Does anyone have suggestions on how to decide which towing method is best for a 27' Class C with a 5000 lbs hitch. We just upgraded to this new unit and want to tow our Chev Lumina. We plan on extended stays in the southern states to avoid the cold and snow of the upper mid-west. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
Personally we prefer to tow 4 down with a tow bar instead of a tow dolly. You can use a tow dolly, but they can be a pain in the rear some times (when its rainy,muddy etc). If your Chevy Lumina is a 90's or newer you can tow it 4 down without any restrictions, just put it in neutral and put the ign. key in the ACC. position, hook up and go. Hope this helps.
We also flat tow our car. My husband prefers this method over a tow dolly. We have a Blue Ox tow system.
We tow with a totally aluminium tow dolly. As we have three vehicles, with the tow dolly, we can tow any one of the three. We have no problems in using the tow dolly, and can hook and or unhook as fast or faster than those using the four down systems. The only draw back is, after unhooking, you have to store the tow dolly somewhere. There are campgrounds that do not allow you to store it on your site, and those cg have a designated area to store them. The cgs that we have used have not objected to storing the dolly on site, and some pull throughs are long enough to accommodate the motor home and the dolly without unhooking the dolly. Opinions are many on this subject, pros and cons. The answer is, what ever fits your needs at that time.
I two my Jeep four down. In some small sites after unhooking a dolly you have to find someplace to put it. A vehicle in tow is enough hazard without worrying about a vehicle coming off a dolly in tow. Doug and Cassi
With the tow dolly, if the vehicle is secured properly, at the wheels and with the safety cable installed, the vehicle can not leave the dolly. After a few miles I re-tighten the wheel retainers, as they are constructed from nylon, they will stretch. Of course, as I stated before, opinions on what is the best way to tow a vehicle is a decision that you feel comfortable with. We have heard many more incidents of vehicles breaking away from the "four down" systems than that of tow dolly failures. To be fair, most four down break aways that we had heard of, when admitted to, are the result of not following the instructions of a proper hook up. Equipment failure, tow bar assembly, is another reason for the break away. When towing a vehicle, by what ever means, you have to be very much aware, and periodically check for problems.
I have towed by trailer, dolly and four down. I much prefer the 4 down with a good Roadmaster towbar. The only hang up with four down is the inability to back up with toad on. However, the storage problems I encountered with other systems was a bigger pain.
We have flat towed for the last 11 years. Towed a Nissan PU for 40,000, a Dakota Pu for 45,000miles including a trip to Alaska. Just bought a GMC Sierra 4X4. Never had a problem.
Need some help myself. We just upgraded from travel trailer to motorhome and have no experience with a toad. What is the "proper etiquette" for hitching/unhitching the toad? Do you do it at the campsite, while registering? Or do you just find the most practical spot available?
gwbischoff, Where we unhook/hook depends on the spot we'll be in. If we have a good level pull through we pull into the site and then unhook because this is out of everyone else's way. However, if the site is unlevel when we get to it we will probably pull over to the side of the street as best we can and unhook there. If we know we'll have a back in site we usually ask when we register where the best spot is to unhook. Unfortunately the office personnel has not always given us what we think is the best advice. Where ever you unhook/hook if you leave as much space as possible for other vehicles to get by and if you make an effort to hurry most people will not be upset. Unfortunately we have seen people park right in the middle of the road so that even a car has trouble getting by and then they take forever to get going. This is not the time or place to go over your entire departure checklist. Just use common sense, consider your fellow RVer, and you'll be fine.
gwbischoff: If you follow "Texasrvers" advice you will have done it correctly. It is verbatim what I would recommend. Courtesy and consideration can't be trumped.
I complely agree with TexasRVers. If you have an alternative, you should never block another camper while you are unhooking. A week ago we were pulling into an RV park in Anacortes, WA, and a multi-million dollar coach completely blocked both the in and out lanes of this park while unhooking his toad. Two days ago, we moved to a park in Coeur d'Alene,ID, and, guess what, the same coach, with the same couple, saw that the enter lane was backed up with four coaches that were registering, so they pulled into the exit lane, and then swung over into part of the other lane, effectively blocking traffic in and out of the park while they registered and then continued to block all traffic while they unhooked their car despite the fact there was an open area not 100 feet in front of them where they could unhook their vehicles. It's like anything else: The vast majority of the time you meet nice people when RVing but, from time to time, you run into some rude, selfish, uncaring jerks.
It is so much easier to tow 4 down and not have the extra piece of equipment (tow dolly) and the extra weight to deal with. QUOTE(stonybirch @ Mar 29 2006, 09:37 PM) [snapback]3788[/snapback] Does anyone have suggestions on how to decide which towing method is best for a 27' Class C with a 5000 lbs hitch. We just upgraded to this new unit and want to tow our Chev Lumina. We plan on extended stays in the southern states to avoid the cold and snow of the upper mid-west. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
