Motorhome without toad

[ajbaber]

I have searched and cannot find any mention of campers driving motorhomes without a toad. I am talking about 26' and larger "A" and "C". We are considering purchasing a 32' motorhome but don't want to toe our Prius on a toe dolly and have seen many motorhomes without a toad.

Now my questions: what prompted you to not use a toad? what do you do when you get to your destination?

Thanks

[Reverse_snowbird]

We're a 25' B+ and the unit isn't capable of towing a car. Physical limitations make it hard to unhook a tt and hooking and unhooking a tow vehicle would be impossible.

Usually we can drive to our destinations, but in cities we tend to rent a car. Even in small towns we've had the opportunity to rent a car if we want. Usually the rv park office can tell us the best transportation. We've also seen people using taxi cabs to get to restaurants and museums.

[n-e-d]

We wouldn't travel without our toad(4 wheels down). Probably 80% of our day is spent off site visiting,sightseeing and biking.We do go toadless on an occasional day trip and want the conveniences the MH provides and know that we have a large/safe parking area for it.

[Jasper J. 44]

We are newbies to RV last year. Purchased a 32 foot class A. Went on a few short trips without a toad. Found out that it is not too convenient not being able to run to town for something forgotten, or to do any local site seeing. This year we purchased a dolly to tow our Malibu. It works great and is not that big a deal to hook up. When meeting friends or family (with cars) we leave the toad at home.

[Cowracer]

Über... its kind of a thing now.

Tim

[grumpy0374]

If your amping plans will always take you near a large town, city, ect, than car rentals or uber are OK.
But, if you really plan on seeing the out of the way places, traveling the back roads, and going to areas that don't have rentals, and "uber" is a funny word, than you need a toad.
We have been back and forth across the USA, Canada and Alaska (on our 4th trip right now) and we would have missed soooo many places without our trusty Subaru. Many many back roads and senic drives that I would most definately not take our class c.
I would suggest you try without for several trips and then decide if you need/want a toad or not.
Grumpy

[Gumpster808]

Two years ago when we got our 32 ft class c we didn’t have a Toad.

Close to home trips the DW drove a car over following me to campground.

Couple further away trips we called Enterprise and “they picked us up” at the campground to go get a rental.

We did the Cab thing in Tennessee as well.

Now that we have the Toad it is much easier. The rental, for example, was 40 minutes to their office then we had to drive back etc etc.

Just more convenient for what we like to do when traveling to have the Toad with us.

[joet19711]

All the reasons so far given are good and valid, but here is one that no one

has brought up and after doing the cab, uber, enterprise thing this is my

most important reason for me:

You are going on a long distance trip (with no toad) and your motor home

breaks down and you have to be towed to a service center? you have no

vehicle and you are out of luck. Imagine you have your grand kids, and or pet with you If you have your toad, you can follow

the tow truck, if there is gonna be an extended repair, you can go to a

hotel, drive home or what ever (if you have your own vehicle)

Everyone has their own reason to tow or not, but that is mine.

Just my 2 cents

[n-e-d]

Originally Posted by joet19711

All the reasons so far given are good and valid, but here is one that no one

has brought up and after doing the cab, uber, enterprise thing this is my

most important reason for me:

You are going on a long distance trip (with no toad) and your motor home

breaks down and you have to be towed to a service center? you have no

vehicle and you are out of luck. Imagine you have your grand kids, and or pet with you If you have your toad, you can follow

the tow truck, if there is gonna be an extended repair, you can go to a

hotel, drive home or what ever (if you have your own vehicle)

Everyone has their own reason to tow or not, but that is mine.

Just my 2 cents

X2

[omahagirl]

You may see ones that have a leader or follower at maybe out for a short visit, rent or are fully stocked. We tow our Jeep on long hauls and take a car or Jeep that works best for the situation when not towing

[deanjp1]

I do not pull a toad. On our part, our trips may require a little extra planning.

Pick destinations with RV parking. Or close by campgrounds with a shuttle service. Nearby on off bus service.

I’ve used Uber once in Charleston, SC. The backup if necessary was public bus service.

Greyhound city service in Nashville, Tennessee. Picked up at the KOA.

I’m on the east coast, and I think the sightseeing is tightly packed, as I venture more westerly, I would be less inclined to tow.

Our next trip is to Massachusetts, my brother in law, will be coming with his trailer, he’ll be driving us to Boston.

[CurtPutnam]

Not sure this is responsive to the OP question, but... We have been debating the merits of going back to a MH and both are agreed that a toad is mandatory. We just got back from touring Kings Canyon and Sequoia NPs where vehicles over 22' are not advised - for good reason. The roads are too narrow and many border steep cliffs. Taking a motorhome into western US NPs is flat out rude and quite possibly dangerous. We were almost driven off the road by ~ 40' class A in Kings Canyon. About 2/3 of the MHs in there were rentals. If one is going to tour national parks, eithr a toad or a rental is mandatory.

[Wolf Alaska]

Originally Posted by joet19711

...You are going on a long distance trip (with no toad) and your motor home breaks down and you have to be towed to a service center? u If you have your toad, you can follow the tow truck, if there is gonna be an extended repair, you can go to a hotel, drive home or what ever (if you have your own vehicle)...

With 27 years using Type B Van Motor Homes + 11 years trailer based, we are used to using a big vehicle to make grocery runs, restaurants, and visit places.

For the 922 mile run to this year's Dynamax Owners Rally, we have planned not to tow our Jeep Commander Overland which weighs 5,800 pounds. We will stay other than in campgrounds on the road each way. We don't expect to leave Massey's Landing during the rally.

Our thinking is, why put that wear on the Jeep and add risk to trip. However, Joe's point is very important and valid.

For this trip, I guess we will rely on Good Sam Platinum Complete road service for backup if Fury goes down on the road (What a horrible thought!). We have worked off all the gripes for Fury since the last RV rally trip in April/May which were constraints on this upcoming trip. We think Fury is road worthy.

As an example of how the unexpected bad thing can happen:
Two weeks ago my heavy steel framed car hauling trailer was totaled. A lady in a Toyota Highlander ran into the trailer while my son was using it. The Highlander was completely demolished with the air bags deploying. The impact bent the heavy steel tongue assembly and separated it from the hitch ball. Nothing hit the Durango tow vehicle...except the forces transmitted via the hitch ball and receiver. We don't know yet if the Durango is OK. The frame of the car hauler trailer was bent and both axles knocked out of alignment. The lady was in great danger of being killed, but fortunately was unharmed. Yea Toyota! My son had already turned off the street and felt the bump, that's all it affected him. Very fortunate!

[joet19711]

Originally Posted by Wolf Alaska

With 27 years using Type B Van Motor Homes + 11 years trailer based, we are used to using a big vehicle to make grocery runs, restaurants, and visit places.

For the 922 mile run to this year's Dynamax Owners Rally, we have planned not to tow our Jeep Commander Overland which weighs 5,800 pounds. We will stay other than in campgrounds on the road each way. We don't expect to leave Massey's Landing during the rally.

Our thinking is, why put that wear on the Jeep and add risk to trip. However, Joe's point is very important and valid.

For this trip, I guess we will rely on Good Sam Platinum Complete road service for backup if Fury goes down on the road (What a horrible thought!). We have worked off all the gripes for Fury since the last RV rally trip in April/May which were constraints on this upcoming trip. We think Fury is road worthy.

As an example of how the unexpected bad thing can happen:
Two weeks ago my heavy steel framed car hauling trailer was totaled. A lady in a Toyota Highlander ran into the trailer while my son was using it. The Highlander was completely demolished with the air bags deploying. The impact bent the heavy steel tongue assembly and separated it from the hitch ball. Nothing hit the Durango tow vehicle...except the forces transmitted via the hitch ball and receiver. We don't know yet if the Durango is OK. The frame of the car hauler trailer was bent and both axles knocked out of alignment. The lady was in great danger of being killed, but fortunately was unharmed. Yea Toyota! My son had already turned off the street and felt the bump, that's all it affected him. Very fortunate!

No worries Hugh, you can use mine or Kathy and I will drive you LOL

[MouseHouse]

Originally Posted by joet19711

All the reasons so far given are good and valid, but here is one that no one

has brought up and after doing the cab, uber, enterprise thing this is my

most important reason for me:

You are going on a long distance trip (with no toad) and your motor home

breaks down and you have to be towed to a service center? you have no

vehicle and you are out of luck. Imagine you have your grand kids, and or pet with you If you have your toad, you can follow

the tow truck, if there is gonna be an extended repair, you can go to a

hotel, drive home or what ever (if you have your own vehicle)

Everyone has their own reason to tow or not, but that is mine.

Just my 2 cents

This^^^ is why we started towing. We did not tow for the first year - primarily because this was our first motorhome and we wanted to get used to driving the rig before we added another complexity. We travelled more than 10,000 miles and fared quite well with Uber, rentals, public transportation, etc. Now that we are towing, I do like the peace of mind that comes with having a backup vehicle.

[texasjeri]

We just bought a 2020 Sunseeker 24' on the Mercedes chassis. We WANT to tow our 2011 Prius because we want a vehicle to use to go sightseeing on our trips.

I would REALLY REALLY appreciate advice especially regarding the brand of dolly and equipment other Prius tow-ers have successfully used.

We also plan to park the rig when we visit our kids in Corpus Christi - we need the toad to get to their house, which is in an HOA that does not allow RVs parked at any time.

thanks!

[NXR]

Originally Posted by texasjeri

We just bought a 2020 Sunseeker 24' on the Mercedes chassis. We WANT to tow our 2011 Prius because we want a vehicle to use to go sightseeing on our trips.

I would REALLY REALLY appreciate advice especially regarding the brand of dolly and equipment other Prius tow-ers have successfully used.

It looks like that unit has a 4,200 lb. hitch and a 2011 Prius weighs 3,042 lbs empty. Add in the weight of fuel and other junk and you probably should plan for a car weight of 3,400 lbs. So a dolly would need to weigh under 800 lbs. Personally, I like to stay away from bumping up on maximum weight limits so I'd look for a dolly in the 500 lb range or less. That's doable but be certain to get one with some type of brakes.

Per https://forestriverinc.com/rvs/class.../sunseeker-mbs it looks like you have about 4,200 lbs between GVWR and GCWR, so that's good.

GVWR is the maximum weight of everything in the RV: water, junk, people, fuel, everything. GCWR is how much extra it can tow.

One thing to be aware of is the width of the dolly, the outside of a tire to the outside of the other tire. My Acme EZE Tow Dolly is 102" or 8.5'. Your RV seems to be 94". That means my dolly's tires would each be 4" outside of your RV. Where this can become an issue is if you cut a corner too tight because the dolly would be 4" closer to the edge of the road or curb or ditch or whatever is there. Some roads are only 10' wide so you need to become proficient at staying in the middle of the lane. Which is not a bad thing.

This is where flat towing a car is a lot better. My Sonata hybrid is 76" wide so that corner-cutting would be a non-issue.

You shouldn't have any problems finding a dolly but towing will negatively affect your mileage so that 26 gallon tank might become your biggest problem.

HTH,

Ray

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by texasjeri

We just bought a 2020 Sunseeker 24' on the Mercedes chassis. We WANT to tow our 2011 Prius because we want a vehicle to use to go sightseeing on our trips.
thanks!

You might want to do a little reading.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news...v-or-motorhome

It advises thet "So, if a Prius is towed from the front, the front wheels must be elevated in a wheel lift (Toyota recommends against dolly-style tow trucks)"

Of course, that's information off the internet which may or may not be correct.