ISO toad in Goshen?

[sdmckerrow]

We are 1-year owners of an FR3 28 DS, love it & are coming to the rally in August, enroute to Salt Lake City. Currently toad-less, we are wondering if this event offers any opportunity of acquiring a tow vehicle/setup? Otherwise will shop locally. Thanks...
Steve/Debbie

[Capt. Mike]

Originally Posted by sdmckerrow

We are 1-year owners of an FR3 28 DS, love it & are coming to the rally in August, enroute to Salt Lake City. Currently toad-less, we are wondering if this event offers any opportunity of acquiring a tow vehicle/setup? Otherwise will shop locally. Thanks...
Steve/Debbie

It seems to me that Blue Ox was one of the vendors that participated in the rally, with a booth in the Vendor Building. However, buying and having them install a hitch in Goshen is one thing. Finding and buying the right vehicle to tow might be something totally different. As far as getting your new toad set up to tow once you buy it, I'm sure there are places in the area that can do that. FROG Bob had his new Chevy SUV set up to tow when he bought it a couple of years ago, and he lives in Middlebury.

You also have the issue of time. If you are continuing west after the rally, how long might you have to wait in Elkhart County before you could get the purchase and set-up completed?

If I were in your situation, I think I might start shopping at home now, before you leave for Indiana.

Good luck.

[kenandterry]

You may find you'll spend a lot of time searching for the right vehicle to consider for towing.

By right vehicle, I mean, new or used, how much money are you willing to spend, then put aside somewhere between $1000-$2000 for all the connecting parts between a motorhome and the "toad". Installation should be done near home base....they'll need your vehicle to install a baseplate on it (that attaches directly to the vehicle frame, and is totally unique for each and every brand/make of vehicle) Then there's electrical connections for lights and auxiliary brakes on the "toad".....then there's what brand of auxiliary brake system. That alone will get a ton of suggestions.

Finally....flat towing an automatic transmission will greatly reduce the vehicles you may want to tow. Manual transmissions not so much. It has to do with the fact that automatics without the engine running are far and few between.

Or you could dolly it with the front two wheels off the ground....again tons of brands to choose from and how to secure and where to store it while camping or at home?

Or you could trailer anything you want....but what is your tow limit?

It's a very big topic to get into.

Lots of reading of posts in here to just touch on this discussion every day.

[sdmckerrow]

Originally Posted by kenandterry

You may find you'll spend a lot of time searching for the right vehicle to consider for towing.



By right vehicle, I mean, new or used, how much money are you willing to spend, then put aside somewhere between $1000-$2000 for all the connecting parts between a motorhome and the "toad". Installation should be done near home base....they'll need your vehicle to install a baseplate on it (that attaches directly to the vehicle frame, and is totally unique for each and every brand/make of vehicle) Then there's electrical connections for lights and auxiliary brakes on the "toad".....then there's what brand of auxiliary brake system. That alone will get a ton of suggestions.



Finally....flat towing an automatic transmission will greatly reduce the vehicles you may want to tow. Manual transmissions not so much. It has to do with the fact that automatics without the engine running are far and few between.



Or you could dolly it with the front two wheels off the ground....again tons of brands to choose from and how to secure and where to store it while camping or at home?



Or you could trailer anything you want....but what is your tow limit?



It's a very big topic to get into.



Lots of reading of posts in here to just touch on this discussion every day.

Thanks for responding. We think we are getting close to a car & dolly solution locally
before we head out...it is a big topic!