toad or no toad

[mussfly]

planning a major trip across country. and i have a 28' class c, and the toad consists of a dolly and a vibe to be put on the dolly.
in traveling so far mainly for extended stays at one spot the toad works great and i have restricted my travel so far to a tank of gas there and back sense i purchased it last yr. and i have been watching my travels for gas stops that would have enough room to pull in for gas with the toad. and so far i have noticed very few places i would pull into with the toad because of the turning radius of the rig and the cars which have no consideration for a longer rig and their turning rad and i wouldn't be able to back the rig.
the trip i am planning goes from the east coast through mt rushmore , yellowstone, glacier national park , mt riener,glacier lake,and then south to hit Yosemite national park,las vagas, hover dam, grand canyon,Bryce canyon, flagstaff and then back to the east coast.
so with all thee traveling i am wondering if a toad would work ok with the gas stops and also the gas mileage, because we plan to do this in 10 weeks. so any advice would be helpful !
plan to spend 1 week in yellowstone and 2-3 days around mt rushmore plus 2 nites near vagas and maybe some other out trips to tour.


help !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jauguston]

Old Radios,

If you don't buy a enclosed trailer for your motorcycles you will have some awfully dirty bikes when you stop. DON'T get covers to try and keep them clean. No matter how you tie the covers down the wind will flap the covers and grind the dirt that gets under them into the paint and ruin the chrome. Been there-done that.

[Retired_VSP]

Dakzuki wrote:
We did a month long trip of the western national parks pulling a toad last year and getting fuel was a non issue. We used the Gas Buddy app to plan our fuel stops based on price and access. Nancy (navigator) would use Google maps to get the lay of the land before we committed to a particular station. If I could do it with diesel it would be a piece of cake for a gasser.

We pulled our toad over the hog's back of Utah 12. It did have my undivided attention but it was no problem.

We put a hundred miles on the toad in Yellowstone in one day alone.

Make your reservations early. Arches is awesome but the camping area is small and sells out early.

We are planning a California trip from Virginia in mid-June through the end of July....pulling a toad for the first time in my 33' gasser Class A....can you give me any advise on pulling a toad in general and the challenge of crossing the Rockies, difference in fuel mileage etc. I'm a little apprehensive in gas stations and eating places and I know I have to plan ahead...always rented a car in the past. Also, is weather a challege for that time of year....? Any info will be very much appreciated.....P.S. we have been to Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Mt. Rushmore in '06 in our old Class C.....didn't pull a toad then either but travelled with a buddy who had one.

[pnichols]

Rolin wrote:
Just depends on what you plan to do or what you plan to see. If you want to go four wheeling on the back roads then you need a toad.

We do take our 24 foot Class C on back roads depending of course on how rocky the road is, how deep any washouts might be, and how soft the surface might be. For hard core 4X4 roads of course you'll need a 4X4 small towed vehicle. We often find ourselves on flat, firm back roads in dry weather with severe washboarding being the only issue, which can be dealt with by slowing down. During a Monument Valley trip we enjoyed comfortable dust-free air conditioned sight-seeing on the valley floor by taking our Class C with no problems (... taking it slow and careful) on the main tourist road signed as "Not Recommended For RVs".

It's very enjoyable camping out in the middle of nowhere in a comfortable Class C just off some back road!

[Retired_VSP]

Planning to take a West trip from Virginia....been to Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and now want to go farther west to Rockies, California, etc. Pulling toad for first time in our 33' gasser and a little apprehensive. Lot of advise here....thanks.

[OldRadios]

We figure if it's real nasty out we'll just take the C.

[tenbear]

If you are happy with touring on motorcycles, that is probably a good choice. You can probably back-up with the trailer. May not be so nice in the rain or cold though.

[OldRadios]

My wife and I have been trying to figure out what we are going to do as far as a toad. We are purchasing a 29 foot C and I think we have settled on pulling a small motorcycle trailer with our Harleys. I don't think the gas mileage will suffer and we will have the Harleys and won't have to break camp if we don't want to. Besides, camping in the C and seeing Yellowstone on Harleys might just be the best way anyway.

[wbwood]

You already have the dolly and toad. Take it. As far as finding gas, you need to stick with bigger gas stations. Perhaps places like flying j, loves, etc. if you were going to one destination and staying there for a period of time, then I would say just rent when you get there.

[Rolin]

Our experience first with a 24ft and now with a 26ft motorhome.

If we are going to stay in one location for a month then a toad or scooter is nice. However, when we are traveling..like to Glacier, Yellowstone, Tetons, Brice, Zion, Canadian Rockies we found it to be much easier going without a toad. Each of the parks have buses that will take you all over the park for free or a reasonable price and you learn more, meet interesting people, see more, and are more relaxed.

All the restaurants we stop at have room at or nearby for our Motorhome. Have not found an attraction that we could not visit with our motorhome. However there are places enroute that would be difficult to visit if we were pulling a toad.

Just depends on what you plan to do or what you plan to see. If you want to go four wheeling on the back roads then you need a toad.

We live on the West Coast and have traveled from Coast to Coast and through much of Canada toadless.

[tenbear]

We have always pulled our toad with our 28' Class C. We don't use a dolly though. You do have to choose your gas stops, but it hasn't been a big problem.

As far as planning goes, we have a rough idea of where we are going but it constantly gets modified as we travel and learn about more things that we want to see.

Sounds like you have a great trip planned. Don't overthink it, just go and have a great time.

Every long trip is just a series of short trips.

[PghBob]

Hi Folks:

We have traveled out west several times in our car, and most recently in our 27 foot Class C (last summer). We have never used a toad, so I cannot comment directly about that. But, I can say we did not miss having a car with us last summer, during our trip through the Rocky Mts., California, and return via I 40.

As for the question about parking at restaurants. Call ahead for reservations and ask them where to park. We did this with great success in small towns like Fort Collins CO, Estes Park, Jackson WY, Cody WY and many others. I think in the worse case, we needed to walk a few blocks from a grocery store lot to the restaurant. We were even able to park at the Santa Monica pier area in SoCal.

We had no problems driving around the Grand Teton or Yellowstone Parks in the RV, plus we could pull over and have lunch in the RV at some great views. A few negatives about the RV are you cannot always pull over off the road to view animals as you might in a car, and there are a few roads/attractions that you cannot drive on/to in an RV.

As for first-timers making a cross country trip, our best advice is plan carefully before leaving. If you have unlimited or virtually unlimited time, planning can be more "loose" or informal. If you have time constraints, then planning is more important. Include all traveling parties in the planning and decide on the important things to do/see. The west is big, so allow plenty of time to get from place to place. I try to max driving on the first day when I'm fresher, then reduce driving time on subsequent days. I try to limit driving to no more than 8 hours/day, and prefer 6 hours/day. I make many reservations in advance (many of my RVing friends don't like to do this), so I don't have to search for an overnight spot when I'm tired and less patient. Finally, we travel as light weight as possible.

Finding or getting gas was no problem. We would often fuel-up at truck stops because they usually have more room to turn. As noted earlier, we like to use pumps at the end of the station to allow greater clearance for rear-end swing.

Best wishes for a great New Year, and have happy and safe travels.

Bob

[jax1911]

Hi Kidsgone,
We live in NE Florida and are planning a cross country trip very similar to your trip.
We are fairly new RV'ers and would appreciate any recommendations or advice for planning our trip.

Thanks,
jax1911

[mussfly]

what about finding a parking spot at a restaurant ?

as for power i have a chevy 6 litre not a v10. and i already know i get 9 mpg with a toad and 10 without a toad.
from what i can figure we are talking about 8500 miles round trip !

what about car rentals at certain places. like i already checked into renting a car at cody,wy and dropping it off at jackson after we spend a week at yellowstone and the tetons.

i am sorry but you have to remember i live on the east coast and i am not aquainted with driving through the mid west and west and the way things might be more open maybe. as far as pulling into places where sometimes it seems impossible here on the east coast and the way towns have smaller roads because of parking on the streets and tight turns even for a small car like a vibe.

[Desert_Captain]

I know the OP is talking about a 28' C but just for grins consider the possibilities that present themselves if your rig is just a tad smaller. We have only had our 24' Class C for four months but have covered over 8,000 miles. We do not have, nor do we need much less want a Toad. Our 24' C has every amenity we could ever want and I can park it just about anywhere. It will go down any road safely and I have yet to find a site that it won't easily fit. Now if you cannot live with a rig this size it becomes a different ball game altogether.

We got our 24 because we knew it would meet our needs without the "need" to pull a second vehicle. For 4 years we towed a 22' TT and had the nearly the same amenities as the 24' C with the TV available for errands and site seeing so we know there is nothing we are missing. Since we are in mostly campgrounds going into town for something is as simple as turning the ignition key and if we happen to have 30 amp service disconnecting takes about 30 seconds.

IMHO: In a Class C or B/B+ of 25' or less a Toad is an expensive, needless appendage which defeats the simplicity of having such a rig in the first place. If you have just got to have a bigger C maybe you might find a better fit with a Class A which will certainly handle a Toad better.

As always.... Opinions and YMMV (especially if you are dragging a Toad). :B