No toad needed, or wanted. My 19 foot C does just fine by itself for my style of touring. I've added better mirrors and like Harvey, a backup camera. I rarely stay in CG's, and when I do, I don't hook up anything but electric. Putting out or retracting the box awning is my most complex chore for set up or tear down, and takes about two minutes either way.
Jim, "Mo' coffee!"
'06 Tiger CX 'C Minus' on a Silverado 2500HD 4x4, 8.1 & Allison (aka 'Loafer's Glory') www.tigervehicles.com
No toad for us. We can get anywhere we want in our 25' class C. We go places during the day, and go to a state park for the evening. We have no desire to go somewhere else once the C is set up, since we have already been where we want to go. The next day, we are off to our next destination. Getting ready to go only takes minutes.
If we ever decide to keep the MH in one place for a while, we can rent a vehicle. So far, we have not even done that. But even if we did, the slight cost of renting for a few days is more than offset by the convenience of not having to deal with the extra weight/bulk of a toad when we are driving, and parking.
Our class-B+ is 23'-8" long. We have always towed another vehicle and really appreciate it. I would never leave home without the tow.
We used to tow a little 2-seater convertible to make touring around a lot of fun. But we found ourselves missing out on much of the very thing we came to see because of so many primitive roads, so we later switched to a 4x4, now not missing a thing.
We have brought our bikes on a hitch mounted rack on the 4x4 and also have to option to bring kayaks if we wanted by placing them on the tow's roof.
Our 1st 2100 pound tow, we got by without secondary braking. But when the 4x4 came along at twice the weight, I installed a braking system that is a seamless plug-n-play setup. The braking system utilizes the wire harness for the tail lights, so I just plug in and the brakes are activated. Very easy to manage.
When my wife helps me, we unhook and drive away in the tow in under 60 seconds.
When hooking up, my wife and I working together, we can drive off in the motor home in 3 to 4 minutes.
It's no big deal at all.
It's nice to leave the motor home in the camp ground and get around in a regular vehicle. We most often go to national parks and similar where parking at pull-offs & trail heads with any size motor home is difficult or impossible. A normal vehicle makes our day excursions work.
Heck no toad! Hasn't been a problen yet. Drive into the local town for supplies anytime needed. Breaking camp is just awning up and unplug. The gas millage driving into town hardley counts. Burns a heck of a lot getting to the destination though.
And "stuck at the campsite", thats a very strange comment for me. We camp to camp. We just find campgrounds (state parks) that have trails, fishing, swimming, kayaking. Plenty to do without even leaving the park. We bring our bikes too.
Plus, I still say, if you have that monster 5er you have a big truck that you more then likely use daily to commute to work (unless retired). C's are the way to go with a fuel effienct daily driver.
My 2 cents and sticking to it.
The previous post was for humor, but it is the case that we do not tow w/ our 22 ft B+. When we looked at RVs, ease of use was big, and a TT or MH w/ toad add complexity (but also somewhat easier local touring). We really wanted RV-in-a-van style of travel/camp, but decided the smaller C was as small as we could go.
I believe that if you spend the day away from your campground in a tow, you have lost all the conveniences the RV offers, esp the ability to bring dogs with you and use the on-board genset for their air-conditioning needs while you shop, eat, or take a tour.
* This post was
edited 05/02/12 05:54am by burlmart *
We do not tow. We have a 24' class c. I can drive it almost anywhere we drive a car (not 4x4). We walk when possible and have used public transportation. We plan on traveling to Quebec City this summer and one campground outside the city has a free shuttle and two bus lines outside the CG entrance. Like some other responders to this topic, we tend to travel during the day and once we get to the CG we stay for the night. Some CG have restaurants in them or near them so if we don't want to cook we have an easy option. I like being able to easily park the MH at stores, attractions and to get gas without the stress of driving a long MH w/ a toad. Obviously many people do not get stressed by driving big rigs. The main idea is to drive what you're comfortable with. Whatever setup you use, there are compromises to be made.
2004 Jayco 27DS MH
Wherever you go, there you are!!
We are toadless at the moment but that is soon to change. We will be towing a small SUV to give us some off road capability and the ability to get into paved areas with restricted access. We will only take it when we think we will need it. We also have a utility trailer and rear cargo carrier we use depending on the trip. Up until now we have used bicycles to get around which works well if kept to about a 10 mile radius. Usually for us the place where the RV is, is the destination so there really isn't far to go from there.
The answers are yes, yes, and no. The first two questions not an either/or situation, I can break camp and go (by plan, it determines the extent of my camp setup) and I can also plan days so that leaving camp is not necessary.
My C is not particularly short, but it gets around a whole lot better without the toad than with it.
I use the toad for long-term stays where I will be going into urban areas.