The Toad, Ribitttttt
The struggle over here lately has been real. I’m not sure if I told you my original intentions for a toad vehicle. Some of you may be asking, “What exactly is a toad besides that little cutie that makes a ribbit noise?”. A toad vehicle is what you would ‘tow’ behind your motorhome. Hence, the ‘tow’ vehicle began to lovingly be called the ‘toad’ by RV enthusiast. I have no idea when and where it originated but that’s the lingo. Another common term is a dinghy vehicle.
A car being flat towed
Sooooo, I had a plan, I truly did! You see, there are several methods in which you can tow a car behind a motorhome. One method is called flat towing which involves all four wheels down. Then there is towing with a tow dolly, which brings the front wheels up off of the ground. And finally, you can tow with a flat dolly where all four wheels are up. My intent was to tow our car two wheels up on a dolly. I purchased a used Demco Kar Kaddy SS off Craig’s List. The reason why I went this route was because it was a cheaper alternative, I didn’t have a car that was authorized to be flat towed and I thought I could do it with some help, a.k.a. my brother. But you know what they say about well laid plans, right?
Two wheels up on a dolly
Towing four wheels off ground
Well, the first thing that happened was my brother decided life on the road wasn’t for him. After our first trip out with Perl, he went to pursue a relationship that was starting to heat up, wink, wink. So, that left me with a car I was going to have to drive up on a tow dolly ramp with 12 year olds as spotters…….no thanks. Then there was the issue of having to move this tow dolly off the hitch and out of the way by myself while in the campground. These things look cute and dainty but they’re not! They’re 500+ pounds of big hunks of metal and rubber. I think as a ‘single mom on the road’, if you will, I have enough on my plate. So I began to panic a bit. I had to get a car that I could flat tow behind the motorhome or we were going to have to kiss this idea goodbye. Oh boy, not good. The last thing I wanted to do was take on more debt when one of the main reason we downsized our house and started the RV lifestyle was to pay off debt. Yes folks, I’m actually saving money and paying off debt by living in a little house AND having an RV. Our goal is to pay it all off in three years.
So what was I to do? I really didn’t want to dip into cash on hand as I knew there would be expenses associated with getting a towable car ready to be towed. You see, when you have a car that is authorized to be towed all four down, that doesn’t mean it comes with all of the equipment. You have to buy a base plate that needs to be mounted under the car, wiring, an attachment that needs to be hooked up to the RV and a supplemental braking system for the toad. The braking system is so your towed car will slow down at the same pace as the motorhome and won’t put any strain on the motorhomes brakes.
Oh, it’s quite an expensive endeavor, especially when you throw in labor. If you’re an RV geek like me, you can find more about towing a dinghy in the 2015 Motorhome Magazines guide to Dinghy Towing. I’ve been looking up flat-towable cars in their earlier editions all week long. That and the Remco website have been my go to these last couple of days. You can look up what is needed to tow any make and model out there. And you can modify non-towable vehicles (such as my Pilot) but any warranties you have will not be honored and you may ruin your transmission. It’s a big gamble and one I didn’t want to take.
So, to make a very long story short, this past week has been nuts. In the end, we decided to trade in our Toyota. I’ve been in major research mode trying to find a cheap (emphasis on cheap) vehicle that can be flat towed. We found a Honda CR-V at the dealership right around the corner. My husband went to take a look at it after work. Do you know that the one and only towable vehicle for sale on their lot was hit by a customer THIS MORNING! I kid you not. My luck barometer really isn’t that high to begin with but really? It was all starting to look like a bad omen. We shook the thought off and after dinner, we went to our local Honda Dealer.
The new (old) toad
This is where the heavy cloud of bad luck started to lift. Do you believe the cheapest (and highest mileage CR-V, yikes!) on the lot had a base plate for towing already installed! Do you know how hard that is to come by folks?! I’ve been looking at used, ready to tow cars as far away as Texas. So we are now the proud owners of a 2006 Honda CR-V. Let’s all keep our fingers (and toes) crossed that nothing major dies on this car in the next three years. I do believe this is the first car I’ve owned without a warranty in, ummmm, I can’t remember. Now to get the tow bar and wiring for the motorhome and we’re all set to go next month. What a fiasco.
Let’s just say, I have a bit of advice for you. If at all possible, go with the flat-tow method, even if it requires swapping out your current ride. You may physically be able to haul one around right now but things change. There’s a reason why I keep seeing tow dollies being referred to as a PITA (Pain in the Ass) in all of the RV Forums. Now I’m not knocking you if you think you can take one on. We all have our reasons, finances being at the top of the list. So if you’re stubborn like me and want to go that route, I’ll be putting mine back out there on Craig’s list. I could work out a good deal for ya’!! 
{HUGS} from the crew!
Hey, if you’re ordering anything from AMAZON in the near future, please think of me over here. You can help me out by making a purchase after you click on my link. My tow vehicle and I would really appreciate it!
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