INTRODUCTION: The majority of motorhomes tow a passenger vehicle referred to at a dinghy or a "toad". Important safety, economic and legal issues are related to this activity. The safety issues relate to highway speed stability and handling. The legality of towing a toad is most often ignored because most States do not enforce their own regulations.

Towing improperly can be very expensive in premature wear and damage. After you read this article, I hope you decide to evaluate your rig and get it properly set up within weight limits so that all of us will be as safe as possible on the road and save money.A toad can cause a serious accident if not set up properly or towed correctly. I have seen Class B motorhomes towing full size vans, Class C motorhomes towing large SUV's and Class A Gas Motorhomes towing Suburbans. All of these situations are accidents waiting to happen in my opinion.

The safety issues related to power are safely merging into an Interstate and keeping up with traffic on highways. RVs should, however, be more concerned about stopping and turning while towing a toad. Performing an emergency stop towing a 4500 lb toad behind a Class C can be a bone chilling experience. Most of us will drive many miles over years of RVing and never have to do a real panic stop, but then what happens if you are the RVer who has to? Have any of you practiced a full panic stop with your motorhome with toad connected? If you haven't you should so that you will know what really happens. Have you tried a highway speed quick lane change? Experienced drivers know that it is much easier to steer clear of an obstacle than to stop before you hit it. This article is devoted to make you aware of the best way to enjoy safe operation of a motorhome towing a toad.

WEIGHT AND POWER: Safely towing heavy toads requires that you have enough power to merge onto Interstates and to keep up with minimum speed regulations. If you are underpowered or overloaded there is a greater chance of premature wear on you tow vehicle and premature failure. Overloaded motors and transmissions overheat and wear out or fail sooner than a properly sized combination. If all the Interstates you drive on are flat, then you might be able to get away with overloading.

WEIGHT AND STOPPING: Stopping an overloaded motorhome toad combination in emergencies can be very risky to life and limb. Even if you drive with greater following distances and very defensively you will probably face a situation that require a panic stop. Un-braked toads can cause an increase of 30 to 50% in the stopping distance. If your equipment is in good shape and you have a supplemental brake system on your toad, you will have a much better chance getting the rig stopped without damage or injury.

The most common accident caused by improper combination involves the following scenario. Obstacle or danger causes the driver to stomp on the brakes. A heavy un-braked toad pushes up on the rear end of the motorhome, reducing the weight on the duals. The motorhome then starts to jackknife and the toad pushes sideways causing an increased jackknife. The motorhome then hits something like a rut in the road and rolls over.

Safely stopping while towing a toad requires a supplemental braking system installed on the toad that will stop it's weight. The Toad will then cause a neutral or slight pull action on the back of the motorhome during a panic stop. This pull will tend to keep the combination straight while maximum braking is performed. I recommend towing the lightest toad you can enjoy. If that is a Chev Tahoe, then you shoul drive a large diesel pusher.

WEIGHT AND TURNING: Another dangerous maneuver you may have to perform to avoid danger is a high-speed lane change. A motorhome with a heavy toad will almost immediately start jackknifing when this maneuver is performed. With a light toad, little or no wiggle waggle will take place. Think about the weight involved. If the motorhome weighs 12000 and the toad weighs 4000 lb (33%), then for sure the wiggle is going to happen. If the motorhome weighs 30,000 and the toad 2,500 lb (8.3%), then it will seem like nothing is back there. I think a 40% ratio is the absolute maximum for a toad.

WEIGHT AND RATINGS/WARRANT: Many Class A, Class C, and Class B coaches have very low tow ratings and GCW ratings. Older Chevrolet Chassis are rated to tow only 1000 lb of un-braked vehicle weight. Older Ford Chassis are rated for only 1500 lb of un-braked weight. Any vehicle towed behind one of these chassis absolutely requires a supplemental braking system installed. The GCWR or Gross Combined Weight Rating is the maximum the motorhome, toad and stuff can weigh to stay within the design limits of the chassis. For example, if your coach weighs 15,000 lb loaded and ready to travel, and its GCWR is 18000 lb, then your loaded toad can only weigh 3000 lb. GVWR is the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating and is the maximum the loaded motorhome can weigh. If you overload your rig, you won't necessarily break something immediately, but the service life on the engine, transmission, brakes, suspension, and other chassis components will be signficiantly shortened. I hear often of transmission failures on overloaded rigs. If you overload your rig, most often things heat up and cause premature wear on all components. Manufacturers of chassis look for signs of overloading when evaluating large warranty claims. They often refuse to pay if there is any sign of overloading.WEIGHT AND THE LAW : Vehicle towing limits vary by State. Many States limit un-braked towed vehicle weight to 3000 lb or 40% of the towing vehicles weight. Some States limit un-braked towed vehicle weight to 1000 lb.

Surf to http://www.rvsafety.com/new_page_1.htm to see the towing regulations State to State. I don't know of any State that is issuing citations at this time for over weight towed un-braked vehicles. This does not mean that they won't start, especially if there are accidents that are clearly caused by overloading. British Columbia Canada enforces their limit of 4400 lb. Other Canadian provinces do not appear to be enforcing their limits at this time. I don't like any more Government Regulations than are absolutely necessary, but I think that towing regulations should be followed. If you want to be legal in all states, then you will take the responsible step and install a supplemental brake on your toad.

SUMMARY: It is my fondest dream that all motorhome operators will take the responsible steps necessary to make their rigs safe and legal. That means that even operators of diesel pushers that are rated to tow 10,000 lb of un-braked towed vehicle, will install a supplemental brake on their toad anyway. That means that operators of Class C's, will have a supplemental brake on their 2400 lb toad. All of us need to install all the proper safety equipment, ie chains, cables, lights, bars, brackets, receivers etc. so that we are all safer on the road. If we act soon being voluntarily responsible, there will be no need for further Government involvement.

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