Dinghy

The advantage of a toad is that you park your rig, and use the taod for grocery runs, touring/fishing, etc. Great for National Parks and such. You will need a braking system.

Unless you plan on being away from civilization, it is far cheaper to rent a vehicle. I believe Enterprise will come and pick you up as well as drop you off.

Look for an RV where the ratio of length to wheelbase is 55%. If it is lower the vehicle may be much harder to drive. Ideal is 26 feet on a 176 inch wheel base. It will drive as if you were in a big car.

Where did this 55% rule come from - I can not imagine not having a toad, I have pulled both a Honda and a Jeep - Jeep my far the best and easiest as to procedures to get it ready to tow each time

Do a Jeep Wrangler, you will eventually. :)

We have a Hyundai Elantra that we tow less than 3000lbs, good wide stance for stability. So with that said You would be good with similar vehicle BUT they will be Manual transmissions for the most part. There are a few automatics that can be towed but you will find they are fairly old anymore Old honda CRVs are an example. But remember if you buy used you will need to ensure that all components are up to speed, IE timing belts, brakes services etc.

I have seen the smaller imports towed but they lack power in general but are supposedly good around town. Costs for setup as a towd will also need to be taken into consideration. Camp world presently has a $55 install I think it is right now but you need to buy all from them. I did when our were installed, the cost of the baseplates were less than $100 difference off net, but then you have to go to a shop to install and rates at time were $75/hr for labor.

The ford ranger is an auto but supposedly can be flat towed, but again thats a new vehicle with its costs.

This topic has been covered on the forums several times before.

https://philip.greenspun.com/materialism/motorhomes/

From that article:

" And what about the wandering? The guy behind www.dealdata.com says:

The wheelbase-to-length ratio is the ratio of the length of the wheelbase (measured from the center of the front axle to the center of the rear axle) to the length of the motor home. We consider 54 percent as a minimum wheelbase-to-length ratio for safe highway travel. The categories for wheelbase-to-length ratio are as follows:

Excellent - 58% and above. Any wheelbase in this category should maintain a straight and steady course under most adverse driving conditions.
Good - 54%-57%.
Fatiguing - 51%-53% is considered fatiguing to drive because it will most probably not maintain a straight and steady course under normal highway driving conditions with side winds or heavy truck traffic.
Dangerous - 50% or below is considered dangerous at any speed on any road."

rr2254545 wrote:
Where did this 55% rule come from

Tom/Barb wrote:
Do a Jeep Wrangler, you will eventually. :)

Totally agree. Our first toad was a nice Chevy Sonic, and it was a great toad and DD, but limits you where you can go. (Beach, woods, badlands). So we swapped it for a 2DR Jeep and it is even easier to hookup than the Sonic which was a piece of cake. Take the “Not usable by humans” back seat out and it’s a good place to put the dogs.

We did the no toad thing for a few years, and it was a PIA to rent cars, especially when you find out that where you want to go doesn’t have them, and if that’s true, good luck getting an Uber either.

I am leaning towards a jeep. I just traded a 2002 jeep liberty would have been perfect except was way too rusty and had mechanical issues which is the reason I traded it.

Below, you'll find links to information about towable vehicles. My favorite is the Chevy Malibu. Not all of them are towable but the VERY BEST place to check is the owner's manual in the car. There should be a section on how to tow the vehicle. Many Malibu models are towable with automatic transmissions with very few restricts (stay under 65mph).

The estimated cost to equip a vehicle is upwards of $2500 by the time you add a tow bracket, towbar, braking system and wire the tail lights to duplicate the motorhome's tail lights.


Dinghy Towing pages at Motorhome Magazine

Downloadable Dinghy Towing Guides from Motorhome Magazine for several years are available here after you fill out the form.