Forum Discussion

jerem0621's avatar
jerem0621
Explorer II
Jun 04, 2013

Towing is towing right?

Got a TT right now, DW really REALLY wants a Class A. The whole towing a 32 ft trailer thing makes her nervous. She is quite literally on pins and needles while we pull. We have never had an incident and sway is not an issue. I thought about it some more and it would be nice to be able to pull in somewhere late at night, park, pull shades and go to bed while traveling. I don't think that the MPG's would be an issue for us since we only get 7.5 with our F350 and TT while towing now.

Having the coach cool or warm while we travel, along with having the amenities for the children while enroute would be nice. They could play xbox or whatever while we travel. ETC.

However, there is the issue of the Toad... (or is it towed?). I often see Motorhomes pulling the vehicles behind them. My first thought is, towing is towing.. right?

So my question, going from a TT to a Motorhome.. is pulling a toad different than pulling the coach?

I only use my truck for towing the TT. I could easily see us pairing down the dedicated TV and the TT down to the motorhome and using my car as a toad. (not sure if I can, its a 2000 Lincoln Town Car)

We would probably be looking at 2000 ish model years for our first Motorhome, so that would be either a 454 or a V10 in the Gassers. We currently do not have a slide out and get along just fine without it. We would probably purchase a no slide model unless we just found an awesome deal on a slide model. Yup, to save money :)

Thanks for any help, tips, suggestions, etc you can give us.

36 Replies

  • when you are looking at those 2000ish MHs, be sure the Ford is on a 1999 or more recent chassis that doesn't have the 16 inch rims, and if on a chevy/workhorse chassis it isn't the old P-30/32 model. workhorse rebadged some of them before they fixed their issues.
    and NO , you won't be towing that town car with any gasser.
    bumpy
  • I dought Town Car is towable 4 down without a transmission lube oil pump.
  • Lincoln Town Car does not make a good tow car, it can be done but would be better to sell car and get something smaller.

    I use to tow a TT and glad I have a motorhome now, my toad is a Jeep Wrangler and don't even know its there.
  • A toad normally will not make the motorhome wiggle. And you are in the 18,000 pound vehicle with a 3,500 pound toad behind you, not in a 7,800 pound truck with a 11,000 trailer behind you.

    So I have a motorhome, and tow a Ford Edge. There are a lot more smaller vehicles you can tow just fine, however the Edge fits me - at 6'4" tall fine.

    I also get around 7 - 7.5 MPG, depending on how fast I am going. Yet if I buy premium gas, and go only 55, I can get up to 8.8 MPG.

    Fred.
  • If you go with a gasser, you will need to check it's towing capacity. It might only have 3,500 lb. hitch, could be more. The Lincoln Town Car might be too big (we have an inherited '07 Town Car in our fleet and they are big and heavy)....we tow a Honda CR-V which is about 3,500 lbs., seats five, plenty of storage and good gas mileage. Our towing capacity is 10,000 lbs. so don't even know the Honda is back there.

    We get about 7.0- 7.5 mpg's towing a 3,500 lb. Honda and the coach weighs 40,000 lbs.

    MM.
  • Toad is just a nickname for a Towed motor vehicle. And no towing a toad isn't the same as a trailer in a couple of areas. The toad is usually pretty small as compared to the tow vehicle so you don't have many sway issues or things of that nature from the toad like you may from a trailer. The biggest different is you generally cannot backup with a toad. So you have to be very careful about getting into spots that you cannot pull forward out of. I have twice got myself into those spots and had to go back and unhook the toad to get out.

    One of my main reasons for going with the Class A versus the trailer is I really didn't want to have a monster truck as a daily driver. My toad is a Dodge Dakota and it's a perfect size truck for me. Small enough to be towed by the motorhome and small enough to fit in most parking spaces, yet still has 4x4 and a truck bed to haul junk around and be used as a daily driver. And it fits in the garage.