i'm looking for a toad that can be hauled four wheels on the ground. all i know now is that my toyota tacoma needs the driveshaft dropped. seems like a nuisance. thinking of getting a new used reliable vehicle that we can tow 4 wheels on the ground. preferabley a pick-up, or something where i can store fishing poles and carry two small dogs and maybe hold my bicycle when we move place to place. what is the tow weight? or how much does the rv weigh? is that what i should be concerned about? your advice, words of wisdom, and any other comments greatly appreciated!
I have a jeep wrangler. It is an 01 TJ and is a great Toad. It will go just about anywhere I point it. Now it is not set up as an extreme rock crawler but it will hold its own most places I go. FUn to drive on the beach too.
We tow a Jeep Grand Cherokee, 4 wheel drive. It's great. It did not need any modifications to tow. We just put it in 4 wheel drive, hook it to the MH and off we go. (Actually there is a sequence of 3-4 steps to follow to set the transmission for towing, but it is very easy.) It has fold down rear seats that provide a fairly large cargo area. A bicycle fits. Two dogs, no problem. Haven't tried fishing poles, but I don't see why not. I think the weight is around 3800 lb. Looks like the score is Jeep=2; other vehicles=0
QUOTE(zingy @ Jun 29 2009, 07:01 PM) [snapback]17230[/snapback] i'm looking for a toad that can be hauled four wheels on the ground. all i know now is that my toyota tacoma needs the driveshaft dropped. seems like a nuisance. thinking of getting a new used reliable vehicle that we can tow 4 wheels on the ground. preferabley a pick-up, or something where i can store fishing poles and carry two small dogs and maybe hold my bicycle when we move place to place. what is the tow weight? or how much does the rv weigh? is that what i should be concerned about? your advice, words of wisdom, and any other comments greatly appreciated! I have a Saturn, but any Saturn that can be towed with four down is a great vehicle. I've used them almost since they began. My Vue has a tow weight of 3,600 lbs and with my MH GVWR of 22,000 lbs and GCWR of 26,000 lbs, that leaves me (in theory) 400 lbs I can carry in to Saturn when it is being towed.
QUOTE(abbygolden @ Jun 29 2009, 11:25 PM) [snapback]17236[/snapback] I have a Saturn, but any Saturn that can be towed with four down is a great vehicle. I've used them almost since they began. My Vue has a tow weight of 3,600 lbs and with my MH GVWR of 22,000 lbs and GCWR of 26,000 lbs, that leaves me (in theory) 400 lbs I can carry in to Saturn when it is being towed. ***** I'm ignorant. Do you mean that you can carry 400 lbs IN the Saturn? or that you can only carry 400# in the whole RV? or what? thanks!
We have nearly 25,000 miles on our 2006 Nissan Frontier V-6, 4 wheel drive and love having a 4 wheel drive truck as a toad. It has the electronic transfer switch and most 4 wheel drives of this era can not be towed 4 wheels down without a Remco drive shaft disconnect unit. ($700). When most brands made the switch from a mechanical lever to the electronic transfer switch, towing was not allowed. Salesman will tell you whatever they think you want to hear. Look in the vehicles manual under flat towing to be sure. We start off with the truck bed empty and my wife fills it up with assorted stuff we eventually discard. We usually put about twice the mileage on the toad during exploring in the toad than on the coach. For example, in Quartzite, we drove all through the desert and saw the tank training areas used by General Patton prior to his battles in WWII. Only a 4 wheel drive could have done this. We find similar situations all over the country. A 4 wheel drive toad is the best way to go. I use it as my daily transportation when we are at home.
QUOTE(zingy @ Jun 29 2009, 10:30 PM) [snapback]17237[/snapback] ***** I'm ignorant. Do you mean that you can carry 400 lbs IN the Saturn? or that you can only carry 400# in the whole RV? or what? thanks! It means you can carry 400 lbs IN the Saturn (4,000 lbs [26,000 lbs - 22,000 lbs]- 3,600 lbs = 400 lbs). Texasrvers - I didn't realize we were keeping score. There are a few things in play here. If you like going "off-road" (and I do), a Jeep is an excellent choice. If you are going sightseeing and just travelling around, any other towable is better. After spending all my formative years in the military, the word "Jeep" still has a negative connotation to me, even though I know they are not nearly the same. FWIW, I take my Saturn VUE way off road ALL the time, although I wouldn't try many of the rutted, low clearance road that a Jeep can traverse. There are several car models (and trucks as well) that can be towed with four on the floor. It's always best to get one that meets YOUR needs, not mine or someone else's. You can check out which vehicles can be towed by going to www.motorhomemagazine.com.
QUOTE(abbygolden @ Jun 30 2009, 10:41 AM) [snapback]17240[/snapback] Texasrvers - I didn't realize we were keeping score. Oh, we're not. I was just being silly because the first two responses were about Jeeps. QUOTE There are a few things in play here. If you like going "off-road" (and I do), a Jeep is an excellent choice. If you are going sightseeing and just travelling around, any other towable is better. After spending all my formative years in the military, the word "Jeep" still has a negative connotation to me, even though I know they are not nearly the same. FWIW, I take my Saturn VUE way off road ALL the time, although I wouldn't try many of the rutted, low clearance road that a Jeep can traverse. You do know that the Grand Cherokee looks more like a car/SUV than the "traditional" Jeep Wrangler. That's why we like it. It drives and rides like a passenger car but can also carry things you typically can't get in a car trunk. As for the 4 wheel drive, we aren't big off roaders. It was just that the 4 wheel drive model did not need any modifications to the drive shaft to be towed. It was ready to go just like it was. It now has over 100,000 combined driven and towed miles on it, and it is still going strong. QUOTE There are several car models (and trucks as well) that can be towed with four on the floor. It's always best to get one that meets YOUR needs, not mine or someone else's. This is very true, but the OP did ask for suggestions.
QUOTE(Texasrvers @ Jun 30 2009, 11:52 AM) [snapback]17241[/snapback] Oh, we're not. I was just being silly because the first two responses were about Jeeps. You do know that the Grand Cherokee looks more like a car/SUV than the "traditional" Jeep Wrangler. That's why we like it. It drives and rides like a passenger car but can also carry things you typically can't get in a car trunk. As for the 4 wheel drive, we aren't big off roaders. It was just that the 4 wheel drive model did not need any modifications to the drive shaft to be towed. It was ready to go just like it was. It now has over 100,000 combined driven and towed miles on it, and it is still going strong. This is very true, but the OP did ask for suggestions. Silly is allowed and that is what I took it to be. Several of the Jeep models are very nice and far removed from the old jeep I can't remove from my memory. I don't know how many models can be towed all four down, but there are certainly many of them. In my experience, the most popular appear to be (in no particular order), Jeep, Honda, Saturn and a couple others that don't immediately come to mind.
New for 2009, the Ford Escape is towable without any modifications. We just purchased one and will be outfitting with a tow bar/brake system. Looked into the M&G brake system but they have not engineered their system to this vehicle, will be using the Roadmaster Brake Master system. Is designed to operate like the M&G system. As we have been tow dolly people for six years this is going to be something new for us. As the vehicle weighs 3369 lbs. plus the tow bar/brake system we will be less in weight than the vehicle/tow dolly configuration......
so do all four wheel drives have the ability to be towed 4 wheels down? i looked at rvmotorhome.com , but couldn't find any info on toads. we haven't subscribed, if that makes a difference. THANKS TO ALL WHO REPLIED! WHAT GREAT INFO!!!
QUOTE so do all four wheel drives have the ability to be towed 4 wheels down? Not without modifications on some of them. Several years ago when I was deciding what buying to buy, I heard about a guy who bought a new Toyota 4 wheel drive and the salesman told him sure it will tow. He towed it about 200 miles and we he unhooked, his transmittion was completely shot. Couldn't move the truck. He went back to the dealer and the salesman was gone and the dealer denied everything. He had to pay for a new transmition. Be careful and make sure you read the instruction manual to see if you can and what are the limitations and prodedures. I even called Nissan and they sent me an email to have a backup in writing.
I tow a saturn vue two wheel drive. Although it will tow four down we use a dolly cuz we already owned one and right now cannot afford the 4000 to change over to 4dn.
QUOTE(Lee and Fran @ Jun 30 2009, 09:43 PM) [snapback]17254[/snapback] I tow a saturn vue two wheel drive. Although it will tow four down we use a dolly cuz we already owned one and right now cannot afford the 4000 to change over to 4dn. We tow a Honda Crv,great vehicle with no muss or fuss,put her in N and away we go!Plenty of room to keep stuff inside and comfortable enough too.
QUOTE(Lee and Fran @ Jun 30 2009, 09:43 PM) [snapback]17254[/snapback] I tow a saturn vue two wheel drive. Although it will tow four down we use a dolly cuz we already owned one and right now cannot afford the 4000 to change over to 4dn. I'm confused by your response. I, too, own a Saturn Vue and tow it four wheels down. What $4,000 are you talking about? Do you mean the additional money you would spend for a tow bar, brake system and base plate, etc? If so, it's nowhere near $4,000. Mine cost less than $2,500. Still, I think we would agree that it isn't chump change. Your reason for sticking with a dolly makes perfectly good sense.
Just for information, we just obtained an estimate from Camping World for equipment, labor for installation and the price was $4000 plus.
That $4,000 is very high in my opinion. We used Towing Word and they put in a very good system including a Tow Bar, rewired the coach as the previous owner ripped out everything when removing his town bar, the great Toad Stop Breakng system, brackets, a sensor light on the coach dash, plus incidentals for $3,100. I figured at the time that this was about $700 more than getting one of the cheaper systems that sits in front of the drivers seats and attaches to the brake petal. Try and indepandant or call Blue Ox and get a dealer near you. Where do you reside?
QUOTE(Lindsay Richards @ Jul 1 2009, 07:46 PM) [snapback]17271[/snapback] That $4,000 is very high in my opinion. We used Towing Word and they put in a very good system including a Tow Bar, rewired the coach as the previous owner ripped out everything when removing his town bar, the great Toad Stop Breakng system, brackets, a sensor light on the coach dash, plus incidentals for $3,100. I figured at the time that this was about $700 more than getting one of the cheaper systems that sits in front of the drivers seats and attaches to the brake petal. Try and indepandant or call Blue Ox and get a dealer near you. Where do you reside? We thought it was high also, but we have lost our local Rv dealer, and CW is within forty minutes of home. They have done work for us before and it was okay. We are in upstate New York above Albany at about 26 miles.... everything is high in New York, that is why people are leaving the state in droves...anywhere but here.
