Can I Show You My Dinghy?

Now that we had the RV all set, our next task was to get the Subaru ready to tow. We learned on our test visit to Shenandoah that the RV is not that difficult to drive over long distances, but it is very inefficient for short trips to go sightseeing or to the grocery store. So once again I started my internet research to find out what I needed to do in order to tow the car. I learned two things fairly quickly. First, a small car towed behind a large motor home is known as a "dinghy." Second, getting a car that did not come from the factory tow ready is not easy.

First, you need to have a trailer hitch on your RV. Check. Then you have to have a tow bar that connects your RV to your dinghy. Okay, no problem. However once I started looking around I again discovered that there is an incredibly large industry in this country devoted entirely to RVs and the many accessories that go along with them.

Turns out tow bars are not cheap, and they are fairly technical. Oh, and don't act too quickly if you think you found a good deal. You need to be sure that the tow bar you are getting matches up with the tow brackets on your car. What? Tow brackets? What's that? Oh, you mean your car does not have tow brackets installed already? Uh, no. Well then you have more work to do. Yea!!

So before I get the tow bar I have to get the tow brackets; and before I can get the tow brackets I have to get the tow bracket mounting kit. Turns out only one company out there still makes a mounting kit for a 1993 Subaru. A few benjamins later and there is a 75lb box on the porch. I love the internet!! (BTW, if your interested eTrailer.com had the best prices I could find for everything I needed.)

But wait, you can't just tow your car. Highway safety regs say your towed vehicle's brake/turn lights still have to work while it is being towed. That means I need to wire my dinghy's taillights. This way that idiot barreling down the freeway three feet behind my dinghy at 65mph while texting his girlfriend with one hand and drinking his coffee with the other will have a split second of warning and hopefully not learn the hard way what a safe following distance is. So back to the internet I go for a wiring kit. No problems there, the tech support guys at these mail order places are actually very helpful.

Once I finally got everything together I enlisted the help of a great friend (who happens to be the head mechanic at a local car dealer). He put the car on the lift and had the thing installed in about 15min. I was in awe; that job would have taken me at least a day and a half and 5 trips to Home Depot. He got the wiring installed too, very professional.

So the Dinghy is ready for it's close-up. Next we have to hook everything up and give it a test drive! Stay tuned!

Maiden Voyage

Well the snows finally melted and I figured it was time to take the RV out of storage and give it a test run. What better opportunity that the Leesburg Baker's Dozen Moutain Bike Race. Mark, Brent, Tim and I were all racing so I brought the rig home to get it all set up.

Okay, so who ever heard of "de-winterizing"? Well, I am now an expert. After reading and re-reading the owner's manual 15 or 20 times I finally felt like I was ready to tackle the job. Turns out it is not that hard, just intimidating for a newbie like me. I only had to drain the tank and start over once! Not bad for my first try.

So after that, the guys stopped by and we loaded up all our food and gear for the weekend and headed out to the race site. It was on a farm and so we got to test out the RV's off road capabilities as well. Without any problems we found a great spot for our pit area for the race and set up camp:











We successfully cooked dinner that night and breakfast the next morning. We had fresh coffee and best of all, a hot shower after the race! We did learn some lessons though. For example, the fridge has an automatic shutoff safety feature if the rig is more than six degrees out of level; good to know. Looks like we will be buying some leveling blocks. All in all I would say the trip was a rousing success. I am pretty confident that I can work all of the systems in the rig. Next challenge: setting the Subaru up to be towed as our "dinghy!"