TowTower

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by hohenwald48

The toad looks pretty close to the back of the motorhome. Could be a problem in a tight turn.

Also, since there are no steerable tires under the front of the toad it will not track directly behind the motorhome but will turn inside the towing vehicles track just as a bumper pull or 5th wheel does. Not necessarily a problem but something to consider. Tongue weight will eliminate it from consideration on 95 percent of motorhome/toad combinations.

I wonder why they didn't demonstrate it with the motorhome suspension aired up and ready to go down the road?

Wreckers pick up the front wheels on cars every minute of every day. Those cars being towed, track just fine. Of course it's going to take a different path when making a turn, EVERY TRAILER of any type on the planet takes a different path than the vehicle towing it.

Originally Posted by gbstewart

I would use a dolly
It looks like the front would teeter totter side to side
Wheels would hit the ground at some point
Tracking would be a problem and a braking system would not be as affective , most of your braking is on the front wheels, I think you would have to have the car in neutral , to avoid your tires from skidding if the hit the payment

"Teeter totter"?
May I ask, how is that possible when the cars rear wheels and suspension (quite off also equipped with a rear sway bar)(depending on make and model) are, and would be stabilizing the ride and keeping things on an even keel?

Originally Posted by Fiesta48

I bought a complete tow bar assembly and installed myself for $850.
Weight on hitch <100 lbs, proven technology, reliable.

Just wondering, does this have anything to do with the OPs post?

Originally Posted by SavageCatHV

Maybe someone could explain it in terms I could understand but how does lifting a 4000lb vehicle become only 1600lbs on the read axel? My toad is 2800lbs. So it would become about 1200lbs???

SavageCatHV,
Well, the way I look at it, a 4,000 lb. vehicle weighs 4,000 lbs, with all four tires on the ground, correct? But, in the demo of the OPs post, or any time you lift HALF the car, you're only lifting around 1/2 the weight. Now, this is generalizing. Of course you've got the engine, radiator and lots of components that are not normally in the rear to lift too so, based on certain parameters, on an average 4,000 lb. car, one might be lifting say, oh, around maybe 2,500 + or -. This is just a guess. Without doing an exact weight scale test, again, I'm just generalizing.

When you jack up a corner of car to change a flat tire, you're only lifting, plus or minus, around 1/4 of the weight, generalizing.
Scott

[Timon]

Originally Posted by SavageCatHV

Maybe someone could explain it in terms I could understand but how does lifting a 4000lb vehicle become only 1600lbs on the read axel? My toad is 2800lbs. So it would become about 1200lbs???

You need to go back to your mechanical advantage class. The lifting point it at least 4' in front of the wheels. So let's say you have a wheel base of 12' so that makes the lifting point 16' from the pivot point. The weight of the car is distributed over the 12' so with the pivot lifting point so far in front you now gain mechanical advantage taking which will reduce the weight the lifting point sees. How much will depend on the weight distribution of the vehicle but I can easily see only 1,600lbs for a 4,000lbs vehicle.

Go to this web site to calculate the weight. Set W to your front wheel weight X to the wheelbase and L to the front of the spear. Not knowing the exact length I used 4' and thus L would be 16'. If your front wheel weight is 2,000lbs and the wheelbase is 12' then the force at the end of the spear is 1,500lbs.

[hohenwald48]

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

EVERY TRAILER of any type on the planet takes a different path than the vehicle towing it.

Which was exactly my point. A 4 down toad tracks in the same path as the towing vehicle. Trailers take an inside track on turns.

[Finance]

Originally Posted by hohenwald48

Which was exactly my point. A 4 down toad tracks in the same path as the towing vehicle. Trailers take an inside track on turns.

No, a toad takes essentially the same arc as a trailer with equivalent length. If it's 12' from the tow bar swivel to the toad rear axle it will track like a trailer with 12' from the coupler to the trailer axle.

[Hgrace56]

Originally Posted by Timon

You need to go back to your mechanical advantage class. The lifting point it at least 4' in front of the wheels. So let's say you have a wheel base of 12' so that makes the lifting point 16' from the pivot point. The weight of the car is distributed over the 12' so with the pivot lifting point so far in front you now gain mechanical advantage taking which will reduce the weight the lifting point sees. How much will depend on the weight distribution of the vehicle but I can easily see only 1,600lbs for a 4,000lbs vehicle.

Go to this web site to calculate the weight. Set W to your front wheel weight X to the wheelbase and L to the front of the spear. Not knowing the exact length I used 4' and thus L would be 16'. If your front wheel weight is 2,000lbs and the wheelbase is 12' then the force at the end of the spear is 1,500lbs.

And maybe you need to look at the center of gravity of the vehicle.
Engines being the greatest mass and in the front 1/4 of most vehicles makes this all voodoo math

[TonyDi]

The problem I see is the towed vehicle is very close to the rear of the MH. In tight turns it seems like it could come into contact with the MH.

[Scarab0088]

Interesting but redundant to a RV wheel lift*...which requires no mods to the toad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-8_2fpVC3Y

Brakes on the toad...yeah, not happening. There is no market for supplimental braking just the rear tires of a toad. And the website says the toad is placed in neutral to tow...so, that would void any natural brake-away safety.

Even with the typical front wheel drive car, you are looking at 1500lb or more on the end of the pintle (easily 3 feet of leverage). Only very large tag axle Diesel Pushers could carry that kind of tongue weight...leaves the greatest majority of RV's unable to use it.

Oh well...thanks for sharing.

*We are not affiliated.

[trx430ex]

Originally Posted by Scarab0088

Only very large tag axle Diesel Pushers could carry that kind of tongue weight...leaves the greatest majority of RV's unable to use it.

Oh well...thanks for sharing.

*We are not affiliated.

Have to concur, good for about 8% of the market. There is no scale selling this to make money.

6600 Lb E350 toad here.


As for thew F53, you can not put enough springs on it to pick up that much weight, then there is still the braking issues.

[Timon]

Originally Posted by Hgrace56

And maybe you need to look at the center of gravity of the vehicle.
Engines being the greatest mass and in the front 1/4 of most vehicles makes this all voodoo math

Makes no difference. It’s close enough for what we’re looking at.

[Timon]

Originally Posted by Scarab0088

Interesting but redundant to a RV wheel lift*...which requires no mods to the toad.

Brakes on the toad...yeah, not happening. There is no market for supplimental braking just the rear tires of a toad. And the website says the toad is placed in neutral to tow...so, that would void any natural brake-away safety.

I like this system better than the TowTower. The vehicle will pivot using the front wheels so you can be closer to the MH and still be fine with any turn the MH can make.

As far as braking it would be the same system as flat towing. If the vehicle came off the brakes would be applied. It would apply braking to all wheels which is what you wNt if ther was a breakaway. The fact that Brame are applied to the nonrotating front wheels doesn’t matter.

You’d still need use safety chains.

I’d use better wheel nets that the ones shown. Way to easy for those to fail.

Wonder how much the lift weights?

[trx430ex]

Wonder if the hydraulics are smart enough to not lift more than the coach is rated for?

There is a failsafe.

This would say, stop a Fleetwood Bounder owner trying to tow his F350 super duty down the turnpike.

The dividends return as the Toad gets heaver in 4 down braking scale way up the other way. In a much more customer base cost, sold in scale.

Also, do you have any idea how “loud” Pintal hook sloop is? Receiver lock sloop X 5.

[Dutch Star Don]

What was not shone in this post, but another where the OP had previously posted, is the metal mount that is bolted to the bottom of the car. Its a large "H" with a large metal extension off one side of the "H". This extension points forward and would make for a heck of a spear under the car in a low driveway or speed bump.

[hohenwald48]

Originally Posted by Finance

No, a toad takes essentially the same arc as a trailer with equivalent length. If it's 12' from the tow bar swivel to the toad rear axle it will track like a trailer with 12' from the coupler to the trailer axle.

Your's might. Mine tracks right behind the motorhome and stays within the tire tracks made by the motorhome. When I tow a trailer it tracks significantly inside on a turn. But then the trailers I've towed don't have steerable front wheels. Maybe the trailers you've towed do.

A toad does not track the same as a trailer.

[saddlesore]

Both systems shown will act like a "stinger steer", ie: will cause the toad to steer to the outside of the turn, or in other words follow the rear drive wheel tracks.