Car towing question..

[kfp673]

Hello all. We have been really struggling with the motorhome vs 5th wheel decision and will be heading to Hershey this weekend to help with that decision. We thought we were leaning toward motorhome until we started to look into the car towing situation

With that said, I have a car towing question. We would pretty much always have to tow a car since we never just hang in the campground. The problem is trying to decide if towing is an option. So... My question is, is there such a thing as a 4 wheel tow bar that does not require cutting and can be installed on a leased vehicle, and easily removed? I have an equinox AWD company vehicle. The company vehicle plan allows us to use the car as a personal vehicle as well. I was excited to see that the equinox is an approved 4 down tow vehicle until I watched a video of the installation and saw the cutting and drilling involved. That wont work with a company car. Are there any tow bars or vehicles that are easier to install? Jeeps maybe? Dolly apparently is not an option with this AWD car according to the owners manual.

Any recomendations? Thanks!

[lanerd]

An Equinox, like any other toad, requires the installation of a base plate that is typically mounted directly to the frame of the car that is used to connect the tow bar to. A lighting system that consists of wires to activate the tail, brake, turn signals, and emergency flashers of the toad from the towing vehicle (motor home). And, a braking (not breaking) device that activates the car's brakes when the motor home brakes are activated and that also has a break away device that will activate the car's brakes if the car should become disconnected from the motor home during travel.

I can't speak for the Equinox, but I imagine that it is much like our Terrain. The front fascia has to come off (which is much easier that you would think) and the base plate will replace the front horizontal steel bar that connects the two lateral frame pieces. The base plate will have two points that stick out to the front of the fascia for the tow bar to connect to.

The lighting system typically just consists of a four wire flat cable that has a connector on one end that is mounted to the front of the car that the umbilical cable from the motor home connects to. The flat cable is directed to the rear of the car and each wire is connected via a diode to the car's tail/brake/signal lights.

The brake (again, not break) system can be as simple as a box that sets in the front floor in front of the driver's seat and has an arm connected to the car's brake pedal..or it can be a little more elaborate system that is actually connected to the car's power brake system via a special vacuum pump...or it can be a part of the tow bar. It will also have a small cable connected to the back of the motor home to a connector on the front of the car. It is part of the braking system and upon disconnect of the car during travel, the cable will pull a pin from the connector on the front of the car allowing the car's brakes to be activated stopping the car....hopefully without coming into contact with other cars or stationary things.

Hope this helps

Ron

[kfp673]

Thanks all! Good info!

Can anyone give me any more details specific to the equinox and breaking and lighting? What needs to be done to the lighting and break system. Thanks again all!

[Doug156]

My Subaru is the same as the CRV with relation to base plate

[lanerd]

WILDEBILL308 wrote:

kfp673 wrote:
Hello all. We have been really struggling with the motorhome vs 5th wheel decision and will be heading to Hershey this weekend to help with that decision. We thought we were leaning toward motorhome until we started to look into the car towing situation

With that said, I have a car towing question. We would pretty much always have to tow a car since we never just hang in the campground. The problem is trying to decide if towing is an option. So... My question is, is there such a thing as a 4 wheel tow bar that does not require cutting and can be installed on a leased vehicle, and easily removed? I have an equinox AWD company vehicle. The company vehicle plan allows us to use the car as a personal vehicle as well. I was excited to see that the equinox is an approved 4 down tow vehicle until I watched a video of the installation and saw the cutting and drilling involved. That wont work with a company car. Are there any tow bars or vehicles that are easier to install? Jeeps maybe? Dolly apparently is not an option with this AWD car according to the owners manual.

Any recomendations? Thanks!

Talk to your company and see if you can buy the car at the end of the lease. That way you can install the baseplate and wiring harness so you can tow 4 down. Otherwise I would buy a car to tow. You do have a POV don't you?
Bill

X2...

Also, if they wont sell it to you, maybe you can just leave everything on it after the lease is up. You would lose the cost of the base plate/lighting...but since you don't pay for the car anyway, it's a small price.

Our Terrain (sister to the Equinox) had no modification to the front fascia, but did have some parts removed and holes drilled to install our Roadmaster base plate. However, once everything is installed and the fascia back on, the tow bar mounts can only be seen by getting down on your knees and looking through the small horizontal slot. Normally, you would never know it's there.

Ron

[WILDEBILL308]

kfp673 wrote:
Hello all. We have been really struggling with the motorhome vs 5th wheel decision and will be heading to Hershey this weekend to help with that decision. We thought we were leaning toward motorhome until we started to look into the car towing situation

With that said, I have a car towing question. We would pretty much always have to tow a car since we never just hang in the campground. The problem is trying to decide if towing is an option. So... My question is, is there such a thing as a 4 wheel tow bar that does not require cutting and can be installed on a leased vehicle, and easily removed? I have an equinox AWD company vehicle. The company vehicle plan allows us to use the car as a personal vehicle as well. I was excited to see that the equinox is an approved 4 down tow vehicle until I watched a video of the installation and saw the cutting and drilling involved. That wont work with a company car. Are there any tow bars or vehicles that are easier to install? Jeeps maybe? Dolly apparently is not an option with this AWD car according to the owners manual.

Any recomendations? Thanks!

Talk to your company and see if you can buy the car at the end of the lease. That way you can install the baseplate and wiring harness so you can tow 4 down. Otherwise I would buy a car to tow. You do have a POV don't you?
Bill

[bshpilot]

again no cutting for a wrangler, the baseplates mount (via 3 bolts per plate) behind the bumper.

the mounting plates (aka base plates) can easily be removed and no one would ever know it was towed behind a coach.

[Snomas]

I have set up two different cars for towing. Both of them had to have some small cut outs in the front grill/fascia to allow the tow bkts to be exposed for connecting too.

[bshpilot]

regarding the taillights - only the Jeep Wranglers have an OEM integrated factory wiring harnesses.
while holes may need to be its completely factory.



of course you could use magnetic lights (i did early on) - but they are a real PIA !
i see now "they" offer WIRELESS magnetic lights - but I'd be worried about theft and they will scratch the paint.

[sch911]

Base plates all bolt on to the chassis points. But on some vehicles fascia's or bumper components must be modified for access. The Blue Ox, and Roadmaster web sites include mounting instructions for all baseplates. Use these to tell you what needs to be modified for any given vehicle. Many vehicles require no modification like our 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited.

[Tom_and_Gloria]

We camped next to a couple a few months ago from Florida. There Toad was a Honda Accord and was leased. He told me that was their second leased Honda they used as a Toad.

[gemert]

As others have said the base plate bolts on. You will also need lighting for the rear of your Toed (brake and turn lights)and an auxiliary braking system. The braking system usually needs some holes to be drilled into various places on the Toed. You can get a Ready Brute tow bar with a Ready Brake installed on it instead. The ready brake is a surge brake that does not require being mounted inside the car. You won't be able to get around some holes drilled on the outside but they would all be hidden under the car. The lights can be mounted to the Toed with magnets. Good luck.

[rondeb]

Our CRV had to have part of the bumper system removed, but no cutting. The installer gave the part to us to reinstall if we ever sold the car.

[bshpilot]

my base plates BOLT to the jeep (behind the bumper) - 3 bolts (for each base plate) easily remove when and if i ever want to remove them.

the base plates retail for 400 bucks - so you can bet ill remove them (even if i sell them for 1/2 price).

all base plates use a nut/bolt attachment mechanism (invisible behind the bumper) - there was NO cutting involved - i could remove my base plates and you'd never know our jeep was ever towed.

[SpurHntr]

Why not just use a car trailer?

I think you're asking if there is a BASEPLATE that would install on your toad rather than a special tow bar?

Check blue ox's website. Great info on there.