Community Forums

franktr · 12-12-2015, 08:47 AM

Class A pulling a toad how many miles is reasonable a day? From experience is 400 miles too many? Trying to plan my first trip. I plan to take a 20 mile trip camp for 3 days to make sure all is working and I have everything than Houston to VA.

Lt46 · 12-12-2015, 08:56 AM

I try to do it by time, not miles. I like to leave by 9am and be off the road by 3pm. I'm retired, so time is my friend and not a deadline.

rollingslow · 12-12-2015, 08:59 AM

I never go over 300 and most days less than 150 i have all day to get there and no hurry

MrsChilerick · 12-12-2015, 09:03 AM

You will find many opinions about this on this forum. There have been lots of threads focused on this question. That said, I'll share our approach.

Generally speaking, we like to limit our distance each day to around 300 miles. That's because we have one driver and with the toad, stops for lunch, fuel, stretching our legs, we usually can average only 50 miles distance in an hour. That's 6 hours of driving. We'll try to plan to pull into to wherever we are planning to get to by 4pm, so we can relax a bit before dinner.

We don't like to be on the road in the dark, so we stick to this approach more strictly in winter months, than other times of the year. We have driven as much as 550 miles in a day. We wouldn't want to try it again, too many hours driving. We will do 400-450 on rare occasion, if we HAVE to be somewhere. But it's not our first choice.

Paramedic 1 · 12-12-2015, 09:05 AM

JMHO....a 300 mile day in good weather is enough....RELAX and enjoy the changing scenery....stop often, stretch, just enjoy...it should NOT be a race...

DSL417 · 12-12-2015, 09:05 AM

Depends on the coach, you, the weather conditions, the road, etc. Some will say crazy, but I've gone 800, and I've gone as little as 250. But I have a very comfortable large engine Class A, and the 800 was all good Interstate and relatively flat with a tailwind. On the day we went 250, fought a quartering gusty crosswind of 40 mph on the nose in West Texas. For most, I think 300-400 is kinda the norm.

RIDER FAN · 12-12-2015, 09:09 AM

Everyone has buckled up and made the 400-500 mile days. I'm not doing it anymore. getting off the road around 3-4 in the afternoon gives you a chance to stretch out , refresh , check your outfit over [fuel etc] and relax. Late days seem to attract trouble for me , IE heavy traffic , missed the damn turn-off , and because your tired .............the dreaded domestic that none of us need !! If you have the time........take it. A lot less stressful on the old body.
JMHO Cheers.

ArmandV · 12-12-2015, 09:10 AM

The longest trip so far in my Class C was a hair over 500/day for two days from Los Angeles to Yellowstone National Park.

The only reason was that my daughter and I had limited time due to jobs.

Now that I'm retired, I don't have to press it anymore. I don't mind driving at night, I just don't like setting up camp in the dark.

300 miles seems a reasonable amount of miles without wearing out the driver.

palehorse89 · 12-12-2015, 09:16 AM

I am going to say that it depends if one is retired or not.........for us, I roll to our destination.......enjoy our vacation, then leave enough days to roll home. It also depends on what kind of vacation we are going on, and how many different locations we are going to stay/visit. This is just how we roll now due to still working...........it will be nice in a couple of years not to have to do this...........I dream of short driving days and stopping often to "Smell the Roses".........
Coming soon...........4-6-8 lanes , will then turn to 2 lanes.........for our travels.

Geocritter · 12-12-2015, 09:17 AM

A lot depends on where you're driving. Open road interstates are easy for me and 500 miles isn't that bad. Narrow two lane secondary roads can tire me out in 150 miles. Heavy city traffic is tiresome, I'll stop early when coming to a large city such as LA or Dallas and awaken at 2-3am and drive through the city, sometimes pulling into a rest area after the city and resuming my nights sleep.

Steve

bdickson · 12-12-2015, 09:19 AM

I agree with previous posters on no more than 300 miles a day and be pulling in to the night stop by 3pm.

mel s · 12-12-2015, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franktr

Class A pulling a toad how many miles is reasonable a day? From experience is 400 miles too many? Trying to plan my first trip. I plan to take a 20 mile trip camp for 3 days to make sure all is working and I have everything than Houston to VA.

franktr
Every Dec we travel south from Wisconsin and usually travel 600-650 miles the first day.
After that, for the next 3-4 months, we meander all over the south and south west.....sometimes traveling as many as 450 miles a day and sometimes moving only a few miles.
Mel
'96 Safari, '07 Saturn ION toad

bokobird · 12-12-2015, 09:23 AM

Agree that most folks like to keep a reasonable number of miles per day. I do like driving my RV tho as it's quite comfortable and the view is great. My last trip to FL was 1300 miles in 48 hours, so around 650 miles a day and I was relaxed, took lots of breaks, etc., just kept driving

And I don't drive fast, keep it at 60 (or under) as my toad limits me to a max of 65 and I get better mileage where I normally stay at.

Gary RVRoamer · 12-12-2015, 09:25 AM

We rarely do more than 250 miles, basically a driving from around 10:30-11 until 3 or 4. We are retired, so we seldom have deadlines to meet. We enjoy a leisurely morning, then get on the road. Then stop in time to enjoy the late afternoon in a new place, have a relaxing dinner, etc. If you have less time or need to be somewhere, you can push harder, leave earlier and stop later.

Some coaches or truck & trailer combos are mentally & physically taxing to drive - you may hear stories of "white knuckle" trips. Ours is not.