Toads

[Pete Masterson]

Leroy,

All I can say, having a 4-down toad is the best thing I did.
Originally, I was considering a dolly, but the RV lists I participate
in were pretty uniformly suggesting I arrange to tow 4-down.

When evaluating my choices: (1) use one of the cars we already own
(neither able to be towed without modification), or (2) purchase a
new or used vehicle that can be towed.

Ultimately, I settled on using one of our existing cars. I guess it's
better the devil you know rather than the devil you don't know. I was
fully aware of the condition and level of maintenance of our existing
cars -- and purchasing a used car would have that as an unknown. For
budgetary reasons, I didn't want to purchase a brand new car to tow.
(Hey, I'm not happy with all the crud that towing seems to deposit on
a car-- and a new car would exacerbate that emotion.)

Originally, I would have selected the smaller/lighter '03 Toyota Echo
that my wife usually drives. However, there was no adaptors available
for it to make it towable 4-down. Therefore, I used the '93 Toyota
Camry I usually drive. Frankly, it's more comfortable for the
'touring' driving we do when the bus is parked. While it's about 1000
lbs. heavier than the Echo, in use it's not been any trouble and the
weight doesn't seem to be much of a factor.

After having towed my car for about 10,000 miles, I can observe:

1. it's really handy to be able to disconnect quickly in difficult
circumstances. More than once we've found ourselves in situations
where I _had_ to back up to complete a turn in very tight maneuvering
situations. Being able to drop the toad has been invaluable. Not
having to deal with a dolly (or trailer) in those cases is a major
plus. While it's impossible to back up with a toad (for more than a
couple of feet), you can back up with a trailer -- but the situations
where I've been forced to back up would likely have been very
difficult with a trailer/dolly that probably would have gone the
wrong way in reverse.

2. the toad handles very well. Most of the time I'm not even aware
it's there (except for the rear view camera). There is no storage
problem. In one RV park, the size of the space did not allow the toad
to remain in our assigned spot. But parking the toad in the 'overflow
parking area' was quite simple. Trying to move a trailer or dolly
under similar circumstances would have been a royal pain.

3. My car, a '93 Toyota Camry with automatic transmission, is not
able to be flat towed without addition of a transmission lube pump.
The Remco unit seems quite effective and has not presented me with
any problems. In addition, I've installed an SMI supplemental braking
system. I found that the supplemental brakes can (should) be adjusted
to only activate on very "heavy" stops (when it would make a
difference in stopping distance). For normal stops, I have the
sensitivity switch dialed down to keep it from activating. The bus
doesn't seem to notice, and it's much easier on the car brakes. (At
first, I had the sensitivity adjustment a bit high ... and the car
smelled of 'burning brakes' after a trip.)

Pete Masterson
'95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42
El Sobrante CA
aeonix1@...



On Aug 27, 2007, at 1:13 PM, Leroy Eckert wrote:

> Thanks to all that replied. I'm giving some thought to selling the
> trailer and going to a toad.
> Leroy Eckert
> 1990 WB-40"Smoke N Mirrors"
<snip>


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