TOAD Question

Ok so wife and I have been debating what is the best vehicle to tow.
We own a 2015 1500 Chevy PU 4x4 (Not ideal to tow behind our workhorse) and 5 speed 1999 BMW Z3 that would be fun to have in warm climates (I would have to disconnect drive shaft on travel days).
The other option is to sell both and get one Toad that is more convenient to tow. Any suggestions on Vehicle make, model and why?
Is there a site to determine what can be towed?
Our first major trip we are going toadless so no hurry on this decision.

Does the Silverado weigh too much for the chassis tow rating?  Cause otherwise it is fine to tow.

There are Dinghy Towing Guides from Motorhome Magazine and any specific vehicle can be verified at Remco Towing.

http://www.motorhome.com/download-dinghy-guides/

http://www.remcotowing.com/Towing/Store.php

The best choice is one that satisfies your wants and needs but is still light enough to be within your tow-weight constraints. Many modern sedans, crossovers and SUVs will be light enough (5000 lb or less), so you need to figure out what style of vehicle would suit you. Then check the guides for models of that type that are towable.  The new mid-size 4WD pick-ups probably meet your weight constraints too, e.g. Canyon/Colorado & Ranger

word of warning concerning the Dinghy Guides, they do NOT update and its possible that a vehicle that was rated ok to flat tow was found not to be a year or 2 later.  The Ford models were notorious for blowing the automatic transmissions.

remco is a good source to verify a dinghy recommendation

http://www.remcoindustries.com/product-pages/towing/

I can highly suggest a Honda CRV for towing. It would have to be a 2014 or older as they put the CVT transmission on anything newer than 2014. We had a 2004 and loved it, not a problem at all while towing many miles. The CRV has all wheel drive and also can store a bunch of stuff in the back behind the fold down seats. The vehicle is also quite good on fuel mileage. Once again, highly recommended by myself and many many other CRV owners. As an aside, we bought most of our towing supplies on Ebay, tow bar, Brake Buddy, the base plate, tow cables, etc.


Bill

In reference to your BMW manual transmission. We towed a 2004 Mini Cooper (BMW) with 6 speed manual transmission for four years with no problems. Longest trip was from Seattle area to Key West Florida and back, almost 10,000 miles. Mini does not condone towing but we found many others doing it on several RV forums. I just started engine, let it idle for 5 minutes at midday lunch break (about 200 miles). You should  search forums for others that have towed the BMW 5 speed.

JSplaine said:

In reference to your BMW manual transmission. We towed a 2004 Mini Cooper (BMW) with 6 speed manual transmission for four years with no problems. Longest trip was from Seattle area to Key West Florida and back, almost 10,000 miles. Mini does not condone towing but we found many others doing it on several RV forums. I just started engine, let it idle for 5 minutes at midday lunch break (about 200 miles). You should  search forums for others that have towed the BMW 5 speed.

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I second a mini cooper, for obvious reasons.  There is a difference towing a pre 2007, and 2007 and later, when they went to the key fobs.  I did a quick check and didn't see where Roadmaster or BlueOx make a bracket for the front of a 1999 Z3.

Interesting choice on the Z3.  We have a 2016 Challenger and a 2010 Z4 M, thought about doing either one, but eventually ended up with a 2010 HHR.  (automatic and flat towable, and a really nice one is about $5k) The wife wouldn't allow the Challenger to be towed, and in the end I couldn't see towing a Z4M behind the motorhome.
I don't know about the Z3's, but the Z4 under carriage is completely enclosed with a full length belly pan. Just draining the oil requires removing a trap door. It would be fun doing the drive line. The HHR really turned out to be a pretty flexable Toad.  We can put both road bikes in the back standing up, all sorts of other "gobbdly goop" as well.  It even does fairly decient when the road ends, well, to a point.

Z3 is not going to be towed, I could trailer it though. Very small car. This trip we are going toadless. Then we will decide.

Tow car or toad selection can be easy and fun depending on your RV and financial situation. Challenging requirements for us were: 1: Safe everyday second car with automatic transmission, back seat, trunk, sharp looking and handles well. 2: Flat tow only - don't want more tires to maintain, store tow dolly or trailer, buy extra license plate or load and unload car on it. 3: Total tow weight including tow plate, tow bar, brake system, lights and accessories must be legal in all 50 states and under 2800 pounds. We ended up buying a black 2017 Ford Fiesta hatchback SE with dual clutch automatic transmission and installed a Demco tow plate.

I have a 98 Honda CRV ready to tow including tow bar and lights $2000

No recommendations, we tow a 2016 Ford Explorer 4 flat, no problem and I can't even tell it's back there.  There was a lot to learn that most don't know about.  Installer of the brake controller said the battery didn't have to be disconnected since we used the Air Force One brake control system, well, we found out after the battery went flat dead that yes, disconnect the battery.  Also, the on board computers on the Ford don't like it if you plug into the coach before you do everything else, the gear selector will not shift out of park once connected, found that one out the hard way.  But now we have worked out all the bugs and it's no problem.  We have the Roadmaster Falcon all terrain tow bar with the Air Force Once controller, and a battery disconnect switch.

Another option:  Keep your very fun Z3 and get an Aluminum trailer. At 2910 lbs for the Z3 you could use a single axle trailer.

No messing with a driveshaft or BMW brakes, saves wear on the BMW, and an Alum trailer is light enough to push around by hand.  If you wanted you could
add a class 1 hitch to the Z3 for moving the trailer as the one negative to this is that in some few campgrounds you'd have to park the trailer somewhere else than your campsite.

This would likely be cheaper than other options.

good luck.

mark in MN

You will find lots of threads here on the merits of flat towing versus tow dolly.  A tow dolly gives you lots of flexibility for what you can tow and the brakes in dolly are IMHO better and more cost effective than an auxilliary braking system.

That said I bought a CMAX Energi to flat tow since I find it much simpler to flat tow with no dolly to store.  While both my wife and I drive standard transmission I was not willing to have a standard transmission vehicle full time.  I had a Lincoln MKZ Hybrid that was suitable for flat towing, but my wife had increasing difficulty getting into that vehicle and had no issue getting in and out of the CMax.  Ford vehicles can be towed to 70 mph. While I generally tow at 65mph it affords me 5 mph margin.  The only issue with my CMax was that, as a hybrid, I found that Active Assist brakes are not good for towing since the can come on when least expecting it. The can cause lock ups and even a "death wobble" which I only got to experience once. The simple answer was to install a Fusemaster to bypass fuse #9.  Now it tows perfectly fine. I hardly know its there.


For a dolly there is the cost of a dolly, a proportional braking controller, and some wiring to acivate the lights in your dinghy from your RV.

For flat towing there is the cost of a tow bar, auxialliary braking system, wiring for lights, some type of rock guard (Tow Defender or windshield cover) that is not as necessary for a dolly setup and in some cases a fuse bypass

Google; "Motorhome Toad List".  Can go back several years if you want. 

I have a basic question:  What do I look at to determine my Fleetwood's towing capacity?  It is on the metal tag near the driver's seat?  I don't have the RV with me at the moment - it is at the body shop because I dinged it up.  Thanks.

Towing capacity is the lesser of two numbers
First your hitch MOST (not all) gassers the hitch is rated 5000 pounds 500 tong weight NOTE THE NOT ALL comment please
Diesels double that (10000 towing and 1000 carrying)  Again MOST not all qualified this statement is MOST.

NOTE that if you  use a DROP hitch as I do that number gets smaller fast!!

Second is the difference between two numbers.. ON the sticker somewere inside th rig is a CGVW rating. this means COMBINED GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT.. Motor home and TOWED or trailer total weight.

Now park on a scale and find out how much the Mother home weights

Subtract that number from the CGVW rating.. and if that is LESS than the hitch rating. that is your macimum

MY RIG (For example)
Max CGVW 26000
Weight 22000
Difference 4000
Hitch 5000/500
Towed 2500 plus lumber (about 3000 total)  I'm good.

In my case it is the weight of RV subtracted from the Max CGVW that sets the limit.

By far the best TOAD (IMAO) is a Suzuki Samurai at 2200 lbs.  Unfortunately, they are hard to find in good shape, especially with A/C.  A VW beetle (1979 or earlier) is another option at 1800 lbs.  Many states do not require a tow brake since they are so light, just the emergency breakaway system. The standard beetles (not super beetles) do not need a tow plate. If you want A/C, they may not be your best option but weight is a serious consideration.  Many who have used a mini cooper find the ground clearance is an issue but at 2500 to 2800 lbs and no off road driving, they might be a good choice.  You must get a tow plate for it ($500 at e-trailer) and the plate requires a bit of trimming of the fascia.  I have a 2008 Jeep Patriot MT at 3200 lbs and it pulls great.  It also gets 28 mpg highway.  I towed it 3000 miles this past summer and had no issues.  It cost me $2000 to set it up for towing (braking system, tow bar, tow plate, electrical).  Keeping your eyes on other RVs while traveling, you will notice Jeep Wranglers to be very common.  Whatever you use, I strongly recommend something without a soft top for security reasons. You don't want to be away from home and have someone cut into the top, especially the beemer.  Remember, there are as many opinions about this as there are people.  YOU make the choice and YOU make it work.

TangoMike said:

By far the best TOAD (IMAO) is a Suzuki Samurai at 2200 lbs.  Unfortunately, they are hard to find in good shape, especially with A/C.  A VW beetle (1979 or earlier) is another option at 1800 lbs.  Many states do not require a tow brake since they are so light, just the emergency breakaway system. The standard beetles (not super beetles) do not need a tow plate. If you want A/C, they may not be your best option but weight is a serious consideration.  Many who have used a mini cooper find the ground clearance is an issue but at 2500 to 2800 lbs and no off road driving, they might be a good choice.  You must get a tow plate for it ($500 at e-trailer) and the plate requires a bit of trimming of the fascia.  I have a 2008 Jeep Patriot MT at 3200 lbs and it pulls great.  It also gets 28 mpg highway.  I towed it 3000 miles this past summer and had no issues.  It cost me $2000 to set it up for towing (braking system, tow bar, tow plate, electrical).  Keeping your eyes on other RVs while traveling, you will notice Jeep Wranglers to be very common.  Whatever you use, I strongly recommend something without a soft top for security reasons. You don't want to be away from home and have someone cut into the top, especially the beemer.  Remember, there are as many opinions about this as there are people.  YOU make the choice and YOU make it work.

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I spent over a year looking before a ford escape, manual transmission accidentally crossed my path.  Our lucky moment

Anyone towing a Chevy Sonic? Just bought a 2015 automatic turbo LTZ weight is 2800lbs. It is 1000 lbs lighter than Honda CRV we used to tow. Get great gas mileage 37- 40 on highway.

In case anybody cares, a 7th gen (Y2k-ish) Toyota Celica weighs about the same as a Mini Cooper. The base-est base model weighs less than the lightest Mini at about 2450lbs.

The Toyota Yaris (Yari?) and Scion xA weigh under 2400lbs. Both have kind of remarkable ground clearance for tiny cars.

Mitsubishi Mirage - which is a hilariously terrible car - weighs 2000lbs. It's the crappiest and lightest car sold in America. But maybe not a bad call for a toad... It's tiny, light, has AC, and is ultimately surely safer than a Beetle (although probably not much!).