Community Forums

cbald51 · 01-10-2019, 11:54 AM

My wife and I are planning a trip down the east coast from Maine to Florida next fall. We will be leaving from Ca and going north then east (we need to go to North Dakota to add to list of states visited) . We will be traveling in our 24 ft Fuse and trying to figure our if we should tow our CRV. Our previous house was 37 foot and we always brought the car but now we think we would be ok without towing and use Uber or something in the larger cities we would like to see like in DC. Thanks for any thoughts and sugestions.

Ray,IN · 01-10-2019, 12:38 PM

To me that sounds like a very good plan. A 24' RV can navigate parking lots as easily as my 1T dually, CC, LB Chevy pickup. I sometimes had to park further away an walk a 1/2 block more, but exercise does it good, right.
When you are in N. Dakota, be sure take a side trip to Havre, MT. to walk through their underground city,beneath the streets, this is where town residents of the 1800's thru early 1900's would live during their long cold winters.
There is a convenient hotel/RV park on the East end of town, its only drawback is, the main RR switch-yard is beside the CG with only a wooden fence between them.

Winterbagoal · 01-10-2019, 06:55 PM

Can you pull a CRV with a Fuse? Have you done it?
The Fuse GCWR is 13500 lbs, but how much does the Fuse weigh, loaded for travel? How much does the CRV weigh loaded for travel? Just curious.
We (can) pull a 4400 lb Wrangler with our Navion, but the GCWR is 15250 lbs. - we're about 400 lbs under the GVWR when loaded up, so it gives us some extra room under the GCWR.

cbald51 · 01-11-2019, 07:09 AM

I have not weighed the CRV loaded yet. We traded in November of last year and just left the car with family because I knew it was overloaded with all the stuff we had to pack in it from our 37 footer. Had to pair down a lot after living in and traveling for several years. Going to fly back and get the car later then will weigh and see where we are. Thanks for the info.

cbald51 · 01-11-2019, 07:11 AM

Thanks for the tip, sounds interesting. I will add to the to do list.

Winterbagoal · 01-11-2019, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbald51

I have not weighed the CRV loaded yet. We traded in November of last year and just left the car with family because I knew it was overloaded with all the stuff we had to pack in it from our 37 footer. Had to pair down a lot after living in and traveling for several years. Going to fly back and get the car later then will weigh and see where we are. Thanks for the info.

Not trying to discourage towing, just saying the numbers might be pretty close to the GCWR limit. A 2012 CRV curb weight is around 3300 lbs according to the MM Dinghy Guide.
We're close to our max GCWR, but still under. I wish we had a little more of a cushion, but we planned on towing so we can go somewhere and park the Navion for a few weeks, and the current numbers and some weight balancing between the 2 vehicles, allows us to do it.

luvlabs · 01-11-2019, 08:05 AM

INMO a car is needed for this trip - especially on the East Coast. Going to tourist locations and sightseeing is probably not a good idea for a motorhome, even a small one.

Public transportation is a possibility - if the campground you select has a shuttle bus to stations. Boston, New York, DC all subway systems that will get where you want to go. Or you could simply rent a car in the locations you want to visit.

tbillet · 01-11-2019, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvlabs

INMO a car is needed for this trip - especially on the East Coast. Going to tourist locations and sightseeing is probably not a good idea for a motorhome, even a small one.

Public transportation is a possibility - if the campground you select has a shuttle bus to stations. Boston, New York, DC all subway systems that will get where you want to go. Or you could simply rent a car in the locations you want to visit.

Uber or Lyft are both viable options anywhere on the east coast.
Factoring the cost of a toad, hitch, insurance, maintenance, fuel (for toad & MH)...we could do a lot of Ubering! (Is that a word?)
Curious if others are using these options?

merrykalia · 01-11-2019, 07:39 PM

We have used public transit in NYC, Boston, Baltimore and DC Metro and had no problems. Baltimore wasn't my favorite, but we only went down to the Inner Harbor, then back. If I were to do it again, I'd probably Uber instead of using their transit system.

NYC, we stayed in Liberty Harbor in Jersey City and it was a quick 20 minute train ride into the city. Other campgrounds and RV Parks further out, you have over an hour bus ride, then get on the subway. That is just too much travel time in/out each way. It's definitely nothing to write home about, but it is close and the views are amazing.

We have stayed at several different places in Maine, in/around Acadia and then in Old Orchard Beach (which was my favorite, Ne're Family Campground). There is no transit in these areas, but your 24' C should be able to get around to most all the places you want to go.

We stayed outside of Boston, but I have no idea what the name of the park way. It was about a 10 minute walk to pick up a bus, then in to the subway.

Cherry Hill is about the best for getting around in the DC area. A bus comes within a half a block of the campground, which will take you to the Metro station. You can get ANYWHERE you want to go on the Metro and it is clean and easy.

Further south, you won't find other transit systems, but if you go to the Charleston area, James Island County park has a shuttle that will take you to the historic downtown Charleston, which is about 15 minutes away.

At most of the campgrounds in/around Savannah, you can get shuttles into the historic areas.

cbald51 · 01-12-2019, 08:46 AM

Thanks for all the info more stuff to add to our list.

damage31 · 01-14-2019, 06:22 PM

Having completed an east coast trip from MN to Maine including all of the NE states then down to Washington DC and back to mn in a 32’ jayco with friends who drove their minivan- all I can say is take a toad.

Having the car to get around in was so much better than if we would have had to rent a car or try to get an Uber when needed. There’s many places in the northeast you just physically can’t get an RV. I had a 24’ class c before my 32 - and I’ll tell you this : there’s no way I would go east in just a rv alone knowing what I know now. Even if it was a 24. It’s just too tall and too heavy for some areas. Parking in the small east states on the ocean in the tourist areas is almost exclusively a car only thing.

Like others have said, in the major metro cities public transportation is great and not an issue.

Oh- and don’t try to get from the KOA in upstate NY to Cherry Hill Rv Park in DC in the dark, and watch out for the tunnel google will want to route you through that you can’t use...

One final bit of advice- get an Illinois ipass - it works with ez pass. if you are in a true class c get the license plate mounted one and make sure to mount it directly in the center of the vehicle. Mine was off center and twice I got stuck at a toll booth because it didn’t get read and had to go online to get my account number to show the toll person as traffic backed up behind me - it really made me mad. You get a discount on the tolls and don’t have to stop. Tolls are everywhere out east

cbald51 · 01-15-2019, 05:26 AM

Thanks for the good info. It is sounding like I need to tow. I will get the CRV weighed and go from there.

Jeff24g · 01-15-2019, 05:51 AM

Good luck looking into a toad. We use a 2015 View 24G and tow a 2016 Jeep Cherokee. Challenging finding a light toad. I continue to look only from an inquisitive position. I found 2 solutions. One would be a used Honda Fit with lift kit, there are many out there, and some oversized tires. We want ground clearance for to toad and I like easy in easy out. The second option does not offer easy in out but it light and really just between a car and motorcycle. A Polaris Slingshot with roof and cabin cover works, but no storage. There is a special device to connect the rear tire lifting it at the bumper of the RV effectively towing two down. There is a website with Polaris Slingshot accessories. I would love it but I went to a dealership several weeks ago and had difficulty getting in out on drivers and passengers side.

RickNC · 01-21-2019, 10:11 AM

I live on the east coast and have traveled in both NYC and Boston and most of New England in either a 23' Winnebago class A or a 24' box truck. No tow-ed. 23-25' is the size of a UPS truck and UPS goes pretty much everywhere. We like to travel the back roads and out of the way places so having to drag a another vehicle behind us is inconvenient and sometimes limiting.

When we lived in New York we didn't drive our car into either Boston or NYC so we did't expect to park a motorhome either. There is parking near Manhattan for a motorhome but you are looking at $60-$100 for 12 hours. Closest one is just over the East river in Hunter Point ~30 mins by train to Mid Town. If you search for parking in NYC search for "Truck parking" I have used several of these lots when I was a contractor and needed to overnight a truck.

Last trip to Boston we parked at the Holbrook MBTA Station paid for the two parking spaces we occupied ($4 each) and 20 mins downtown. Weekends only. Pay by App.

On our trip to Maine this year we will visit NYC by staying at Black Bear Campground Near Harriman NY and take the PATH Train from Harriman to Manhattan (2 hrs) You can park your 24' at the Harriman station if you park in the back lot by the Cell/radio tower.

A Truckers atlas will get you around the low clearances and restrictions you have to worry about in NYC and Boston. Outside of the cities you will be fine on signed US routes and most state routes. The local roads are where you will encounter the majority of low clearances and the occasional 5 ton bridge.

Around NYC and the outer-burbs there are several "parkways". Motorhomes are not allowed on most if not all of them and some such as the Merritt Parkway in CT have numerous low bridges.