To tow a toad or not?

[theodette]

I am planning a cross country trip in the summer and cannot decide whether to go through the expense of configuring my car (Chevy Malibu) to tow flat. I want the convenience of a toad but do not know how it will affect my acceleration and fuel economy. The Malibu is relatively light and I will be using a 2001 Seaview with a V10 gas as the tow vehicle.

I figure I have one of two options. First I could dish out approx $2000 for a baseplate, tow bar, and toad brakes. Or I could rent a car at the major stops along the way. I am willing to pay the $2000 for the convenience but I don't know how a toad is going to change my fuel economy and acceleration up the hills.

If anyone has any insight into this, I would greatly appreciate it. It will help in my decision making.

Theodette

[bachler]

We purchased a mellibu 2007 ;; I picked up a stowmaster 5000 on C/L for $150.00 Got the mounting Brackets from a trailer supply retailer in Oregon For under $300.00 Which I installed Now I am 71 years old, The instrutions are very good and easy to fallow, It's All bolted on no welding' The hold deal was less then $500.00 which is pirty Darn good.The lights were a bit more chalenging but also doable. With there kit. Which was extra. Can't remenber the price of that, Wasn't much tho.. It is a clean neat job..and you don't know it's back there when you are driving,,

[mikf]

Theodette, we tow a Chevy Tracker { the 4 door model } with a 35 ft Winnebago Ford V-10. it would be a little lighter then your Malibu. I have had no problems in the mountains in the Eastern US and the mileage is not noticeabley different. there is no wind resistence. we find it is very handy to have it with us rather then renting a car. which we did do on one trip. the only draw back I see is that you can not back up, so you learn to always look ahead before getting into a tight spot.

[mikron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bachler We purchased a mellibu 2007 ;; I picked up a stowmaster 5000 on C/L for $150.00 Got the mounting Brackets from a trailer supply retailer in Oregon For under $300.00 Which I installed Now I am 71 years old, The instrutions are very good and easy to fallow, It's All bolted on no welding' The hold deal was less then $500.00 which is pirty Darn good.The lights were a bit more chalenging but also doable. With there kit. Which was extra. Can't remenber the price of that, Wasn't much tho.. It is a clean neat job..and you don't know it's back there when you are driving,,

When can I brig my rig over, I am 69 and a good helper.

[tncruiser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikron When can I brig my rig over, I am 69 and a good helper.

you old guys amaze me
i also installed mine but im only 65 and it was a few months after bypass surgury
when i was young i did it to save money
now do it just cause i can
brianj

[speed racer]

There will be a differants in accelloration but not enough to keep you from bringing a toad. As far as mileage it takes about 1 MPG.

[two2go]

I once rented a car dolly from U-haul to tow a Subaru that wouldn't flat tow. It had its own lights and surge brake, and worked real well. The cost was not bad, but that was many moons ago.

[Hudsoner]

Maybe some of you have an answer for my question. I plan to tow my Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the problem is that it has a front trailer hitch (that is needed). All the base plates for towing that I can find need to be attached to the very same points that the hitch is attached to. Would it work if I would fabricate a tow plate that is inserted into the 2" receiver of the hitch? Or shall I forget the flat towing and get a car dolly?

[gary peterso]

You need brakes on the car.

[nwcanopies]

I am thinking this same thing, but plan on putting 13000 miles a year. 1mpg in a 10mpg rig at the average diesel cost of $3.29 is 33 cents every 10 miles right. Multiply this by 1300 and the cost in fuel alone is $429. Not bad. But then you need the equipment. In my case with a large family. 4 Kids and 2 adults. I would need to haul a minivan. Minivans weigh a couple tons +. Our Odyssey 4500lbs! WOW. So I'd need a 7500lb car trailer because you can't flat tow these. Thats another 2K. Upgrade to 10,000lb hitch and I'm out $4k for a year.

Or I rent a Minivan when I need to, say camping or excursions etc at $50 per day.

That gives me 80+ days of rentals, more if you play your cards right with coupons and deals... so lets say 120 days of rental fees for the same price.

With the toad, convenience... also comes turning stress loading / unloading stress. Campsite restrictions due to length, bottoming out on hills etc. With enterprize they pick you up.

Right now I'm leaning toward a 26' enclosed trailer which is around 8k.... do the math with that.

All to say, its just a trade off. Totally depends on how much additional stress you can handle. Personally, I'm really thinking about doing the trailer route. I hate giving money away for services when I could own the tools.

[tropical36]

We don't tow, but then, neither of our everyday vehicles qualify either with EVERYDAY being the keyword here.
Since you already own it, I'd probably go for it, if you plan on doing a lot of traveling.

[a k]

OK I'll bite. Why do you need a hitch on the front of the Cherokee?

[Hudsoner]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a k OK I'll bite. Why do you need a hitch on the front of the Cherokee?

To be able to attache the winch to it. I have a winch mount that can be inserted into the 2" receiver either in the front or the back. My grand cherokee is modified to be able to do serious off-roading.

I am currently trying to decide to flat tow (if I can find a base plate that would work with the front hitch) or to use a tow dolly.

[denochs]

If this helps, I bought a used base plate from an iRV2 member that had similar dimensions as required by my Dodge Dakota pu. My friend that is a welder modified it to work for me.

In my opinion, if you can fabricate and weld the two connectors to your existing hitch on the front using the recommended distance of the tow bar manufacturer you will be fine.

Dave