Forum Discussion

wbwood's avatar
wbwood
Explorer
Aug 17, 2014

Normal?

Yesterday when coming home from work, I passed up a Class A motorohome towing a small SUV (can't recall exactly what it was). It was being towed 4 down. There appeared to be a good bit of jolt side to side on the front of the toad. I can imagine that the tow bar connection to the vehicle was taking a beating and not good on the tires. Is this normal or perhaps induced by an unstead driver? Couldn't really see lots of movement with the motorhome.

3 Replies

  • To check if it is alignment, drive the toad on a level straight road with no traffic and when straight let go of the steering wheel momentarily and see if the toad continues to steer straight. If it does not steer straight then it is time for a wheel alignment, paying attention to Caster.
  • j-d's avatar
    j-d
    Explorer II
    Something in the tow rig is loose or damaged. Also can happen if the toad itself has grossly worn or misaligned front end.
    May be as simple as using a Drop/Lift Adapter, too much play where it connects to the coach then where tow bar connects to the Adapter, can add up to a wandering condition. Should NOT be more than half an inch of play, coach-to-towbar. From there, should be essentially none. I've towed vehicles on truck transfers and for repairs as well as RVing. It doesn't take much looseness for the toad to get crazy.
  • I had that happen. Only thing is when you are in a big coach driving you think it's something to do with the handling of the MH or just the wind.

    Mine turned out to be and IMHO in a lost of cases it was the tow bar. Brand New Blue Ox. The arms were not locking in place properly. When I took it in they would check the bar and swear there was nothing wrong. Foght it for hundreds of miles.

    Long story short I 'finally' found a competent dealership in MO that 'after saying I was simply just going to buy another new one for my safety' really took a good long hard look at it. We opened up the area for the lcck and could see it was not engaging properly so when you took off after checking it it would slip. Hence forth the swaying of the toad. Even thought it was engaged during routine check of hooking up.

    Blue Ox still said I was crazy and wrong but when thy found out I was serious enough to buy a second one they did tell the dealership to give it to me for free.

    Pulled out with the new tow bar and the coach tracked straight as an arrow. Yup I was right that it was a bad tow bar!:C

About RV Tips & Tricks

Looking for advice before your next adventure? Look no further.25,186 PostsLatest Activity: Mar 09, 2026