Toad behind a class B?

[wildwoodrver]

About to down size from our 30 foot trailer to a class B. I THINK we need a toad. Rig is "rated" to tow 5,000 pounds, but that doesn't mean you want to tow anything that heavy.
I don't want to have to tow a Smart or anything that tiny. Maybe a Ford Focus or Chey Sonic (both under 3,000 lbs).
New rig is on a 3500 Sprinter chassis and diesel power.

Anyone towing a car behind a class B?

Thanks,

Note: My profile is two rigs old...please ignore. I will update it when we take delivery of new unit

[wildwoodrver]

Hey EsoxLucius,
Man...that list of options on your Unity is interesting. First, you must be a serious boon docker. Second, I am curious why all the aftermarket suspension components?
Kinda scaring me a little....I thought life with the B was going to be simple!
PM me if you want to followup off-line...or online is fine. Thanks. And yeah...the Spark is a wee one.

[EsoxLucius]

The Chevy Spark does not seat five adults.

[F1bNorm]

We switched from a TT to a small B+ a few years ago. We sort of faced the same dilemma as you. What we did as a trial was to have my wife follow the MH in our daily driver to a favorite local campground. We enjoyed having the smaller car so we went ahead and set it up to tow. Luckily that car was one that was flat tow ready (Honda CRV).

The nice part about adding the towd is that you have a choice of towing or not.

Norm

[wildwoodrver]

Thanks all for your input. Exactly the feedback I had hoped for from experienced RVers. Thanks especially for the PMs.

The forums really help you think things through and consider different options.

I have decided to hold off on the toad for now. We are heading out on our regular winter jaunt to Borrego Springs and will probably rent a car down there, as we spend a month.
Also decided to get a bike rack and take the bike for the short errands around town. We may decide we don't even need the car. As you pointed out, a B is pretty darn easy to disconnect and drive around.

Excited to take delivery, move in and get on the road to continue the adventure!

[Horizon170]

t we had before changing RV's
">TOAD

[Tripalot]

Tried to answer your private email with more info but 2nd reply could not be sent. Contact me again.

[bob_nestor]

I've got a Roadtrek Class B and I flat tow a 2-dr Jeep Wrangler with it. Have over 20,000 miles of towing without any problems. Have gone into the Rockies twice and made a trip to Alaska with this combo last summer. Almost like there's nothing back there and the only hit I see is on gas mileage - towing I get between 11.5 and 12.5 MPG. The 2dr Wrangler is about 3,700 lbs.

If you're looking for a lighter weight toad you might consider the Smart, Mitsubishi Mirage or the Chevy Spark. All three would either need to be trailered or dolly towed though. The Smart is 1,900 lbs, seats two and uses premium gas. The Mirage is 2,100 lbs, seats 5 and uses regular gas. The Spark is about 2,200 lbs, seats 5 and uses regular gas. All three get around 40 MPG and could be trailered on a single axle trailer; the Smart on a 10ft, the others on a 12ft and this combination would bring you in at about 3,000 lbs tow weight.

[Biaggio]

I saw an interesting suggestion regarding RVing with a class B. If you are going to a destination where you want to do a lot of sight seeing, considering renting a car at your destination. For instance if you are going to Yellowstone, stop at the airport at West Yellowstone, rent a car, and park it at your site to be used for sight seeing. Cheaper in the long run and less wear and tear on the RV.

[georgelesley]

The hitch may be rated for 5k but the total gross vehicle weight will likely be exceeded with that much tow weight. Your cargo carrying capacity may well also be restricted. Towing defeats many of the reasons to have a B in the first place. We had a B for several years and totaled about 50k total miles, much of it mountain driving.

We made our needed shopping and visiting/sightseeing stops on the way in or out of the cg. Also moving if needed to get or do something is a 5 minute deal if one chooses to stay in one place for a long time the B might not be the right choice. The B is super for short over items or to in a place, not so much for extended stops. In that case a toad would make sense to allow one party to do one thing and the other to do something else.

That said, some of out B friends do tow and seem to be ok with it but one of them has stopped towing even though they have the car for it. At B rally's you do not see many toads. I suspect there is a reason for that.

[toedtoes]

With a class B, do you really think you'll need a toad? You might wait until you get it and drive it around a while before you worry about a toad. After a trip or two, you might decide the toad is more bother than it's worth.

[wildtoad]

You'll find towing a Sonic a piece of cake.

[midnightsadie]

we have a sprinter 2007 and pull a boat in the 3k plus range no problem.