How Often do you Have to Reverse your Rig with a TOAD ??

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raybbj

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Aug 29, 2016
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Vancouver, BC
DW is steering me towards Class A rather than 5er.

For those who have a TOAD, how often do you find yourselves having to reverse? Are you constantly having to un-hitch and re-hitch? Pulling a TOAD behind a Class A makes me nervous because I'm sacred I'm going to box myself in and have to un-hitch. I'm sure it's bound to happen the odd time, but what are the nuances of avoiding it all together?

Regards,
Ray
 
Over 90,000 miles and 14 years I had to backup twice. First time had to disconnect the toad, second time backed about five feet carefully.

You learn to keep an eye out real fast for potential problems.

So it's not much of an issue for me.
 
I agree with Arch. It's not much of an issue. In all of the years we RVd I only remember one time when I had to unhitch. A couple of times I had to backup a foot or two to give me room in front of the coach to make a turn.
If the toad is pretty well in a straight line behind the MH you can backup a couple of feet without a problem.
 
I had to back up Twice with my Toad in tow on this last trip. (First trip with a Toad.)
Both times were very short - ten feet the first and maybe close to that the second.
Both times were due to poor planning -Not being absolutely certain of my path.
That kind of distance, and being able to basically go straight backward, was pretty simple.
So far, I have never gotten into a situation where I had to disconnect. (But then, it's only been 2300 miles, so far, too.)
With three pivot points to contend with, I expect backing up could go hinky in a heartbeat.


 
If you plan ahead and be cautious, there should be few situations where you really have to back up or disconnect.  In 16+ years with a motorhome, I developed a good eye for situations where I might get trapped.  I've been caught a couple times on dead end roads (both times relying on GPS navigation!) and once in a gas station where the apparent exit was blocked. It happens, and it's not a big deal if you just get out and deal with it (unhitch).  Unhitching and re-hitching is a only few minutes chore for an experienced RVers.
 
I remember only two times in the twelve plus years, covering 110,000 miles, we traveled in the motorhome with a toad.  Once when the early version of GPS gave us misinformation, but we were able to unhitch and turn around with no problem.  Again when some ignorant yahoo boxed us in while we were dumping and refused to move.  Unhitching and rehitching is really no big deal and it happens very rarely if you're reasonably careful.
 
Once, but I was going to disconnect anyway, so no big deal.
 
Arch Hoagland said:
You learn to keep an eye out real fast for potential problems.

This prevents you from being in a lot of sticky situations in an RV. Every move has to be (or should be, anyway) planned out way farther in advance than your average daily maneuver in a car. In general, you're sitting higher up and traveling slower so planning ahead isn't that difficult. Hence, you'll find yourself in dead-end type situations much less often.

Side question, but why is the DW more interested in a Class A? Just curious. Either style could be great depending on your planned usage.
 
In over 12 years of Class  A driving, I have only had to unhitch twice. Both in the same day! The first time after getting fuel and trying to make a tight turn in a parking lot to exit there were so many parked cars the turn was impossible.  When I got to the campground the office sent me down a road in the campground with a 6' foot hole in the middle. Apparently a water line burst earlier in the day.  Other than that, smooth sailing. 
 
scottydl said:
This prevents you from being in a lot of sticky situations in an RV. Every move has to be (or should be, anyway) planned out way farther in advance than your average daily maneuver in a car. In general, you're sitting higher up and traveling slower so planning ahead isn't that difficult. Hence, you'll find yourself in dead-end type situations much less often.

Side question, but why is the DW more interested in a Class A? Just curious. Either style could be great depending on your planned usage.

Thanks Scott - and thanks y'all for the responses.
If it were up to me, I would choose 5er, however my DW is disabled and would have trouble sitting in an F350 4 and 5 hours at a time. A class a would allow her to get up, move around, sit in a recliner, take a nap in the bed, use the bathroom, etc.. Not that I'm advocating travelling in an RV without a seatbelt.

Plus, I have experience with towables, but never a class A, so 5er is just in my comfort zone, but I want the DW to be comfortable while driving so I'm willing to do a class A. It was just the inability to reverse that had me spooked, but like most folks said ...... careful planning.
 
I had to back up while towing when I got stuck in a sand dune.  I've also made too sharp a turn while in a service station a couple times.  I found you can avoid backing up if you have someone turn the toad steering while moving forward.  I've done that a couple times.  If all else fails, I disconnect.
 
In our 9 years with a class A, I've had to unhitch 3 or 4 times, usually from misreading a sign or other carelessness taking me down the wrong road with no place to turn around within a reasonable distance.

As has been mentioned above, it might be a touch embarrassing, but it's only a few minutes. In all those cases, unhitching, letting DW drive the toad out of the way, and backing as needed. On the other side, there are many, many times when I've spotted a potential problem and passed up the bad situation, whether getting in to certain gas stations or taking wrong roads, or a number of other things you soon learn to spot. It DOES take awareness of your length, width, turning radius, etc.

A number of years ago I did have one awkward and embarrassing time following the GPS in Branson, MO, though. The GPS was set to guide me to an RV park that (I found out later) was easily accessible from the Interstate if you took the right exit. Unfortunately, by following the GPS, I found myself in downtown Branson needing to make a right turn on fairly narrow streets, needing the oncoming lane to complete the turn. I started the turn, then had to wait until certain other drivers recognized my dilemma and backed up to give me room. No unhooking, but mighty awkward.
 
Two answers... First: Every time I park in a back in campsite (But I'd be unhooking anyway so this does not count)

Second. IN 14 years.. 1 time.. Just one time. 
 
In 7 years, twice.  Once on a dead end road next to a gas station, and once at the Tehachapi Loop.  Should have left the coach at the bottom of the hill and driven the Jeep up!
 
Like others, we've got into an issue requiring us to unhitch the toad on two occasions over 25 years and two coaches towing various toads. As Scott says, paying greater attention to prevent getting into the situation is the norm, but they can't always be anticipated.

If we're staying just one night at a campground and plan to make an early start, I request a pull-through site to avoid having to unhitch the toad, but some campgrounds either don't know or exaggerate the length of their sites. In these cases, we'll unhitch.

Backing up with a toad in tow isn't recommended, and is usually only possible for a few feet in a straight line and when the entire rig is aligned. Depending on the alignment settings on the front wheels of the toad, they will likely want to turn while you reverse.
 
raybbj said:
DW is steering me towards Class A rather than 5er.

For those who have a TOAD, how often do you find yourselves having to reverse? Are you constantly having to un-hitch and re-hitch? Pulling a TOAD behind a Class A makes me nervous because I'm sacred I'm going to box myself in and have to un-hitch. I'm sure it's bound to happen the odd time, but what are the nuances of avoiding it all together?

Regards,
Ray
I've had to un-hitch to back up my coach and then re-hitch only three times in 18 years, (150,000 miles).
 
raybbj said:
Thanks Scott - and thanks y'all for the responses.
If it were up to me, I would choose 5er, however my DW is disabled and would have trouble sitting in an F350 4 and 5 hours at a time. A class a would allow her to get up, move around, sit in a recliner, take a nap in the bed, use the bathroom, etc.. Not that I'm advocating travelling in an RV without a seatbelt.

Plus, I have experience with towables, but never a class A, so 5er is just in my comfort zone, but I want the DW to be comfortable while driving so I'm willing to do a class A. It was just the inability to reverse that had me spooked, but like most folks said ...... careful planning.

Yeah sounds perfectly reasonable... although I'd maybe split in half the number of things you mentioned doing while the motorhome is in motion. Quick bathroom trip or grab a snack when traffic is light... often no problem and part of the nice thing about motorhomes. Bed naps and recliner leisure are not often recommended though, due to vehicle movement and inherent risk of losing balance and falling. Not to mention the importance of safety belt restraint as you mentioned.

I was the opposite as you... had some motorhome driving experience and bought a pretty big one (35' Class A) for our first RV. Despite the size it didn't have a lot of sleeping space and or growing family outgrew it. Trailers offered more family floorplans (i.e. bunkhouse) and I had no prior towing experience but was always interested... so for RV #2 we now have a 32' travel trailer. I've reality enjoyed both styles but see us returning to a motorhome someday when the kids move on.
 
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