Road Toad Tour

Some recycled intro info.
The Road Toad!

 

Thanks for posting this video. I have a friend who is looking for a towable. These would fit his bill perfectly.

I think you were there just days after we picked up our 560. The road-toad was set up waiting for a tesla owner to check it out...

Welcome to the fam When do you get yours? Once you look you're hooked...and you've been a little active here in our forum...

 

Small world! Sorry I missed you! Tesla owner pinged me and he did order a Road Toad. Its a great solution.

I look at lots-O-trailers in my travels and the competition at this price are pretty flimsy by comparison. It makes sense to me to finish the trailer interior ourselves. Most makers include some vernier that is glued to crap that fails pretty quickly (an ounce of image is worth a pound of performance).

The toad is built like a tank. I cant wait to see what owners with some imagination come up with for interior designs.

Enjoy the 560 is at the top of its class. I came within a millimeter of being an owner. No regrets.

Happy New Year!
=Cosmo

 

Too bad -- I would have love to seen your Clam solution We just solved our "rainy out door" problem - I hope! In the past we used a Pahaque Cottonwood to escape the rain - but they've abandoned the free-standing market and aren't selling these any more. Too bad -- 20mph winds wouldn't topple them....

We opted for an ARB screen room and awning. It should be installed by Saturday, waiting on the last pieces. But this still doesn't give us a protected cooking area. Little sewing of the screens to add an opening for the entry --- but thats minor and my wife is quite the problem solver

See most of my posts --- I have a VERY low opinion of most of the RV business, especially the towable market. I have had friends who picked their trailers up, and they broke between the Stealer (sic) and their home....30-40 miles maybe? Not dead light socket --- no, bench seats falling off the wall in a toy hauler. How did that get missed in QC? Simple - they never did a check.

I saw the toads and moved it around -- boy was that light! Very impressive. I didn't know Craig had pulled it for a year ...holy cow that HAS to be well made. But I would expect nothing less..

I would surely have spent more time, but at that point my focus was on my rig inspection complete. I can't even begin to say how happy I am we have it here...in the garage, staged and ready to leave on just a few moments notice. I just need to pop in the fridge and fill the fresh tank. Unfortunately January 1 was light a switch going from "cool and rainy" to "arctic and icy" - so, I've made "Accuweather" my home page...see what happens.

If you make it to Central Indiana look us up. Brown County State park in Nashville Indiana is an absolute GEM.

 

Cottonwood looks good. I have a similar galley shelter which is good to about 20mph – then it has to come down

I modified one of my 3 Clams and added 2 side doors and many windows. The original door was mod’ed to fit over the galley hatch so the kitchen is a an enclosed room (sort of). That could work on a CI or Toad. I find the Clams can tolerate wind. I have lots-O-video of them reaching the limit when the roof pops in. It has to be pushed back up after the gusts stop. It can tolerate about 40 - 45 mph wind which is pretty good (fully deployed with about 20 stakes). Don't confuse that with a quiet ride... When the wind wants to win, the wind wins.

ARB looks well thought out. I like this type of shelter. I hope you will share how much wind it can tolerate.

Thanks for the tip on the park. I added it to my list.

Best wishes for Lots-O-CAMP-INNg in 22.

=Cosmo
View attachment upload_2022-1-4_23-1-41.jpeg

 

Cosmo, you seem to camp in some of the worst weather. Are you training to be a Navy Seal?

 

I am retired it’s a different battle field. It’s difficult, with friends who want to have a serious discussion about the Kardashians and pharmaceutical ads when I bring up enjoying nature, last trip camping in horrible conditions etc. But I am comforted knowing they have memorized the most popular meds and side effects. Bring on 2022. I am itching to make some great memories. =Cosmo

 

Get your friends to turn off the mind-control device in the corner. I talk to my elderly parents and I can tell you, that their cognative decline is severely influenced by a non-stop barage of nonsense and partisan politics in the name of "news"

I cut the cable about 15 years ago and havn't looked back. I'm happier, healthier, and have saved thousands of dollars instead of paying for hundreds of channels, with nothing on. The TV I do watch is off-air, free, or if its some guilty pleasure I've bought it on DVD.

I'm finding the older I get, the less I want to deal with cold. Even 30 which used to be acceptable is rediculously cold to me. But hot is almost as bad Maybe I'm truly a nomad to travel between the UP of Michigan to florida, texas, and arizona for winter.

For winter, I figure a clam over the galley with an extra "door" cut in would be awesome. Summer is a probelm still clams hold a lot of heat. For summer, I keep looking at the campground dumpsters looking for some one who opened it upside down. I want to remove the screens, or some of the screen, to improve airflow. But think it will affect structure too much. I'd rather destroy one that was in the trash rather than trashing my good one.

I'm a pretty active on the forum --- i will certainly post my opinion, and photos. I'm anxiously awaiting the awning in UPS today....the brackets should be here tomorrow....we'll what I can get up here ASAP

 

Found my way here after watching your Youtube video on the Road Toad, happy to be here and trying to learn all I can.

 

Welcome.

 

Welcome Todd! This forum is mostly regarding a CampInn trailer, but most of us looked at or had other teardrop type or tiny trailers. So if you want opinions, just ask. Also if you haven’t yet discovered it on your own, go check out tnttt.com. (Teardrops aNd Tiny Travel Trailers). Lots of people there, too, who will happily share their knowledge and experience and answer any questions you have.

Just my opinion and I could be wrong, but maybe, just maybe, people on this forum might have decided opinions on which manufacturer is the best.

 

We have the big ARB 2500 on our 560, like it a lot! It’s possible that the 2000 awning/screen room fits better on a CI - but we make the big screen room work as needed.

One thing you might like - I hope it works in the right direction. The room has it’s own roof, that hangs a few inches below the awning. I think that dead air space is going to provide some insulation from direct sun? We don’t see much of that in the PNW

It seems to me that a 12v fan could help a lot in any screen room that’s next to the trailer… ?

 

we bought both the awning and screen room. The screen room is mostly for the dog….she like sleeping outside, and this gives her a safe place. We shall see how we use it….but I like the flexibility to just have shade or a dry spot if we need it….

 

Cosmo....I enjoy your travels on the TUBE. Have you looked at monitizing on Rumble

 

Thanks for the welcome, enjoyed what I found so much I am in process of ordering a new 550.

 

Way to go Todd! You don't mess around. It took me quite a few months from looking at very basic trailers to ordering a 550...and then a couple more months to change it to a 560. Congrats!

 

Todd...congrats on the new Camp Inn 550. I am certain you will be very satisfied with it.

 

Always been a tent camper and even today still enjoy it. But there is something about having a solid structure to sleep in and carry the camp in. About six years ago starting thinking about campers. All my friends have long moved on to RV's, but no one has anything less than 19 feet. The living room on wheels wasn't for me.

Looked, looked some more and held making a decision for years. About a year ago narrowed my search to teardrops, but nothing looked like a fit for me.

Then I watched the video on the Road Toad, which led to the Camp-Inn discovery. I tried to learn everything I could about these devices. After reading everything I could find, I found this forum and read some more.

The passion seen in the members of this forum and also in Cosmo's videos with Craig / Cary sold me on the product. Add the online availability of the manual and pricing guide a huge plus.

Everything was a match and I had eyes for a camper made by Camp-Inn.

Now the camper-in-the future journey begins and sorry in advance for all the no-camper-questions I will have while waiting this year.

Cheers

 

This is my exact reason for looking at ARB. I want a room that is easy to swing out for my large breed dog to sleep. Fitting him inside has many issues with my family so would like him by my side as much as I can for both our safety. I struggle to picture how you attach the awning to the 560 and get it high enough in the air. I would love more info if you have it. I think the smaller room would do for us. No need for large lounge area, just changing and sleeping for dog and maybe one adult in future.

 

We have ARB brackets on Yakima round bars. When we (later) got the awning room I wanted to raise all by about 7” for a proper pitch. I ended up fabbing some bracket extensions that i bolted on, out of 1/8” mild steel.

You might also ask CI, I think I saw some custom brackets they fabbed.