How many miles have you towed in one day?

I normally drive 12-14 hours a day. But I told my wife after the last trip I won't be doing that anymore. We are looking at purchasing a Class C in the near futures for a Tripp across the country with grandkids and I told the wife we will try to keep it down to no more than 8 hours a day with frequent stops.

Jbrowland wrote:
I understand the need to maximize vacation time and get to the destination. Many of us have done that.

The answer for ME is...as long as my wife and kids wants me to drive. We've been married for a long time now. ;)

I'm only in my 40's and travel with my entire family as well. I'm not old. Their safety and yours while on the road is always my main concern and no amount of vacation time saved is worth the risk. I'll always pick losing 6 hours in Yellowstone over killing my family or someone else. Most of the RV accidents I have seen or read about were in part due to drivers who didn't want to stop for various reasons or refused slow down. RV's are built with matchsticks. One small accident and they burst apart. Every time I feel rushed I picture one of those accidents with my family or yours and I slow down. Sounds negative and I apologize for painting such a bleak picture but it works for me.

But that's just me...on the road...with the rest of us.... ;)

I'm not sure that it's fair to equate driving long distances to driving unsafely.

I never, ever speed. My maximum towing speed is 65 mph, even when the speed limit is higher. We stop frequently to stretch, grab a snack, use the facilities, etc. I stop in the evening before I start feeling drowsy. And I always adjust my speed for weather conditions and traffic.

Yet, when we want to get somewhere, my family will happily put in a 750 mile day.

Safely.

550 miles is easily doable if you get and early start. Like others have said, don't think I'd want to do that everyday when on vacation. We usually leave around 7:30ish from central IN when we go to the Talladega race and drive straight through and have plenty of time to setup and that's about the same distance.

I understand the need to maximize vacation time and get to the destination. Many of us have done that.

The answer for ME is...as long as my wife and kids wants me to drive. We've been married for a long time now. ;)

I'm only in my 40's and travel with my entire family as well. I'm not old. Their safety and yours while on the road is always my main concern and no amount of vacation time saved is worth the risk. I'll always pick losing 6 hours in Yellowstone over killing my family or someone else. Most of the RV accidents I have seen or read about were in part due to drivers who didn't want to stop for various reasons or refused slow down. RV's are built with matchsticks. One small accident and they burst apart. Every time I feel rushed I picture one of those accidents with my family or yours and I slow down. Sounds negative and I apologize for painting such a bleak picture but it works for me.

But that's just me...on the road...with the rest of us.... ;)

16 hours with trailer
24 hours without
To maximize days the we can spend at destination

I might have the record. One very long day I flew from Calgary AB to Knoxville TN where I picked up a new truck. After purchasing the truck I went out for a very late supper before driving all night to Paris Tx where I installed a B&W hitch in my truck. Immediately after finishing the install, which I did in a Napa parking lot I headed down to Emory to pick up two gooseneck trailers stacked piggy back, one on top the other. From there I drove all the way to Des Moines Iowa. In Des Moines I picked up a third trailer which was stacked on top the two goosenecks and ended up spending a good part of the morning at the Ford dealership having my truck checked out for a noisey turbo. I then headed on to Mitchel SD where I got a room for the night. So the first day was a long one....I got up at 5.00 am to catch my flight and hit the pillow at 11.00 pm with just shy of 2000 miles on the truck......66 hours later. The next day I drove the remaining 1100 miles home....on day two I did a bit of shopping while I had a paintless dent removal place remove numerous dents in my truck after driving through a hail storm. As well on day two I spent hours at the border importing the truck from the US into Canada....I think day two was nearly 40 hours long. My neighbors are a husband and wife tag team that drive from north of Calgary AB all the way down to Miami Florida and back every week. I believe it is 6000 miles in 6 days....they spend a day at home before doing it all over again.

1170, three times

memtb wrote:
It’s quite easy for those of us, who are retired or have abundant vacation time to impose our travel limits on someone who isn’t as blessed! The OP stated that, he was only going to “push” the first day! With limited time...he’s driving past what his family has already seen, in order to give his family more time in Yellowstone. I’m guessing that he’s a fairly young man....unless he waited “very” late in life to start a family. So his desire to “cover ground” the first day (while everyone is well rested)..... seems “pretty darn smart” to me!

Bingo. I take these conversations as life lessons as to how not to portray myself when I get older and start believing that my "opinion" is the only RIGHT opinion.
The original question should be considered tongue in cheek. There are 1000s of different personalities, schedules, skill levels, comfort levels, geographical locations, time constraint reasons, etc to even begin to think there is a "right" answer.
We may go 100 miles or 1000 miles in a day depending on the day, the mission, the sites, etc.
I just ran the better part of 1000mi a day towing, twice, to WI and back, because thats what was the order of the day. Took 8 days to go 2200mi to AK because that's what we did. Last year's family trip was 2000miles in the first 2 weeks, virtually no miles for a week and 1800 miles in 2 days to round it out.

intheburbs wrote:

It also depends on the driver(s). I'm a former road warrior, and I love driving. Not many things make me happier than when I'm behind the wheel. I know a lot of people that don't like driving, or even if they like driving they don't like driving/towing an RV. People like that should not be driving long legs without a break.

I'm also very relaxed when behind the wheel, even when towing. .

You know that part of your post really hit home with me because I enjoy the drive and the tow as well.
I also enjoy the challenge of backing the RV into just the right spot.
But I've come to realize I enjoy just sitting in my folding chair doing absolutely nothing, but relaxing even more than the drive!
I enjoy the drive and make the most of it.
But my real goal is to simply relax and smell the roses.

I've done 700+ a few times on our cross-country treks. Most of the times I've done it I've been alone, with the family flying in to meet me at the destination.

With the family in tow, 500-550 is usually the limit.

This past summer, we towed the trailer to Yellowstone. Covered 5400 miles in 2.5 weeks, with four legs at over 600 miles in a day, and one 500-mile day.

My family has grown up on road trips, so they don't mind 10 hours in the truck. It helps that it's a Suburban, and we have captain's chairs in the middle row. Plenty of room for the five of us.

It also depends on the driver(s). I'm a former road warrior, and I love driving. Not many things make me happier than when I'm behind the wheel. I know a lot of people that don't like driving, or even if they like driving they don't like driving/towing an RV. People like that should not be driving long legs without a break.

I'm also very relaxed when behind the wheel, even when towing. If you're white-knuckled and tense behind the wheel, for whatever reason, more than a few hundred miles in a day will seem like an eternity.