Community Forums

04Sundancer · 05-27-2011, 11:18 PM

I did my first 4 wheels down tow, ever, last weekend. I bought magnetic lights from HarborFreight. They were not very bright, I put aluminum foil
behind the bulbs on the amber side which helped ... a bunch

In spite of being very careful, the magnetic mounts scratched the
paint (very dark color on Jeep, probably light color would be fine)

I never considered a license plate light, I suppose I can leave park lights on the toad if I ever tow when its dark

They didn't blow off or even get misaligned.

I will probably switch over to something more permanent due to the
scratching from just 1 trip. Running the wire from motorhome to back
of toad was no big deal (I covered the single wires with a plastic sheath
that sells at Home Depot for very low cost, looks nicer and stores in
such a way that it doesn't require much untangling

The mag lites were on sale at HF for $20, (maybe) wish I got the LED
ones, these just aren't very bright

wa8yxm · 05-28-2011, 07:50 AM

Lots of folks use magnetic lights however there are a few considerations.

In my case.. Car was fiberglass. No joy from magentic lights. So they don't work.

You need to be very careful or stuff may stick to the bottom of the magnet and scratch up your finish, Some folks use peal and stick felt on the bottom of the magnet. This will weaken the hold however.

But all in all.. They are a good option

They also make something called an "Add-a-bulb" system. this is where you drill a hole in the tail ligt housing and add a socket and bulb the wires are then routed to thre front where you plug in.

Mr John · 05-28-2011, 08:11 PM

Thanks to all for the response. It has been very helpful. I've wired a 6 pin round plug in the front fiberglass grill of the Saturn and put the wires into it so my pigtail from the MH will just plut in. I didn't want to tap into the MH wiring to install the flat 4 pin plug as I already had a 6 pin female plug on rear of the MH. Thanks again for the great response.

DAN L · 05-29-2011, 01:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

Lots of folks use magnetic lights however there are a few considerations.

In my case.. Car was fiberglass. No joy from magentic lights. So they don't work.

You need to be very careful or stuff may stick to the bottom of the magnet and scratch up your finish, Some folks use peal and stick felt on the bottom of the magnet. This will weaken the hold however.

But all in all.. They are a good option

They also make something called an "Add-a-bulb" system. this is where you drill a hole in the tail ligt housing and add a socket and bulb the wires are then routed to thre front where you plug in.

there are wireless tow lights available also but they are pricey.

the tab mounted tow lights from uhaul are working well for us.
we tow a nissan altima with an aluminum trunk lid so we had to put our magnetic harbor freight lights on the roof. they would not stay put in the wind. they scratched the roof too.

digitalone · 05-29-2011, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryKD

In Florida, a vehicle being towed does not need a license plate, much less a license plate light. I'm not sure about other states.

Not to argue but I just went through this. I bought a car over an hour away and was trying to figure out the best way to get it home. After calling several police stations the answer I got was that if it's on a trailer you don't need a plate but if you are towing it four down it needs to be registered and have a since it's acting like a trailer. They were very clear that I can get a ticket for this.

In your case with the tow dolly I'm not sure how that works legally since I didn't ask but I've towed a vehicle without a plate all the way across the country like that and never had a problem. So I'm guessing a dolly is considered a trailer.

This is in the Tampa area of Florida.

Rick & Hope · 05-29-2011, 08:37 AM

Here is a link to some of the best info about towing by state
State Towing Laws for RVs

cliff841 · 05-31-2011, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryKD

Hi chasfm11,
Are you sure about your statement that a vehicle being towed needs a license plate light. In Florida, a vehicle being towed doesn't even need a license plate much less a license plate light. It does not seem logical that a vehicle being towed needs a plate and a plate light.

License plates and license plate lights are required in California. I honestly don't see why they wouldn't be required everywhere although I'm sure you are right about Florida. An unlit license plate doesn't do much good identifying the vehicle in the dark.

chasfm11 · 05-31-2011, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryKD

Hi chasfm11,
Are you sure about your statement that a vehicle being towed needs a license plate light. In Florida, a vehicle being towed doesn't even need a license plate much less a license plate light. It does not seem logical that a vehicle being towed needs a plate and a plate light.

There is always a quagmire about whether a toad is a trailer or not. In Texas and many other States, a trailer must have a license plate AND a light on it. On another type of forum, there was a lengthy discussion involving Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) about the validity of stopping anyone who did not have a working license plate light. None of them seemed to be aware of the special rules for RVs (driver's license type by weight, for example) so I'm not sure that the average LEO on the street is going to exempt a toad, depending on the reason that they were checking out the situation in the first place.

Much has changed in LE in the past few years with the advent of RVs being used in the drug trade. Where we used to get a pass, we might not any more. In addition, an out of State RV would be easy pickins for small town looking to enhance its revenue. Around here there seem to be a lot of those these days. My personal opinion is that when there is a pattern of checking for license plate lights out, the motivation can only be revenue. Unlike headlights or taillights failing, a license plate light out is not a safety issue.

Retiredblade · 06-03-2011, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr John

Hi all. Is anyone using magnetic lights on the back of their toad instead of wiring the toads lights to the M.H.? The "stealerships" in S. Fl. want $275 to $350 to wire up a 1999 Saturn with lights. I'm not going to keep the car very long and don't want to invest that kind of money at this time.

Man! That is robbery! When I was pulling my Saturn, I when over to my buddies body shop and got two brake light sockets out of his used parts box. Took out the Saturn tail lights and drilled a hole for the sockets where there was room for it between the rear of the tail light assembly and body. Took my file and made the hole perfect so the socket would go in and twisted into locking position. wired them up and ran the wires from the trunk, under the carpets, thru the firewall, up to the front of the grill and put in a socket. This way, these lights are independent of the Saturns system and connects to the mo homes system. Works fine. Did the same thing on my Jeep Wrangler and now going to do the same thing on my Chevy Cruze.

Gary RVRoamer · 06-03-2011, 12:03 PM

We used mag lights on two different toads for about 7 years and they always worked fine. I left the wiring harness strung under the coach and terminated in a plug in the back, so all I had to do was plug in the lights and plop them on the roof. They did scratch the roof a bit over time, though.

Mine weren't the bargain-priced ones from Harbor Freight - got them from Roadmaster. Quality was excellent, at least back then.

Mr_D · 06-06-2011, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryKD

Hi chasfm11,
Are you sure about your statement that a vehicle being towed needs a license plate light. In Florida, a vehicle being towed doesn't even need a license plate much less a license plate light. It does not seem logical that a vehicle being towed needs a plate and a plate light.

Problem is that you must be legal in EVERY state you go into, not just your home state. Vehicle equipment laws are different than drivers licensing as there is reciprocity on drivers licensing, there isn't on equipment requirements. That's why brakes on toweds are pretty much required even though you're legal in your home state, you may not be legal in the next state over.

Mr_D · 06-06-2011, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick & Hope

Here is a link to some of the best info about towing by state
State Towing Laws for RVs

A quick read of that site shows me that there are at least three "errors" in the list for WA alone.
A quick read of OR laws shows errors also, although they did get the braking requirement right!! They even got CA braking requirements right too.
Most of those sites seem to think that a motorized vehicle being towed by another motorized vehicle is a "trailer". In some states that's not true.

Mr_D · 06-06-2011, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cliff841

License plates and license plate lights are required in California. I honestly don't see why they wouldn't be required everywhere although I'm sure you are right about Florida. An unlit license plate doesn't do much good identifying the vehicle in the dark.

WA doesn't even issue plates for a tow dolly so there is no way we could have them here. The dolly becomes part of the towed and it's license is good for the dolly.

DAN L · 06-07-2011, 02:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D

WA doesn't even issue plates for a tow dolly so there is no way we could have them here. The dolly becomes part of the towed and it's license is good for the dolly.

i have my stehl tow dolly licensed in washington as a trailer primarily so that i can use it as a trailer without having a licensed vehicle on it. i have the small motorcycle size plate. the trailer license is not expensive, ims <$35 a year.
i have had occasion to tow the empty dolly behind the toad and was glad that the dolly had a license and that the lights worked.