I've searched and cannot find an answer to a question that has come up for us. 

We're looking at switching to a MH with a toad from our current 5th wheel.  As I've been researching I keep finding references to not being able to back up the MH while towing your vehicle.  I'm confused...   Why wouldn't one be able to back up with a toad attached?  Is it only an issue if towing 4 down -- which we would prefer?  Is it a mechanical issue or merely a challenging one?

FYI, we're planning to tow my paid for Avalanche.

the steer wheels on the toad turn to allow tracking while being towed. I've backed up a few feet, without turning, and not had a problem. But if the wheels turn the toad will jack knife and you will break the tow bar and it's possible for the toad to hit the MH.

Thanks Dan. That makes sense. So if you tow with a dolly it would seem that it would be the same as towing any other trailer and backing up, while challenging, is possible?

A lot has to do with the fact that the TOAD front wheels are free to turn in what ever direction they feel like, not necessasarily in the direction you want to go in. There was a good discussion on the ESCAPEE forum at: http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=85124

Nope, the dolly wheels can turn as well, so it's the same situation. The dolly I used, you could pin the steer arm so it wouldn't move, but the owner told me not to do that unless the dolly was empty.

Thanks all. So after skimming the other thread, I think we'll just plan to unhook the Avalanche before we head into our parking spot... And be very careful about the situations we find ourselves in. Not to mention looking for pull throughs for those overnight stops!

Yep, that's what we do. The difficulty in hooking/un-hooking the toad should not be a major problem. Depends on the aux braking system used and tow bar configuration will determine how difficult the job will be.

You just have to pay attention and make sure you can pull through when needed. We have only needed to disconnect the toad a few times and have been towing it since February 2002 and full-timers since July 2003. If it was a major problem more would move to tow dollies, but on average the tow dolly people move to toads a lot more than people with toads moving to tow dollies.