toad versus no toad

[LarryDel]

My wife and I currently tow a 4 door jeep wrangler. We are planning a trip out west (from our home in Delaware). We plan to visit as many National Parks as possible. We have always towed a vehicle, but it is a nuisance to gas up in tight crowded gas staions, hook up and unhook, extra weight going up and down mountains, poor gas mileage, etc. We were thinking of going without a tow vehicle and rely on Uber or car rentals as needed. We thought we might save enough on improved gas mileage to pay for car rentals. But not sure Uber or car rentals will be available where we are going. Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcomed.

[Lwiddis]

Nuisance? It’s part of RVing, not something to complain about. When life gets too easy, you’re dead!

[jjrbus]

My usual was drive the DP someplace and plant it, then use the toad to go here and there, even renting motel rooms on occasion. Going on a trip without a toad was unthinkable 95% of the time!

Now with my little Toyota I never take a toad.

[LOG]

Our situation is different than yours. We don't have a toad and never have. We have had a motorhome for nine years, over 60,000 miles. Sure, there are a few times that we have wished to have had a toad. But, they are few. A lot of national parks have free public transportation. Most that do not are close to cities that have rental car agencies. Yellowstone Natl Park, for example, is very close to a nice town that has great RV parks and rental cars. Zion, Bryce, and Grand Canyon Natl Parks have great public transportation. And, discourage private cars in the parks. It is my opinion that if you leave the toad at home, you will not regret it. In fact, unless the toad is your daily driver, you may even consider selling it. I will note that before we got our Class C, we had a Foretravel diesel pusher.

[Johno02]

We are 30' with a toad, and have used Walmart filling stations all over the eastern and western without unhooking. If we are leaving a campground and it is not too far, DW will drive the toad to the filling station, then we hook up the taod while I am filling the MH tank.

[whemme]

My 26’ E450 V10 powered Class-C averages 8.5 mpg when not pulling my 3000 lb toad, 8.0 mpg when pulling it.

[klutchdust]

whemme wrote:
Gas stations in the west part of the US are more open and as not as tightly packed as the eastern states where you live. I have always been able to fill my Class-C and toad without unhooking them.

x2 even when driving a friends 42 ft. with a toad no problem. As far as fuel mileage. I drove on a trip of 275 miles with the toad, next trip without the toad, same trip same


mileage. My 2 door JK had no effect on mileage. I forgot it was there until I made a left turn into a street...

[Flute_Man]

I have never unhooked and re-hooked the car when I fuel my motorhome. There are plenty of filling stations that I can get in and out of without any problem. I would feel lost without my car.
I have been West Coast to East Coast and North Coast to South Coast and back again.

[LarryDel]

Thanks for all the comments. You have convinced me. We will bring the toad for sure.

[whemme]

Gas stations in the west part of the US are more open and as not as tightly packed as the eastern states where you live. I have always been able to fill my Class-C and toad without unhooking them.

[bobndot]

Two Hands wrote:
Take your toad. You will definitely regret it if you don’t.

x2

Refueling is the least thing to worry about. Use google maps in the satellite mode to view gas stations so you see where the easy in/out stations are.
Sometimes when we depart a campground my wife will drive the toad and follow me to a gas station to fill the rv, then hook it up.

Besides, its not cheap to set up a car to be towed. It makes no sense to plop down the money to set up a vehicle to NOT tow it.

[bukhrn]

Can't imagine paying Uber to haul you around someplace like Yellowstone it's huge, hundreds of miles, a good week or better to see it all, you could probably buy a car cheaper. 😉

[wildtoad]

I doubt you will save enough in gas to count, may be easier to get in and out of some stations. If you plan your stops should not be a problem. We’ve been place where there aren’t either rental agencies or Uber. You’ve got the perfect car to site see in the West especially if you’re the adventurous type and want to tour places like Monument Valley on you own.

[2_Retired]

cannot imagine renting a car could be cheaper than using your own, even with higher cost of towing. As far as Uber, doubt it would be readily available in non-urban or suburban areas. We live in a part of Va called the Northern Neck and there's nothing but one's own vehicle available to go anywhere. The wide open spaces of the West would seem to be even less likely to have ride share services. We have been RVing for almost 45 years and I cannot imagine NOT bringing our toad on a long trip, particularly one where our goal is to wander and see this great country! Thinking if you already are set to tow, why not do so? Once you get west of the East Coast, there are far fewer toll roads as well, so that expense of towing an extra vehicle would not exist. Just my thoughts.

[Two_Hands]

Take your toad. You will definitely regret it if you don’t.