at cody,wy and dropping it off at jackson after we spend a week at yellowstone and the tetons.

i am sorry but you have to remember i live on the east coast and i am not aquainted with driving through the mid west and west and the way things might be more open maybe. as far as pulling into places where sometimes it seems impossible here on the east coast and the way towns have smaller roads because of parking on the streets and tight turns even for a small car like a vibe.

Hi Kidsgone,
We live in NE Florida and are planning a cross country trip very similar to your trip.
We are fairly new RV'ers and would appreciate any recommendations or advice for planning our trip.

Thanks,
jax1911

Hi Folks:

We have traveled out west several times in our car, and most recently in our 27 foot Class C (last summer). We have never used a toad, so I cannot comment directly about that. But, I can say we did not miss having a car with us last summer, during our trip through the Rocky Mts., California, and return via I 40.

As for the question about parking at restaurants. Call ahead for reservations and ask them where to park. We did this with great success in small towns like Fort Collins CO, Estes Park, Jackson WY, Cody WY and many others. I think in the worse case, we needed to walk a few blocks from a grocery store lot to the restaurant. We were even able to park at the Santa Monica pier area in SoCal.

We had no problems driving around the Grand Teton or Yellowstone Parks in the RV, plus we could pull over and have lunch in the RV at some great views. A few negatives about the RV are you cannot always pull over off the road to view animals as you might in a car, and there are a few roads/attractions that you cannot drive on/to in an RV.

As for first-timers making a cross country trip, our best advice is plan carefully before leaving. If you have unlimited or virtually unlimited time, planning can be more "loose" or informal. If you have time constraints, then planning is more important. Include all traveling parties in the planning and decide on the important things to do/see. The west is big, so allow plenty of time to get from place to place. I try to max driving on the first day when I'm fresher, then reduce driving time on subsequent days. I try to limit driving to no more than 8 hours/day, and prefer 6 hours/day. I make many reservations in advance (many of my RVing friends don't like to do this), so I don't have to search for an overnight spot when I'm tired and less patient. Finally, we travel as light weight as possible.

Finding or getting gas was no problem. We would often fuel-up at truck stops because they usually have more room to turn. As noted earlier, we like to use pumps at the end of the station to allow greater clearance for rear-end swing.

Best wishes for a great New Year, and have happy and safe travels.

Bob

We have always pulled our toad with our 28' Class C. We don't use a dolly though. You do have to choose your gas stops, but it hasn't been a big problem.

As far as planning goes, we have a rough idea of where we are going but it constantly gets modified as we travel and learn about more things that we want to see.

Sounds like you have a great trip planned. Don't overthink it, just go and have a great time.

Every long trip is just a series of short trips.