Our Toad

Even before we considered motorhoming, we had looked at the 2006 Honda Fit and considered it as a possibility for our next car. By January 2008, we looked at one again and this time made sure it could be towed since the possibility of a motorhome was then much more likely. It seemed to "fit" our needs nicely and we took one home!

We bought it 8 months before our coach, but we did not tow it for several years. In July of 2009, at an FMCA rally in Bowling Green, OH, we ordered everything we would need for towing from Blue Ox. I really had little idea what was needed, so I was trusting the vendor. It arrived and promptly stayed boxed in the garage for more than a year. All of our weekend outings in the coach were without a car. It wasn't too bad, since it was easy enough to pack everything you might need for two or three days. A car was just not a necessity.

Finally, the day came and with Jon's (our son) help I disassembled the front end of the car and installed the towing base plate. I modified the grill a bit to accommodate the lighting socket.  It took most of the day to install everything, including wiring the lights. As it turned out, Dave (with Blue Ox) had included everything I needed and nothing I did not. We really like the Blue Ox tow bar/base plate - it is nearly invisible when the toad is on its own.

I checked the wiring on the coach socket and found it had been modified for towing the previous owner's Jeep. I had to re-wire it to match the socket on the car.  Everything checked out and we were ready for towing. I checked with a few people for any words of advice regarding towing. I was told there was nothing to it, so away we went with the car in tow for the first time. That trip was to the Greater Eastern Area Rally (GEAR) in Winston, NC in September of 2010. We have not been anywhere since without our FIT following right along behind us.

I was towed to follow the American Dream

It had to happen eventually - we had to replace our toad. We did not think it would happen the way it did. We had just left Illinois heading into Iowa in July of 2021 when we were flagged by a passing car to alert us to a serious problem. The base plate attached to the car's frame had fractured. The only thing keeping the car behind us was the safety cables. When the plate broke it destroyed the front end of the car. The insurance adjuster totaled the car. Unfortunately, that left us without a tow car for the remainder of the summer.

The Honda Fit was perfect for us but it was no longer imported to the US. We had to find something else or buy used. The market was crazy with used cars selling for more than new and there were very limited options for towing four-down. The base plate failure had me wondering if we should even try four-down towing again. Considering a tow dolly opened up our options. The Honda HR-V had many of the features we liked about the FIT - cargo carrying, small size, and reasonable fuel efficiency. In the end, limited stock brought on by wild supply chain shortages made the one in front of us, on the lot at the dealer the right choice. Meet our Toad II, the Honda HR-V on the Stehl tow dolly behind the new coach (the new coach is another story altogether).

After a while using the tow dolly became easier and my nervousness disappeared. It takes a bit longer to ready for travel and we have to make room for dolly storage but it's all good now and we were back to traveling with little lost time.