I don't own a MH yet but just bought what may be my four-down flat tow toad when I retire in 3 or 4 years. Just curious about the potential damage caused to a toads paint/finish due to all the road debri, etc. I've seen shields that can be installed, etc., but from what I see most don't use them. I'd appreciate feedback from those of you who have experience with this, maybe you could rate the additional damage related to towing based on a scale of 1 - 10 with one being little damage and 10 excessive. Thanks!
Honeydeaux said
08:43 PM Feb 27, 2016
Hello and welcome to RVDreams
Road damage to the toad is always a possibility and lots of variables come into play. For example my toad is a 2015 Silverado 1500 which has enough ground clearance that most of the road debris passes under the truck verses striking the front. For this reason I do not use a rock shield. If your toad has a low front profile like a typical passenger car then I would use a rock shield.
Also consider the condition of the mud flap under the motor home. It should be in good condition and properly adjusted to reduce the risk.
Watch your speeds on unpaved roads this is where you really control the risk. To fast and your risking the paint and windshield. If the unpaved portion of the trip is substantial consider unhooking the toad and drive it separately.
Hope this was helpfull
Safe Travels.
Barbaraok said
10:19 PM Feb 27, 2016
We've done 10 years with just mud flaps behind the wheels, nothing else. We had a cover for the front of the car, but you had to have the car clean before putting it on, and it was a little unwieldly and took about 10 minutes just to get all the straps tight, etc. After about a year of using it, we gave up and just continued on as we had done. We've never had a chip damage window or hood. Do get road film on the car - especially when it has just started raining after months of no rain which means needing to wash the car, but that's it. Now we don't go driving down dirt roads - paved roads and then usually unhooking the car once we get to the park, not pulling the car behind on gravel roads to our site.
Barb
KLJ said
07:13 AM Feb 28, 2016
Thank you Honeydeaux and Barb for your comments. I feel much better about the effects towing will have on my future toad If one uses a little precaution and common sense. It's wonderful to have a tool such as this forum to share experiences with one another. I've been reading and following this forum for several years - the knowledge I have gained from those of you willing to share has been tremendous. Thanks Again for sharing your thoughts!
Neil and Connie said
08:39 AM Feb 28, 2016
Dings on the car are like dings on the rig…and like dirt on both. They're just part of the lifestyle and usually the effort of trying to completely avoid them is more than it's worth.
We see very few people that bother with Toad shields overall.
el Rojo and Pam said
09:06 AM Feb 28, 2016
Our gas Motorhomes didn't seem to do much damage, but our diesel pushers threw lots of rocks. Guardsman makes a plastic rock shield that worked great for us, but it was cumbersome to stow when parked.
Bill and Linda said
01:48 PM Feb 28, 2016
I always sort of chuckle at responses that say, "I don't have one of these but here's how to do it." So here I go.
We don't have a MH, but on all our trips to Alaska the "experts" up there told us that the big "rock guard" that many motor homes have that hangs at the rear of the motor home does more damage than one can imagine. Reason: As he coach bounces the rock guard goes down, picks up debris and rocks, then as the coach rises all that material is released by the rock guard in the air to be free to travel right into the toad.
We've made one trip with friends where this was demonstrated to the point the toad was almost totaled.
Anyway, I pass this along FWIW. Rock guards (not mud flaps) do more damage then good.
Bill
bjoyce said
07:23 PM Feb 28, 2016
Actually the rock guards often hang too low, which is why toads can get damaged especially with diesel pushers. To and from Alaska we bungee corded our rock guard, the one with our motorhome manufacturer name on it, up about 6" higher. That seemed to stop any damage.
KLJ said
08:17 PM Feb 28, 2016
Thanks to everyone for your feedback and suggestions. Your input is very helpful!
Regards - Ken
dream reachers said
10:00 PM Aug 27, 2016
This may be a little late to answer but we have had numerous chips to the front of our Jeep plus sand blast to our windshield with no guard in place other than a full length mudflap on our diesel pusher
MH. We are considering buying another toad this year and are looking into purchasing either a Blue Ox shield or horizontal screen guard to attach to our BO towbar.
bjoyce said
09:10 AM Aug 28, 2016
Also look at Protect-A-Tow, http://protectatow.tripod.com/, if your motorhome exhaust will not blow on it. We had a similar system with our gas motorhome and it worked well. Our diesel exhaust put a hole in the fabric. I suspect there are other brands of these things.
LifeBeganInaWinnebago said
10:20 AM Aug 28, 2016
I was concerned with this issue also. I had heard from several sources like Bill, that the low hanging mud flaps can pickup the rocks and cause more damage than no flaps at all. This was our first season towing and we used a tow dolly and had no issue as the dolly raised the front end of the car keeping it out of the way of thrown rocks. However, I tried loading the car at the campsite without setting the RV to ride height and I hit the front bumper of the car on the tow dolly and put a couple big scrapes at the bottom of the bumper. So much for the tow dolly protecting the car. lol
Mark
Lucky Mike said
12:15 PM Sep 2, 2016
I had good luck with a "Grass Skirt " catcher on the back.......but I dolly towed so my front end was higher
I don't own a MH yet but just bought what may be my four-down flat tow toad when I retire in 3 or 4 years. Just curious about the potential damage caused to a toads paint/finish due to all the road debri, etc. I've seen shields that can be installed, etc., but from what I see most don't use them. I'd appreciate feedback from those of you who have experience with this, maybe you could rate the additional damage related to towing based on a scale of 1 - 10 with one being little damage and 10 excessive. Thanks!
Road damage to the toad is always a possibility and lots of variables come into play. For example my toad is a 2015 Silverado 1500 which has enough ground clearance that most of the road debris passes under the truck verses striking the front. For this reason I do not use a rock shield. If your toad has a low front profile like a typical passenger car then I would use a rock shield.
Also consider the condition of the mud flap under the motor home. It should be in good condition and properly adjusted to reduce the risk.
Watch your speeds on unpaved roads this is where you really control the risk. To fast and your risking the paint and windshield. If the unpaved portion of the trip is substantial consider unhooking the toad and drive it separately.
Hope this was helpfull
Safe Travels.
Barb
Thank you Honeydeaux and Barb for your comments. I feel much better about the effects towing will have on my future toad If one uses a little precaution and common sense. It's wonderful to have a tool such as this forum to share experiences with one another. I've been reading and following this forum for several years - the knowledge I have gained from those of you willing to share has been tremendous. Thanks Again for sharing your thoughts!
Dings on the car are like dings on the rig…and like dirt on both. They're just part of the lifestyle and usually the effort of trying to completely avoid them is more than it's worth.
We see very few people that bother with Toad shields overall.
I always sort of chuckle at responses that say, "I don't have one of these but here's how to do it." So here I go.
We don't have a MH, but on all our trips to Alaska the "experts" up there told us that the big "rock guard" that many motor homes have that hangs at the rear of the motor home does more damage than one can imagine. Reason: As he coach bounces the rock guard goes down, picks up debris and rocks, then as the coach rises all that material is released by the rock guard in the air to be free to travel right into the toad.
We've made one trip with friends where this was demonstrated to the point the toad was almost totaled.
Anyway, I pass this along FWIW. Rock guards (not mud flaps) do more damage then good.
Bill
Thanks to everyone for your feedback and suggestions. Your input is very helpful!
Regards - Ken
MH. We are considering buying another toad this year and are looking into purchasing either a Blue Ox shield or horizontal screen guard to attach to our BO towbar.
Also look at Protect-A-Tow, http://protectatow.tripod.com/, if your motorhome exhaust will not blow on it. We had a similar system with our gas motorhome and it worked well. Our diesel exhaust put a hole in the fabric. I suspect there are other brands of these things.
Mark