Towing

[georgetown50]

I've owned my RV about 6 years and all I've done is lived in it. We've never towed a vehicle and it's currently not set up to do it. My wife drives a Honda Civic and I drive a Honda Accord. I'd like to set the RV up to tow so my wife and I can periodically take small trips and tow one of the cars. I've heard this is fairly costly at about $3,000 or more. Can anyone give me more information on this?

[RSchleder]

We've towed 6 different cars with 4 different motorhomes and I'll list the things you'll need.
1) Car will need a tow plate installed, Blue Ox for us----$400-$600
2) I prefer to have the car lights wired to operate off the MH lights (instead of the magnetic lights stuck on the car when traveling). $200-$300
3) A good tow bar, we have always used Blue Ox, however, there are several good ones. $600-$800
4) A braking system for the towed vehicle, we also use a Blue Ox Patriot system $500-$800
5) A car that can be towed 4 wheels down--check owners manual

Option……..
Buy a Dolly. Depending on what you find, you can pay anywhere from $1000 to $2500 for a decent dolly. Some folks like towing with a dolly, I hated it. Bought a $2500 dolly and towed with it ONCE, sold it and set the car up for towing 4 wheels down as described above.

[Iggy]

George we will see you in Hemet at the SAMRT National I will talk with you about this. Hope you are going?
We are in Nova Scotia and finishing our 3 month (10,000 mile) journey. Heading back to AZ in a few weeks.
John

[abjb]

Originally Posted by RSchleder

We've towed 6 different cars with 4 different motorhomes and I'll list the things you'll need.
1) Car will need a tow plate installed, Blue Ox for us----$400-$600
2) I prefer to have the car lights wired to operate off the MH lights (instead of the magnetic lights stuck on the car when traveling). $200-$300
3) A good tow bar, we have always used Blue Ox, however, there are several good ones. $600-$800
4) A braking system for the towed vehicle, we also use a Blue Ox Patriot system $500-$800
5) A car that can be towed 4 wheels down--check owners manual

Option……..
Buy a Dolly. Depending on what you find, you can pay anywhere from $1000 to $2500 for a decent dolly. Some folks like towing with a dolly, I hated it. Bought a $2500 dolly and towed with it ONCE, sold it and set the car up for towing 4 wheels down as described above.

Here are some options to the above list. and a couple of things to consider.
Is your MH ready to tow?
Will you need a charge wire form your HM to your car to keep the car battery charged?

1. I self installed our baseplate, check etrailer for very good install video's.
https://www.etrailer.com/tv.aspx?productgroup=Base Plates
2. I did all the car wiring.
Here's a wiring harness for a civic.
Roadmaster Tow Bar Wiring for Honda Civic 2010 - RM-155
Our tails lights (Ford CMax) have enough room for extra bulbs, easy and cheep DIY.
3. We bought a Roadmaster towbar off of craigslist.
4. We went with a Blue Ox Patriot brake system, WISH we had taken the time to self install one of the permanent brake systems!
5. Check here to see if your Honda's are 4 down towable, they should be.
Towing Guide | Seattle Everett Washington

[Cornelius]

It's great having a small tow vehicle to get around in. We have been at a couple campgrounds where our neighbor did not have a car, and they would have to drive the motorhome every time they wanted to go someplace.

One way to save money and keep things simple is to use an NSA Readybrake towbar. Instead of requiring a separate braking system, the surge brake is built into the towbar. It uses a mechanical cable linkage to activate the brake pedal in the vehicle being towed. It only takes a few seconds to hook-up the brake cable linkage, as compared to installing and removing a Brake Buddy or Blue Ox Patriot type of device every time you tow.

The Readybrake tow bar with brake is frequently discounted for about $1000. It will work with Blue Ox, Demco, or Road Master vehicle baseplates. I use one towing my Jeep behind the Georgetown with a Blue Ox baseplate purchased from Amazon and made my own tail light wiring. I installed everything myself for about $1400.

Readybrake RV Tow Bars and RV Surge Braking Systems for Car Towing - NSA RV Products

[georgetown50]

Originally Posted by abjb

Here are some options to the above list. and a couple of things to consider.
Is your MH ready to tow?
Will you need a charge wire form your HM to your car to keep the car battery charged?

1. I self installed our baseplate, check etrailer for very good install video's.
https://www.etrailer.com/tv.aspx?productgroup=Base Plates
2. I did all the car wiring.
Here's a wiring harness for a civic.
Roadmaster Tow Bar Wiring for Honda Civic 2010 - RM-155
Our tails lights (Ford CMax) have enough room for extra bulbs, easy and cheep DIY.
3. We bought a Roadmaster towbar off of craigslist.
4. We went with a Blue Ox Patriot brake system, WISH we had taken the time to self install one of the permanent brake systems!
5. Check here to see if your Honda's are 4 down towable, they should be.
Towing Guide | Seattle Everett Washington

So if my car doesn't show up on the list of towable cars, then it can't be towed in any fashion? What about with a dolly?

[Cornelius]

The various published towing guides are probably accurate, but they always have a disclaimer. The only way to be completely certain is to read the towing section of your vehicle owner's manual. It will describe the specific requirements for towing the vehicle: All wheels down using a tow bar and brake, two wheels down (front or rear on a dolly or tow truck), or all wheels up on a trailer.

The owner's manual will also specify the transmission gear setting for towing. It is probably neutral, but not always. For example, towing my Jeep requires the transfer case in neutral and the transmission in park.

Do not rely on verbal assurances from your car dealer or others. You need to see the correct towing procedure in writing in the owner's manual.

[abjb]

Anybody know why a CRV automatic is towable 4 wheel down and not a civic?

There are a few products for certain car/trucks that will allow 4 down towing.
Remco Drive Shaft Coupling SKU-1 - By Superflow / Remco DSC

[kenandterry]

abjb................

The Honda CRV is towable (four wheels down) because of specific design features of that model's automatic transmission by Honda. The Civic or Accord have a different style........I'm not going to get into the specifics, they just are. BTW.......the CRV is probably one of the most popular vehicles for flat towing.

I flat tow a Pontiac G6 automatic transmission (no longer made) but for the years that it was available, it was essentially the same mechanically as a Chevrolet Malibu or Saturn Aura. Underneath the plastic and sheet metal, these three models were all the same. That being said, they offered a 4 cylinder model, a 3.5 liter V6 and a slightly larger V6 offering. Only the first two were flat towable, but NOT the large V6, ONLY because of the transmission difference. You have to actually read the section in an owner's manual to find what descriptions there may be related to "recreational towing" from the manufacturer.......not what the salesman says.

Manual transmission vehicles are typically not a big issue, but once again, read the owners manual.

If money is absolutely no concern, I'm guessing any vehicle can be made to flat tow.

See this link for more info

Towing Guide | Seattle Everett Washington

[Cornelius]

Originally Posted by abjb

Anybody know why a CRV automatic is towable 4 wheel down and not a civic?

There can be many reasons why one vehicle with an automatic transmission can be towed wheels down, and another can not. The most common is the location of the transmission fluid pump.

If the pump is on the drive shaft end of the transmission, the pump will usually turn with the wheels while the transmission is in neutral, providing lubrication to the transmission. This type of design might be approved by the manufacturer for flat towing.

If the pump is on the engine side of the transmission, then there would not be any lubrication when the engine is off. Many 4 wheel drive vehicles, such as my Jeep, get around this problem because they have a transfer case that can be put in neutral, thus isolating the transmission.

There can be other reasons (all-wheel drive, hybrid, etc.), but the transmission design is the major factor in most vehicles. In 2011 the Chevrolet Cruze was approved for flat towing, only to later be determined not to be. Owners were understandably upset when GM issued new instructions for their owner's manual warning of transmission damage if flat towed.

[ejw7213]

Originally Posted by georgetown50

So if my car doesn't show up on the list of towable cars, then it can't be towed in any fashion? What about with a dolly?

Check your owners manual on towing four down. I have a 2012 Civic automatic which is not towable this way. I have a dolly for it. I am currently changing to a vehicle which is towable four down.

[bend302]

I have been towing a 2000 Honda accord for 4 years and 17,000 miles. I believe the transmission was changed in 2005 and those and newer cannot be towed 4 down. I believe Civics are the same basic set up.

Following is the procedure I found on line and have been using. Note the red printing. My late brother was a Honda Mechanic and he pointed that out as well.

Bill
************************************************** ********

Dear customer:
Regarding your inquiry on towing your Honda or Acura automobile behind a motorhome:
For your vehicle, the Owner's Manual advises against towing at more than 35 mph or for more than 50 miles. However, this recommendation exists primarily because Honda has not conducted formal tests at higher speeds and for greater distances.
We are not aware of any particular problems being caused by motorhome towing of Honda/Acura automobiles with either manual or automatic transmission, so long as proper pre-towing preparations are made and the vehicle is towed at legal highway speeds.
are turned off.

Automatic Transmission

When preparing to tow your vehicle, make sure the transmission fluid level is full. Do not overfill.
If Honda/Acura automobile with an automatic transmission is towed with the front or all four wheels on the ground, you must do the following every day immediately before towing:
Start the engine.
Press on the brake pedal. Shift the lever through all the positions (P,R,N,D,2,1).
Shift to D, then to N. Let the engine run for at least three minutes, then turn off engine.
Release the parking brake.
Leave the ignition switch in ACCESSORY (1) so the steering wheel does not lock. Make sure the radio and any items plugged into the accessory power sockets are turned off so you do not run down the battery.
If you travel more than 8 hours in one day (including stopping time), you must stop and repeat the above procedures.
NOTICE:
The steering system can be damaged if the steering wheel is locked. Always leave the key in the ACCESSORY (1) position to prevent damage to the steering system when towing behind another vehicle.
CAUTION:
Severe automatic transmission damage will occur if the car is shifted from reverse to neutral and then towed with the drive wheels on the ground.

[psgrandpa1]

We tow 4 on the ground Honda Fit...love it. Hook up in 5 minutes

We traded in a Lexus 330...which was tough to do, but we enjoy the FIT


Bryan, Vonnie & Pepper
2012 378 Georgetown









Sent from my iPad

[Falcon35]

We also tow a Honda Fit with a Ready Brake and Ready Brute Tow bar. The 2015 Fit has a different transmission and will no longer be able to be towed.

[rxfiller]

Four the last 4 years we had been using a dolly pulling a Toyota Solara. Every single time, I swore I would never do it again. The tie down ratchets for the front wheels were a terrible pain and always left me exploring the finer portions of my vocabulary.

What made it worse was that our used 373 came with a Blue Ox tow bar that I couldn't use with the Solara and I didn't want to purchase a new vehicle.

Well, the Solara finally was showing it's miles and I couldn't bear the thought of using the dolly on our upcoming vacation, so two days before we were to leave, I bit the big one and bought a 2014 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and had a base plate and wiring harness installed.

It was the best move I have made yet! A half-hour to 45 minute car loading time with the dolly was reduced to 10 to 15 minutes with the Blue Ox Tow Bar! No more sweating and wearing tire dirt from being in parking lots putting the tie downs around the tires and running the remote magnetic backup lights! I absolutely love it!

Where we once would never unhook the car at the campgrounds we stopped at along the route, we now take off the Jeep and explore the area.

I must however agree with one comment in another post. I chose the Blue Ox Patriot braking system due to the time constraints of our vacation schedule. It is wonderful in the respect of no additional expense for permanent installation, and it can be hooked up in a matter of 5 minutes, but it also is a pain to take in and out of the seat area and store when not in use, especially if you're only disconnecting for a short trip to town or a restaurant. We had a minor problem with error codes at one point on this trip, but it was quickly fixed by stopping and resetting the unit. It worked great through the mountains on the way up north.

Another strangely wonderful thing. I get better gas mileage pulling the Jeep 4 down than pulling the dolly and Solara 2 down. From Florida to Indiana I averaged just under 8 miles per gallon! I couldn't believe it!

Go 4 down! You'll LOVE it!

BTW, anybody want to buy a used Tow Dolly? LOL!

[ramair]

I have agree with others 4 down is the only way to go. I have a 2012 Chevy Cruze with a manual transmission and only have to remove 4 fuses to tow. It takes 5 min or less to hook up or disconnect. There were a lot of upset GM owners when they made the change for the automatic transmissions, lucky I was up to date with things and read about it on the forums, before I purchased.

[gmann32]

Rxfiller what kind and how much?