Many people tow travel trailers using their cars, that is more popular. But also many motohome owners end up doing opposite. Towing behind motorhome can be of great help. You will have your car where you go in your RV. Camping at a campsite can be fun and apart from exploring things around the campsite you may at times want to head a little further for site seeing or may visit a nearby town to buy something important and urgent. When you are away in your motorome at a campsite, you RV is the only vehicle at your disposal. Imagine taking your motorhome for such site seeing or nearby town visit. It is definitely going to be inconvenient. During such times you may want to tow a car behind your motorhome.
Different ways of towing cars behind a motorhome or RV
When you own a motorhome you have all the luxury at your needs. Good space for sleeping and living. Motorhomes like class A or C usually tend to be much lengthier. When you have big 40 feet long class A motorhome it becomes difficult to travel through city or town.
You may need to do that at times and its hard to travel on those roads in traffic with such sized RV. One way you go about this is by renting a car and keeping the RV at campsite and going ahead with the rented car. But this can be of little inconvenience and also extra cost.
One thing many people do instead is carry their own car with the motorhome. A car can be towed behind a motorhome. People even tow boats and other things behind RV.
There are three different methods to tow a car behind motorhome. It all depends on individual what method to use. Each of them have their own advantages and disadvantages. Lets see what are the three methods and how they are different to each other. A lengthy motorhome and car combo that is not properly synced can be Abysmal for driving.
1. Use a tow bar to tow a car behind the motorhome
In this kind of towing your car will have all of its four tires on road and the vehicle will roll once the rv starts moving. This is one of the most common methods of towing car behind RV and many people make use of it. This is also called as flat towing or dinghys towing or four down towing because all of the four tires are hitting on road.
Although it seems to be a simple and elegant way to towing car, it isn’t that easy. Automatic vehicles need to be planned before towing in such a manner. If your car has manual transmission then its not an issue. But with automatic transmission there can be damage to your cars transmission. The problem is with lubrication being not provided to moving parts when the engine is actually not running. Thus this can lead to damaging the transmission.
Best way to know if the car is suitable for four wheel towing is to check the users manual. Most car makers would make the recommendations about whether the car can be towed in dinghys style or not.
In case if your vehicle is not suited for such a style of towing then you can look for devices that help support such towing like lubrication pump for transmission. But you need to be careful while using such devices as wrong use an cause damage to your car and also their prices tend to be high. Thus its up to oneself to decide on the use of this kind of add on.
2. Cary the car on a trailer, the flatbed method of towing
You can use another trailer that will have its own tires and will hold the car on top of it. With method your car wont be hitting on road at all and thus you will be relived of issues that come with four wheel towing. This method however will mean you spend Substantial amount as compared to tow bar towing.
This kind of method is not popular though as it needs more expenses and also you need to maintain that extra trailer. Also you need extra efforts in putting the vehicle up there and to move it down. Altogether a tough job to do every time you need to move the car on top of it and down. With extra trailer you also need that extra space for storage at home. All in all this doesn’t look to be a good practical way to tow your car behind a motorhome and thus not so popular among Rvers.
3. Towing a car using a tow dolly
With a tow dolly what you do is keep the front 2 wheels of your car on it and the backside two wheels of car are rolled on the road. This can be a good solution if you don’t want to invest heavily on a full trailer or don’t want to risk the four wheel towing. However be warned that if you have a big car then going for a proper trailer could be a good solution and a better approach. You also need to check on how much weight they can handle. Out of the three whichever method you use make sure you follow the state rules.
Different states have different rules and regulations when it comes to towing cars behind rvs, the weight that you can carry, the brakes of trailer used for towing etc. Safety should be your first concern when trying to tow a car. Also which of these three methods is more pragmatic depends a lot on the type of RV and car you have.
Things to consider before towing car on a RV
Driving a modest RV itself can be tough and on top of that if you tow a car or boat behind it then it definitely calls for extra considerations. Ignoring things when towing behind motorhome can easily put things on risk. With extra car on back of your RV you have to be extra vigilant and take of all things while driving.
Most RVers adept at towing cars will surely agree on all these points. Here are 7 things to consider if you plan towing behind motorhome.
1. Weight of the car
One of the most vital things to consider is obviously the weight of the car or boat you want tow. When you tow anything behind a motorhome it can tow up to certain limit and exceeding that is not only illegal but also very serious safety concern. A good way to confirm on the weight is to check owners manual before deciding on towing a car. You need to check on things like like Gross Vehicle weight rating, gross combination weight rating, gross axle weight rating and maximum tow rating.
2. Hitch used for towing and proper mapping between Rv and car
The hitch receiver you use for towing should be able to handle the weight and should have proper rating. Also the mapping between the car and Rv is important. They should be at same height else you may need to use drop receiver.
3. Car transmission
Car transmission whether automatic or manual will matter if you tend to use four wheel towing. A automatic car may get its transmission damaged if all of its wheels are rolling without engine being in running mode.
4. Tire pressure
This is one of paramount factors in towing car behind motorhome. Towing a car behind your motorhome will need that your RV tires are in perfect condition and are capable enough to carry the whole weight. A low tire pressure can be Treacherous, thus make sure your tires are properly inflated
5. Miles per hour and miles per gallon
With a car towed behind your as it is big lengthy RV the average miles per hour will reduce also the miles per gallon of your RV will reduce to some extent as you are now with extra added weight that is towed behind.
6. Trailer Brakes
The trailers that you use to carry the car may need brakes as per law. This however depends from state to state and mostly if the weight of the trailer is more than 1500 pounds then the brakes are mandatory.
7. State laws of towing
Towing a car behind your motorhome is something that is governed and you have to abide by various laws before you do that. You need to be careful and should not exceed the weights that are prescribed.
Some of the other things that you need to keep in mind includes list of equipment that you will need for towing a car behind motorhome or rv. Also, you can find out list of cars that are best for towing. Not all cars are friendly for towing behind motorhome.
Can a class C motorhome be used to tow a car
It can definitely tow a car but you need to make sure on the capacity from its manual. Also it may not be as capable as a class A motorhome can. But still they can be adequate enough to pull a mid sized suv or a sedan. You should make sure the weight capacity does not reach to almost whats possible because it may be difficulty when you hit a uphill road. A class C can be a capable f around 3500 pounds but going beyond that could be difficult for them. Class A motorhomes are much more capable. They can tow cars or boats as heavy as 5000 to 10000 pounds. The towing capacity will also depend on how weigh the Rv gets once you load it with all the things. The more of your RV will mean its towing capacity will reduce to some extent.
