Motorhome Towing an xB
 

In xB owner named Will Williams emailed me about fabricating a base-plate to tow his 2005 xB with manual transmission behind his motorhome. Has anyone done this yet or can offer some advice?

Darren

i assume he wants to tow it four down? (read not using a dolly)

i was looking into this a while ago, but stopped.

there is a universal bracket that would need to be mounted behind the bumper. i forgot the manufacture.....

There is a guy that has an xB that works across the street from me, and I know he tows his behind his 40' motorhoe all the time. Last week he we heading down to the palm springs area for golf. I'll try to find out what where and how when I see him again.

There are several outfits who build towbars for various cars and I would be surprised if one of them hasn't built a towbar for the xB yet. The best bet is to contact an RV vendor who caters to Class A motorhomes. Even if a towbar does not exist off the shelf yet, all it takes is $$$ to fabricate one.

Right after the xB was introduced I went to a party at an RV park and the full-timers were all over the xB. The first question was "can you flat-tow it?"

One thing that I would suggest before towing as a really good full-width flap or shield for the tow vehicle. The front end of the xB is really fragile to rock chips.

George

Here's a bracket made by an outfit called "Roadmaster":

http://www.roadmasterinc.com/bg_/img/385_w45.jpg

Here is their page:

http://www.roadmasterinc.com/

You have to look under Toyota, not Scion.

George

Towing behind my motorhome
 

I've towed flat behind motorhomes for years and have always used Blue Ox products by www.aemfg.com located in northern Nebraska.

Presently I flat tow a 2005 xB behind my 40 foot Ultimate Freedom with a Blue Ox base plate and Alladin tow bar. The base plate has the removeable pin points so you don't have to drive around with them installed. The Aladin is the lightest tow bar they sell and will tow up to 5000 pounds, more than enough for our xB's. But light enough to easily remove and stow. Very simple and reliable on/off.

You do have to cut out most of the lowerest grill on the front to accomodate the base plate and the pins. I also bought from aemfg and had installed a dedicated lighting circuit to the rear tails. They drill a mount hole within the taillights (I have the clears) and mount an extra bulb to run off the RV lights That way I didn't have to muck with any of the xB lighting electronics.

I tow flat down with the manual out of gear and the hand brake off and the ignition key turned BETWEEN the initial key in position and the ACC on position so as to unlock the steering wheel. Also as general precaution whenever I stop for a break or gas I turn on the xB and let it idle just so as to warm everything up.

Check out Blue Ox tow products at their website at www.aemfg.com and they have a list of local installers who can rig you up.

Expect to drop about $1500 for the base plate, Aladin, tail light kit, installed, along with two safety chains and a coilled connection cable from your rig to your toad...

RVAugs

Re: Towing behind my motorhome
 

What do you do to protect the front of the xB? Shield, flaps?

On my RV I have a mud flap that goes across the entire back of the bumper. keeps most of the meduim and big stuff off. I've never actually seen any chips although towing through winter I've got road salt on the car and had to be careful rinsing it off. Blue ox makes additional attachments to keep off small to medium stuff, but it's a real pain in the ___ to put on and take off.

AdHocAugs

Do they make a rig to tow the motorhome behind the Xb? Then, the motorhome might draft well enough to keep my back window clean.

Sorry, graveyard shift... lack of sleep.. and humor...

Thanks TBDAugs, I've had cutomers ask me about flat towing the xB and now I have a response for them.

what about a wheel dolley?

that would save the transmission

also dont flat tow an automatic for too long.

There are several options and all have pros and cons:

Flat tow:
Advantages: Cheapest, least extra hardware,
Disadvantages: Wear and tear on car's drivetrain, cannot back up.

Dolly:
Advantages: Less wear and tear than flat tow, can tow car with automatic transmission
Disadvantages: More hardware and weight, cannot back up, must be stored when not in use

Trailer:
Advantages: No wear on car, can tow car with automatic transmission, can back up
Disadvantages: Most hardware and weight, additional registration fees, hardest to store when not in use.

One idea I saw years ago was that of a square tubular towbar that extended all the way to the rear of the towed vehicle (a Honda 600 coupe) the towbar was attached to the motorhome and the Honda was driven onto it. A boat trailer roller mounted under the front subframe of the Honda rolled up the towbar, lifting the front wheels of the Honda off the ground. The rear end of the towbar was then lifted and latched to the rear bumper of the Honda via a simple lever device. Another latch secured the front of the Honda to the towbar once the rear was attached.

The result was that the front wheels of the Honda were now off the ground, so the car rode on its rear wheels only. About half of the weight of the front of the Honda was supported by the hitch, while the rest was supported by the rear wheels. Since the car was unloaded this did not overload the hitch or rear suspension.

The really cool thing about this setup was that it was super stable to tow with the CG well ahead of the rear wheels of the car, and it was as easy to back up as a regular trailer. Thus you got the towing advantages of a trailer with the lower cost and storage problems of a flat-tow towbar. The tow bar weighed about 100 pounds but was relatively easy to trundle around with a small built-in wheel.

Considering the monster size of some motorhomes these days, I see no reason why this could not be done with a Scion. The tongue weight would be a bit less than 1000 pounds which wouldn't exceed the capabiities of most Class III hitches. The short rear overhang of a Scion would make it ideal for this method of towing.

Problem with anything other than a flat tow, is that you are always dealing with another piece of equipment to have to park, store, or carry as weight. That's not trivial if you are spending the night at most RV parks and spending considerable dollars on diesel.

Most larger Coaches, as do I, just flat tow. When I was racing Mini Coopers I would tow on a trailer, which was great, but it cost 2 mpg...instead of 8 with the flat tow, I'd get 6... and took up considerable storage space, and didn't fit into any but the largest pull thru campsites.

BTW, you cannot back up a flat tow either. Must disconnect.

All these years of flat towing vehicles I have never experienced any accelerated "wear and tear" following the Honda prodecure of idling the car whenever you stop for a break. This is manual of course. You do of course put on mileage on the odometer...

I've got a jpg to send to someone of my RV with Scion attached, if anyone can tell me where to send it. It's not posted on any website anywhere and I'm not interested in doing that. But will certainly email

FMCAugs

Awesome!! I have been looking all over for this info. I dont know why I didnt look here in the first place!! SL rocks!!

Hi all:
I purchased my base plate from Demco, it matches the tow bar I have from Demco.
Cost shipped was $307.00, installation was $100.00.

I have a stick shift 2006XB, all ready and waiting to hit the road.

Trying to find a sign for the back window on the XB "caution, I'm pushing this RV as fast as I can"

No you cannot tow a XB automatic tranny, all 4 down unless you install a driveshaft disconnect or a transmission cooler.
eddy

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

thats freaking funny...... i wanna see a pic of that if and when you get the sign.... I would think Kinko's (or other printing/copy place) could make you a small sign to hang in the rear window for not too much $$$ or maybe just get some of those larghe "window cling" letters and put it on yourself....
also.. should add "thank you for your paitence" to the end...lol

I have a plotter and plenty of vinyl... I have white, black, blue, orange etc... I will make one for you free... we need to see a pic here though... PM me your shipping address etc... cool!

I love that idea! I know if I came up behind an xB with that sign in the rear window I'd laugh myself silly. :lol:

Maybe "Please be patient" rather than "Caution" might be better?


Now all you need is a crash test dummy sitting in the driver's seat. :P

Saw an xB being pulled behind a huge RV yesterday. They were using a tow dolly. Didn't get a chance to peek inside to see if it was an automatic.

The dolly tipped the car up a bit, which made the rear apron clearance a bit less. You definitely don't want to straddle anything with this setup!