We don't want to tow anything!!!

[azloafer]

I searched all over and this seemed like the best place to post this. We do not have a toad. Our lifestyle has not required a toad. We are weekenders until DW retires. We pick out a nearby (within 2 hours) campground and stay put. We just got done driving so why would we want to drive around in a toad? When DW retires, which may be soon, we would like to drive 2,000 miles (one way) to visit our children and grand children. We feel that we can rent a car somewhere near our final destination and park the MH in a campground. If our kids can't come to us we can use the rental to see them. So, everything considered, it seems that towing something over four thousand miles would not be practical. Tow bars, Brake systems, need a tow-able car... a lot of fussing around! We don't tow now so why tow at all, even on other trips? I couldn't post this in the "toad section" because I would have everyone telling us that we should always tow. So, this forum section seemed best or at least "neutral territory."

What do you think? Are we foolhardy or not? Is there anyone else that never tows or are we alone? Joe & Mary Beth

[AFChap]

There are folks who don't tow (WIT has a chapter named ...I think ...NoTowBagos!), but very few fulltimers who don't. It all depends on your travel style and the kinds of places you go. Some places people like to go just don't have rental cars readily available. If you are staying in that kind of place for any length of time, unless you want to unhook the water, power and sewer from the rig and drive it, you do need some means of transportation to go buy groceries or touring or whatever else you want to do. But if you are going to a destination attraction where you don't want or need to go outside the campground area, you probably don't "need" to tow anything.

[JMonroe]

To each their own, but once the RV is your home, you're likely to be spending more than a couple days in one location. You may want to go out to a movie, or a meal out, or just a 'restock the fridge' trip. The 'toad' really isn't the hassle the uninitiated sometimes think it will be. There is some expense for the initial set up, yes, but much of it is a one time cost, even if you end up trading.

My guess; within 6 months of going full time you'll have a toad, although you would not be the first to never use one.

As a side note. We're a couple years from 'free' and will usually take the toad on vacatin trips, but there are occasional outings where it will be unlikely we'll need to make any side trips, at a large rally for example, and then we'll leave it at home.

[Lorna]

Instead of a car to tow, perhaps you might want to consider a scooter. As full-timers, we generally are not real close to "town". Although that has changed since we moved out west. Currently we are in Corpus Christi. We are within walking distance to the public library, 2 restaurants (one is a pizza joint), a Family Dollar and a convenience store/gas station. We are also on a public bus line. And LP trucks deliver gas & refill LP tanks on site. Previously we were in a small town in New Mexico. The campground we were in had 2 convenience store/gas stations and 1 restaurant within walking distance. Within bicycling distance (many local resident rode bicycles as it was a college town) was the entire town. In GA (the last campgrounds we stayed in back east)... one campground was 12 miles from town (6 miles from the nearest convenience store/mini grocery /gas station), the other campground (state park) was 6 miles from town with the previously mentioned convenience store/mini grocery /gas station of which there were 2 side-by-side at the entrance of the park... about 1 mile from the campground. I would wait a while and see if you need a car or scooter. Perhaps you can take a bicycle with you to use until you decide. It kinda depends on the places you stay. If we didn't need the Jeep for business or if we decide we need a second vehicle (so I have transportation while David works the cart), David & I would have one of those large scooters/mini motorcycles. One that will do about 70mph on the highway... so we can go fast enough to use for short rides on the interstates but small enough engine to keep the gas $$ really low. something along the lines of this http://www.scooterdepot.us/Znen-Mope...ing-p-641.html

[HMXDave]

I wish that ATV/Quads were legal to licence for the roads like many European countries. We boondock 95% of the time with our enclosed ATV trailer behind us and it would be nice to be able to legally run into town for supplies on the quad. We are half-heartedly looking at the scooter idea though....

[UFO Pilot]

We bought our MH so we can travel and see the USA and Canada. We use a Toad because we are sight seers. We could never get our MH into a lot of the places we visit. Driving 100 miles round trip in a MH that gets 6 to 7 MPG is cost prohibitive. We already have a towable car so why not take it? If you are going to drive to a campground and stay put, there is probably no need to tow a car.

[Chuck 1935]

I swore I would never own a Motorhome, my camper was good enough. Although I will say that we enjoyed our Moterhome without slides, who needs slides anyway? Now that we have slides I found that we really didnt need a Toad, what for? Since we now have our Honda CR V toad we have found it very useful for sightseeing and side trips we are able to take because we are not encumbered with pets. We decided a long time ago, no pets! Now that we have Sophie our little Maltese terrier mix we have decided to never say never again!!! Amazing the natural progression of life.

[GaryKD]

Hi azloafer,
Not only do we tow, we tow either 4 down or with a dolly. We tried renting. It was a PITA. The $s you spend to outfit your rig combination to tow is the purchase of assets. Hooking up and unhooking is far less troublesome than driving the coach for local needs. Sightseeing in the toad is the way to go.

Their are rare occurrences when I will not tow. An example would be to Disney World in Florida. If we intend to spend all our time at DW, for me, there is no reason to tow.

[Ray,IN]

Seems you did not escape the "must tow" crowd. They forget to include the price, or mileage depreciation, of the towed vehicle in their calculations. Renting short-term is a valid option, when you plan to spend several months in one place buying something adequate is another option, then sell it when you decide to move on. Once I bought an old Chevy; 4 months later I sold it for $100 profit. We never did tow a car along when we had a MH.
We now have a 5er and truck to tow it, which doubles as a sightseeing vehicle, grocery-getter,etc.
Bottom line, do it YOUR way!

[UFO Pilot]

I never said you must tow, I only explained why WE tow. Do whatever works for you, to each his own.

[Herbdb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN Seems you did not escape the "must tow" crowd. They forget to include the price, or mileage depreciation, of the towed vehicle in their calculations. Renting short-term is a valid option, when you plan to spend several months in one place buying something adequate is another option, then sell it when you decide to move on. Once I bought an old Chevy; 4 months later I sold it for $100 profit. We never did tow a car along when we had a MH. We now have a 5er and truck to tow it, which doubles as a sightseeing vehicle, grocery-getter,etc. Bottom line, do it YOUR way!

Just for the record, most vehicles do not register mileage when towing even with all four down. I am on my second MH and I have not been able to detect any difference in gas useage when I am towing or if I leave it at home.

For me the biggest disadvantage is the total length of the rig when driving.

[Curtis in TX]

My Missey and I have always towed. But the reason is a lot different than most of you. My Taod is my Toy Box!
We like to do what I call "Adventure RVing" ! By that I mean we use the MH for a base camp and take on the challenges the local areas have to offer. She is a Teacher, so we spend the Summers visiting any historical site within driving range of camp, just for the experience of it. The list of places we've been to is very long, so I won't go there. But, we find there is a lot of life out beyond the Campground.

My Toad is a very off road capable, custom made, 4 wheel drive SUV and it has a large roof rack to carry the 2 seat Kayack, two mountain bikes. Inside we store the other hiking equipment, camping gear, Scuba and snorkle gear, ropes/ harnesses for climbing and rapelling, back packs, boots and let's not forget the electric scooters.

We look like the Disney Cartoon "Goofy takes a Vacation" when we hit the road.

Somewhere in Arkansas getting ready to kayack the White River.

We have kayacked many rivers all over the Country. Scuba Dived off the Florida Keys. Used the Scooters to tour historic Jamestown. Ridden the bicycles in Oregon to a vinyard up in the mountains and coasted back down to the camper with the panniers full of Wine Bottles from the Vinyard.
One special bottle we used for a Toast at our Wedding.

I like Extreme 4 Wheeling in Moab and other places, so my Toad serves as two purposes. It's not only a Very Capable Adventure Rig, but gets the Groceries too! We were once in a flooded campground and I was the only one that could get out. My winches got a work out that trip.

I could go on and on, but let me just say this, even the electric scooters come in handy to ride around the campgrounds to see the other set ups and visit with other campers, and lug a couple of bags of supplies back to the MH. A small scooter across the back of a MH can just add to your lifestyle.

My wife has started having knee problems that are getting worse as we get older, so walking for miles is not an option anymore and the hikes require a lot more planning. I'm glad we have been able to do all we have under our belt so far, cause there may come a time when she can't go anymore. But it won't stop us. We'll just attack them differently.

Disney World doesn't require a vehicle but running up the beach to fly Kites in Newport OR will tax your stamina.

I'm trying to talk the DW to let me get a bigger Coach that can pull a larger trailer, so I can stack my side by side above the 4X4 rig. And maybe take my Motorcycle with us......

My wife can retire in 2.5 years, then I want to go full time Adventure RVing more than just Summers.

I've seen it done without a Towed, but I've lost count of how many of our neighbor campers we hauled into town with us for a nice Resturant Dinner.

If you can pull it off (Pun intended) then more power to you.
For us, we like to go to much, to not have one.

Curtis and Melissa
Rhome Texas

[hardy1000]

Im with ya Curtis...my toad is a Jeep Rubicon and we are adventure oriented and like to go everywhere. We fly fish, off road, go to museums and POI's and any place else that we find interesting. We always have adventure's planned and we drive everywhere.

[RovinOn]

My wife and I are not fulltimers, mostly weekend trips and 1 week/2 week vacation trips. Most of our food travels with us or we stop enroute.
If we are someplace we want to sight see in or there is another place we want to go to near by we just rent a car.
Just did it in Florida in St Augustine, Enterprise people were really nice and helpful, cost us $90. for 3 days... No muss, No fuss!

I guess maybe someday I will tow, but for now I don't think it's worth it!

Regards,
RovinOn
05 Southwind 37C