What car to tow?

[John M]

We have a Vitara, our second and this has done 342,000 with very little problems, though I have recently fitted a recon motor, would thoroughly endorse these vehicles.
The old question of "A frame" v Trailer!
I go along with Ray's comment

I wonder why people are willing to wear out expensive 4WD tyres for no benefit dragging a little 4WD behind while travelling in their m/h, when - like us - they could be wearing out trailer tyres at half the price, and saving the 4WD tyres for serious use in Nat Parks etc.

other than that I have personally seen one M/H tootling along the highway followed by a cloud of white smoke where the tyres on the toad were locked over and the driver totally unaware of any problem was just ignoring the horns and gayly waving back to all trying to inform him. In the past couple of years there has been a number of incidents where the toad has been left or knocked into gear resulting in a very expensive repair bill, one of these at least, being very experienced motorhomers who have travelled extensively with the toad behind, accidents do happen!
I personally much prefer the trailer, with the added storage at the front, as well as the peace of mind and security of the car, more than making up for the expense of the added registration. Without taking into count, the cost difference between a second hand trailer and an "A" frame is negligible, the cost of replacing the brakes and wheel bearings on the trailer is minimal when compared to a 4WD, without the added wear and tear on drive train etc. The extra fuel used in towing a trailer over an A frame, and so the argument goes on ad finitum.
We have never been in a situation where we had to disconnect our trailer to reverse or turn around, but then the turning circle of our bus with trailer is better than most larger 4wds. and I have a fair bit of experience backing large trailer combinations.

[ozfueler]

We A frame a Diahatsu Terios behind our Denning bus and would not leave home without it, it has made full time life on the road so much more enjoyable being able to drive on beaches, easily check out camping spots without putting the bus in stupid situations (don't worry, before the Terios I've had to back out of some REALLY stupid spots : ) or go exploring up the Bloomfield track, we have seen so much more of our great country because of our toad. It also makes shopping and sight seeing a breeze, it's so much easier to find a parking spot for the Terios as compared to an 11+ metre bus.

As Dot mentioned in a previous post, the system we use allows 1 person to hitch or unhitched it, if you are feeling good it can be done in about a minute, if you're a bit lazy about 2 minutes. Those times include hitching it to the bus, fitting the 2 safety cables and the power lead. All up it comes in just under a tonne, has engineer approval and because of the GVM of the bus we don't need an extra braking system. The ease of use has reduced our marital "discussions" about hitching the toad and has allowed us more time for other extra "discussions", which is the only down side I have found.

It is this quick and easy because we use an American Roadmaster, Towmaster system, that can be left permanently attached to the toad, it has telescopic A arms so that lining it up or getting it at the right distance from the bus is not a big issue, as long as you are close it works. When you go to drive off the A arms automatically lock into place. The other great thing about this system is that it folds up onto itself and it can be left on the toad permanently or remove 2 pins and take it off, your choice. The Towmaster also cost under $1400 and we had it fitted and wired for $600, a hell of a lot less than any other system we looked at.

The toad makes absolutely no difference to our mpg, the 6V71 does not seem to know it is there, the only way I know we are towing some thing is by looking in the rear view camera. It can be backed if you are careful, but in tight situations it can be off and back on the bus in a few minutes. The other benefit is when you are camped somewhere there is no empty trailer to tell everyone that there is probably no one at home. We have no connection to Towmaster but are just very happy with it, it is easy to use, no carrying heavy weights and works for us, and that is all that matters in the end.

[Dot]

That's the name we were trying to remember "Towmaster" thanks for that Steve.

[Newcastle George]

Steve,

Is this the Towmaster you have fitted? http://www.tigertowing.com.au/index.php?p=1_16
George

[SteveW]

Steve,

Is this the Towmaster you have fitted? http://www.tigertowing.com.au/index.php?p=1_16
George

I don't think that particular one can be certified in Australia.

[Dot]

Actually Big Steve, that name Tigertow doesn't sound right to G. ?? Those pics of the "tigertownig " are not the same as yours either.

[Wilbor]

This is the Australian distributer who we got our Roadmaster off. We have a Falcon 2 and an Invisibrake

http://www.janer.com.au/index.html

[ozfueler]

Hi George and Dot, I was a bit "tired and emotional " when I wrote my last post, I should have said it is a Roadmaster Stowmaster, here is the link to where I purchased it from in Melbourne. http://www.janer.com.au/stow.html

There is a lot of information on the web site, we looked at a number of systems before we decided on the Stowmaster, I hope this is of some help. I have never seen the one you posted George and I am not sure if Steve is right about the certification of them, the Stowmaster is Australian compliant and an engineers report is on the site.

If needed I will try and post some photos of our setup on the Terios, just let me know.

[Dot]

I reckon it was those pills they gave you to pop that got you rattled.

[Chuck]

We towed a 10 year old Suzuki GV 5 door (manual) behind the Winnie Leisure Seeker on an 'A' frame - forget the brand name - with no dramas at all. As previously mentioned they are a breeze to hook up - especially with the telescopic arms - means you don't have to be lined up exactly behind the bus to connect. Ours remained on the Winnie.

Definitely handy for sight seeing without moving everything unnecessarily.