Finding a toad... - RV-Dreams Community Forum

NorCal Dan · RV-Dreams Family Member

Finding a toad...

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

I would follow the flat towing idea, Dan. We worked at a small RV park in Kanab, Utah for about 9 months, and some of its sites were small enough to be a problem with stowing the tow dolly trailer.

Can't help with the finding a toad, though as we are back in Oklahoma.

Terry

arcaguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

A number of years ago a friend of mine was looking for a Toad and the only vehicle he could find that allowed flat towing without starting the vehicle every couple of hundred miles was a Jeep. Not sure what model but I'm sure it was a Jeep. The problem is that all of the automatics have gotten rid of the rear pump so you burn them up. Maybe a manual transmission small pickup would work. Do most RV parks have auxiliary parking where you could park a trailer? That would solve the flat tow issue. Just a thought.

arcaguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just found this www.remcotowing.com/Towing/Store.php - you might want to check it out. I did find out that my 2008 F-150 can be flat towed as is. Not that I necessarily want to, but I could if I wanted too.

Cookie Dough · RV-Dreams Family Member

We use the car tow dolly with automatic disc brakes , as we lease our front wheel drive car. The ramps easily detach, so it doesn't take up that much room. If you want / have to use the car you have then this may be the way to go. With experience the putting the car on the dolly has gotten easier.

arcaguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

This link might be helpful too. http://www.motorhome.com/download-dinghy-guides/ Just a caution on I believe they were Blue-ox tow bars. There has apparently been some issues with the attachment pin coming out at the tow-bar baseplate joint. If I recall correctly the issue was with the hairpin type retainer that they use to retain the pin wearing through. Personally I'd replace them with a bolt and castellated nut and use the hairpin clip to retain the nut. Just my thoughts.

-- Edited by arcaguy on Friday 9th of November 2018 08:05:06 PM

NorCal Dan · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks all...I have experience with both flat towing and using a dolly. I can't flat tow my Chevy Tahoe, nor would I want to try and haul it with the gas class A, so I am looking at small SUV's. Just need something to use when we get where we're going and want to explore the area or get groceries.

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

Several of the smaller Ford SUVs can be towed 4 down. We're thinking about getting a Ford Edge to tow. We've had a Subaru Forrester for the past 14 years - - manual transmission. We've had great service from the Subaru and would get another one, but I'm tired of driving a manual transmission in heavy traffic in the winter around Phoenix and also in Seattle in the summer.

Sushidog · RV-Dreams Family Member

My 06 Chevy Cobalt SS (2.4l auto) is flat towable. Cobalts are pretty common, so it should be easy to find an inexpensive one where you live.

I just installed a Blue Ox base plate, safety brake and wiring kit on it. Only one fuse needs to be pulled (I plan on installing a switch), and there's no start-up and run requirement after so many miles like with some other cars. It gets great gas mileage, is light weight (under 3000 lbs), handles well and runs like a scalded dog for having such a small engine. It has proven very reliable for me over the 400,000 miles I've had it. I'm on my 2nd used transmission (I used to tow an Aliner which was 170% of its tow rating, so I was hard on my first one, while I lost the second tranny due to an undiscovered oil leak.) I'm on my second engine, the first having gone out at about 390k miles of hard use.

It will be my FT toad starting in January.

Chip

Hdrider · RV-Dreams Family Member

We have never used a dolly but have watched a few struggle with them but I guess everything gets easy with practice. On a side note, we have a 2016 F150 we use as a toad that will be up for sale when our new 5th wheel is complete. I'm just tossing that out there. Good luck in your search.

NorCal Dan · RV-Dreams Family Member

Great ideas...gives me some ideas of what to look for when shopping the used car lots. No stick shifts for me either, I know it gets old real quick. An F150 would be nice but won't work for our situation. The only advantage to using a tow dolly is I could change vehicles easily. There isn't any cost savings of one solution over the other. Will probably be decided by what vehicle I find that will work for us.

AlanB · RV-Dreams Family Member

I bought a used 2014 Honda CRV - the last model year rated for flat towing. Has an automatic tranny and AWD. Now I just need my Class A.... :)

altair19 · RV-Dreams Community Member

I thought F-150 could do the job since I've seen it being used to tow boats.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

altair19 wrote:
I thought F-150 could do the job since I've seen it being used to tow boats.

I don't know what F150's can be used, but "towing" is a lot different from being a "toad," or "towed" vehicle. Almost all vehicle can "tow" something, but not all are configured to be a toad behind an RV.

Terry

arcaguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

arcaguy wrote:
Just found this www.remcotowing.com/Towing/Store.php - you might want to check it out. I did find out that my 2008 F-150 can be flat towed as is. Not that I necessarily want to, but I could if I wanted too.

Just a heads up that this database was wrong about my 2008 F150 being able to be flat towed, along with the one at motorhome.com. I would use these as a guide but check with the manufacturer. I did find that Ford has older owner's manuals online so the I would imagine the other manufacturers do too. Good luck.