What "toad" to buy

We use a 2003 ford ranger 4wd extra cab with tow master bar 4 down. Here's why.
It's fairly lite and easy to tow

All though the rear jump seats are quite small we can haul 4 adults for quick trips, for two it's a very comfortable ride.

The truck also has a shell that's starts cab high and goes up from there, so the back opening is quite large.

We travel with 2 medium size mutts, and they love riding in the back

The widows on the shell have a dark tint so it's hard to tell what's back there, and it locks.

The bed makes great secure storage for bulky items like lawn chairs and the carry out dish when under way.

Having the 4wd makes side trips more fun whether on the beach, in the woods, or the desert in the SW.

I found my tow bar on craigslist with all accessories for $200.00 Found the rig specific units to connect the two on rvu trade for $50.00. Installed in one afternoon. Another few bucks for magnetic lights and wiring.

Towed the little guy 6200 miles to ak and back last summer, other then an aliment and 2 new tires, it's been trouble free.
Cost for the truck $5300, private sale. The seller also had a $1,800.00 receipt for the Leer shell that was 2 months old.
It's a great combination of both transportation and storage.
To connect toad to dp it's 2 minutes max.
Full time since 05 of 14

njtony wrote:
Honda 've 20114 or older.

Didn't Honda come out with the 've in 20109? :B

Honda 've 20114 or older.

tropical36 wrote:

RayChez wrote:

tropical36 wrote:

DrewE wrote:

tropical36 wrote:

Before we started towing, I had a lot of arguments against it, but since then, we seldom go anywhere without it. It's so easy for doing so and only uses about 1/2 gallon per mile in fuel, so why not, if you already own it, as your everyday driver. In fact, that's the key to the whole thing and should be asking yourself if it's your pick or at least will do, for an everyday driver and not just for a toad, per say.

I sure hope you actually mean "a one-half mpg change in mileage" rather than "a half a gallon per mile." :W :B

Yeah, for sure and probably about a half gallon over 8 miles or so, for a good bit of the time. Seems that on a good day, where we would normally be getting 8.5 or so, we would now get 8, pulling the toad.
I've seen 9 without it, not counting the genset and this would be at sea level with no head wind on flat country and at approx. 50mph, so.....

That is the big difference between a gasoline motor home and a diesel. The diesel it does not matter whether you are towing or whether it is running light weight. It gets the same fuel mileage all the time. Mine gets 9 mpg with the Caterpillar 3126-E.

Not saying that I doubt what you're saying with your towing experiences, but it does sound like a violation with the laws of physics and no matter how efficient this transfer of energy might be. Now how does this diesel handle things differently, given the same HP and torque as a gasoline engine?

On my Diesel with the Caterpillar engine I notice about a 1 mpg difference when towing, but my Toad is a Dakota 4x4 truck with a V-8, so it's pretty heavy. I do about 9 mpg without it and 8 mpg with it.

tropical36 wrote:
Before we started towing, I had a lot of arguments against it, but since then, we seldom go anywhere without it. It's so easy for doing so and only uses about 1/2 gallon per mile in fuel, so why not, if you already own it, as your everyday driver. In fact, that's the key to the whole thing and should be asking yourself if it's your pick or at least will do, for an everyday driver and not just for a toad, per say.

Actually, that was one of the issues. Neither of our everyday cars was towable 4-down, so we would have had to buy something and have it rigged for towing in a fairly short amount of time. I'm thinking Caddy SRX for the next daily driver anyway and it's 4-down friendly.

tropical36 wrote:

RayChez wrote:

tropical36 wrote:

DrewE wrote:

tropical36 wrote:

Before we started towing, I had a lot of arguments against it, but since then, we seldom go anywhere without it. It's so easy for doing so and only uses about 1/2 gallon per mile in fuel, so why not, if you already own it, as your everyday driver. In fact, that's the key to the whole thing and should be asking yourself if it's your pick or at least will do, for an everyday driver and not just for a toad, per say.

I sure hope you actually mean "a one-half mpg change in mileage" rather than "a half a gallon per mile." :W :B

Yeah, for sure and probably about a half gallon over 8 miles or so, for a good bit of the time. Seems that on a good day, where we would normally be getting 8.5 or so, we would now get 8, pulling the toad.
I've seen 9 without it, not counting the genset and this would be at sea level with no head wind on flat country and at approx. 50mph, so.....

That is the big difference between a gasoline motor home and a diesel. The diesel it does not matter whether you are towing or whether it is running light weight. It gets the same fuel mileage all the time. Mine gets 9 mpg with the Caterpillar 3126-E.

Not saying that I doubt what you're saying with your towing experiences, but it does sound like a violation with the laws of physics and no matter how efficient this transfer of energy might be. Now how does this diesel handle things differently, given the same HP and torque as a gasoline engine?

Very easy to figure out. What is the torque at the wheel from a gasoline engine with the same cubic inches at the wheel versus a diesel engine? Lets assume you have the 3v V-10 Ford engine with 362hp. The torque at the wheel is 457 ft lbs.
Now the 3126-E Cat engine diesel like the one on my coach has only 330hp, but it will give you 860 ft lbs at the wheel.

RayChez wrote:

tropical36 wrote:

DrewE wrote:

tropical36 wrote:

Before we started towing, I had a lot of arguments against it, but since then, we seldom go anywhere without it. It's so easy for doing so and only uses about 1/2 gallon per mile in fuel, so why not, if you already own it, as your everyday driver. In fact, that's the key to the whole thing and should be asking yourself if it's your pick or at least will do, for an everyday driver and not just for a toad, per say.

I sure hope you actually mean "a one-half mpg change in mileage" rather than "a half a gallon per mile." :W :B

Yeah, for sure and probably about a half gallon over 8 miles or so, for a good bit of the time. Seems that on a good day, where we would normally be getting 8.5 or so, we would now get 8, pulling the toad.
I've seen 9 without it, not counting the genset and this would be at sea level with no head wind on flat country and at approx. 50mph, so.....

That is the big difference between a gasoline motor home and a diesel. The diesel it does not matter whether you are towing or whether it is running light weight. It gets the same fuel mileage all the time. Mine gets 9 mpg with the Caterpillar 3126-E.

Not saying that I doubt what you're saying with your towing experiences, but it does sound like a violation with the laws of physics and no matter how efficient this transfer of energy might be. Now how does this diesel handle things differently, given the same HP and torque as a gasoline engine?

tropical36 wrote:

DrewE wrote:

tropical36 wrote:

Before we started towing, I had a lot of arguments against it, but since then, we seldom go anywhere without it. It's so easy for doing so and only uses about 1/2 gallon per mile in fuel, so why not, if you already own it, as your everyday driver. In fact, that's the key to the whole thing and should be asking yourself if it's your pick or at least will do, for an everyday driver and not just for a toad, per say.

I sure hope you actually mean "a one-half mpg change in mileage" rather than "a half a gallon per mile." :W :B

Yeah, for sure and probably about a half gallon over 8 miles or so, for a good bit of the time. Seems that on a good day, where we would normally be getting 8.5 or so, we would now get 8, pulling the toad.
I've seen 9 without it, not counting the genset and this would be at sea level with no head wind on flat country and at approx. 50mph, so.....

That is the big difference between a gasoline motor home and a diesel. The diesel it does not matter whether you are towing or whether it is running light weight. It gets the same fuel mileage all the time. Mine gets 9 mpg with the Caterpillar 3126-E.

DrewE wrote:

tropical36 wrote:

Before we started towing, I had a lot of arguments against it, but since then, we seldom go anywhere without it. It's so easy for doing so and only uses about 1/2 gallon per mile in fuel, so why not, if you already own it, as your everyday driver. In fact, that's the key to the whole thing and should be asking yourself if it's your pick or at least will do, for an everyday driver and not just for a toad, per say.

I sure hope you actually mean "a one-half mpg change in mileage" rather than "a half a gallon per mile." :W :B

Yeah, for sure and probably about a half gallon over 8 miles or so, for a good bit of the time. Seems that on a good day, where we would normally be getting 8.5 or so, we would now get 8, pulling the toad.
I've seen 9 without it, not counting the genset and this would be at sea level with no head wind on flat country and at approx. 50mph, so.....

tropical36 wrote:

Before we started towing, I had a lot of arguments against it, but since then, we seldom go anywhere without it. It's so easy for doing so and only uses about 1/2 gallon per mile in fuel, so why not, if you already own it, as your everyday driver. In fact, that's the key to the whole thing and should be asking yourself if it's your pick or at least will do, for an everyday driver and not just for a toad, per say.

I sure hope you actually mean "a one-half mpg change in mileage" rather than "a half a gallon per mile." :W :B