Mortorhome Dinghy towing problems

[Gamecock7483]

I am planning to purchase a first time Class A Motorhome. I have been told that you cannot back up while flat towing a vehicle. My concern is how often does this really become a problem? I assume if you get into a position you need to back you would have to unhitch. Any information appreciated. Thanks.

[becker]

In 25 years I have had to unhook two times..... Once at a restaurant where some guy parked illegally in front of us (we waited for almost an hour but the person never came to move his car)...... the second time was when I turned down a "dead end" road.....

As time goes on, it will happen to you. Both times when we were back cruising down the interstate, I remarked to myself that I did the right thing by unhooking the toad.

As a comment: There have been several times (really more than several) where I have "walked" an area to make sure there was an exit and/or a way to turn around before I pulled into the area. This has kept me out of trouble many times.

When you are in a position where you have got to unhook, just bite the bullet and unhook. Later, when you are back on the road, you will feel and know you handled the situation correctly.

Good luck and if you are retired, like us, you have all the time in the world.

[prstlk]

The secret here is to always plan an exit strategy if the fast food place looks to tight move on, fuel stop looks to tight move on. Never have less than 1/4 tank of fuel so you can keep your options open.
We towed a 20 ft enclosed car trailer for our first ft year. Rarely got into trouble by looking ahead.
Some of the best fuel prices as of late seem to be grocery stores with pump islands, some not rv friendly, so be aware when using sites like gas buddy.
have fun. JW

[dalerussel]

We have a blue ox tow bar. I understand that they will not honor the warrantee if they believe you backed up your motorhome since that action is especially hard on the tow bar. The tow bar is not designed to push the Toad.

[GHOST1750]

Twice in 14 years. Was directed into a culdsac on a detour one time and in Arizona ended up on a narrow road in Arizona when I made the wrong turn and had to turn around. No big deal either time. I have backed the tow for a short distance (matter of feet) a few times, no problem if you can keep it straight. If it doesn't stay straight stop while you are ahead.

[Rick_Jay]

JimM68 wrote:
And then we found out the road we were on did a loop by the beach and went back to the main road. If I'da just kept going it woulda all been fine.

I've had to disconnect to backup just once in 11 years and that was about 8 years ago. Passed the road to the campground. Not knowing the area, and seeing that just past the road I missed was a fork in the road with what looked like a wide enough paved surface to pull a U-turn, I tried it. Nope. Not quite. "Missed by that much." as Maxwell Smart used to say. 🙂

So I got out and unhooked. (Our towbar generally doesn't bind, so at least that worked OK) As I was backing up the Odyssey, a gentleman came out to ask if he could assist. He also mentioned that if I had driven down the road about 0.2 of a mile, there was a cross-connector pass between the two roads and I could've used that to turn around. Apparently a lot of folks & delivery trucks miss the turn off.

I should've checked the GPS first, although not sure if that road was on it. Now if I need to scope out an area, I give a look at the satellite view on the map program on the iPad if I'm in an area where I can get a data signal.

~Rick

[wa8yxm]

There are 3.2 ways to tow a car

1: 4 Down,, You can not back up.. (Well a few feet perhaps but I recommend not)
2: Dolly,, See above
3.1 Flat trailer 3.2 Enclosed trailer (Best for car..Think portable garage).

You can back a trailer

I have towed cars 4 down across the USA twice (Detroit to California and back) and up and down sevral times (Detroit metro area to SC/GA) and only one time have I had to back up... That was when I took a wrong road.. put the towed in a nearby parking lot and backed the motor home around so I could get in the nearby campground (Related to the parking lot) then hiked back and fetched the car. (That was in Pender, NE... HINT.. I have Blue-OX tow bars)

[WILDEBILL308]

If you do what I said, put just a little pressure on the bar and put it in park you will not be binding when you hit the release bars.
Bill

[bshpilot]

WILDEBILL308 wrote:

Jim, when you are going to disconnect try this. start your toad and put just a little pressure forward on the tow bar. This way when you hit the release levers you won't be under any strain.
Bill

somewhere i saw a video where the guy cut the toad (steering) wheel lock to lock & released the binding on the tow bar....ive not been able to get it to work consistently myself.

[WILDEBILL308]

JimM68 wrote:
Hmmm, lots of internet pro's here...

I unhook at every campground where I don't have a pull through site.
My blue ox Alladin towbar will jam and be very hard to release if the toad is not nicely aligned with the motorhome.
If there is tension or expansion on it
(as in an up or downhill, forget it, it ain't gonna release (I've been known to jump on the release levers., doesn't always work)

Still, 4 down towing is the best and easiest. Just takes some planning.

Once, I took the wrong road into a Kentucky state park, took the beach road instead of the campground road. Then when I realized my mistake, and was in a terribly wide spot of road, I decided to do a U-turn in the motorhome (very bad idea)
When the u turn turned into a 3 point turn and I had to reverse with the toad things went from bad to worse.
We did eventually get the towbar unjammed and the jeep unhooked, and completed our 3 point turn.

And then we found out the road we were on did a loop by the beach and went back to the main road. If I'da just kept going it woulda all been fine.

No substitute for a really good GPS....

Jim, when you are going to disconnect try this. start your toad and put just a little pressure forward on the tow bar. This way when you hit the release levers you won't be under any strain.
Bill

[Gamecock7483]

Many thanks to all for your very helpful information. I do realize backing would be a problem but did not know how often a situation arose where backing up or unhooking was required. Sounds s though it can or does happen but not that often if you are careful and think ahead. Thanks again.

[traveylin]

We are on the road about a hundred days a year and manage to get trapped on a dead end road about once a year. Simple to disconnect. Gas stations get the critical review as I approach and will pass it up if do not like the access/egress. By keeping a minimum of a quarter tank of gas, there is usually another station down the road.

[Nik]

LVJ58 wrote:
I've often wondered how it would work if someone were in the towed vehicle to control steering while coach was backing up so as not to place the towed vehicle in a sharp bind.:h

It doesn't, at least not the time we tried it. 😉 I have put someone in the Jeep, fired it up, and used both vehicles power to get unstuck, that was exciting.

With our motorhome I only had to unhitch once, took a dead end road and couldn't quite make the u-turn. I agree with what a few people already said: planning your route and looking ahead keeps the "no backing up" rule from being a problem.

[Mr_Mark1]

427435 wrote:
We've had to unhook once (Vail, CO) on a dead end street. I have also successfully backed up a few feet after overshooting a turn. Everything was in a straight line, and I watched the toads steering wheel very carefully with the rear view camera.


I've always wondered if you could use the toad to pull the MH back a ways (in a straight line). Don't know why that couldn't be done.

Well, I've got a story.....

We were in Tea, SD, at a local RV park and it had rained a day or two before. Our site was rather muddy and on a slight incline. Everything was fine until I went out the next morning to get ready for departure.

Our steps were 3 or 4 inches above the ground when we set up camp and now almost touching the ground the next morning. I thought, uh oh.. We continued with our 'wrap-up' with the coach for our morning departure. I checked the toad and everything was fine as we had a pull-through and I didn't have to disconnect.

I started the coach and started to pull forward, we rolled about 3 ft. and the drive wheels started to spin. I rolled back and tried 2 more times..... we were spinning in the mud.

I got the bright idea to start the Honda and have my co-pilot rev the engine so that the Honda would not be a paper-weight. Well, it worked, the Honda helped push our 40,000 lb. Monaco Dynasty out of the mud hole.

So, the dingy can come in REAL handy for more than one purpose!:)

Safe travels,
MM.

[427435]

We've had to unhook once (Vail, CO) on a dead end street. I have also successfully backed up a few feet after overshooting a turn. Everything was in a straight line, and I watched the toads steering wheel very carefully with the rear view camera.


I've always wondered if you could use the toad to pull the MH back a ways (in a straight line). Don't know why that couldn't be done.