"Why do you tow a car on an A Frame"

Ninjabob

Ninjabob

Joined
Feb 20, 2017
Posts
879
Likes collected
2,536
Location
Kent
Funster No
47,422
MH
Bailey 75-2
Exp
Tugger now Motorhome
Assumptions :-

All amounts rounded.

1 gallon of Diesel 4.55 litres at £1.80 per litre = £8.20 per gallon.

Average Coach-built Fiat/Peugeot base Motorhome will probably manage 30mpg solo or 25mpg with a SMART on an A Frame.

Smart Diesel will do 65mpg in rural surroundings.

Trip of 1500 mls with all of it done (sightseeing etc.) in Motorhome = 1500/30*8.2=£410 fuel cost.

Trip of 1500 mls with 500 of it done getting there and back and from site to site 500/25*8.2= £164

1000mls sightseeing etc. in Smart 1000/65*8.2=£126

Total with A Framed Smart £290
Total with just Motorhome £410

Saving £120 on one trip with the convenience (not being marooned on site) of the Smart when parking and visiting rural/coastal locations.
 
1. Convenience
2.We have two largish dogs, used to be 3. so that rules out bike rides of any distance.
3. Convenience
4. I suffer from heart and lung problems which rule out walking for any distance.
5. Convenience
 
500 miles in the smart seems a lot of miles for just pottering about to tourist locations
Unless your on a site for 2/3 weeks, then maybe a car and caravan would suit you better ?

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I tow on an A frame for the convenience when touring at our various stops/destinations. I'm lucky I don't have to worry about the costs but for those who do there are other costs in addition to the fuel. The Toad will be depreciating and incurring insurance, tax and servicing costs as well as fuel. The upfront cost of the Toad and its conversion is not insubstantial!
 
When domestic freezers became more common my MIL bought a large chest one and used to tell us how she saved a lot of money by filling it with special offers: Steaks, ice cream, duck, lobsters, bulk buys............and said what a boon a freezer must be for poor people.
 
Our a frame offers total convenience as we always use sites in U.K., park up with the comfort of our second home hooked up and explore with the car, saves hunting for rare motorhome friendly parking spaces .
No we don’t want a caravan as we also travel into Europe and use Aires or sites where a caravan is not practical.

Cost is not a consideration for us as we only have what we can afford.
 
Spriddler said:
When domestic freezers became more common my MIL bought a large chest one and used to tell us how she saved a lot of money by filling it with special offers: Steaks, ice cream, duck, lobsters, bulk buys............and said what a boon a freezer must be for poor people.
Click to expand...
Hmmmm! not entirely sure I get the connection but am prepared to be educated?

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Ninjabob said:
Hmmmm! not entirely sure I get the connection but am prepared to be educated?
Click to expand...
Errr, well she overlooked that 'poor' people were unlikely to be able to afford a freezer, let alone fill it up with food.

If I couldn't afford the cost of motorhome fuel I'd be unlikely to fork out for a tow car, 'A' frame and to run another vehicle just for holiday trips.
 
Also a TOAD is great for nipping around tight towns, villages and beauty spots, and much easier to park than a towing vehicle for the type of caravan i would need to give me the same level of comfort as my moho.

Incidentally, when travelling through France I get 27 mpg when I do not toad, and 26 mpg when I do 😎

Much easier also on a pitch than a car on trailer as the A frame kit disappears into the back of the moho with 5 minutes.

Just wish it was legal abroad, or ignored by authorities in more countries other than France.
 
Having been a tugger for 30 years then a Motorhome driver for 14 years its is much easier to tow a car than a caravan and economy never seems to alter solo or towing, tugging caravan went from 40 plus solo to around 25 mpg towing. I see Chazzer says he wishes other eu countries would be like France, never used the aframe abroad, is it worth risking. We saw 2 cars on Aframe coming off Santander ferry in Spain last January, I wonder if they got away with it. Even thought about getting a proper BJ trailer but its the storage at each end of journey tends to put me off.

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Spriddler said:
When domestic freezers became more common my MIL bought a large chest one and used to tell us how she saved a lot of money by filling it with special offers: Steaks, ice cream, duck, lobsters, bulk buys............and said what a boon a freezer must be for poor people.
Click to expand...
My MIL had a large chest too.
 
rod_vw said:
BUT if Europe invoked their rules you wouldn't be able to use an 'A' Frame and if you did you shouldn't have any other vehicle than the camper on an Aire!
Click to expand...
Not all Aires ban trailers 🤔

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In the dark and distant past (10 years at least) we used the toad all over Europe, including Spain, Italy, Luxembourg and France without incident, we did get stopped by the Local Gendarme on a bypass somewhere but he was just interested how it all worked and in particular the brakes.
Also we called in to the Spanish police when crossing from France to ask if we were Ok, they were fine with it.
When we rarely used sites it was the star of the show with a lot of attention from our continental friends.
If cars were not permitted on Aires we would simply park nearby.
Our normal touring mode would be 2/4 nights on an Aire then radiate out in the car seeing the sites, move on about 100k and do it again. Towards the end of the trip family would join us on a site for a holiday and we would use the car for the airport runs. In the five or six years we visited plenty of lovely places we simply would not have visited with the van.
The car was most useful when we parked up in the mountains for days in advance waiting for the Tour to cycle past.
These days we only use it in the UK, but would happily still take it over the pond.
 
Never had a problem with aires when we used to our box trailer. Anyway the French are not bothered about rules, they either ignore them or protest properly instead of just moaning!
 
We have been doing aires with a car trailer for nearly ten years without hassle as long as you do your research and choose larger aires that have room😊
 
With a disabled wife a toad would be very handy to get around an area once we have arrived at a campsite destination.
BUT
I would worry about having to reverse it,(if that's possible without unhitching) should I meet a stream of traffic coming towards me on a single track road. I can hear the road rage in my head already.:eek:
There are so many scenarios where I have had to reverse our 7.4mtr MH in the past, including very tight bends on steep hills, or single track roads with a lack of passing places where we have met traffic head on, including coaches & Lorries.:oops:

We tend not to use campsites when we are touring, we prefer to wild camp or would use Aires and alike. I simply nip out on the E Bike to get anything we need, like groceries etc. It was so much easier when my wife could use her E Bike also, but she no can no longer with her balance issues.
I can understand why many revert back to tugging a caravan, especially those who prefer using campsites, or have mobility issues.
Not that we are doing that yet, been there before, and we are not static style campers, one or two nights is the norm in one place.
LES

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rod_vw said:
BUT if Europe invoked their rules you wouldn't be able to use an 'A' Frame and if you did you shouldn't have any other vehicle than the camper on an Aire!
Click to expand...
We only a frame in U.K. pitching up on sites and touring in the car.
We do not use a frame in Europe as no need with the network of Aires and sites conveniently located.
Sorry if that wasn’t clear in my earlier post.
 
Ninjabob said:
Assumptions :-

All amounts rounded.

1 gallon of Diesel 4.55 litres at £1.80 per litre = £8.20 per gallon.

Average Coach-built Fiat/Peugeot base Motorhome will probably manage 30mpg solo or 25mpg with a SMART on an A Frame.

Smart Diesel will do 65mpg in rural surroundings.

Trip of 1500 mls with all of it done (sightseeing etc.) in Motorhome = 1500/30*8.2=£410 fuel cost.

Trip of 1500 mls with 500 of it done getting there and back and from site to site 500/25*8.2= £164

1000mls sightseeing etc. in Smart 1000/65*8.2=£126

Total with A Framed Smart £290
Total with just Motorhome £410

Saving £120 on one trip with the convenience (not being marooned on site) of the Smart when parking and visiting rural/coastal locations.
Click to expand...
I'm used to man maths but moho maths is a different league 😂
 
Personally..........Why not? What does it have to do with fuel? We all drive a truck at the end of the day. Its disguised as a motorhome! They are not fuel efficient! If I wanted fuel economy personally ...I would be camping using a tent!

The car gives us the freedom to travel from site without the hassle of parking up an 8m motorhome somewhere in town!

Regards Kev
 

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