which way?

[Bandaid]

Hi folks,

While I am not new to campers and towing them, this is the first class C I have owned. I am considering towing a small vehicle behind the rig. I would like to know the pro's and cons to using a dolly, or tow bars. The only time I have towed a vehicle four wheels down was my car behind a rental truck. Found it to be a pain the the neck, as every time I pulled out of a parking lot, or side street, the cars front wheels would go the opposite direction of the way I was turning!

Bandaid

[btim]

Grit dog wrote:
Or if you’re good with a Jeep Wrangler and no toad brakes, couple hundred bucks gets you a tow bar and some magnetic tail lights. Easy peasy.

Does the Jeep not require a base plate? I often thought it should be simple to attach a tow bar to the recovery hooks on a Jeep or other 4wd vehicle.

Think about the liability involved. You need to follow the designed procedure when towing something 4500 lbs with a 13,000 lb rv.
* You need to use a baseplate which offers multiple attachment points opposed to a set of tow hooks which are designed for a strap and winch emergency pull-out.

I agree with the need to do it properly. Not suggesting otherwise. I am asking Grit Dog if he is saying there is an alternative to disassembling the front end of a Jeep, or other vehicles, to properly connect a toad to the tow bar setup. ie.. If I were to remove the recovery hooks from a 4X4 (which connect to the frame) is there a system which connects to the frame there w/o removing most of the front end. I only ask this because his post seems to suggest this.

[bobndot]

btim wrote:
I am relatively new to this Toad life. I tried a dolly and found it too much of a pita, especially in freezing weather with snow on the ground. Bought a 2012 Honda Fit 5spd and set it up to flat tow. Much easier. Plus, I am cleaner and less pissed off when done. Wife and I get it done in less than 5 minutes. Towed it all over USA this past summer and now much prefer this method. Note to the wise: Do not try to do this w/o axillary braking. My Roadmaster braking system disconnected itself in the mountains one time. I could feel it immediately. That 2700# car was pushing my 14,000# E450 class C around a bit.

Grit dog wrote:
Or if you’re good with a Jeep Wrangler and no toad brakes, couple hundred bucks gets you a tow bar and some magnetic tail lights. Easy peasy.

Does the Jeep not require a base plate? I often thought it should be simple to attach a tow bar to the recovery hooks on a Jeep or other 4wd vehicle.

Think about the liability involved. You need to follow the designed procedure when towing something 4500 lbs with a 13,000 lb rv.
* You need to use a baseplate which offers multiple attachment points opposed to a set of tow hooks which are designed for a strap and winch emergency pull-out.

[Grit_dog]

btim wrote:

Does the Jeep not require a base plate? I often thought it should be simple to attach a tow bar to the recovery hooks on a Jeep or other 4wd vehicle.

Hi.
Some may need a base plate, not sure. But the CJ, YJ and TJs I've seen with a simple tow bar, I guess you could call it a base plate, but drill and bolt 2 brackets to the front bumper and attach the bar.

For sure, an off road type vehicle is not everyone's preference, but the are convenient for toads.

[btim]

I am relatively new to this Toad life. I tried a dolly and found it too much of a pita, especially in freezing weather with snow on the ground. Bought a 2012 Honda Fit 5spd and set it up to flat tow. Much easier. Plus, I am cleaner and less pissed off when done. Wife and I get it done in less than 5 minutes. Towed it all over USA this past summer and now much prefer this method. Note to the wise: Do not try to do this w/o axillary braking. My Roadmaster braking system disconnected itself in the mountains one time. I could feel it immediately. That 2700# car was pushing my 14,000# E450 class C around a bit.

Grit dog wrote:
Or if you’re good with a Jeep Wrangler and no toad brakes, couple hundred bucks gets you a tow bar and some magnetic tail lights. Easy peasy.

Does the Jeep not require a base plate? I often thought it should be simple to attach a tow bar to the recovery hooks on a Jeep or other 4wd vehicle.

[ron_dittmer]

Grit dog wrote:
And 2 pages later, the Op hasn’t added any real pertinent info to reccomend options accurately anyway.
He doesn’t say how often, how far, where, how long of a stay, etc.
A person dragging a toad on a single trip to go park the camper for months and be a snowbird is a totally different scenario than the person doing weekend trips to the state park, which is again much different than the family touring the US for weeks or the consummate traveler who is on the road for long periods of time and doesn’t stay put long in any one place.

Very good points!

[ron_dittmer]

Hi Bandaid,

We have been towing 4-wheels-down since 2007. It works very well for our vacation style. The issue towing this way is that you cannot back up. The only exception is if you were straight in-line and even then you might be able to back up only 20 feet before it binds up. With my wife and I working together in an emergency, we can separate the vehicles and have her drive away in the Liberty in 45 seconds. We can hook back up afterwards in a safe location in 3 to 4 minutes.

I don't know anything about a tow dolly. The only reason why I personally would use one is if the vehicle cannot be towed 4-wheels-down and I was taking a one way trip, like for example moving to another home far away. I suppose a snow bird trip could be another application.

I would sell off a vehicle that can't be towed 4-wheels-down, and buy one that can, just to have the setup I appreciate.

Here are the two vehicles I have towed with our motorhome.

A 2006 Jeep Liberty with automatic transmission, and with a 4x4 transfer case. Towing from 2009 to today


A 2000 Toyota MR2 Spyder with manual transmission. Towing 2007 and 2008.

[ferndaleflyer]

I also have a Featherlite flat bed trailer. I only use it if I want to take the Mercedes or our F-150. And that is not often, normally the dolly is fine.

[Grit_dog]

And 2 pages later, the Op hasn’t added any real pertinent info to reccomend options accurately anyway.
He doesn’t say how often, how far, where, how long of a stay, etc.
A person dragging a toad on a single trip to go park the camper for months and be a snowbird is a totally different scenario than the person doing weekend trips to the state park, which is again much different than the family touring the US for weeks or the consummate traveler who is on the road for long periods of time and doesn’t stay put long in any one place.

[Grit_dog]

I feel like the “rent a car” when you need one suggestion is a bit strange.
In general it seems like anywhere you could rent a car feasibly (you’d need to Uber, public transportation or have rental dropped off) one already has amenities nearby and other transportation options.
And where one would arguably need their own wheels more, none of those services are available or feasible.
Or folks there are making those suggestions are truly talking about sort of 1 off special situations. IE rent a car to drive through a national park instead of driving the RV.

Regardless of any of that, 4 down is far and away the easiest most convenient way to haul and use a toad. If it weren’t, the vast majority of toad tuggers would be doing it a different way. Followed by a dolly if that fits your style/vehicles

Of course there are other methods and some may work better for some than others depending on the person and situation.
But if you’re not able to discern that for yourself, IE asking the internet what you should do, then generally 4 down is the most convenient.
If you want to refute that, it’s fine, but then your answer isn’t objective, but rather , your own preference.

[wanderingbob]

Myself I prefer a flatbed trailer ! Why , you can back up , it will have brakes and I can use it for many other things . I haul lumber , lawn mower , kids in a parade and my wife when she is really , really angry at me !

[Bordercollie]

Consider trying not towing a vehicle for a while. Disconnecting a class C from hookups takes only a few minutes in case you want to run into town, etc. Another alternative is to rent a car or go to a bus pickup point when you want to visit a city that is not RV friendly like Boston. People who are social group campers may need a towed vehicle to trade rides with others to restaurants, etc.

[ferndaleflyer]

I have been towing with a dolly for 20 years or more with out ever having a problem. Since we change cars often as long as it is a front wheel drive we are good to go. In that time I have had 3 dollys. First had brakes, never again, I kept it exactly 1 month and got one without brakes. Kept that one many years and many cars and wore out 3 sets of tires. Got a new one which I still have and its on its 2nd set of tires and many more cars. Our main towed car now is a Smart car and we have a front wheel only CRV Honda and a Toyota Camry. Did have a class C when we first started but have had Diesel pushers since 1997. A good dolly today is about $1500 and you can find them on Craigs list for less sometimes. Get your info from someone that has done it, not read about it.

[sch911]

Figure out whether the car you are going to tow can be flat towed. Check it's owners manual under "Recreational Towing". Flat towing is by far the safest and best way you can tow a vehicle behind your Motorhome. Not all vehicles can be towed that way. Some do require a dolly. And some vehicles cannot be towed at all. You must also check your MH's towing capabilities to make sure you're not overweight. Good Luck.

[bobndot]

Demco was my mechanics choice but they didn't make a baseplate for ny car. I went Blue Ox.