Suggestions For Best Toad With Coach Going 70-72 MPH

[CleanLivin]

We have just purchased a 2012 40-foot Monaco Knight and are getting ready to "drop out" for 3 to 5 years full-timing. Did the same back in 1994 and towed a Jeep Cherokee behind an American Eagle.

Times have changed and we are trying to be sensitive to fuel costs. Thus, our ideal toad will be:

1. Able to be towed 4 down at 70-72 mph with no damage and not require an aux. pump, etc.

2. Able to get decent mileage when running around the various destinations.

3. Preferable as 4x4 due to landscape photography being one of my obsessions.

4. At least a 4 star safety rating, preferably 5.

Cost is not a major concern -- ease of towing and reliable vehicle takes priority.

I would also appreciate opinions on the tow bar that is the most bullet proof -- ease of use and reliable.

Thanks, in advance.

[Guest BillAdams]

If you are sensitive to fuel cost you might want to consider slowing that Knight down from 70-72 a bit! If you want to tow without a pump you are likely looking at 2 choices, 4X4 or something to which you add a drive shaft disconnect. If you plan on off-roading then I would find a 4X4 you like and is known to be approved for towing (see the FMCA towing guide) and go for it.

[CleanLivin]

I agree with the ideal being 65 BUT back in the 90's there where many metropolitan areas where you are a safety risk driving 65. On the open road 65 is preferred but I've got to be able to run 70-72 for extended periods and do no harm to the Toad.

[hermanmullins]

Sorry Cleanlivin, but even you blog name contradicts you statement.

If you are going back to full timing and you profess to love taking pictures, slow down, at 70-02 MPH you have to pay so much attention to the road you will miss many great shots.

Just my thoughts.

[HenryPatterson]

Go with a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon....Kick 4x4 in neutral and go!! I've got one, a 2011...No steering wheel lock.so you can lock the doors and go...I tow around 70 myself..no problems.

[BlueLacy]

I've recently bought my first motorhome and now am researching the towing situation. I have a similar desire for a vehicle that can be towed around 70 mph without restriction. It's not so much because I want to drive 70 all the time, but that I'm concerned about 65 as being a top speed limit specification for so many vehicles. It's easy for me to cruise at 65 most of the time, but for one reason or another, e.g. traffic patterns, 70 often seems a better fit, at least for short periods of time. In Texas there are now 1,500 miles of roadway approved for 75 mph which will only magnifiy the difference a few vehicles traveling at 65 compared to the majority at 75 or more. I would guess that those tow vehicles with 65 mph limits won't explode when they hit 70 mph. Surely there is some headroom built into those numbers. Still, I would prefer one that doesn't have the limit. I appreciate the note that the Jeep is one option. I wonder if there are others.

[CleanLivin]

Herman,

Send me an email after you drive from S. Miami going North on I-95 doing 65mph - that should have proven to be great fun for you.

As for me, there are times when it is safest and most prudent to "go with the flow" rather than create a safety hazard doing 65 when surrounded by idiots that believe anything moving less than 85 is the target just to save a gallon of fuel.

[Guest BillAdams]

Come on folks.....Didn't you see my smiley face?!!!!!! I was just ribbing the guy. CleanLivin, you don't need to justify a "dang" thing to anyone here and I just don't see why anyone posted what they did. I am terribly sorry that my attempt at a bit of humor was taken by anyone to be something they should comment on.

Now, about that towed!!!! 4 X 4?

[kingfr]

Go with a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon....Kick 4x4 in neutral and go!! I've got one, a 2011...No steering wheel lock.so you can lock the doors and go...I tow around 70 myself..no problems.

+1, Mine is a 2012. Easiest Toad to set-up that I have owned, and the other three were Jeeps, too. I will say that My 07 Grand Cherokee was pretty easy also.

[CleanLivin]

Bill - I'd much prefer the ease of a 4x4 verse pump or shaft disconnect. That is what we had in our old 1994 Jeep Cherokee - just shifted the transfer case into neutral and go.

Thus, let's go the 4x4 direction.

A complication for me is that I'm just under 6'5" tall - yesterday I sat in a Chevy Colorado and was surprised to find that I was quite comfortable. MGP not real good but seems most 4x4's that I could fit in don't offer that.

[Guest BillAdams]

Be comfortable. Be sure it's towable. Be sure the check will clear and be sure you have a great time on the road and a fully charged battery in your camera! Post your first round of pics here!

[bizsmith@yahoo.com]

Interstates are wonderful. You can drive coast to coast and border to border and never see a thing (especially at 70-72 mph).

[Guest BillAdams]

You sure aren't going to see any more at 65 than you would at 70. If you want to save gas and travel at 55 you are just a hazard to other drivers on the Interstate. By the way, I am a speed limit driver so if 65, 70, 75 is the speed limit, you will find me there or slightly faster.

[DaveandSusie]

Just bought a 2012 Jeep Cherokee and we love it. I don't think it will meet your requirement on gas mileage though..not the best. We needed something that could pull our boat and accommodate the dogs on ocassion.

[KevinStocker]

We have pulled a H3 Hummer for over 30,000 miles without any problems. The only downside is the Hummers mileage. 70-80 mph is common.

[bizsmith@yahoo.com]

My point is, why use the interstate? We plan our trips for 150 to 200 miles per day. My motorhome's "sweet spot" is 60 mph. Everything works better, sounds better so we tend to stay off interstates and leave them to the people that seem to have to get there right now.

[CleanLivin]

We will be starting our trip in Naples, FL and want to get to the first destination of Flagstaff, AZ quickly. We has already covered the SE and Midwest extensively.

Once we get to a hub location (Flagstaff/Park City/Monteray, CA/ Santa Rosa, CA/Portland, OR/Vancouver, BC) we will be covering a lot of local scenes but in the car not the RV. RV will be used to get us on the interstate when ever possible to the destination to then cover the surrounding area at a very leasurely pace in the car with several weeks spend in each of the "hub" locations.

[Guest BillAdams]

This is how we travel as well. They put Interstate highways there for a reason and I see no reason not to use them. I prefer to explore the countryside by car.

[tjwentling@astound.net]

First I agree with all the suggest that your flying much too high !!!

Slow down and smell the Roses.

Somewhere around 60 is more real that what you are suggesting.

We did a tow with the Wrangler for a number of years. Loved it and worked really fine.

We did change to a Jeep Liberty because it had most all the same features but had a bit of class that makes the wife happy when going out to dine.

Wrangler is just fine.....but the liberty has been a nice upgrade for us.

Really.....slow down and live a bit longer.

Cheers.....

[Guest BillAdams]

There's no need to slow down from 70 on a highway with a 70 MPH speed limit. Some of us just want to get where we are going. I wish I could simply delete my little joke as it was A JOKE!!!!!

At 60 MPH on a 70MPH highway you are just slightly less dangerous than a speed bump! (Again, a joke, get over it! )

[bizsmith@yahoo.com]

We will just have agree to disagree. When I do use the interstates a large percentage of the 18 wheelers travel between 60-63 mph. I blend with those and if I am a speed bump then I am one of many very large ones regulated not only by speed laws but by company rules to conserve fuel. I10, I75, I95 it doesn't matter they don't all travel 70-80.

[Guest BillAdams]

Does no ones computer except mine show the smiley faces or the part where I said it was a joke!

Dang!

[sabrina]

I'am looking for the best vehicle to tow also and not 4wheel drive We have a Saturn now and wish they still made them. Anything you find out would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[wolfe10]

Sabrina,

Here is a good place to start: http://www.fmca.com/motorhome/towing/204-towing-guides-towing-four-wheels-down.html

Just click on the year model you are interested in.

Not much help for us to tell you what vehicle meets OUR needs, as yours may be very different. Things like manual vs automatic, what weight toad your coach can handle, whether you are looking for a car or SUV-- all are different.

Brett

[Koliver]

Bill, relax, some of us are with you. When I bought this coach I was prepared for the $ spent on fuel. So far, driving at or very near the limits (usually the speed of the truckers, who also respect their slower posted limit by ignoring it and going the car limit or close), has not been too hard on the wallet. I am sure that slowing to 55 would save fuel. It would also add another day to the snowbird route. Maybe once we can limit our driving to an hour or two a day, 55 will win, but using the interstate to put some miles behind us, the speed limit wins.

Before we bought a coach, friends who had one for years were telling us of the necessity to go 55, because we would have a tow and be restricted by the posted speed laws. Now that I have reported to them what our reality is, it comes out that they rarely slowed to 55 either. So be careful how much you believe the stories you are told. On this and many other topics, there are a lot of urban legends that only vaguely resemble the actual situation.