Towing a Car with Your RV- What You Need to Know

Towing a car with your RV can be essential to making life on the road easier. If you camp in a motorhome, you know how difficult those big rigs can be to drive around town. When a motorhome is your only vehicle, even simple chores like going to the grocery store become difficult. This is frustrating to say the least, and it leads many people to purchase a second vehicle for driving while their RV is parked.

This is a great option for those who find themselves doing lots of sightseeing or running errands while they camp. However, there are some things you should know before diving in.

Read on to learn the basics so you can make an informed decision on what to do next.

To Tow or Not to Tow

First, it’s important to carefully consider whether towing is the best option for you. As mentioned before, having a smaller car available for driving short distances is wonderful, but there are definitely cons to bringing a tow car along as well.

Carefully consider the pros and cons below and compare them to your camping style before making a final decision. After all, getting set up to tow isn’t cheap, and if you have to purchase the car as well, you’ll be out quite a bit of money when all is said and done. Therefore, you definitely want to make the right call.

Pros

• Easier to drive around town and park.

• Could potentially save on gas if you stay parked for stretches of time.

• Removes the need to unhook everything every time an errand needs to be run.

Cons

• Expensive to get set up.

• Makes the rig longer during travel days, making it more difficult to fit into parking lots.

• Must find a place for towing equipment when parked.

Towing Options

If you do decide to tow, you have a few options for how to go about it. Once again, you are going to need to consider your needs in order to make the best decision for you and your family. Below are the three towing options, what they require, and the pros and cons of each.

Related Read: Choosing the Right Tow Vehicle: Understanding Weight

Flat Towing

Flat towing is the most popular way to get a tow-behind car (or “toad”) from one place to another. This type of towing involves a tow bar which is connected to the motorhome hitch as well as the car. The car is put into neutral and pulled behind the RV on all four wheels. It is popular because the tow bar is easy to store.

However, there is one major caveat: Only some types of vehicles can be flat towed. Is your vehicle not on this list? Check your owner’s manual to see if it can be flat towed. If you don’t own a vehicle that can be flat towed, you can either choose to trade it in, make the necessary modification to tow it on all four wheels, or go with another method of towing.

Note that the aftermarket add-on that allows any vehicle to be flat towed is easy to use incorrectly, and incorrect usage can lead to terrible transmission damage. Additionally, these add-ons can void a warranty. Therefore, this option is not recommended.

Another con to flat towing is cost. Getting set up to tow a vehicle “four-down” usually costs $2K–$4K.

Tow Dollies

If you would like to tow a vehicle that cannot be flat towed, or if you can’t invest in a flat tow setup right away, a tow dolly might be your best friend.

Almost any car can be towed using a dolly or “two-down” setup. That said, it is best for front-wheel-drive vehicles. Those who wish to tow a rear-wheel-drive vehicle with a tow dolly will either need to disconnect and remove the driveshaft or tow the car backwards. Neither of those options is ideal, so we highly recommend sticking to front-wheel-drive vehicle with this type of towing.

Besides the need to stick to front-wheel-drive vehicles, the other major problem tow dollies present is a storage problem. Finding a place to store a dolly can be frustrating at very tight campgrounds. That said, they are small enough that one can usually find a place to tuck it.

Car Trailers

Lastly, there is the option of a car trailer. This is the bulkiest option, and can also be pretty expensive. In fact, we only recommend pulling your car in a trailer if your need to protect it from the elements for some reason or you will be storing other things in the trailer along with the vehicle. Otherwise, the trailer simply isn’t worth the hassle.

If you do choose to use a trailer, keep in mind that you will need to have a place to store it both at home and at campgrounds. In some cases this may mean paying for an additional site or storage space.

Options If You Don’t Tow a Car

Are none of those options good for you? Don’t worry! There are a few other ways to get around that don’t involve driving the motorhome or towing a car behind you. That said, these options do come with their own sets of pros and cons, so keep that in mind when making your choice,

Riding a Bike or Using Public Transportation

If you park close enough to town, simply riding a bike or taking the bus is always an option. This is super easy and inexpensive and helps you get in some extra exercise by pedaling or walking.

That said, you can’t go far if these are your only options for transportation, so you have to be prepared to skip out on some things.

Related Read: A Better Camping Experience with a Second Vehicle

Toy Hauler or Rack and Motorcycles or Smart Car

Some people choose to go with super small second vehicles so they can skip towing altogether. A tiny car (such as a smart car) can be carried in a toy hauler, as can motorcycles. Single travelers may even be able to keep a motorcycle on a rack on the back of their RV. Just make sure your RV is rated to carry the weight of any vehicle you will be carrying!

Driving Behind

Finally, if you travel with two drivers, there is always the option of having someone drive the car as a “follow car”. While this does require extra gas on travel days, many people actually prefer this method. It allows people with small children to safely anchor car seats, and the car can scout ahead for good places to stop.

Choosing to tow a car will completely change your camping experience. Think hard about which option is better for you, then go ahead and jump in feet first. Whatever you choose to do, have fun!