towing a vehicle
I have a class a 28foot v10 Ford 2002. I am looking for information on what is the best way to pull a vehicle on all fours. On a dolly. Or on a trailer . Want to know about what kind of car can...
Forum Discussion
I would recommend towing 4-down as well. There isn't any other practical way of towing a vehicle. That said, you should really pay attention to Gross Vehicle Weight Ratings on your coach. I just finished setting mine up and it was a real twister. My coach is a Ford V10 like yours, rated at 26,000 GVCR max. Naked, the coach weighs in at 22,000. Add all the stuff you carry with you including your water and some and that leaves you with the weight of the car you want to pull. In general, the lighter the better but not always. If you consider what you will do with your toad (car/suv/truck) while travelling, you might be able to get away with a small two seater. If you bring the kids and the in-laws, you need a van or better.
We travel as a couple with a small dog. I looked for a vehicle that would take us to the grocery store and for sight-seeing. A Smart car is what we decided on only because my wife likes to drive an automatic. I was tempted by the Fiat 500 but it was standard and on the expensive side, so was the mini which I really like because I have seen them behind rigs and met the people who drive and rave about them. In our 20 years of RV'ing, we had very few occasions where we needed more than two seats. Maybe a handful of times at most. We drove pickups and 5th wheels, always had room for 4 people but rarely needed it.
When it was all said and done, the Smart was the best choice for us. It is a bit harder to set it up for towing because some states need you to install a brake unit in the car no matter the weight of the car. In my case the car weighs 1,800 pounds which is really light but still, CA needs brakes and so does Idaho and other western states. I picked up a used Smart from a dealership in CA, a really good deal, over the internet of all things (that was really scary for me).
The towing combo I picked was the Roadmaster tow bracket, Roadmaster Falcon All-Terrain tow bars with an Invisibrake under the seat. I added a mud-guard to prevent stone chips. I got them installed at Camping World. The worst part about the Smart is that it is strangely built for the usual tech so they needed some help with the details. The Roadmaster help desk was really good with helping out.
With the car, the whole set up cost less than 15K, which is less than buying a used CRV or some other small car off the local used car market.
I have put nearly 5,000 miles on this set-up in the last few months, went over the Rockies a couple of times, and really like the way everything works together. We love the car and I like pulling it, I sometimes forget that it's behind me when I pull it.
Do your research before doing anything. It took me at least 3 weeks of head scratching, surfing the forums, vendor sites, talking with people towing vehicles etc to actually settle on a possible solution that worked for me. Take your time!
We travel as a couple with a small dog. I looked for a vehicle that would take us to the grocery store and for sight-seeing. A Smart car is what we decided on only because my wife likes to drive an automatic. I was tempted by the Fiat 500 but it was standard and on the expensive side, so was the mini which I really like because I have seen them behind rigs and met the people who drive and rave about them. In our 20 years of RV'ing, we had very few occasions where we needed more than two seats. Maybe a handful of times at most. We drove pickups and 5th wheels, always had room for 4 people but rarely needed it.
When it was all said and done, the Smart was the best choice for us. It is a bit harder to set it up for towing because some states need you to install a brake unit in the car no matter the weight of the car. In my case the car weighs 1,800 pounds which is really light but still, CA needs brakes and so does Idaho and other western states. I picked up a used Smart from a dealership in CA, a really good deal, over the internet of all things (that was really scary for me).
The towing combo I picked was the Roadmaster tow bracket, Roadmaster Falcon All-Terrain tow bars with an Invisibrake under the seat. I added a mud-guard to prevent stone chips. I got them installed at Camping World. The worst part about the Smart is that it is strangely built for the usual tech so they needed some help with the details. The Roadmaster help desk was really good with helping out.
With the car, the whole set up cost less than 15K, which is less than buying a used CRV or some other small car off the local used car market.
I have put nearly 5,000 miles on this set-up in the last few months, went over the Rockies a couple of times, and really like the way everything works together. We love the car and I like pulling it, I sometimes forget that it's behind me when I pull it.
Do your research before doing anything. It took me at least 3 weeks of head scratching, surfing the forums, vendor sites, talking with people towing vehicles etc to actually settle on a possible solution that worked for me. Take your time!
