Introduction and Questions... September 16, 2014, 01:28:49 pm Yahoo Message Number: 148630Hi Everyone, My name is Cheryl and I'm from Las Cruces, NM. I'm two years into my retirement from teaching, and while I don't want to full-time I'd like to spend significant time traveling. I currently have a 1985 Toyota Dolphin that's been great, but I want some more "creature comforts," and an RV that has towing capabilities so I can explore the areas I travel to and (don't laugh) attend Argentine Tango milongas (dances) in the evening in the communities I visit. I'm in the process of buying a 1998 Lazy Daze 26.5 mid-bath with 67,000 miles. I've been looking for quite some time and and excited at the prospect that my dream RV will hopefully soon become a reality. I have a 2002 Honda CR-V (manual transmission) that I'd like to set up for towing. The RV I'm purchasing is wired for towing, but has never towed a car. I've search the site for recommendations on setting up towing, but haven't found anything. Could someone either reply and/or direct me to information regarding:1. Brand of tow bar type and system. 2. Approximate cost of total installation (ballpark) for the RV and my CR-V?I'm "thinking" of driving my CR-V to the location for pick up and having the work done there. However, I'm a little nervous since I'm never towed a car before.Thanks in advance for any and all help/information.Sincerely, Cheryl
Re: Introduction and Questions... Reply #1 – September 16, 2014, 01:58:37 pm Yahoo Message Number: 148631Hi Cheryl and welcome!Motorhome Magazine provides a good tutorial with many illustrations about towing. This might be a good primer for you. We don't tow with our Lazy Daze, so I can't give you any personal information.Here is the URL for the Motorhome site to download the current year for free.http://www.motorhome.com/download-dinghy-guides/>Prior years are charged at $1.99 each to download, but the general towing information is all there on the current free issue.There are many, many sites to "read all about it", so a quick trot down Google Lane should help you find specific information.The Lazy Daze Companion sitehttp://lazydazearticles.blogspot.com/p/whats-this-all-about.html> ,which has been produced by two of our most knowledgeable members, has several articles related to towing, as well as many other topics that you may find interesting.If you would like the information about other year vehicles, please contact me privately.Virtual hugs,Judie http://dorrieanne.wordpress.com
Re: Introduction and Questions... Reply #2 – September 16, 2014, 02:09:02 pm Yahoo Message Number: 148632"Could someone either reply and/or direct me to information regarding:1. Brand of tow bar type and system. 2. Approximate cost of total installation (ballpark) for the RV and my CR-V?"I'm certainly not an expert in this field but have been towing my Jeep Cherokee for a couple years and this is what I use: Roadmaster Sterling model towbar. When I bought it was told it was the best Roadmaster had. Absolutely no problems with it towing in desert, mountains, coastal areas, etc.A braking assist unit should be installed in your CRV for safety. Your LD chassis I believe is an E350 like mine. If so your brakes are already fully loaded and need all the help they can get. I use the U.S. gear unified braking system which I wouldn't recommend due to reliability issues. I have heard many use the SMI setup which is less trouble.Tow bar: Roadmaster Inc. - Tow Bars, Braking Systems & RV AccessoriesBraking: SMI MANUFACTURING In my opinion it is worth the trouble and expense to tow a vehicle, especially when traveling alone. It is nice to arrive at your destination, unhook the tow vehicle, and be able to roam without disturbing your camp setup. As far as cost I would budget around 4K for the towing setup, braking assist, and installation. I bought my towbar on Craigslist used for half the cost of new. Look for deals!Bob 01 23.5 TK with toys
Re: Introduction and Questions... Reply #3 – September 16, 2014, 03:05:40 pm Yahoo Message Number: 148633"Here is the URL for the Motorhome site to download the current year for free. http://www.motorhome.com/download-dinghy-guides/> Prior years are charged at $1.99 each to download, but the general towing information is all there on the current free issue"Here is a free site for all the dinghy guides. http://www.royrobinsonrv.com/rv-towing-guide-WashingtonLarry
Re: Introduction and Questions... Reply #4 – September 16, 2014, 03:12:00 pm Yahoo Message Number: 148634Hi Cheryl, I'm Georgia and I'm from Roswell. Well, not really 'from', but I lived there for 5 years prior to moving to Alabama.I've towed a full size car hauling trailer behind our previous motorhome and had no difficulty. Except that I can't back a trailer so was careful not to get into situations where that might become necessary.Congratulations on choosing a Lazy Daze. We have a 1994 23.5 TK.Georgia
Re: Introduction and Questions... Reply #5 – September 16, 2014, 05:09:04 pm Yahoo Message Number: 148635"I've search the site for recommendations on setting up towing, but haven't found anything. Could someone either reply and/or direct me to information regarding: 1. Brand of tow bar type and system. 2. Approximate cost of total installation (ballpark) for the RV and my CR-V?"CherylA good ball park estimate is $2500-3500, depending on equipment selected and difficulty of installation..-Tow bar and baseplate $1000-1500, depending on which tow bar you choose. Blue Ox and Roadmaster are the two major players in towing equipment.-Brake unit $500-1100, depending on type. I have had good experiences with SMI brakes. Roadmaster has a similar brake. Ready Brake works on toads in which a pathway for the cable can be found. It can difficult or impossible to do on some front-wheel-drive vehicles.-Tow lights $100-150 Various ways of doing this using either separate bulbs or the toad's stock taill-lights and diodes. Older, pre-2004 LDs have undersized tail-light wiring. To have bright tail lights require a booster relay and a new, large gauge wire run from the LD's starting battery to the rear of the LD. Get a 7-wire umbilical, it gives you additional possibilities in wiring.CRV's have very small starting batteries and often suffer from dead batteries, after towing. The best cure is adding a battery charger, using power from the LD to keep the toad's battery charged. Several here have used a Toad Charge charger with good results. http://www.lslproducts.net/ToadChargePage.htmlA couple add-ons that most toad owners appreciate having is a rear view camera/ monitor and a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) Your CRV is narrower than the LD, you will only see it in the mirrors during turns. A flat tire on a toad usually goes unnoticed until bad things happen (sometime, very bad). A TPMS will alert you if a tire is going flat with an audio and visual alarm.Installation- Variable. $500-1000. Every car is different. Some cars have great access and others require disassembly of half the car (Honda Fits are the worse, so far). Quality of the installation makes a huge difference, do you want Winnebago or LD quality? A well done installation can take a twice as long as a slam-bam install. It's a pay now or later type of deal. I rarely see well done installations as most do not want to pay the price of a job that looks like it came from the Mothership. The lowest bid usually will not result in the best job. Toads take a beating and a poor job can come back to haunt you.It's a lot of money to properly set a car up for towing so make sure the car has a lot of miles left in it before proceeding. The tow bar and brake unit can be transfer to a newer vehicle, in the future.For long term travel, it's hard to beat the convenience of a toad. We traveled for over 8 years before getting a toad (and a new LD to pull it with), the difference for us has been incredible. We love being able to head down any enticing backroad, it's what we wanted to do all along.Larry
Re: Introduction and Questions... Reply #6 – September 16, 2014, 06:43:35 pm Yahoo Message Number: 148636Hello Cheryl,There are a number of very knowledgable people on this site that will be very helpful. In fact, two of your responses were from Larry Wade, who has helped me with good advise several times in the past. He is not only an experienced user, but he also works on Lazy Daze motorhomes.You have one of the forum's favorite vehicles to tow, so you are off to a good start. I tow with a Blue Ox tow bar and Blue Ox base plate on my Jeep Cherokee, and I use the SMI braking system. The Blue Ox tow bar came along when I purchased my used LD. I have a good friend who uses a Trailmaster system. After watching my friend hook up and disconnect, I would prefer the Trailmaster if I were starting from scratch. I am very happy with the SMI braking system.If you are not totally comfortable with towing your car home from the place of motorhome purchase, then I would plan to have the towing setup done where you live. That way you would have the drive home to get used to the handling of the new-to-you LD before trying to tow. There must be installers in Las Cruces, or even El Paso, that could do the install for you. The business would be close to your home if any issues were to develop with the installation. All of this assumes that you have a reasonable way to reach the LD seller's location without driving your car there.Dale 2005 24FL & 2000 Cherokee
Re: Introduction and Questions... Reply #7 – September 16, 2014, 07:33:50 pm Yahoo Message Number: 148637Welcome to the group, Cheryl! You've already gotten plenty of good advice about towing (and the CR-V is a great car to tow), but let me add one more resource: my article "Follow the Leader" describes how I outfitted my Honda Fit for towing. It discusses both the Roadmaster and Blue Ox towbars (having used both, I find Blue Ox better engineered), compares various braking systems, and gives a good overview of the process.Happy trails in your new Lazy Daze!Andy
Re: Introduction and Questions... Reply #8 – September 16, 2014, 10:29:10 pm Yahoo Message Number: 148638Hi, Cheryl. Lots of good responses to your questions. I would like to add two and second one. First, When selecting a towbar, consider the value of an upper-end one that allows you to disconnect at a severe lateral angle ("Gee, I thought I had enough room to make that U-turn") and disconnect when the LD sits higher or lower than the tow vehicle and the towbar is not parallel to the ground/pavement. For these reasons, I chose a Roadmaster Sterling towbar--the top of the line. Cheaper Roadmasters do not allow these capabilities. FYI, I have a Roadmaster primiarily because it's world headquarters are where I live in Oregon and they will service it charging only for parts. If Andy Baird says he now has experience with both Blue Ox and Roadmaster and judges Blue Ox to be better engineered, I would go with that recommendation. I believe he also owned a Sterling towbar so he is comparing Blue Ox to Roadmaster's top-of-the-line model. Second, I don't think anyone has mentioned a stone guard to protect the towed vehicle. There are the big, bulky shields that cost many hundreds and must be stored somewhere, and there is the Protect-A-Tow which several of us use on our LDs. We have had one for over five years and it works great. Very simple to install the eye-bolts on the LD bumper and under the tow vehicle front end. It rolls up into a neat package stored in a stuff bag, like a small tent. I have had to replace the spreader bar and perimeter bungee cord, but these materials are readily available at hardware stores. In the next couple of years we will need to replace the fabric apron and that will cost about $200. Third, I would I strongly second the recommendation to get a TPMS if you are towing. How would you know if the car has a flat when towing it? More than once it has saved us from expensive repairs or worse--a bad or even fatal accident. Expensive, yes, but well worth the peace of mind, in my opinion. FYI, we use a PressurePro, which has worked flawlessly for over 5 years. I believe there are more on the market now and PressurePro may or may not be the best one. One downside--the lithium batteries are not user replaceable. New ones are about $50 per tire, but ours are still working for over 5 years. It was, I thought, the best available at the time. If there is a good (accurate and reliable) TPMS available today with replaceable batteries, I would probably go with that. While being safe is paramount, don't forget the original goal: to have fun!Ted
Re: Introduction and Questions... Reply #9 – September 24, 2014, 07:38:56 pm Yahoo Message Number: 148675Hello CherylPerhaps my experience is relevant. Unlike many LD'ers, I was never comfortable towing. We towed a CRV for several thousand miles with no untoward events. We went about 12 kmiles over three different seasons and decided it is just not for us. We have evolved our travel ways so we are happy to be tow-less. I will never need to use my kit again. I have a Sterling towbar and a Roadmaster Brake Pro perhaps might work for you. If you are interested, we could probably work something out. Let me know at jpwoodruff at gmail dot com.John
Re: Introduction and Questions... Reply #10 – September 24, 2014, 07:44:29 pm Yahoo Message Number: 148676John -Would you be willing to divulge details about how your travel ways have evolved to not need a tow'd vehicle? We do not like to tow, either, but I do drive a separate vehicle, so we can go/come from a camping spot without moving the whole house.Virtual hugs,Judie http://dorrieanne.wordpress.com
Re: Introduction and Questions... Reply #11 – September 24, 2014, 09:28:06 pm Yahoo Message Number: 148677There is no magic. We move from place to place frequently. Recently - since towing stopped - our average is 50 campnights per year. Our way clearly won't work for full- or most-time LDers. After 2 or 3 days, we begin to wonder what the next campsite will look like. Even if we only go 30 miles, there's almost always a grocery store along the way.A couple times we have rented a car for local sightseeing - Yellowstone is impossible without wheels. We're obviously missing some places, but it's compromise we can live with.John
Re: Introduction and Questions... Reply #12 – September 24, 2014, 09:38:37 pm Yahoo Message Number: 148678We got along without a toad for the first 15 years of RV'ing, but in 2001, I started driving our car separately. A 1985 22-foot Lazy Daze was not really capable of towing. In 2001, we went fulltiming in a 40-foot DP, but still no towing. I continued to drive separately, which is what we are still doing now with our 2005 RB.Not ideal, but we don't go far in any one jaunt, and then we tend to stay put for at least a week (usually longer), so it isn't really all that onerous. I would think that your situation would prove amenable to just driving separately, if there are enough drivers to go around.Virtual hugs,Judie
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