Thinking about an ATV/Tow-Behind for the RV

Ted

Ted

The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
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The RV has presented a challenge for us to consider, and that's what to tow behind it (if anything) for a vehicle when we get someplace. The problem is we don't have anything that is inherently a good pick. The Mercedes can't be flat towed or towed on a tow dolly, being AWD, so it needs a flatbed trailer if we use it. The Ram has a transfer case I can put in neutral, but is a big truck and that, too, isn't very useful.

Long term, I think the new Bronco in a 4-door variant with the manual transmission and a proper 4x4 transfer case is likely what we'll want, as a replacement for Laurie's Mercedes. Maybe. That has its issues (most notably the fact that I think it's only a 2-row SUV and that gets annoying with 3 kids). But nearer term, there's a need. We own nothing that's FWD (FWD with a tow dolly would be a simple enough option) mostly because I hate FWD cars. The only one I ever drove and liked was an Alfa Romeo 156. Never sold in this country, and the Alfa 164 (which I think would be interesting enough to pick) is hard to find these days with most of them in poor and inoperative condition.

Thinking about a lot of the places we want to go, an ATV that we could all fit in would really be a good fit. The problem is that they don't seem to make 5-seater ATVs. A 2-door Jeep Wrangler would seem to be a pretty obvious choice, but they are all 4-seaters. Again, 5 people is the issue.

There are issues with a toad in general and I don't like buying vehicles that we don't have an inherent use for or that don't fit a different category. I suppose a Jeep fits that, but a Wrangler Unlimited we 1) don't like 2) don't want to spend that kind of money on.

I feel like I'm missing something here for a good option, but can't figure out what.
 
Bite the bullet and go practical? By the third generation, the Honda CRV had grown enough in size to fit five for moderate length trips and engine size had grown to 2.4L. Not fast, but a FWD model on a dolly would do the trick. Honda reliability, plenty of used ones to pick from, and easy to sell if you have better ideas.

Yeah, a Jeep would be cool, but even used ones are very expensive. And I'd do a CRV like mini-SUV over a small sedan just for the potential to fold down the seats and move some cargo.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Bite the bullet and go practical? By the third generation, the Honda CRV had grown enough in size to fit five for moderate length trips and engine size had grown to 2.4L. Not fast, but a FWD model on a dolly would do the trick. Honda reliability, plenty of used ones to pick from, and easy to sell if you have better ideas.

Yeah, a Jeep would be cool, but even used ones are very expensive. And I'd do a CRV like mini-SUV over a small sedan just for the potential to fold down the seats and move some cargo.
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I never wish to own a Honda. :)

I couldn't see doing that. Serves no other uses, and then we're strictly buying a vehicle we don't like to tow behind.
 
Why not a UTV? They make several 5 seat ones. Three across in the front and two in the rear. Of course at that point you will have more invested than a Jeep.
 
I *think* some models of the Ford Edge are flat towable. It might not be what you are looking for, but it's been around long enough you might find a good deal.
 
Ted,

I agree with you but ...once you get to where you want to get to, what’s your mission for a vehicle?

At best, for me, a grocery run. That’d why I chose a 2 wheeler instead of 4.

I can either load the Harley, or this awesome moped called a Scarabeo which is a 500cc moped (versus a Vespa with 50,100,150, 200 or even 300cc). The moped con comfortably hit 100 or give me all the torque i need for two people.

That said, many people prefer a vehicle...

There are some great little TOaDS.

Fiat 500
Toyota Corolla
Yaris
Rav4
Ford Fiesta
Ford ecosport
Mazda cx3
Many smaller jeeps
Ford Edge
Saturn vue

I mostly see wranglers, rav4’s, crv’s , and fiestas.


Not that an Rv has a useful load, but going up a hill with an extra2-4000 lbs? Not fun


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Just remember, you can not back up anything that is 4 wheels down.
After about a life time has taught us that a flat bed trailer give us the most options.
we can tow the jeep, tow the trailer load the jeep, load the boat. tow the jeep and carry the ????

we don't like to launch the boat from the motorhome, (boat ramps are usually cramped) so we load the boat on the trailer and tow the jeep to launch the boat.
Trailers lots of ways to use them.

other wise, a VW older van, they tow well, carry every thing, and easy to fix.
 
Llk said:
Ted,

I agree with you but ...once you get to where you want to get to, what’s your mission for a vehicle?

At best, for me, a grocery run. That’d why I chose a 2 wheeler instead of 4.
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Hard to get a family of five on two wheels! ;)
 
KSCessnaDriver said:
Mahindra Roxor and add some seats in the back?
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At that point we might as well get an older Wrangler that already has seats in the back.

Llk said:
I agree with you but ...once you get to where you want to get to, what’s your mission for a vehicle?

At best, for me, a grocery run. That’d why I chose a 2 wheeler instead of 4.
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Agreed, that's a great question and one we don't know the answer to. @jesse has a cool cheap little Chinese dirt bike that's street legal, you don't have to care about it (at all) and would be fine for local grocery runs or scouting out to make sure a road looks ok for the RV. I'm sorta thinking that we may get a motorcycle trailer hitch rack and I could bring the Guzzi along on the trip to Mount Rushmore. Then I can run out if I need for any of those things and we otherwise try to just see the sights with the RV itself.

One question is how many of the roads we want to be on will be navigable with the RV itself vs. a smaller vehicle. I don't know the answer to that, and I think that's the biggest concern.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
At that point we might as well get an older Wrangler that already has seats in the back.



Agreed, that's a great question and one we don't know the answer to. @jesse has a cool cheap little Chinese dirt bike that's street legal, you don't have to care about it (at all) and would be fine for local grocery runs or scouting out to make sure a road looks ok for the RV. I'm sorta thinking that we may get a motorcycle trailer hitch rack and I could bring the Guzzi along on the trip to Mount Rushmore. Then I can run out if I need for any of those things and we otherwise try to just see the sights with the RV itself.

One question is how many of the roads we want to be on will be navigable with the RV itself vs. a smaller vehicle. I don't know the answer to that, and I think that's the biggest concern.
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When I was in Tempe AZ, many moons ago, we drove out the Superstition Highway to Tortilla Flats. I was astounded at the big motor homes navigating that dirt road-successfully if awkwardly-headed out to the dam. I'd never have tried it myself, but I have 0 experience driving one.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I feel like I'm missing something here for a good option, but can't figure out what.
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FWIW: An old client was a Class A RV road warrior and went through several variations in his tow vehicle over the years. As his family of 7 grew he made the switch to a car trailer for flexibility as he could bring the family SUV or a load of toys or a combo of stuff (like his classic CJ2 and ATVs) depending on where they were going. The last time he blew through town it was just him and the missus and he had a custom enclosed car trailer (painted to match the RV) with 2 jet skis, golf cart, misc stuff and a Smart car.
 
Bell206 said:
FWIW: An old client was a Class A RV road warrior and went through several variations in his tow vehicle over the years. As his family of 7 grew he made the switch to a car trailer for flexibility as he could bring the family SUV or a load of toys or a combo of stuff (like his classic CJ2 and ATVs) depending on where they were going. The last time he blew through town it was just him and the missus and he had a custom enclosed car trailer (painted to match the RV) with 2 jet skis, golf cart, misc stuff and a Smart car.
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Our 25' trailer has the best flexibility since we could do exactly that - even tow the Mercedes and the balloon trailer on the back (I think). But at that point we're at a 68-70' total length and not a lot of spots can accommodate that. Or at least that's my impression, and hence my concern.
 
Unimog!

Oh wait, the RV is the tug and not the toad...
:)
 
Ted DuPuis said:
But at that point we're at a 68-70' total length and not a lot of spots can accommodate that.
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I believe he would call ahead and make arrangements to park the trailer separate from RV or rent a separate spot or something along those lines. This is something outside my life experience. Regardless never heard him complain about any problems using a trailer.
 
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I refuse to let my total ignorance affect my opinion, so I'll go for: Smallest possible vehicle you can stomach, and FWD only. The toad only serves to be your dinghy when you moor the land barge. As someone posted, you're doing little grocery runs and short trips. I'm thinking Suzuki Samurai or Geo Metro wagon. Something that you could darn near put in the luggage space under the bus.
 
FJ Cruiser would fit the bill. They seem to go at a premium, with a bit of a cult following.
 
Some of the older Dicovery II’s had 2 additional rear jump seats to make them 7 passenger.
 
Sinistar said:
3rd Gen 4runner ?
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Brad Z said:
FJ Cruiser would fit the bill. They seem to go at a premium, with a bit of a cult following.
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I’m not normally a Japanese car person, but the older 4Runners or FJs definitely fit the bill. However at that point we’re back to an SUV with much overlap with Laurie’s GL550. But, still might be an option.

Today I determined that I can definitely fit both motorcycles into the trailer I bought. That’s a good thing. I can just barely fit them, but I can fit them. That helps with some options.

I am finding myself think that a trailer hitch mounted rack that could hold a lighter weight motorcycle like @Llk does may fit the bill for local grocery runs, although I’m not sure if Laurie would want to do that.
 
Grum.Man said:
Some of the older Dicovery II’s had 2 additional rear jump seats to make them 7 passenger.
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I’d thought about those, too. I had a ‘97 Range Rover and loved it. Some discos were available with manual transmissions too. Laurie would like driving one of those I think.
 
G-Man said:
I refuse to let my total ignorance affect my opinion, so I'll go for: Smallest possible vehicle you can stomach, and FWD only. The toad only serves to be your dinghy when you moor the land barge. As someone posted, you're doing little grocery runs and short trips. I'm thinking Suzuki Samurai or Geo Metro wagon. Something that you could darn near put in the luggage space under the bus.
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Except one of those two is not FWD. (still flat tows just fine, though)
 
Doing some more thinking and talking to Laurie, we're thinking that we like the idea of an older Range Rover or Land Rover Discovery as the toad. Both have transfer cases that can be put into neutral and be a tow-behind, both have good off-road capability (and easy enough to increase the capabilties for both). Fits the needs - easy to drive around town (wherever that town may be), easy to explore boondocking options before we run down the USFS roads with the 40' RV, etc.

So, time to start looking. I like the 2000ish era ones, plus or minus a few years.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Doing some more thinking and talking to Laurie, we're thinking that we like the idea of an older Range Rover or Land Rover Discovery as the toad. Both have transfer cases that can be put into neutral and be a tow-behind, both have good off-road capability (and easy enough to increase the capabilties for both). Fits the needs - easy to drive around town (wherever that town may be), easy to explore boondocking options before we run down the USFS roads with the 40' RV, etc.

So, time to start looking. I like the 2000ish era ones, plus or minus a few years.
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https://bringatrailer.com/land-rover/
7 auctions now live
 
ElPaso Pilot said:
https://bringatrailer.com/land-rover/
7 auctions now live
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The problem with B-A-T is that the prices are high, granted often for good reason. But Discoveries were not uncommon vehicles and there are plenty available out there used. A stock one is going to be fine for 90% of our uses, at least to start, and we can modify as we decide we need to. I have a winch somewhere and if I mount that to a front-mount receiver, then we've got probably 95% of what we need, if not more. As we see what we do we can modify as much as we want.

There are a couple of entertaining local options... may look at them. The reality is a Discovery could be a replacement for Laurie's GL550, and maybe she'll decide she wants to do that. The LR3 and LR4 don't have a proper neutral in their transfer cases, or else I'd propose replacing the GL with one of those and have it be multi-purpose.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
The problem with B-A-T is that the prices are high, granted often for good reason. But Discoveries were not uncommon vehicles and there are plenty available out there used. A stock one is going to be fine for 90% of our uses, at least to start, and we can modify as we decide we need to. I have a winch somewhere and if I mount that to a front-mount receiver, then we've got probably 95% of what we need, if not more. As we see what we do we can modify as much as we want.

There are a couple of entertaining local options... may look at them. The reality is a Discovery could be a replacement for Laurie's GL550, and maybe she'll decide she wants to do that. The LR3 and LR4 don't have a proper neutral in their transfer cases, or else I'd propose replacing the GL with one of those and have it be multi-purpose.
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Come on now, we only scour B-A-T for the pictures, not the prices, right? ;)
 
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Get a 97-2000 jeep wrangler. Fits the three kids in the back as long as they are ok with squishing. Its what we did. :)

Cheers

TJ

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
 
4-5 year old base model Kia Soul with manual seems to be a popular choice. Shouldn't break the bank and holding cost for keeping it with liability-only is minimal. I think the rear bench has 3 seatbelts. Unless you need car seats this should work.
 
weilke said:
4-5 year old base model Kia Soul with manual seems to be a popular choice. Shouldn't break the bank and holding cost for keeping it with liability-only is minimal. I think the rear bench has 3 seatbelts. Unless you need car seats this should work.
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That would be a major no. I’ve never bought a car strictly because of practicality and I don’t intend to start now. We still have to enjoy it.

I am thinking more going back and forth between the ideas of either just towing the Ram or getting a Land Rover. The latter will obviously be unreliable and a project, the former is new, low mileage, and very reliable. Plus I own it already so no need to do anything besides buy the tow bar equipment. It doesn’t fit the mission needs but seeing as we don’t 100% know the mission yet, that may not entirely be a bad thing. I’m trying to simplify life now and not add new projects/additional vehicles.

I still feel the best option would be replacing the GL550 with a better suited vehicle to tow behind, but what that is? Good question.
 
My Laurie equivalent is an absoLUTE glamper. She stole my CLS63; the idea of her roughing it without need is entirely foreign. Don't get me wrong - the woman is a badass in her own right, swimmer, runner, and we've been through a few pickles together - but not going places in style means it likely doesn't happen. Camping? Pshaw.

Part of the reason you got that big azz RV is specifically for Laurie.

Now...have Laurie try to drive that beast, let alone back up a car with 4 down while you watch and shake your head, and many arguments will end. Full Stop.

The point is that my Laurie equivalent has had more than a few trips to museums, grocery runs, and other places in either the moped or the bike just fine and understands the practicality of not bringing the big ole SUV or god forbid the CLS. Even if she doesn't like taking the motorcycle herself, the moped requires no skill, has substantial storage, she simply throttles and goes without the need to shift, she can do it in her sandals, and all is well. She enjoys the party bus just fine, thankyouverymuch, where her tea, hair dryer, personal bathroom and wine fridge are, and that is far more comfort than bringing a car around that doesn't nearly have all the luxuries of home. Sounds like a possible family planning conversation :)
 
Land Rovers are mechanically a disaster. Unless you're considering a Defender, steer clear. You probably won't listen to me, and that's fine, but the third time the thing breaks down on you for some ridiculous reason you'll understand.
 
Brad Z said:
Land Rovers are mechanically a disaster.
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...and the breakdown will inevitably happen (Murphy being alive and robustly healthy) far away from your home, where all the tools are! Well, probably not all of them, but certainly the ones you need...

-Skip
 
Brad Z said:
Land Rovers are mechanically a disaster. Unless you're considering a Defender, steer clear. You probably won't listen to me, and that's fine, but the third time the thing breaks down on you for some ridiculous reason you'll understand.
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I used to own a ‘97 Range Rover and we worked on them plenty at the Jag shop. I know better than most how much of a mechanical disaster they are. ;)
 
Skip Miller said:
...and the breakdown will inevitably happen (Murphy being alive and robustly healthy) far away from your home, where all the tools are! Well, probably not all of them, but certainly the ones you need...

-Skip
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Just put a hitch on the Rover and tow a small trailer containing tools up to and including an engine lift. Shouldn't be too hard to get a doubles endorsement on the CDL.
 
Llk said:
My Laurie equivalent is an absoLUTE glamper. She stole my CLS63; the idea of her roughing it without need is entirely foreign. Don't get me wrong - the woman is a badass in her own right, swimmer, runner, and we've been through a few pickles together - but not going places in style means it likely doesn't happen. Camping? Pshaw.

Part of the reason you got that big azz RV is specifically for Laurie.

Now...have Laurie try to drive that beast, let alone back up a car with 4 down while you watch and shake your head, and many arguments will end. Full Stop.

The point is that my Laurie equivalent has had more than a few trips to museums, grocery runs, and other places in either the moped or the bike just fine and understands the practicality of not bringing the big ole SUV or god forbid the CLS. Even if she doesn't like taking the motorcycle herself, the moped requires no skill, has substantial storage, she simply throttles and goes without the need to shift, she can do it in her sandals, and all is well. She enjoys the party bus just fine, thankyouverymuch, where her tea, hair dryer, personal bathroom and wine fridge are, and that is far more comfort than bringing a car around that doesn't nearly have all the luxuries of home. Sounds like a possible family planning conversation :)
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My wife loves motorcycles even more than I do. But with 3 kids, it’s hard to use the motorcycle as a family vehicle for running around at all, even two of them (I don’t have a sidecar).
 
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