Towing a motor home with a toad

Bill

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The mtns of AZ, and the beaches of Maine
I have an odd question, directed at the towing experts on the forum.

Here on “the beaches of Maine”, as listed in my sig line, we live on quiet dead-end street. It is about a half mile long, dead flat, one and a half lanes wide, and truly a dead end. The entrance is boldly signed “RESIDENTIAL AREA, DEAD END, NO TURN AROUND”. Despite the signs, a few times a year a big motor home with the inevitable toad comes chugging on down the street, just quietly rubbernecking, until he gets to the end of the road and realizes he is in trouble.

At that point, the driver has only one solution. No one can back a motorhome and toad down a half mile of narrow street, so he has to disconnect the toad, back it into somebody’s driveway, reverse it out, drive it away a bit, then back the motorhome into somebody’s driveway, pull it out onto the street again, hook up the toad again, and drive out. Then wave cheerfully to the neighbors, and go on his way. It’s a slow process, not pretty, and of course he blocks the residents’ access to their homes, as well as emergency vehicles, for the half hour that it takes to do this.

It happened again Friday. The biggest motorhome I’ve ever seen, with a four-door Jeep Grand Cherokee toad, 4-wheels-down, came snarling on down the street (nothing this big “chugs”). When the owner figured out he was in trouble, he reluctantly made the standard exit maneuver. Disconnect the toad, move the vehicles separately, reconnect them, and drive out. As usual, it blocked the road for about a half hour.

As I watched, a question popped into my mind. No one can back up a long tow vehicle (the motor home) with a short trailer (the toad). But consider an 18-wheeler. It is a short tow vehicle (the tractor) with a long trailer (the box). We have all marveled at the fact that the driver can back that rig anywhere, but it works for him because the tow vehicle is short compared to the trailer. Would that work here? Why not simply put the motor home in neutral, making it the trailer? Fire up the toad, and either use it push the motor home (effectively backing it) into someone's driveway, or let it pull the “trailer” down the street and into the chosen driveway. Then reverse the roles again and let the motorhome pull the toad out into the street and back to the starting point.

As long as the toad is four-wheels-down, it seems that it should be quick and easy. Any thoughts as to why I should not recommend this to the next prideful cowboy who comes be-bopping down the street with his plush motorhome and his toad?

Bill
 
Bill:
Not to take anything away from all the technical people that will come up with their answer but I would go ahead and give the suggestion and then pull up a lounge chair and have a beer while it all goes on. Don't forget to post back on everything that happens though!

Bob
 
Reverse gear . . .

While I am not old enough to have actually seen this....;)

(I have seen pictures of it in a Santa Fe museum of old cars backing up the big hill on what would be 25 from Albuqurque to Santa Fe...)

I can remember my dad telling me that if I could not go forward up something and had to get to the top to try reverse. That it was the lowest gear in the box.... seems that if one took it very slow and listened to the toad for any " croaking sounds of death " it should at least be worth a try....
 
My thoughts- the toad is probably good for class III at the very most. The RV is probably double what a Class 4 is in weight. I would think the toad would have transmission troubles in very short order. I would personally be afraid to try it if I were the dummy that came down the street. You might want to keep some kitty litter around to sop up the transmission fluid if someone tries.

I am not the expert you are waiting to weigh in on this though.
 
Toad becomes the tug

It would work Bill with possible problems. If the cowboy was alone, he might have to tie his motorhome steering wheel to keep it from wandering. If it did wander he would have to stop and go back and forth between the mh and the toad to make corrections. You could sell lawn-chair tickets to watch that performance.
As to a toad having the power to pull a mh: I once saw a mustang tow a 13 ton rig to start the engine when it was too cold for the tractor to start the engine with ether.
My neighbor has a mh and drags a car dolly. He impresses me every time by backing it out of his drive, thru a narrow gate, making a 90 degree turn on a narrow street. The longer the wheel base of the trailer, the easier it is to back up, but that dolly is short, maybe 10 feet long and he can only see it on his monitor screen.
I drove a Mack and pulled a 42 foot tanker for 9 years. I showed a picture of my rig to my grandson the other day. The fact that his grandpa had such a job didn't impress him but the price of leaded gas on the pole was 57 cents a gallon. Now that amazed him.
 
While I am not old enough to have actually seen this....;)

(I have seen pictures of it in a Santa Fe museum of old cars backing up the big hill on what would be 25 from Albuqurque to Santa Fe...)

I can remember my dad telling me that if I could not go forward up something and had to get to the top to try reverse. That it was the lowest gear in the box.... seems that if one took it very slow and listened to the toad for any " croaking sounds of death " it should at least be worth a try....

Heard the same story. 29 model A, You needed reverse to maintain the gravity fed gasoline line to the carburerator. With No fuel pump and the side draft carb, and the gas tank in the cowling below the windshield, a positive flow was obvious but difficult on steep hills. The driver just simply backed up the hill.
 
Yes!

Heard the same story. 29 model A, You needed reverse to maintain the gravity fed gasoline line to the carburerator. With No fuel pump and the side draft carb, and the gas tank in the cowling below the windshield, a positive flow was obvious but difficult on steep hills. The driver just simply backed up the hill.

Thank you for joggin this ole memory! That was it. Fuel could not get to the engine. Amazing what stays, sort of, in the back of a persons mind.:rolleyes:
 
While I am not old enough to have actually seen this....;)

(I have seen pictures of it in a Santa Fe museum of old cars backing up the big hill on what would be 25 from Albuqurque to Santa Fe...)

I can remember my dad telling me that if I could not go forward up something and had to get to the top to try reverse. That it was the lowest gear in the box.... seems that if one took it very slow and listened to the toad for any " croaking sounds of death " it should at least be worth a try....

My dad in my much younger days mentioned that when the vehicles of his time met on a one lane hill road the ones that were headed down would back up because they were the ones that had much more control. Gearing.

Bob
 
My first thought is what great entertainment. But practically, I wonder if the toad attachment is strong enough to hold in the opposite way of what it is designed for...
 
This is a great topic! First of all, if Bill invites everyone on the forum to his quiet dead-end street for the same weekend, the "quiet" dead-end street will become just a dead-end street. :D

Everyone has great input here including how the transmission might give up the ghost and gush its lovely red fluid all over the road. That could quite possibly happen. :eek:

I guess I would be inclined to add a sign to the dead-end road entrance that shows a picture of a motor home and a toad with the words "DON'T EVEN THINK OF IT!"

Second, I would have a video camera ready. Maybe it could get you $10,000 on that Sunday evening show I see from time to time.

Depending on the toad vehicle size, to me, if everything is taken real slow, and I mean slow, as in near zero jerk vector, it would seem the mechanics of the toad hook-up would survive and Bill's suggestion would play out OK.

But have a video camera handy anyhow. If the toad vehicle wheels start to spin and nothing is moving, I suppose that is a clue that a bad idea is starting to form.
 
I would have a video camera ready. Maybe it could get you $10,000 on that Sunday evening show I see from time to time.
Oh, we have a great time on our little street, and someone usually has a video camera at hand. Sometime I will spin out the story of the guy who wanted to avoid the $5 fee at the town boat ramp, so he drove his boat up onto the beach. Then he went ashore, and drove his brand new 4WD pickup, boat trailer behind, down onto the sand. Soft sand. Clearly signed "No vehicles allowed on the beach". As he backed down toward the water, his truck sank into the sand right down to the frame. So he told his buddy to go get HIS brand-new 4WD truck, and come down and pull the first truck out. And his buddy agreed (I think there was some beer involved). You guessed it - two trucks mired to the frame. And the tide coming in. Next morning, after two high tides, they found someone with a bulldozer (about the only possible vehicle on soft sand) to pull them out with a long chain, water gushing from every door and window. Their insurance companies weren't happy. Nor was the local DEP, who levied a huge fine for gasoline and motor oil in the water. The bulldozer guy was pretty happy, though ...

Somewhere there is a video of this.

Bill
 
Bill - your story reminds me of a scene I witnessed at a boat ramp, which are always great places to sit down with some popcorn and a drink. We had just pulled our boat out of the water and up the ramp and were stowing things away to go home. Then all of a sudden, a pick-up truck appeared with a jet ski in its bed. I didn't really think anything of it -- maybe he was just there to meet a friend of pick someone up or something. I certainly wouldn't have guessed that he was here to launch his jet ski, but that is exactly what he did.

He dropped his tailgate and started backing down the ramp (which was concrete). I couldn't believe it. How was he going to get the jet ski in the water? It was quite a drop from the tailgate to the water. No worries. He just backed his truck INTO the water until his rear wheels where completely submerged. The water level was above the bottom of his cab doors, so I'm sure it got wet inside, and bubbles were surfacing from his exhaust. Then all of a sudden, his jet ski began to wobble! You could tell he had done this before, as this was his cue. With the truck engine running, and the truck probably almost floating, he jumped/swam into the bed, hopped on the jet ski, and drove it out of the truck.

To date, it is still the most incredible thing I have seen at a boat ramp. It even beats the amphibious Jeep Wrangler I saw drive completely into the water and jet off.

Dave
 
Getting back to the original question about if the smaller vehicle in tow could reverse the Class A back out of the dead end street, I started to wonder, how would any steering corrections be made? The toad might attempt to make a steering correction but could not possibly be able to drag the rear wheels of the Class A in any left or right direction. The only hope, as I see it, is for somebody in the drivers seat of the Class A making some of the corrections.

This could get really tricky.
 
BritannyDogs -

Good point.

I mentioned how nicely an 18-wheeler (long trailer, short tow vehicle) can back up and maneuver. But the difference between an 18-wheeler and the toad-as-tug situation is that an 18-wheeler has a single axle trailer, whereas a toad would be towing a double axle "trailer".

Bill
 
My dad in my much younger days mentioned that when the vehicles of his time met on a one lane hill road the ones that were headed down would back up because they were the ones that had much more control. Gearing.

Bob

This is required by motor vehicle code code in some states.
Besides gearing, drum brakes perform poorly in reverse, so relying on drum brakes backing down a hill in non-optimum.
 
Move the toad to the front. Have mirrors wide enough on the toad to see around the MH. Lift the MH front wheels off the ground so that it is now a trailer instead of a large toad 4 down.

After that it should be easy.

This is where a toy hauler MH has an advantage.
 
BritannyDogs -

Good point.

I mentioned how nicely an 18-wheeler (long trailer, short tow vehicle) can back up and maneuver. But the difference between an 18-wheeler and the toad-as-tug situation is that an 18-wheeler has a single axle trailer, whereas a toad would be towing a double axle "trailer".

Bill

Many years ago I rode along with a friend in his 18 wheeler on a couple of trips from southern California to the Bay area. One night at about 3-4:00 AM he made a wrong turn into a residential neighborhood. We were trying to find the rear entrance to a hospital under construction to deliver a load of light fixtures. I was amazed at how he was able to turn that huge rig around in a residential intersection w/o backing into parked cars etc.

Tom
 

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