Community Forums

ponytl · 12-05-2022, 06:55 PM

I know the minimum to keep the toad from hitting the rv in a tight turn.. but I also know that the longer the tongue on a trailer the easier it is to back up... I unlike some have no problem backing up a toad if needed... I'm going to go one further and say I build my own baseplates and tow bars which will blow up all the folks who will list 1000 reasons not to, (reasons they would not or couldn't) but I can and I do... I've been welding and fabricating since i was 12 and have bet my life on my fab skills all my life in race cars of my own design, I was just curious about length (distance from rv to toad) every commercial unit seems to fall into a pretty narrow window, so is longer better?

Dutch Star Don · 12-05-2022, 07:25 PM

I'm guessing that since you're building your own, you're making solid tow bars. I would be more apt to back up with a solid tow bar, but at some point, the wheels are going to turn and damage the front end. I agree that a longer trailer, hitch to axle, makes it easier to back, but since the front axle is so close to the hitch, I don't see an advantage to a longer tow bar. It's not like you'll be backing long distances or around corners.

Rob_M · 12-05-2022, 10:28 PM

Longer is better when going over uneven surfaces like entering a dipped entrance to a parking lot or over high railroad tracks etc. When the tail of the coach goes up and down it is jerking the toad towards the hitch and away. The longer the distance between the pivot points the less this occurs. And the pivot points being the same height to begin with helps also.

TandW · 12-06-2022, 08:33 AM

Shorter bars would jackknife quicker.

crb478 · 12-06-2022, 06:37 PM

I also fabricate much of what I use. That being said how long are you wanting to go? I keep my tow bar short to follow the coach closer and not swing as far out in turns. I am not afraid to back a short distance, but prefer to plan ahead and not need to. I also use a blue ox tow bar for its ease to hook up though I don't think it is any stronger than the fixed ones. I have built many tow bars for jeeps that stay on the jeep. I also keep them just long enough not to hit in turns. Some have held up for over 100,000 miles.

FIRE UP · 12-09-2022, 01:53 PM

Well,
Being a welder or fabricator has absolutely nothing to do with the subject of backing a toad. It's all geometry and the fact that UNLIKE A TRAILER, there's another pivoting point involved on a toad. And that is the steering wheels of the toad. Trailer wheels DON'T STEER, they just follow. And you can back a trailer from San Diego to New York without any issues. But, the steering can jack knife in a heart beat due to the mechanism of alignment in the toad.

And on and on and on. But, if you're gonna back your toad, it's yours so, have a ball. The longer the tow bar, the more room you'll need to make any maneuvers which may or may not be a good thing. Think motorcycle trailer. Those are always relatively short and can be a bear to back up because they're so short.

But if you look at a birds eye view of backing a toad, and the distance between the front tires and rear tires of the toad, and what happens when you apply any turning torque to the tow bar, you'll see that you're scuffing the front tires and applying lots of torque to the front end parts of the steering components. Ok, enough blabbering.
Scott

Flyer15015 · 12-09-2022, 02:09 PM

When I built my tow bar, I took the coach to a school parking lot and cranked the steering to full lock each way and then calculated how long the bar had to be to not hit the rear bumper in a full lock turn. My bar was an "A" shape and fit on the front of a '76 chevy van. Coach was an '87 Georgie Boy Endeavor 38' w/ a tag axle, which back then had real bumpers front and rear.
I had a driveline disconnect on the van, and we pulled it to Florida and back 3 times with no incidents.

Mike in Colorado

alank · 12-11-2022, 07:07 PM

I do a little fabrication myself and the last trailer I built for lawn debris has a tongue that's a little bit short. The corner of the trailer could hit the back corner of the car if backed into a jack knife position.

If I were making a tow bar as you describe, I would want the vehicle to clear the rear corner of the coach by 6+ inches, but I can't see any advantage to having a 12-to-18-inch clearance. A significantly longer hitch would better stabilize the toad from darting back and forth while towing, but if you build a hitch without any great amount of slack in the joints, that's not generally a problem.
Once the toad clears the coach, the towbars themselves are the next thing that could contact the rear corner of the coach.

ChrisDParise · 12-14-2022, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ponytl

I know the minimum to keep the toad from hitting the rv in a tight turn.. but I also know that the longer the tongue on a trailer the easier it is to back up... I unlike some have no problem backing up a toad if needed... I'm going to go one further and say I build my own baseplates and tow bars which will blow up all the folks who will list 1000 reasons not to, (reasons they would not or couldn't) but I can and I do... I've been welding and fabricating since i was 12 and have bet my life on my fab skills all my life in race cars of my own design, I was just curious about length (distance from rv to toad) every commercial unit seems to fall into a pretty narrow window, so is longer better?

To answer your question you would do well to look at and analyze the major tow bar manufacturers tow bar dimensions and tow bar construction for the different towing characteristics they claim.

Example, Blue Ox Ascent tow bar, they claim...
Improved turning radius for better cornering and for smoother towing over rough roads (verbatim)

Then look at the towing characteristics Blue Ox claims for the Ascent tow bar - keeping the towed vehicle a safe distance from the motorhome in tight turns (paraphrased)

Unplanned Tourist · 12-14-2022, 08:35 AM

I use a solid tow bar for towing my 2010 Ranger. I like to have a long enough distance from the back of the MH so the Ranger can't touch on a very sharp turn. So around 4 feet, 8-10 inches works just fine.

BTW, I can back up no problem, as long as it's in a straight line. I have backed up around 200 feet in a yard to park once. I did have to turn around on a narrow road by backing into a driveway once. Bent my hitch.

So now I'll unhitch if I ever have to do that again. Quick and easy to pop the tow bar off now that I switched to a ReadyBrake system.

When I tow my little kit car I use a short Empi bar. It's not long, has around a 12 inch rise to the ball, and there's no braking system.

But it's so light I can hardly tell it's behind me.

Crasher · 12-14-2022, 08:47 AM

When one looks at the push and pull on the arms that occurs when turning, the longer the tow bar the less stress exerted during the turn, especially with a long overhang gas coach. When the MH makes a hard right turn, the rear swings left putting a lot of "push" on the left arm until the steering wheels turn. Then when it starts to follow the turn, the right arm wants to compress until the steering wheels turn from left to right. The longer the tow bar is, the less effect the turn has on the arms. Hence, the longer the tow bar is, the lower the amount of "Push/pull" (stress) on the arms.

Unplanned Tourist · 12-14-2022, 09:09 AM

Here's my 2 set-ups.I use a 18 inch extension with an extra receiver welded on it for the bicycle rack when I tow the kit car. It follows pretty good on sharp turns.