Toads - are they necessary?

[pdeinc]

With our first RV, a 34' Allegro Class A, we traveled all over the southeast and west to New Mexico without a toad. We'd often roll up the awning, unplugged and go into a nearby town to get a meal. Parking was never that much of a challenge but this was 30 years ago. We sold that after 2 1/2 years of making memories with our teenage daughter not expecting to have another RV but when we did buy another, we did decide that this time we'd have toad and have appreciated the convenience far more than any inconvenience.

[twojayhawks]

Absolutely give it a whirl with no toad as you can always add one. We went maybe a year with our first coach before towing. We were successful having rentals delivered to CG plenty of times. We did much more trip prep with no toad and that's not a bad thing.

[Gordon Dewald]

As an observation it was interesting to see folks with smaller motorhomes (B and C) attempting to find parking spots in the many attractions in Yellowstone Park. It unit appeared to drop of the passengers who went to see the view while the driver continued to drive around the parking lot unable to find a suitable parking spot.

[Rwjsim2003]

We have had a toad with all the MH's that we have owned. I don't think we would enjoy the trip without one. You get use to it being there and 4 down is the way to go takes mins to connect and it just follows along behind.

[mike brez]

I don’t leave home without it.

[AudiDudi]

I'd rather have it and not need/use it than not have and need it. Like breaking down outside of cell service range (lots of those places in the West).



I like to park in a campground and go explore the local area. Having to break camp would be a hassle to me.



My wife was reluctant to even drive our Sprinter based motorhome. She finally did and has no issue with it and now she ever offers at times to drive with the toad on the dolly. I let her drive through Salt Lake City last year.



The ACME EZTow can be backed up. ACME even sells a magnet that blocks the surge brakes from engaging.

[Trapper2022]

Originally Posted by Alan_Hepburn

Toads are just like putting a winch on the front of a Jeep: you don't need it until you NEED it!

X2
Would never leave home without one. Lot less hassle.

Enjoy the journey

[PanJH]

For the first couple of years ( 30 yrs ago) we didn't have a toad. We relied on public transportation and sometimes rented cars. It worked, but having a toad is much nicer. Give it a try without one and see what you think.

[SomeDay]

We've totally managed without a toad for the past 18 years in our Gas A 37ft RV. We've deliberately not planned on towing a run around vehicle to force us to walk more for health purposes than anything else. Most folks swear you should have a toad. We did a 4 month cross Canada trip in 2019 as well many others in previous years of several weeks/months without a toad and felt it didn't hinder us at all. Also it's important to note that very little phases us personality wise, and our glass is generally always half full on the worst days for the most part.

In places like Las Vegas, Santa Barbara, San Diego, NYC, we have used Uber and public transport and done a lot of walking. In LA one year we rented a car for 3 days as well in LV one year for a couple days to get out to Pahrump and other places to explore surrounding.

For us it's never been an issue, even doing the big Utah parks, Grand Canyon etc using the hop on off buses where available and a LOT! of walking. We also spend a lot of time parked up by fishing spots and boondocking/dry camping. We easily pick up groceries or anything else as we pass by so don't need a toad for running around generally for items.

If you are fairly mobile for walking good distances, and/or depending on "where" you tend to want to stop (think availability of Uber's, public transport etc), it can't hurt to try initially without a toad as others have suggested. If you discover it affected your enjoyment then look into towing a small vehicle that works for your towing capacity weights allowed. Indirectly this will also enable the driver to learn with just the one vehicle and get familiar and consider in the future what needs to be thought about with a tow behind ie; getting in tight spots, gas stations etc when you can't reverse with a toad on.

Just our thoughts and experience for what it's worth, but as they say "your mileage may vary".

Happy Travels wherever the road takes you.

[Isaac-1]

Well said, traveling without a TOAD does require some planning ahead, for us that means building in time to stop and do grocery shopping on travel days, sometimes it means picking an RV park that is closer to attractions, or is along a public transit / shuttle bus route. It also effects our choice of destinations to a degree, for example on our most recent big trip (over 3,000 miles in about 30 days from Louisiana to the Grand Canyon and back) traveling without a TOAD effected our planned stops to a degree.


First off the trip was planned with not having a TOAD along, which to a degree dictated some of the major stops along the way, here are a few examples, big and small:


We spent a couple of days in Santa Fe, NM and opted to stay at a Trailer Ranch RV resort as it was the closest option to downtown, and on a city bus route (we ended up taking an Uber though). Due to not having a TOAD while there we ate at the small mom and pop New Mexican restaurant that was about a 3-4 minute walk (3 doors down in a small shopping center), and had some great home style local cuisine twice.


From Santa Fe we drove to Aztec, NM and saw Aztec national monument, a fairly impressive small national monument featuring a ancient native American city / structure, fortress, not sure of the correct term. Given its location off the beaten path this is perhaps a place we would not have ended up at if we were traveling with a TOAD.


From there we had a short detour 10-20 miles off our route to see the 4 Corners monument, then on to Bluff, UT stopping to eat lunch at the Twin Rocks trading post cafe, which served a contemporary twist on local native foods. (a stop we probably would not have made with a TOAD due to parking limitations).


We spent that night at Goose Necks State park, then drove on down through Monument valley, though did not take a tour, as my wife was not feeling up to it, and on towards Page, AZ. Along the way we stopped at Navajo National Monument, hiked down the trail and saw the cliff dwellings from the overlook point. In Page AZ, we stayed at Wahweap campground on the lake about 8 miles from town, and drove the motorhome into town each day doing shopping, as well as a river float trip and lower Antelope canyon. This is one place a TOAD would have been handy, though I don't know if it would have changed our plans any or saved much if any time given we had a back in site. From there we traveled to the Grand Canyon, stopping lunch at Cameron Trading post (again great food, with a spectacular view) luckily snagging one of the few RV parking spaces, if we were there with a TOAD we would have to unhook due to the short RV spaces. From here we went to the Grand Canyon driving in the east entrance, and stopping at a number of the small overlooks and at the desert view watchtower before settling into Mather campground for a few days. We opted for Mather as it is on the internal shuttle bus route in the park. If we had a TOAD we might have stayed outside the park. After leaving the Grand Canyon we headed south to Flagstaff where my wife had to fly home stopping at an aviation museum just south of the Grand Canyon. Other highlight stops on the return drive were Meteor crater, Petrified Forest National Park, Gila national Forest featuring Cosmic Campground (an international dark sky site), and the catwalk at Glenwood, after this there were not many stops of note as I was running from an early season winter storm.

[DutchmenSport]

It all depends upon your personal life style if you can function with a vehicle that can separate from the camper. Your wife will have no problem towing. She can do it... really! The question is, have you done any RVing yourself, either a trailer or a truck camper, or a tent. If you have never done camping before, I think you'll want the toad. Breaking camp for every thing you missed, forgot, need, or want to do is just not fun.

[AudiDudi]

Toads are good for things like the Going to the Sun road, HWy 212 in MT to WY, the road from Prescott Valley to Jerome, AZ, Hwy 89A from Flagstaff to Sedona and of course, the Moki Dugway.