tbutler Report post Posted June 25, 2009 One of the basic of tenants of towing a toad four wheels down is that the tow bar should be horizontal. I saw a motor home today towing a toad with the tow bar decidedly sloping downward toward the toad. This is a very dangerous condition. If your tow bar is above or below horizontal, you have an unstable system. The most dangerous condition is the tow bar sloping downward toward the toad. In the event of a sudden stop, the tendency of the motor home is to dip at the nose and rise at the rear. This increases the angle of the tow bar downward toward the toad. If the toad has no brakes to assist in stopping, it will push upward on the rear of the motor home and may lift the motor home enough to slide beneath the motor home. When the rear end of the motor home comes down, it will impact the toad. This will result in serious damage to the motor home and the toad. Only slightly less dangerous is a tow bar sloping upward toward the toad (also less likely). Still, in this situation, the toad could ride up over the tow bar and impact the motor home in an emergency stop. When your motor home and toad are in road ready condition, examine the tow bar to see if it slopes in one direction or the other. It should be within 5 or at the most 10 degrees of horizontal. If not, adjust the angle by installing an vertical offset in your receiver. Be sure that the strength of the adapter will match your toad weight. If an adapter isn't available, a modification of the receiver on your motor home may be necessary to adjust the angle of the tow bar. In the case which I saw on the interstate highway traveling in the opposite direction, it was a gas motor home with a front engine which further increases this tendency to dip at the nose and raise the rear of the motor home. Also, the toad was a smaller toad, likely to be without supplementary braking. Despite the smaller weight of the toad, the lighter rear end of the motor home makes this combination more likely to cause problems. Consult the installation instructions for your tow bar for verification and act accordingly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mapleskoff@gmail.com Report post Posted June 25, 2009 Funny you mention that. Filling the MH recently at a Flyin J, and parked at the next island doing the same was another Class C about 30 ft. long and towing a car that appeared to be lower than the MH by a good 6 inches. Both vehicles looked pretty new. The toad DID NOT have any evidence of a supplemental brake system attached. Doc Mike Itasca Spirit 09 Honda CRV Falcon 2/M&G brake system Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfe10 Report post Posted June 25, 2009 Here is the solution to "out of level" hitch: Roadmaster Hitch Accessories Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Wayne77590 Report post Posted June 26, 2009 And from what I read, you can multiply the weight of the TOAD by 3 and that will be the forward force exercted on the MH and braking system without supplemental braking. In my case, that would be over 9000 pounds of force. Glad I have supplemental. Thanks Tom. Good reminder for all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wcnorris Report post Posted June 26, 2009 BlueOx states the towbar must be within 4 inches of level. I use a drop hitch to achieve that. Towing a toad without supplemental braking is dangerous and probably illegal in many states. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Wayne77590 Report post Posted June 28, 2009 I just looked at the Demco towing system manual today and it states within 3" of being level. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
