To Tow or to Flatbed

[ronplooijer]

Hello, I just joined the site, we are newbies to RV'ing. We just bought a 2000 Fleetwood Southwind and intend to hit the road in September, full time.
This is my dilemma. I gave my wife a Mazda Miata for our our engagement, three years ago. She is really attached to it (so I cannot really start the discussion of replacing it, I tried.....). All the sources tell me that you cannot flat tow this car, so I'll have to put it on a trailer. A 14 ft trailer attached to a 36 ft motor home is a "long stretch". How does that limit my options to stay on certain camp grounds? How do you deal with that?

[stik]

Originally Posted by ronplooijer

Hello, I just joined the site, we are newbies to RV'ing. We just bought a 2000 Fleetwood Southwind and intend to hit the road in September, full time.
This is my dilemma. I gave my wife a Mazda Miata for our our engagement, three years ago. She is really attached to it (so I cannot really start the discussion of replacing it, I tried.....). All the sources tell me that you cannot flat tow this car, so I'll have to put it on a trailer. A 14 ft trailer attached to a 36 ft motor home is a "long stretch". How does that limit my options to stay on certain camp grounds? How do you deal with that?

If the Miata is stick shift, there is another thread somewhere on this site that addresses the success of towing a Miata 4 wheels down. If your Miata is automatic . . . bummer. You are going to spend a lot of time looking for RV parks that have long enough spots and THEN, if you are not just staying overnight, you have the issue of what to do with the trailer. I wish you good luck if it is an automatic.

This should be a link to the most current post on Miata toads:

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f85/towin...ta-171791.html

[JohnRR]

[CLIFFTALL]

Welcome to irv2

Cliff

[iawoody2]

We used to have a 38ft MH with a Chevy Colorado behind, with towbar about 62ft in all. We stayed in many campgrounds and got a pullthru site. If just staying overnite we wouldn't even unhook. In your case you could leave the trailer hooked and just unload the car.

[GraySeal65]

Could you back it on a wheel dolly? you would have to strap the steering with the seat belt.And lights, you would need some lights.

[HD4Mark]

Hi ronplooijer and welcome. I am not much help with towing the Miata but can say that your total length won't be that bad. Our MH is 40' towing an 11.5' Tracker + the tow bar and we don't have any problem. There are 45' MHs out there towing full size pickups. You just have to be careful with turns and remember you can not back up towing four down. You can back up a flatbed trailer but there is always that PIA of where to put it.

[JMonroe]

Your length, with a 14' trailer, would not be all that unusual. Our overall length when travelling is 63' and we have little trouble finding long enough pull through sites for our overnight travel stops. Longer stays could be a problem.

Some campgrounds/RV parks will not allow you to keep the trailer on-site during your stay. That leaves you with the problem of what to do with the trailer. Some parks have an area reserved just for this type of thing, others do not. How would you get the trailer to the off site parking area? You're not going to want to put a hitch on the Mazda. Again, some parks may be willing to move the trailer for you (our home park will), others will not.

I'm with stik, and hoping it is a manual transmission.

[VanDiemen23]

I've never understood the "PIA " of where to put a trailer. If you have a spot 65' or so with a 40 footer and a trailer, why would you need to put the trailer anywhere? If it's an enclosed trailer, you have secure storage. My 33' beaver and 24' box trailer have fit in most big rig campgrounds.

The only drawback I see is if you want to stay in state parks and backcountry campgrounds - but I see a lot of RVs with M/C trailers in those as well.

[JMonroe]

Originally Posted by VanDiemen23

I've never understood the "PIA " of where to put a trailer. If you have a spot 65' or so with a 40 footer and a trailer, why would you need to put the trailer anywhere? .

Not all RV parks or campgrounds will let you keep the trailer on site. Our home park won't, but they do provide a lot to park it in.

It's just one more thing to have to be cognizant of when making travel plans.

[Medico]

Welcome and glad to meet you!

[MSHappyCampers]

Welcome to IRV2! It's great to have you join the gang!

I can't help with your question, but you will get much better results if you post questions over in the specific areas of the forum. Not many folks hang out here in the Welcome area so your responses will be limited. Maybe one of the Moderators will move your post to the MH Towing area. Enjoy the forum!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[reitrof]

What year and tranny is the Miata?

[Bruce C]

from NH.