Trailering a toad

[jerryseay]

I owned a motorhome several years ago. I’m thinking about possibly purchasing another one. My question is do very many people trailer their toads? What are the pros and cons to trailering a toad? It just seems to me that it would be so much easier to do it that way.

 

[Diesel Pusher]

Rarely see an open or closed car trailer, they're awkward to deal with once at destination, but they are out there. If not towing 4 down, many use tow dollies. Easier and smaller than a trailer but still need a place to park them. Having owned a tow dolly, my preference is towing 4 down. If you're comfortable wrenching, installing base plates and wiring brake/turn signal/taillights is not difficult.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

I don't tow a toad anymore! I went to a fifth.

However I am opinionated, so I have one.

I have towed 4 down, on a dolly, and towed trailers. Hands down the trailering method is my choice. Although I can back a toad on dolly a good 15 feet. It better be straight behind me before I start. Most of the time when you find yourself in that situation, it is not convenient. On the other side of the coin, trailers can be backed up as far as one needs to.

Camping the way I do, I don't need to worry if the space is big enough, so a covered garage may be an advantage. A storage shelf over the hood may also be a perk worth looking into.

Bottom line? It is a personal decision!!!

 

[Joe Hogan]

We used a dolly with the last RV. While it worked out ok, I became an expert at backing up the empty dolly fairly quickly. Always drew a crowd when I’d unload the car and backed the dolly into the camping spot. Most people are amazed that this can, with practice, be done easily.
however it became tiresome after awhile at the end of a day of travel.
In the below picture a group of people actually started betting if I’d get the dolly in the parking spot and how many tries it would take. You can just see the tire of the dolly back there.
Right in, first attempt From a perpendicular narrow dirt road I might add. So you can maneuver dollys with some practice easily.
Might even make some beer money
With the new RV we are towing 4 down.
purchased a used Ford Flex to tow.
Getting the base plate installed on the Flex later this week. Picking up the RV later in the year.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

We use a trailer. As mentioned above, it has its downsides.
Biggest downside for us is finding campsites takes a bit longer due to having 3 vehicles to find space for (Coach, trailer and car). Trailering also takes a bit more time to hookup and load, compared to typical 4 down towing, especially when the trailer has to be stored in a separate parking area at a campground.
Upsides are: not being limited to a short list of vehicles that can be towed 4 down, fixing a trailer axle is generally cheaper than fixing suspension issues on a toad.

 

[John&Andrea]

We have been using a dolly. Making the change to flat towing soon. We have had problems keeping the straps tight on the dolly. We stop regularly with dogs so checking the straps is a given. Coming through Kentucky last year someone pulled beside us to tell us a strap had come loose.

I’m sure flat towing will have concerns as well.

It can be a problem if the back in site is not long enough to handle the dolly. Has only happened a few times and there has always been a place to park the dolly. Obviously a pull through is best with a dolly.

 

[jerryseay]

thank you all for the input.

 

[Dirtylqqks]

We have been using a dolly. Making the change to flat towing soon. We have had problems keeping the straps tight on the dolly. We stop regularly with dogs so checking the straps is a given. Coming through Kentucky last year someone pulled beside us to tell us a strap had come loose.

I’m sure flat towing will have concerns as well.

It can be a problem if the back in site is not long enough to handle the dolly. Has only happened a few times and there has always been a place to park the dolly. Obviously a pull through is best with a dolly.

Have you looked into Macs ties, they make superior towing straps for all kinds of vehicle and different configurations short and long as well as many colors . We had that same issue with our car hauler and after switching strap and mechanisms our last trip from Arizona to florida was a huge success that only required a few clicks to keep the car secured . Happy travels.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

Mac’s Tie downs are great - we use these for the past few years and never had a single issue with them.
Couple notes:
- New straps will tend to stretch just a bit for the first couple trips, after that breakin period we haven’t had any issues with straps loosening
- Be sure to NOT manually remove all slack from the tie down before ratcheting. If I have a good 3+ layers of strap in the ratchet it won’t slip/loosen. But if there isn’t enough strap in the ratchet then it will slip.