Forgive me if this has been answered. We just bought a new 24 foot Solera diesel . What do you suggest we purchase as a toad? We have had several trailers but this is our first motorhome. Thanks for helping me out ..

Occasionally we take our bikes along. Ten years & 80,000 miles and never felt we needed a toad.

Well, were not terribly small in spite of what my DW thinks, but were not very large either. We have always towed Subarus. They have been our daily driver and require no special changes, etc to tow. Just put it in neutral, set the ignition to 2, and away we go.

CloudDriver wrote:Occasionally we take our bikes along. Ten years & 80,000 miles and never felt we needed a toad.I/we always take bikes along, but also never felt the need for a toad with our 22' or 24' Class C motor homes. Never ran into a problem with either one. Just about anywhere a crew cab long bed dually could go, they could go also. It only takes a couple of minutes to unhook the water and electric. I need about 3 lanes to make a U turn with the 24'er, but don't remember what the 22'er needed, but pretty sure it was about the same.I now also have a 32 1/2'er and that is a different animal. I've yet to get a toad and really don't want to. I need about 3 1/2 lanes to make a U turn and you have to plan ahead driving something that long. There are definitely places you can't go with that, which were doable with the shorter RVs

Most of the time, nothing. When I'm traveling and sightseeing, 30 foot C works fine for getting around. I don't RV in big cities, have no reason to visit suburbs, the only two environments hostile to RVs. Towing makes the rig so big and clumsy (no backing up) that it guarantees I MUST leave the RV somewhere and use towed vehicle to get around. When I take the RV out to one of the local lakes (15 - 40 miles from home) to leave it there for a week or two, but not stay out there 24/7, I tow my Ford Ranger (3400 pounds) so I can get back to town and take care of business. A few people kind of move out there with taking vacation, commute to town to work during the day.When the wife died, I gave away her Accord and got a Fit (2500 pounds) which I've set up to tow. It can carry four people, five in a pinch, but I'll still tow the truck (2 seats) if I need to carry dirty stuff on my errands or sometimes just because I know I'm carrying only me.

What do you pull behind small class c ? | Good Sam Community

TJDave
Explorer
Sep 17, 2013
26' class C. 2004 Jeep Wrangler toad.

We measure FPT's, not MPG's.>>>>> Fun Per Tow!
John___Angela
Explorer
Sep 17, 2013
We know a few folks with the fit and all really like them after at least a year. If we ever need a bigger car the fit is something we would consider. Not pricey and well featured. In the meantime we'll keep driving our little CDI smart cars. It would be very hard to switch to something getting less than 60 mpg again. :).
dtomlinson
Explorer
Sep 17, 2013
We have towed many different rigs over the years, but we now tow a Honda Fit behind the Aspect and it is great. You hardly know its back there, I keep rear view camera on to keep an eye on it. Its very roomy for such a small car, lots of rear storage for extras, plus it gets about 34 miles per gal. average.
Bobbo
Explorer II
Sep 17, 2013
The first question is what is the weight limit your MH can tow. A limit of 3,500 pounds is common, as is 5,000 pounds. I try to stay at or below 80% of the limit in order not to stress the system. My MH has a 5,000 pound weight limit so I use a max of 4,000 pounds in my search. I ended up with a 2010 Subaru Forester (bought new in 2010). Keep in mind that a Subaru must be a standard transmission to tow. You can not tow an automatic Subaru except on a trailer. Not even on a tow dolly.
Johnny_Dearborn
Explorer
Sep 17, 2013
Blue Ox has a PDF with a list of all the towable cars on the market. It's worth the download.

Honestly though, for the length you've got, I doubt you need a toad. I thought I needed one until I took my first long trip with my 23 footer. So glad I didn't run out and buy one. Getting in and around spots would have been such a hassle. Most of the time, I wanted my RV with me.

Maybe if you're going to be parking it in one spot for long periods of time, I can see wanting a toad. But if you're touring and traveling, I suspect it will be more hassle than it's worth. Try traveling without it and see how it works out.
Dakzuki
Explorer
Sep 17, 2013
You must first ask yourself what you want the toad to do. Do you want to go off road, dirt roads, or strictly pavement?

For me was I wanted full on off road capability to go exploring. That means 4wd, some ground clearance, and Hi/Lo transfer case. I found that in a 2000 Chev tracker 2 door. It is also well under 3000 lbs. I keep the rear seat folded down so it's essentially a 2 seater with a cargo area. It does the job for us. Unlike a lot of folks we do in fact use the off road capability of the Tracker. It's not a Jeep Rubicon but it gets the job done.

If you are just tooling around on pavement, then your needs are much different than mine.
Hank85713
Explorer
Sep 17, 2013
not to hijack but what are you using for the required brakes on these? Just read on another site that most states require brakes on the dolly or the towed vehicle?
captron1966
Explorer
Sep 17, 2013
A Jeep Wrangler. Very light and you do not even know it is behind you.
John___Angela
Explorer
Sep 17, 2013
We occasionally tow this

behind this

It is a 2005 diesel smart car. On the trailer a little over 2000 pounds
rockhillmanor
Explorer II
Sep 17, 2013
MiniTT wrote:
Forgive me if this has been answered. We just bought a new 24 foot Solera diesel . What do you suggest we purchase as a toad? We have had several trailers but this is our first motorhome. Thanks for helping me out ..

Find the lightest weight car you can find.

When I went shopping for my first toad I looked at EVERYTHING. I was pretty shocked how much even the smallest compact car weighed. I couldn't find anything under 4,000 lbs.

I lucked out and found a used Chevy Tracker 4x4, 4dr. weighs in around 2,800 lbs. Just by shear luck I found the most desirable little toad. I get offers on her at just about every CG I stop at.

2 Important Tips I'll share from 'my' first experience:

1. Do NOT believe ANY salesman when they say YES this car can be towed "4 down". Buy your toad based on what the 'owners manual' says about towing 4 down and nothing else.

2. Do not believe ANY salesman that tells you yes this car is lightweight enough for you to tow. Look at the weight on the door yourself.

All the car salesmen I ran into lied about everything regarding 4 down towing. Thank God and for this forum that I learned that every owners manual has all the info you need about whether a particular car can be towed 4 down or not.

Long story short.....keep the toad lightweight you won't regret it and your RV will love you for it!