Towed vehicle

Wonderdog1 · 07-01-2018, 05:53 PM

Recently purchased a 2018 Sunstar Lx 30t and am completely lost on what type of vehicle we should be looking for to tow behind us. We have towed a trailer with ATVs many times, but are considering going places where we need a vehicle.

Should we be looking for a vehicle with a manual transmission? I have seen many people towing jeeps, are they the easiest and simplest to tow?

Thanks
Wonderdog1

SarahW · 07-01-2018, 06:56 PM

Are you a member of FMCA by any chance? They publish an annual "Towing Guide" that lists all the vehicles that can be flat-towed and the guide is on their website. Jeeps are always a popular choice because they are easy.

BobC · 07-01-2018, 07:43 PM

I've always looked at Motorhome's guide:

Downloadable Dinghy Guides | MotorHome Magazine

Which you can download by year. Keep in mind that things can change dramatically by model year.

Honda CR-V is another popular "toad".

Some models are more complicated than others in terms of the pre-tow checklist, which may involve running through the gears and other steps.

Good luck, there are a million different opinions out there as to what's best. Also, the weight of your toad can be critical depending on your motorhome's capacity. Just because your hitch says 5,000 lbs, that doesn't mean you can tow that much. There's a lot of info online as to how to compute your capacity and it's dependent on how heavily loaded your motorhome is.

Oldchinahand · 07-02-2018, 12:24 AM

Ditto on the two previous references to published guides to tow vehicles. And double ditto to the "million different opinions as to what is best".

We devour the guides when they come out, but we love our Camry, and the one before, and the one likely to come, so our dolly lets us take her when we want to. But when we boondock -- the majority of our trips -- we take our 1998 Ford Ranger extended cab. Bought it new, it still looks new -- inside and out -- and its paid for. It carried our tent and gear up until we made the move to "glamping", and it just didn't feel right to dump it for our new love. But it is an automatic. Not towable.

Tucson Driveline to the rescue! For about $700 (think month and a half payments on a new vehicle) they installed a Remco drive shaft conversion and even wired my lights for towing. Simple, mechanical disengagement of the driveshaft from the rear axle with a pull of the button. Full disclosure, usually the mechanism re-engages with a nice satisfying "snick!", but if we are pulling out under the watchful eye of several snooty kibitzers, it will grind and grind like bones in a garbage disposal.

Our dinghy solution.

Fair Winds and Following Seas

Meridian42e · 07-02-2018, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarahW

Jeeps are always a popular choice because they are easy.

No....because they are cool!

SarahW · 07-02-2018, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meridian42e

No....because they are cool!

SarahW · 07-02-2018, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wonderdog1

Recently purchased a 2018 Sunstar Lx 30t and am completely lost on what type of vehicle we should be looking for to tow behind us. We have towed a trailer with ATVs many times, but are considering going places where we need a vehicle.

Should we be looking for a vehicle with a manual transmission? I have seen many people towing jeeps, are they the easiest and simplest to tow?

Thanks
Wonderdog1

One thing you will want to consider is a vehicle that will be within the safe towing limits of your RV. So pay attention to the GCWR and the hitch weight limit when considering your toad.

BobC · 07-02-2018, 10:20 AM

This article lays out the various things to consider in how heavy of a vehicle you can tow. It's best if you know the actual weight of your motorhome loaded for travel, with driver, passenger, fuel, water, propane, all your stuff, etc:

https://www.thefitrv.com/rv-tips/how...all-motorhome/

Even though the article references small motorhomes the math is the same regardless of the size of your motorhome.

Assuming you are "flat towing" the tongue weight is unlikely to be of concern. If you're dolly towing it will be.

Meridian42e · 07-02-2018, 10:28 AM

CAT Scales have a new app as well that makes weighing reeeeally easy - no more waiting in line or even getting out of your coach

https://weighmytruck.com/

Wonderdog1 · 07-02-2018, 10:32 AM

Thanks for everyone’s helpful suggestions!

The 2018 Guide to Dingy Towing was of great help! Now l have to research the extra braking systems.

Wonderdog1

BobC · 07-02-2018, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wonderdog1

Thanks for everyone’s helpful suggestions!

The 2018 Guide to Dingy Towing was of great help! Now l have to research the extra braking systems.

Wonderdog1

Again, you'll get a million conflicting opinions, so I'll give mine first. I purchased the ReadyBrake supplemental braking system to use with my Blue Ox tow bar.

The ReadyBrake is available as a tow bar/brake combination or just as a braking system that will work with most tow bars. I like the fact that it doesn't need to be installed and removed from the vehicle as you go to tow mode to and back to drive mode. The engineer in me likes that it's purely mechanical and doesn't rely on electronics, servos and electrical connections to work. It's also less expensive than most other systems.

Ready Brake and Ready Brute Home

From what I've seen online, those who have negative opinions on it, for the most part have never owned one, and those that do own one seem to like it.

In the interest of full disclosure, I bought the ReadyBrake supplemental braking system after weeks of research but confess that I haven't used it yet. I still need to install the bracket on my car.

Wingchop · 07-02-2018, 12:23 PM

Newer CR-V's can't be towed.

SarahW · 07-02-2018, 12:25 PM

We have the ReadyBrute Elite towbar with the built-in surge brakes. Flawless operation and the simplest to set up, IMO. We paired it with the Blue Ox baseplate for the Jeep, which my husband installed himself in a couple of hours.

MinnieKJB · 07-02-2018, 03:42 PM

we have a 2018 chevy equinox great to tow and simple set up and no fuses to pull.

Cheryl Bisson · 07-02-2018, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wingchop

Newer CR-V's can't be towed.

2014 model CRV was the last year for being towed.

BobC · 07-02-2018, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wonderdog1

Thanks for everyone’s helpful suggestions!

The 2018 Guide to Dingy Towing was of great help! Now l have to research the extra braking systems.

Wonderdog1

The 2018 guide only contains 2018 models. You have to check each year to figure out what make/model years can be towed. I wish they had a multi-year cross reference by make/model so you can tell what years are towable without having to check numerous annual additions.

powercat_ras · 07-02-2018, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wonderdog1

Recently purchased a 2018 Sunstar Lx 30t and am completely lost on what type of vehicle we should be looking for to tow behind us. We have towed a trailer with ATVs many times, but are considering going places where we need a vehicle.

Should we be looking for a vehicle with a manual transmission? I have seen many people towing jeeps, are they the easiest and simplest to tow?

Thanks
Wonderdog1

I found that the Honda HR-V LX Sub-compact SUV with manual works for me.

A 4 door sub-compact SUV , MSRP for a new one with manual is $ 20K. Weighs slightly under 3,000 pounds without passengers. I used the Blue Ox Towbar, I installed it myself in less than 1 day. I used it's existing tail lights with isolation diodes for my toad towing lights.

Key has to be in and in the first position to unlock the steering wheel when flat towing. This causes some battery drain but it does not power anything that makes it count miles when flat towing. Can go about 5 hours before the battery gets too run down to start the HR-V.

I used a 6 pin towing connector and ran the RV B+ charge line, fused at 20 Amp in the RV, wire thru the 6-pin connector to the HR-V Battery B+ with a 20 amp fuse in line in the HR-V at the battery. So the battery does not get run down when flat towing thanks to the charge line. Have never blow the fuse in 2 years of flat towing this way.

Since over 2,000 pounds toad brakes are required in most states including my state of Kansas. I used the Blue Ox Patriot portable brake buddy, it gets its 12 volt power from the 12 volt accessory plug in the HR-V, which is powered since the key has to be in position 1 to unlock the steering wheel, anyway.

MisterB · 07-03-2018, 06:28 AM

the beauty of the wrangler is you dont have to keep the key in the vehicle, no steering lock, neutral transfer case (transmission can be kept in park or gear for manual), if you use Jeeps wiring harness for lights it bypasses the Jeep electrical system and operates off the motorhome electrical system

**creativepart** · 07-03-2018, 01:48 PM

We flat tow a 2016 Lincoln MKX. It's a simple procedure to put it in "neutral tow" mode. Just follow the directions on the built in vehicle setup screen. The max speed is 65 mph and they want you to stop and start the vehicle every 5 to 6 hours of towing to relube everything. We pretty much never go more than 5 hours a day so for us we just start it in the morning and let it run for 5 mins or so. There is no need to disconnect any wires or fuses and since the vehicle doesn't have a physical key there is no steering interlock.

The weight is approx 4100 lbs so it's a pretty easy tow. Though it takes about 1 mpg off of our fuel mileage.

We've towed it over 10,000 miles so far without problems.

PLUS, it's a very nice car to have as a daily driver and to drive around when we get to a destination. BTW, it's a "Lincoln" version of the Ford Edge. But for some reason it was easier to purchase a Blue Ox base plate for the Lincoln than it was for a Ford Edge.

Meridian42e · 07-03-2018, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creativepart

We flat tow a 2016 Lincoln MKX. It's a simple procedure to put it in "neutral tow" mode. Just follow the directions on the built in vehicle setup screen. The max speed is 65 mph and they want you to stop and start the vehicle every 5 to 6 hours of towing to relube everything. We pretty much never go more than 5 hours a day so for us we just start it in the morning and let it run for 5 mins or so. There is no need to disconnect any wires or fuses and since the vehicle doesn't have a physical key there is no steering interlock.

The weight is approx 4100 lbs so it's a pretty easy tow. Though it takes about 1 mpg off of our fuel mileage.

We've towed it over 10,000 miles so far without problems.

PLUS, it's a very nice car to have as a daily driver and to drive around when we get to a destination. BTW, it's a "Lincoln" version of the Ford Edge. But for some reason it was easier to purchase a Blue Ox base plate for the Lincoln than it was for a Ford Edge.

I wonder if it is because the Lincoln is more popular as toads. I see a ton of them, but have not seen an Edge until this year.