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How useful is a Toad?

Wharfcat
Explorer
Explorer
I have a 2013 Honda CRV that is capable of being towed 4 wheels down.
How many of you have a towed and what your thoughts are.
2019 F-350 DRW Crew Cab
2003 Lance lite 1025
2013 Honda CRV
40 REPLIES 40

T18skyguy
Explorer
Explorer
This is my second year with a 4 down toad, and I feel a strong measure of extra relaxation knowing it's there. I no longer feel I need to carry every tool in the universe, cause now I can drive to get what I need whether it's a tool, part or whatever. Of course zipping around the attractions is the real purpose, but toads are great. Won't go anywhere without it.
Retired Anesthetist. LTP. Pilot with mechanic/inspection ratings. Between rigs right now.. Wife and daughter. Four cats which we must obey.

mowermech
Explorer
Explorer
When I had an 11.5 foot camper on a one ton dually, I towed a Jeep behind it, mainly because some campgrounds will not allow a camper to be unloaded and the truck driven off. Well, OK, also because the Jeep was more fun to drive than the one ton 4X2 dually.
Since we got rid of the TC and got motorhomes, we still tow something whenever possible. We did rent a car once rather than tow. Putting dogs in a rental is not a good idea, and leaving the dog in the motorhome can get one into trouble. We'll tow our own vehicle and eliminate the problem!
CM1, USN (RET)
2017 Jayco TT
Daily Driver: '14 Subaru Outback
1998 Dodge QC LWB, Cummins, 5 speed, 4X2
2 Kawasaki Brute Force 750 ATVs.
Pride Raptor 3 wheeled off-road capable mobility scooter
"When seconds count, help is only minutes away!"

TxGearhead
Explorer II
Explorer II
A Jeep behind a Class C I've done, back in the 1980's. No problems. I have even backed it up a short distance. This was back in the day before remote cameras on Rv's. I would worry a bit about how it was doing back there out of sight. It was great for touring around after getting the RV all set up.
I see no need for a towed behind a TC unless it is needed for off roading. That's the joy of a TC...anywhere a truck can go, the camper goes with it. Only place I had issues is fast food drive throughs. That's no big issue. Pulling another vehicle around sounds like more trouble than it's worth.
The 2 TC's I have had were never taken off the truck on a trip.
Dang, just get in the truck and go.
2018 Ram 3500 CC LB DRW 4X4 Cummins Aisin Laramie Pearl White
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2014 NauticStar 21 ShallowBay 150HP Yamaha
2016 GoDevil 18X44 35HP Surface Drive

FIRE_UP
Explorer
Explorer
Wharfcat wrote:
FIRE UP wrote:
burningman wrote:
And after all that... did you read the question, which is about pulling a toad behind a truck camper?


Well,
As you can see in some of the answering posts, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that has any indication of WHAT he wants to tow his CRV with! He could be towing it with an M-1 Abrams Tank for all I know. All I read is his question, about potentially towing a Honda CRV. It doesn't matter what's in his sig. He was asking about towing a Honda CRV, PERIOD!
Scott


Yes my question was not well thought out. I'm a rookie, rookie mistakes. Class A owners seem to be the the ones I see pulling a toad, I guess mainly because of the size of the rig. Less often I see a Truck camper or a Class C pulling a toad the reasons I'm less sure of. I just don't want to spend several thousand bucks without at least doing some research. There are some special considerations for a Truck camper, mainly the hitch extension. This doesn't make all other opinions less valuable though. This is my last mea culpa on this. 😉


Wharfcat,
Your question was just fine. You asked about towing a Honda CRV and I answered it. Now, yes, there's a bit more consideration when towing with a T/C. We did it for a few years. The camper we had was a Lance, 11.5' and had an approximate 4' overhang off the back. The truck was a '79 Ford, F-350 Lariat with the 460 and it was the model with the extended wheelbase. I had to build an extension bumper for when the camper was on the truck. That was both a bit of a challenge and, it was fun at the same time

I used a "double" receiver type setup. That is, I mounted some receivers, one alongside the bottom of both sides of the frame at the rear. Then, I purchased some 1/4" wall, 2"x4" square tubing. Pretty heavy stuff, to say the least. I then purchased some 3/16" wall 4" x 4" tubing to be used for the bumper. I cut 2"x2" holes in both sides of the bumper where the tubing from the receivers would pass through.

Then I welded the ends and back sides of that tubing to the bumper. An "X" pattern was welded to the insides of that tubing to create latteral strength. Yep, that bumper did weigh a bit but, it easily handled the 250 lb. tongue weight I was applying to it.

I towed Jeeps, buggies, car trailers with cars and or Jeeps on them with that bumper and it never even had any issues. All that retained that bumper on the truck was two 5/8" pins, just like what you use in a receiver, one in each side. When we returned home, I'd off load the camper onto two, 55 gallon drums with 4"x 4" wood beams across them. Then, I'd pull the two pins and that bumper was removed and the factory Chrome bumper was inserted into those two receivers, the two pins were re-inserted and I was done. That whole operation took me approximately 15 minutes.

We see many, many class C's towing both Jeeps and CRVs etc all over the place, especially here in Lake Havasu AZ where snow birds flock all over the place with all kinds of towing setups. If your T/C is setup correctly, you'll have ZERO issues towing your CRV. Good luck and have fun.
Scott
Scott and Karla
SDFD RETIRED
2004 Itasca Horizon, 36GD Slate Blue 330 CAT
2011 GMC Sierra 1500 Ext Cab 4x4 Toad
2008 Caliente Red LVL II GL 1800 Goldwing
KI60ND

Wharfcat
Explorer
Explorer
FIRE UP wrote:
burningman wrote:
And after all that... did you read the question, which is about pulling a toad behind a truck camper?


Well,
As you can see in some of the answering posts, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that has any indication of WHAT he wants to tow his CRV with! He could be towing it with an M-1 Abrams Tank for all I know. All I read is his question, about potentially towing a Honda CRV. It doesn't matter what's in his sig. He was asking about towing a Honda CRV, PERIOD!
Scott


Yes my question was not well thought out. I'm a rookie, rookie mistakes. Class A owners seem to be the the ones I see pulling a toad, I guess mainly because of the size of the rig. Less often I see a Truck camper or a Class C pulling a toad the reasons I'm less sure of. I just don't want to spend several thousand bucks without at least doing some research. There are some special considerations for a Truck camper, mainly the hitch extension. This doesn't make all other opinions less valuable though. This is my last mea culpa on this. 😉
2019 F-350 DRW Crew Cab
2003 Lance lite 1025
2013 Honda CRV

FIRE_UP
Explorer
Explorer
burningman wrote:
And after all that... did you read the question, which is about pulling a toad behind a truck camper?


Well,
As you can see in some of the answering posts, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that has any indication of WHAT he wants to tow his CRV with! He could be towing it with an M-1 Abrams Tank for all I know. All I read is his question, about potentially towing a Honda CRV. It doesn't matter what's in his sig. He was asking about towing a Honda CRV, PERIOD!
Scott
Scott and Karla
SDFD RETIRED
2004 Itasca Horizon, 36GD Slate Blue 330 CAT
2011 GMC Sierra 1500 Ext Cab 4x4 Toad
2008 Caliente Red LVL II GL 1800 Goldwing
KI60ND

Wharfcat
Explorer
Explorer
HarmsWay wrote:
My Ram has 2-1/2” receiver as well. Rather than cut up the Curt 24/36” extension I bought an 18” long 2” receiver tube and cut it down to a 12” extension. The 2” receiver tube gives a 2-1/2” outside dimension that the truck hitch needs. Unfortunately with the drop needed as well I have 3 joints - truck to extension, extension to drop and drop to Ready Brute. I use three NSA de-rattlers on those joints. Now that I’m happy with the extension length I may get a welder to permanently join the extension and drop. Or build one from scratch.

Just measured: extension and drop gives total extension of 19” with a 6” drop. Extension tube alone is 11”.


Yep this is going to be a steep learning curve for awhile I can see. Right now I've got the camper off the truck resealing the roof and every seam (it's a bit easier being lower) I'll load the camper hopefully next week and do some measurements. Thanks.
2019 F-350 DRW Crew Cab
2003 Lance lite 1025
2013 Honda CRV

HarmsWay
Explorer
Explorer
My Ram has 2-1/2” receiver as well. Rather than cut up the Curt 24/36” extension I bought an 18” long 2” receiver tube and cut it down to a 12” extension. The 2” receiver tube gives a 2-1/2” outside dimension that the truck hitch needs. Unfortunately with the drop needed as well I have 3 joints - truck to extension, extension to drop and drop to Ready Brute. I use three NSA de-rattlers on those joints. Now that I’m happy with the extension length I may get a welder to permanently join the extension and drop. Or build one from scratch.

Just measured: extension and drop gives total extension of 19” with a 6” drop. Extension tube alone is 11”.

Wharfcat
Explorer
Explorer
HarmsWay wrote:
I needed about an 18” extension and 6” drop (BTW, I originally tried the Curt extension but it was way longer that I needed).


An 18" extension is what I was using to pull the boat but it was made for the 2" receiver on my old truck. The Ford has a 2 1/2 inch receiver so I bought the Curt extension. I was thinking I could cut it down to whatever I needed and just drill the pin holes. What is your solution for your extension?
2019 F-350 DRW Crew Cab
2003 Lance lite 1025
2013 Honda CRV

jplante4
Explorer II
Explorer II
Wharfcat wrote:
I can't seem to figure out how to add a signature so it shows what my rig is. I looked in the help section but maybe I'm missing it.


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Jerry & Jeanne
1996 Safari Sahara 3530 - 'White Tiger'
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2014 Equinox AWD / Blue Ox

HarmsWay
Explorer
Explorer
I flat-towed a Jeep behind our truck camper for the first time last year and it was definitely worth the expense and effort. For me it’s an off-road vehicle while we’re in Utah and Arizona. For my wife who is less enthusiastic about off-roading it was more convenient for in town driving and touring about in general. I was concerned about the no backup because it was probably a 5-10 minute job to disconnect and hook up but in 6,000 km it was never an issue. I did have to plan fuel stops more than I did prior to towing though. Nice to know I had a spare vehicle in case of a break down. Didn’t need that though.

Same as Norm, if the distance is close and we still want the Jeep my wife will just drive it especially if the trip involves a ferry (we live on an island).

The down sides? It makes for a long rig. I needed about an 18” extension and 6” drop (BTW, I originally tried the Curt extension but it was way longer that I needed). The fuel consumption goes up - minor on flat roads, more on the twisty lumpy more interesting back roads I prefer to travel on.

I installed the Ready Brute Elite, Ready Stop ebrake, Hopkins tail light kit and a brake light relay. It’s a 2 door Jeep and a Ram dually diesel.

Wharfcat
Explorer
Explorer
I can't seem to figure out how to add a signature so it shows what my rig is. I looked in the help section but maybe I'm missing it.
2019 F-350 DRW Crew Cab
2003 Lance lite 1025
2013 Honda CRV

Wharfcat
Explorer
Explorer
jplante4 wrote:
Wharfcat wrote:
Mod I want to know what people with truck campers think.


Yes. I could have left it in TC, but you would only get replies like "just drop the camper and use the truck." Would that have been more useful than replies from people WHO ACTUALLY TOW A CRV?????

Nowhere in your profile or signature is the fact that you have a TC. It's customary to put your rig's description in your signature to avoid confusion and help people in answering your question.

Why didn't you name the thread "Can I Tow a CRV Behind a Truck Camper?" ?

burningman wrote:
And after all that... did you read the question, which is about pulling a toad behind a truck camper?


And exactly WHERE in the initial post does this exist? Here is the original post.

How Useful is a Toad?

I have a 2013 Honda CRV that is capable of being towed 4 wheels down.
How many of you have a towed and what your thoughts are.


Yes my fault. I should have been more precise. The truck camper has some additional quirks that flat towing behind a Class A or C don't have. Having to extend the hitch is a big one. The Class A and C owners have valuable insights too, I'm trying to gather as much info as I can at this point. I've got so much work to do in order to prep for my summer trip I'm not sure if I have enough time to do it all and prep the Honda to flat tow. It now seems a bigger project than I initially thought it would be. I got a Curt 2.5 inch extension so I'll start by installing it and taking some measurements. And of course keep asking questions here. Sorry for the confusion I created.
2019 F-350 DRW Crew Cab
2003 Lance lite 1025
2013 Honda CRV

work2much
Explorer
Explorer
jplante4 wrote:
Wharfcat wrote:
Mod I want to know what people with truck campers think.


Yes. I could have left it in TC, but you would only get replies like "just drop the camper and use the truck." Would that have been more useful than replies from people WHO ACTUALLY TOW A CRV?????

Nowhere in your profile or signature is the fact that you have a TC. It's customary to put your rig's description in your signature to avoid confusion and help people in answering your question.

Why didn't you name the thread "Can I Tow a CRV Behind a Truck Camper?" ?

burningman wrote:
And after all that... did you read the question, which is about pulling a toad behind a truck camper?


And exactly WHERE in the initial post does this exist? Here is the original post.

How Useful is a Toad?

I have a 2013 Honda CRV that is capable of being towed 4 wheels down.
How many of you have a towed and what your thoughts are.


The initial post was in the truck camper section where this member is a regular contributor. It doesn't seem confusing to me.
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