The wife and I are getting set up for full-time RV life starting this month.I would love to tap into the wisdom of you seasoned RV’ers to confirm that our current set up is not missing anything (as you may remember, as a beginner it can be tough to be sure you have all you need to travel safely).We are concerned with our dinghy set up; we are towing a 2011 Honda CRV:
Roadmaster XL Base Plate
Roadmaster Falcon All-Terrain Tow Bar
Even Brake Supplemental Braking System
Magnetic Brake/Turn Lights
What we would love to confirm is whether this set-up is missing anything.And if any of you have toad a Honda CRV, is there anything else we should be aware of?
Thank you all so much, looking forward to anything you would like to share!
Randy & Sarah
el Rojo and Pam said
04:00 PM Dec 30, 2013
Hi Randy and Sarah...Welcome aboard RV Dreams!
You might consider a rock shield for the front of the tow vehicle. Roadmaster makes one to go with that tow bar.
Red
SnugBugs said
04:39 PM Dec 30, 2013
Thanks for the welcome! And the advice; see, right there something we had not considered, so thank you!
We are also unclear as to whether the fuse we must pull to flat-tow the CRV will disable the cigarette outlets, and if so how would one power the Evenbrake?
(and thank you for your patience with these newbie queries, hopefully we can pass on this wisdom once we are "seasoned" a few decades from now)
The best rock shields are like the Roadmaster Tow Defender, http://roadmasterinc.com/products/protection_storage/protect_store.html#tow. We had a similar product until we moved to a diesel and the exhaust burned a hole in it. But most run without rock shields, like us. Make sure your mud flaps do not hang close to the ground on the motorhome and your CRV should be fine. Low mud flaps fling rocks up.
You can also put in wiring kit directly to the existing CRV lights. Less junk to carry and the light kits come with diodes, so they do not interfere with the CRV wiring. Both of our toads were wired directly.
I saw you posted the same question on the Escapees forum. Someone noted you might need a drop hitch to make sure your tow bar is level when traveling. This is very important. With our gas motorhome and CRV, we needed to use a 2" drop to make it level. When we moved to our diesel we needed to go up 2", so we flipped the 2" drop. Luckily the heights matched when we moved to a Chevrolet Equinox.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Monday 30th of December 2013 06:40:22 PM
-- Edited by bjoyce on Monday 30th of December 2013 06:41:52 PM
-- Edited by bjoyce on Monday 30th of December 2013 06:58:17 PM
-- Edited by bjoyce on Monday 30th of December 2013 06:59:51 PM
-- Edited by bjoyce on Monday 30th of December 2013 11:49:40 PM
SnugBugs said
12:37 AM Dec 31, 2013
Thank you so much BJoyce! Yes, we had considered a fuse bypass switch, and are currently weighing it against running a 12V line from coach to toad engine directly (may be simpler, and please let us know if you have an opinion on that).
As for the Easy Brake in a CRV, do you have any info on why that might be contraindicated? We wanted to stay away from an invasive install as the car is leased (yes, toading a leased car is not well-planned, but it was leased long before this opportunity arose...we do have a base plate being installed, but that can be reversed somewhat easily).
Thanks for the info on the rock shield; we have no mudflaps and windshield insurance, so we'll take our chances (for the price of a rock shield we could pay for most of a tent attachment, our next dream addition!).
We will most likely go with the magnetic light system. Again, non-invasive, though of course we will have to attach/detach to drive the toad...with the wired-in lights, this brought too many variables as far as switches/bypasses needed to keep the CRV stop lights from overriding the coach turn signals...if we end up going fulltime, I'm sure will do the direct wired-in as it is simpler and cleaner overall.
As for the drop hitch, we're just going to see how things line up and buy one retail.
Thank you so much! And deep respect for full-timing since '03; when was your anniversary?
Randy & Sarah
bjoyce said
10:17 AM Dec 31, 2013
Leased does make a difference. You will be making modifications to install the baseplate, there is no choice. Adding a breakaway would also be intrusive.
The 2002 CRV did not require a fuse pull and we did not have trouble running the battery down towing each day using a similar brake to what you are getting. We carry a battery charger and did charge it up each night if we did not unhook. After many years of use the brake did loosen the front seat. The Roadmaster Invisibrake we have on our Equinox charges the batteries only when it is engaged, so a fuse switch was needed. Roadmaster said not to add a second charge line with the Invisibrake since it interferes, so we have the switch or the battery runs down in under 100 miles.
July 9th is our fulltiming anniversary.
SnugBugs said
02:59 PM Dec 31, 2013
Wow, then first off congrats on passing the decade mark! And thank you for the info on the loosening of the front seat, which was a concern of mine. We are potentially considering the Readybrake instead of Even Brake, we just need to confirm what all will be installed in the CRV (due to the lease). One upside of the Even Brake is it will tell you when the dinghy battery gets low, so even without a fuse bypass or pull we can at least pull off and run the dinghy motor to charge as we go.
Hello all!
The wife and I are getting set up for full-time RV life starting this month. I would love to tap into the wisdom of you seasoned RV’ers to confirm that our current set up is not missing anything (as you may remember, as a beginner it can be tough to be sure you have all you need to travel safely). We are concerned with our dinghy set up; we are towing a 2011 Honda CRV:
Roadmaster XL Base Plate
Roadmaster Falcon All-Terrain Tow Bar
Even Brake Supplemental Braking System
Magnetic Brake/Turn Lights
What we would love to confirm is whether this set-up is missing anything. And if any of you have toad a Honda CRV, is there anything else we should be aware of?
Thank you all so much, looking forward to anything you would like to share!
Randy & Sarah
You might consider a rock shield for the front of the tow vehicle. Roadmaster makes one to go with that tow bar.
Red
Thanks for the welcome! And the advice; see, right there something we had not considered, so thank you!
We are also unclear as to whether the fuse we must pull to flat-tow the CRV will disable the cigarette outlets, and if so how would one power the Evenbrake?
(and thank you for your patience with these newbie queries, hopefully we can pass on this wisdom once we are "seasoned" a few decades from now)
Randy & Sarah
Roadmaster makes FuseMaster, which turns pulling the fuse into a switch, http://roadmasterinc.com/products/accessories/electrical/fusemaster.html. The video demonstrating it is for a Honda CRV, so they know CRVs. We have a FuseMaster in our Equinox, installed at Roadmaster's headquarters. I would call Roadmaster directly, http://roadmasterinc.com/contact.html, and ask if the Even Brake is what they would recommend for a CRV. We used a Brake Buddy with our 2002 CRV, but that year no fuse needing pulling. The Even Brake is a similar product to a Brake Buddy (http://www.brakebuddy.com/Products/BrakeBuddy-Vantage-Select). We got our Brake Buddy from PPL Motorhomes, http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/towing/braking-system/hopkins/brake-buddy/bb-vantage-select.htm, for a better price. We installed a Roadmaster Invisibrake, http://roadmasterinc.com/products/braking/invisibrake/index.html, in the Equinox and like it better than the Brake Buddy. Whatever you do, have a breakaway. Stuff happens, including messing up setup when distracted, and the car can come loose.
The best rock shields are like the Roadmaster Tow Defender, http://roadmasterinc.com/products/protection_storage/protect_store.html#tow. We had a similar product until we moved to a diesel and the exhaust burned a hole in it. But most run without rock shields, like us. Make sure your mud flaps do not hang close to the ground on the motorhome and your CRV should be fine. Low mud flaps fling rocks up.
You can also put in wiring kit directly to the existing CRV lights. Less junk to carry and the light kits come with diodes, so they do not interfere with the CRV wiring. Both of our toads were wired directly.
I saw you posted the same question on the Escapees forum. Someone noted you might need a drop hitch to make sure your tow bar is level when traveling. This is very important. With our gas motorhome and CRV, we needed to use a 2" drop to make it level. When we moved to our diesel we needed to go up 2", so we flipped the 2" drop. Luckily the heights matched when we moved to a Chevrolet Equinox.
-- Edited by bjoyce on Monday 30th of December 2013 06:40:22 PM
-- Edited by bjoyce on Monday 30th of December 2013 06:41:52 PM
-- Edited by bjoyce on Monday 30th of December 2013 06:58:17 PM
-- Edited by bjoyce on Monday 30th of December 2013 06:59:51 PM
-- Edited by bjoyce on Monday 30th of December 2013 11:49:40 PM
As for the Easy Brake in a CRV, do you have any info on why that might be contraindicated? We wanted to stay away from an invasive install as the car is leased (yes, toading a leased car is not well-planned, but it was leased long before this opportunity arose...we do have a base plate being installed, but that can be reversed somewhat easily).
Thanks for the info on the rock shield; we have no mudflaps and windshield insurance, so we'll take our chances (for the price of a rock shield we could pay for most of a tent attachment, our next dream addition!).
We will most likely go with the magnetic light system. Again, non-invasive, though of course we will have to attach/detach to drive the toad...with the wired-in lights, this brought too many variables as far as switches/bypasses needed to keep the CRV stop lights from overriding the coach turn signals...if we end up going fulltime, I'm sure will do the direct wired-in as it is simpler and cleaner overall.
As for the drop hitch, we're just going to see how things line up and buy one retail.
Thank you so much! And deep respect for full-timing since '03; when was your anniversary?
Randy & Sarah
The 2002 CRV did not require a fuse pull and we did not have trouble running the battery down towing each day using a similar brake to what you are getting. We carry a battery charger and did charge it up each night if we did not unhook. After many years of use the brake did loosen the front seat. The Roadmaster Invisibrake we have on our Equinox charges the batteries only when it is engaged, so a fuse switch was needed. Roadmaster said not to add a second charge line with the Invisibrake since it interferes, so we have the switch or the battery runs down in under 100 miles.
July 9th is our fulltiming anniversary.
Wow, then first off congrats on passing the decade mark! And thank you for the info on the loosening of the front seat, which was a concern of mine. We are potentially considering the Readybrake instead of Even Brake, we just need to confirm what all will be installed in the CRV (due to the lease). One upside of the Even Brake is it will tell you when the dinghy battery gets low, so even without a fuse bypass or pull we can at least pull off and run the dinghy motor to charge as we go.
Randy & Sarah