How do you manage without a toad?

[Damdifino]

Looking to buy a 32' Forester, a little long for a daily driver. 😉 My Land Cruiser can't be flat towed, and I hate to think of downgrading to a Jeep. So I'm wondering if I'll feel site-bound if I travel without a toad?

[Gjac]

It really depends on how you like to camp. I usually put as many miles on my small tow car as I do on the MH exploring the area that I am staying in, especially out west. If I camp at the beach for a week back east I will stay in one spot and don't need the car. In a Class A over 30 ft I would not be without a tow car. Having said that in a 24 ft class B or C it would be easier to maneuver in tight mountainous roads and be able to find spots to park than a larger Class A. The only hassle is pulling the awning,putting your stuff away and breaking camp every time your want to explore the area.

[AJR]

I did a trip to Michigan UP and Door County WI without a tow. I liked the freedom of driving anywhere. But there were attractions (to me) the camper just could not get into the parking area provided.

So now I tow & put up with that headache.

[Jerseydevil]

lhenry8113 wrote:
We now have a small Class C and no toad. Used Uber to get to specific places(grocery, hardware, historical sites, etc.) sites--$5 to $10 per ride. If we want to explore and stay a while we get an Enterprise Rent A Car. Lot cheaper than owning, maintaining, insuring, licensing, etc.

Exactly...do not want the hassle of a toad.

[Bordercollie]

Try without for a while and talk to others who tow. If you are a relaxed older couple without antsy kids, can plan ahead and have a bike, etc., to go to the camp store, you may never need a towed vehicle or can rent something when visiting a city like Boston where RV's are not permitted to park. If you are social campers, you may "need" a towed vehicle to trade rides with others. With practice you can quickly disconnect a Class C and go into town or drive around Yosemite to sight-see.

[legolas]

we did the first year, not more than 2 hours from home, rented cars. It's doable, but it can be a pain depending on where you go. One trip to a place only 90 minutes from home the nearest rental place was 45 miles from the park. Before the year was out I bought a toad. A 2013 Chevrolet Sonic hatchback. Tows easy behind the Minnie winnie 31K and is easy set up.....just put the key in ACC and the transmission in neutral and away you go.. For me the only heart burn was getting rid of my 08 Silverado 2500 which I used to tow the 30ft TT. Since I wasnt going to tow that monster it was a no brainer to sell it and purchase the Sonic.

Bottom line for me is that I would not go without a toad

[pnichols]

We do not tow another vehicle with our 24 foot Class C when on RV trips. Our style of camping does not require running around a lot away from the places we like to camp.

However, we just got back from six days of drycamping with friends at a lake in a National Forest. My job was to tow from home up to the lake our small aluminum boat behind our Class C so the group had use of it for sightseeing and fishing on the lake.

Boy or boy what hassle that was driving to/from the lake that was over 300 miles from home: Watch every turn to make sure it's wide enough, change lanes on highways very carefully so as to leave plenty of room, make sure the brake and turn signal lights on the towed vehicle are always working after each hookup, good luck just pulling into "any" station to refuel the motorhome, good luck pulling into favorite fast food places' parking lots for quick lunches while inroute, etc..

Having to tow a run-around-vehicle would kindof ruin the joy of travel in between camping destinations.

[Lumpty]

Another smaller 24' C here, that when backed into a parking space with grass behind the curb takes up no more footprint than a shortbed crew cab pick-up, as the wheel bases are the same. For local transportation, we have a Kymco scooter that we use to get around, carried on a hitch-mounted aluminum rack from Harbor Freight. I did not want the hassle of a toad, with another 4 tires on the ground, the tow bar and braking systems needed, as well as additional tolls for the extra pair of axles here in the greater northeast as well as Ohio, Indiana and Chicago area that we frequently travel through.

[maillemaker]

We have a 32 foot Class C. We have had it about 10 years. We have never had a toad. I can pull up the jacks and disconnect utilities in 5 minutes, and then we just drive the RV to wherever. We pretty much resign ourselves to parking "in the boonies" of whatever parking lot we arrive at, so you have the lot to yourself. But, since it's just a van with a long tail, most of the time you can park in standard car parking spots as long as you can hang your tail off into the grass. But more often than not I just pull through and take up 2 slots end-to-end. Grocery stores and Walmart are no problem visiting with the RV, and that's about the only places we go when we are out and about (and then only if we forgot something). Most of the time we are taking the RV to a specific destination where we intend to stay (Disney, campground, whatever) so we have no need of a vehicle when we get there.

[Matt_Colie]

As we are more travelers than campers, I would expect that you might feel somewhat site-bound, but there are other considerations....

We travel in a small vintage A. As we can get into most parking lots, getting where we want to go and provisioning are not issues. Most of the time, we carry inflatable bicycles and they are great at the rallies or in the odd campground. I call them inflatable because in my world things that are carried at less than full size are all such. They stow under the dinette table and stay clean and safe.

We had a towed for a while, but we live in Michigan with the most expensive car insurance in the country (that may change soon) and the cost was just not worth the price.

Thirty plus feet will not close you out most commercial lots, but it may be rough at some attractions. If you are going to campgrounds and touring from there, it will have its charm. If you can tow a daily driver, then the added expense of rigging it to tow may be worth it. The best part of this is that you can change your mind later.

Matt

[hotbyte]

No toad here and we’ve done fine. We’ve taken our 24ft to several tourist locations including Biltmore House, Niagara Falls, Watkins Glenn SP, Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown battlefield and museum, and Mt Vernon. Most locations have bus parking and we just park there. We’ve found public day parking at a few beaches as well. We’ve really simplified our site setup because we do break camp often during a stay.

[docsouce]

We (just my wife and I) have a smaller RV also, 25ft. Bumper to bumper. We prefer not to tow. As previously mentioned,this small RV enables us to handle most driving and parking situations. On our long trips (We have 3 cross country trips under our belts so far) we usually combine our shopping stops with our lunch breaks during our daily drives. We travel on non interstate roads for the most part so markets/suppies are easyer to run across. When arriving at a destination, we drive around the area and if we feel it is worth it rent an auto. Again as mentioned,this method takes a bit of planning, however if we had a large RV I would probably tow a vehice.

[chorbelt]

I manage easy, we carry bicycles to get to town (if close by) and around the campground. If a town won't be close, we'll stop for supplies while on the way; it just takes a little planning. So far, only really been bit once; who knew Ohio still had dry counties, but to be honest, even with a toad, I wasn't going to drive just for a sixer.

More to the point, what do you want to do when camping? If all you want to do is go site-seeing, a toad might make it more fun. If you're going someplace like a State Park to relax, probably won't miss it.

[JaxDad]

lhenry8113 wrote:
We now have a small Class C and no toad. Used Uber to get to specific places(grocery, hardware, historical sites, etc.) sites--$5 to $10 per ride. If we want to explore and stay a while we get an Enterprise Rent A Car. Lot cheaper than owning, maintaining, insuring, licensing, etc.

X 2, over, and over again.

[fourthclassC]

We have a 24' and no toad. We have bicycles we usually take. Looking forward a trip needing a rental car one day... No interest in Toad. 24' vehicle mostly fits all but busiest of city situations.