Short Class A with no toad?

[mioutdoorsman]

Does anyone here have a short Class A and not tow a toad? I am looking at a 33 foot class A and debating if I need to factor in a toad. I am used to driving big trucks and used to have a diesel pusher so I am thinking I will be fine but want to get everyones thoughts on the topic. Thanks.

[way2roll]

mioutdoorsman wrote:
Hmm. Maybe I am the exception then. I drive my Sprinter based motorhome everywhere, shopping centers, grocery stores, downtown major cities, zoos, sporting events, etc. I have never been somewhere that I couldn't get into as long as there was enough height clearance. It drives like my big diesel 4 door pick up truck and it very easy to drive. That is one of my concerns going to a 33 foot motorhome but I need more room for the kiddos and all the stuff they require. The Sprinter moho is really limited on carrying capacity and space.

It's going to be a whole different ball game.

[mioutdoorsman]

Hmm. Maybe I am the exception then. I drive my Sprinter based motorhome everywhere, shopping centers, grocery stores, downtown major cities, zoos, sporting events, etc. I have never been somewhere that I couldn't get into as long as there was enough height clearance. It drives like my big diesel 4 door pick up truck and it very easy to drive. That is one of my concerns going to a 33 foot motorhome but I need more room for the kiddos and all the stuff they require. The Sprinter moho is really limited on carrying capacity and space.

[Ivylog]

rgatijnet1 wrote:
On a typical 2-3 month trip out West to see the sights, we usually put more miles on the toad than on the RV. We very seldom spend more than a few days in an RV park and like to travel to a central location and then use the toad to explore the surrounding areas. Besides the obvious savings in fuel by using the toad, there is also less wear and tear on the coach.

X2 and more miles on the toad doesn’t include the 3000 out and back. I get a chuckle from all the Sprinters pulling a small car...not working out with just one vehicle.

[way2roll]

crawford wrote:
I can't see a 33ft class A be consider a short coach ?

Agreed. One of our first coaches was 30' and no way you are navigating that thing around a busy town without causing a lot of headaches and stress. You will be severely limited to where you can park. I think you'll find that breaking camp, trying to find a place your 33' RV can go in every place you want to be is not an ideal scenario. I am still not sure I understand the constraint with the kids. Snacks, car seats, AC, digital media etc can all exist in a toad. People travel with small kids in cars all the time. Outside of a bathroom I am not sure I get it. The upside with a toad is that you are far more nimble and not coming back to a campsite you have to set up all over again. Never mind the fuel you will use with a MH as your grocery getter. To each his own but no way I would travel without a dinghy unless I had a class B. And with the towing set ups today, it's so easy. I can hook up our CRV and be ready to roll in 3 minutes - and half of that is waiting on the required idle time.

[crawford]

I can't see a 33ft class A be consider a short coach ?

[rgatijnet1]

mioutdoorsman wrote:
Thanks for the feedback. I am hesitant to go the toad route because my wife and I have a 3 and 4 year old and it is so much easier to come back to the motorhome for lunch, naps, etc if we are out sightseeing, etc. We have been rv'ing for years so we are pretty efficient at breaking down and heading out for the day to explore so that part doesn't worry me. We have a Sprinter based motorhome now and we have never towed a vehicle with it. We always used the motorhome as our main transportation and we never have had an issue. I just don't know if the few extra feet of our next coach will tip us over the edge of being able to get by without a toad.

Do you always travel as a family? I mean if the kids are napping, and you need groceries or repair parts, do you wake up the kids and go get those items as a family? Stuff happens and when I have had issues with the Class A it is nice to have alternate transportation available. I seem to remember that in the Grand Canyon there were a few signs that limited the length of vehicles to 26 feet(?) on certain roads. This had nothing to do with staying in the Grand Canyon RV parks or traveling through other areas of the park but there were SOME scenic roads that had length restrictions. We also found some sights that we wanted to see in downtown areas that would not have been possible due to not being able to park our RV on the city street. We occasionally like to go to a specific recommended restaurant while traveling and find that we had no issues with our toad but that there would have been no place to park an RV.
The facts are that everyone is different and we all travel with different expectations. Take the suggestions and determine what works for your family and what doesn't. 🙂

[Jayco-noslide]

To me a 33 footer is far from "short" but that's another story. We have a 30 footer and tow a Ford Focus. Downsizing might be nice but to me you have to go way down to not do a toad; I mean down to large van size. We could not function without a toad for lot's of reasons. Quick trips to a store but mostly lot's of sightseeing around the area where we are camped. Many roads in mountainous parks require nothing bigger than a van; eg, Going to the sun road in Glacier NP. You can sort of work around it by doing rentals, bus tours, etc. but wouldn't work for us.

[Matt_Colie]

Miout,

If I had a 33ft anything and two younguns in tow, I would drag a towed.

I have kind of found the upper limit of getting everywhere to be just about 30ft. Below that, you have a chance that gets better as the unit gets smaller. Above that, your chance of not being able to get where you want to go diminishes rapidly.

We now travel in a 23ft antique class A gasser. This coach is only a little longer than a 17 passenger van that I had in my vehicle pool at one time.

We do carry bicycles. When we need to reprovision, I will drop DW near the door, and go to the outer lot. She can call went checking out and then I come to meet her at the door.

Matt

[bjbear]

Before my current Class A, we had a truck camper. Even with it, we often took a toed. Just found it more enjoyable not to have to break Camp every time we wanted to travel around an area.

[mioutdoorsman]

Thanks for the feedback. I am hesitant to go the toad route because my wife and I have a 3 and 4 year old and it is so much easier to come back to the motorhome for lunch, naps, etc if we are out sightseeing, etc. We have been rv'ing for years so we are pretty efficient at breaking down and heading out for the day to explore so that part doesn't worry me. We have a Sprinter based motorhome now and we have never towed a vehicle with it. We always used the motorhome as our main transportation and we never have had an issue. I just don't know if the few extra feet of our next coach will tip us over the edge of being able to get by without a toad.

[jplante4]

We went toadless on our retirement trip - 6 months 16 states and 6000 miles - and rented a car from Enterprise when we wanted to explore or get supplies. Rental fees over the trip were $3000 - the second highest expense. In addition, we found that we were selecting campgrounds based on their proximity to the Enterprise pick-up radius. Not the best criteria.

This also exposed the underside on the Enterprise business model. A lot of the offices in non-urban locations are simply a branch office in a body shop. They are not manned on any schedule and sometimes I would need to drop off with no one there to check for damage. The pick-up drivers are contractors and not willing or responsible and the body shop people wanted nothing to do with it.

With all that experience of going toadless, we bought an Equinox, put a Blue Ox base plate on it and I found a Blue Ox tow bar and an RVi2 brake on Craigs List. On our last trip out west, we did a lot more exploring.

[way2roll]

Breaking camp every time you want to go somewhere would get old fast for me. What's the aversion to towing a car?

[ferndaleflyer]

Good example. We went to Charleston, SC and stayed at a KOA 20 mi out a month ago. In one week we put 450mi on our Smart car toad. There is virtually no on street parking but I usually found somewhere the little car would fit for free.

[rgatijnet1]

On a typical 2-3 month trip out West to see the sights, we usually put more miles on the toad than on the RV. We very seldom spend more than a few days in an RV park and like to travel to a central location and then use the toad to explore the surrounding areas. Besides the obvious savings in fuel by using the toad, there is also less wear and tear on the coach.