How to Flat Tow a Car Behind an RV: A Complete Guide
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Last updated on July 4, 2025
If you’re wondering how to flat tow a car behind an RV, this post is for you!
For five years as full-time RVers, we carried a motorcycle as our towed vehicle. We loved exploring on two wheels and the minimal footprint of the motorcycle on a carrier hitch on the back of our RV.
However, as we transitioned to RVing part-time in 2024, we decided it was time to switch to a towed car. Like many other RVers, we wanted the freedom and comfort of a separate car to explore after parking our motorhome. The problem was, we’d never towed a car behind a motorhome before and had no idea what to do! 🫣
We spent hours researching what car was best for towing behind an RV and the parts needed to comfortably and safely tow a vehicle. Eventually, we found the perfect solution: flat towing behind an RV. In today’s post, we’ll share why we decided to flat tow our car over other towing options, what we bought to tow our Honda CRV, and our process for towing our car behind our RV.
Table of Contents
This post is sponsored by Roadmaster, the only 100% US-manufactured RV towing system and suspension company, and the company we used for our towing system. While we worked with them to create this post, the opinions are solely our own. If you’re interested in purchasing any of the products mentioned in this post, we receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
What is flat towing?
When you flat tow a car you pull the car from the front baseplate behind a motorhome using a tow bar on the hitch of the RV. With this towing system, the car sits flat on the ground behind the RV. The flat tow method can also be called dinghy towing or four down because all four wheels are on the road as you’re driving the motorhome.
We’ll cover exactly what’s needed for a flat towing system later in this post, but flat towing will include a specialized braking system that connects to your RV, helping slow your car as you brake the RV.
Why we chose to flat tow a car behind an RV
Flat towing a car behind an RV is just one way to tow a vehicle behind a motorhome. You can also tow a car with a:
- Tow dolly
- Trailer
There’s no perfect solution for towing a car. Budget, the vehicle you own, and your goals for towing will all determine the best solution for you. However, we chose to flat tow a car behind an RV for its speed of set-up and un-hitching, plus its space savings.
Trailers and tow dollies take up space when you’re not towing. If we went with one of those options we’d have to find a site to park our RV, tow car, and the dolly or trailer when we were camping. Tow dollies can also be really expensive costing $2,000 to $4,000. Not to mention the cost of licensing, insurance, and extra brakes and tires to maintain.
We chose a small Class C RV because we wanted mobility and the ease of parking in smaller sites. When we’re not flat towing our car, we can fold up the tow bar taking up virtually no additional space. It’s also a much easier and quicker process to hook up the towed car to prepare for towing or unhitch when we’re ready to use it.
There are several drawbacks to flat towing though. Not every car can be flat towed. Roadmaster provides a dinghy guide to find flat tow cars that you can safely tow based on year. If you have a car already that is not flat-towable it can eliminate this option or you have to sell it and buy a car you can flat tow safely.
You can’t back up your RV when the tow cars are attached to the tow bar and hitch. If you need to reverse you’ll need to unhook which can be annoying in certain situations. You cannot back up a tow dolly either, only a trailer. So, this is a challenge most tow vehicle setups face.
However, the ease of use, speed, and space savings were worth the cost to us. We also had the forethought to choose a car that can be flat towed, as flat towing a car behind an RV won’t work for all vehicles.
Pros and Cons of flat towing a car
| Pros | Cons |
| – Easy to set up, can be done in minutes. – Doesn’t add miles to your car if you have an electric odometer. It’s great to have a separate vehicle to explore when parked. – It has good maneuverability and the car moves easily behind you. – When not towing you can fold up the tow bar, saving space. | – Will add miles to the car if you have a mechanical odometer (older cars). – Tires are moving while driving wearing them sooner. – Cannot back up your RV. If you need to reverse, you need to unhook the car. – Not suitable for all car types. Must be safe to flat tow. |
What cars can you flat tow behind an RV?
Not every dinghy car can be flat towed behind an RV. Though it’s not always true, most manual transmission front-wheel drive cars can be flat towed. The make and model should be verified based on the vehicle’s specific year. Check the vehicle’s manual which will explicitly state if your exact vehicle can be flat towed.
If you flat tow a car that is not built to flat tow you can cause major damage to the transmission. Never flat tow without verifying it’s safe to do so!
🚐 Roadmaster has a list of vehicles aged 2012 – 2023 capable of being flat towed behind a motorhome. You can access that here. If you are considering towing a car older than 2012, consult the owner’s manual for specifics.
CRVs made in 2014 or before, and Jeeps are two of the most popular vehicles to flat tow behind an RV. We have a 2001 all-wheel drive CRV that we tow behind our Class C motorhome.
🚙 ➡ Read Next: Towing a CRV Behind our RV: The Best Flat Tow Car ⬅
Parts needed to flat to a car
There are four main components needed for a flat towing system:
We recommend building your flat towing system with one company. There are a lot of popular towing system companies out there to choose from. We ended up mixing and matching because we wanted a baseplate that didn’t protrude on the front of our CRV. Roadmaster has a flush baseplate for newer Honda CRV models, but since ours is much older we bought a non-road master baseplate.
Roadmaster, which is based in Portland, OR is one of the top towing system manufacturers. Their towing systems are priced at a slight premium, around 10 – 15% more than other popular brands, but they offer superior products.
They truly make products that are built to last and are the company and towing system veteran RVers go to after many of the lower-priced towing systems fail.
We choose to buy the best products that are built to last the first time, even if it’s slightly more expensive. We’ve learned we don’t save money in the long run if the product doesn’t last and then we have to reinstall the superior product later anyway.
We also love that Roadmaster is a true American manufacturer. Many other brands have sub-components made overseas and assembled in the US. While Roadmaster makes nearly all of the components that create their tow bars. This allows them to control the quality which leads to easier-to-use products that work and last longer.
Now, let’s talk more about the components and what they do.
Tow bar
A tow bar is what connects your vehicle to your RV through a receiver hitch. The bar also attaches to your car’s baseplate using a hook system allowing you to tow the vehicle behind you.
We went with the 677 Nighthawk tow bar with Blue Ox Ends which properly connects to our Blue Ox baseplate. If you have or will buy a Roadmaster baseplate, you’ll want to get the 676 Nighthawk tow bar. Both can tow up to 8,000 pounds.
The Nighthawk tow bar is the best in the industry. It’s made from 100% raw steel, stainless steel and aluminum with a baked-on powder coat finish to prevent rusting.
It’s super easy to connect and disconnect, has long tow arms for more stability while towing, and has built-in LED lights. We also love that there is an enclosed channel for our safety cables and power cords to give a clean finish and keep them protected.
If you want to get the Roadmaster Nighthawk, use this link and contact Roadmaster directly for your order. If you use the code EAT SEE RV at check out they will add over $100 in free products to your Nighthawk order!
Baseplate
The baseplate is installed directly to your tow car and is the attachment point for the tow bar. When choosing a flat towing baseplate enter your vehicle’s make, model, and year. Certain baseplates work with specific cars. Roadmaster has an online look-up system to help you find the right baseplate for your exact vehicle.
We ended up with the Blue Ox Base Plate Kit and Weather Tech Bug Shield. Roadmaster has awesome baseplates that after 2015 are nearly invisible when not towing, but because our Honda CRV is a 2001, we wanted a baseplate that didn’t protrude when not in use, which led us to the BlueOx baseplate.
➡ Read Next: Towing a Honda CRV Behind an RV: The Best Flat Tow Car ⬅
We had issues with our car’s frame being misaligned from a prior crash. So we had to have the frame fixed before the baseplate could be installed. You could DIY a baseplate install, however since we dealt with the framing issue, we just had the baseplate installed professionally to save on time.
If you’re confident with cars and know how to take off the front bumper you can DIY the baseplate install. However, if you aren’t great with vehicles or confident in your DIY skills, have a professional install this.
A wiring kit and safety cables
The safety cables are used to add a fail-safe for the tow bar and baseplate connections. This is a backup system required by law to ensure you are towing your car as safely as possible and is a fail-safe if something becomes disconnected.
Since we got the Nighthawk tow bar, the safety cables are included in the tow bar system and aren’t something we had to purchase additionally.
The Nighthawk also includes an integrated power cord to conduct the lighting signals between the two vehicles. This allows your brake lights, turn signals, and other lights to operate from your RV and indicate your signals simultaneously on the dinghy car.
Roadmaster has a universal wiring kit that allows for a safe connection to the towed vehicle’s lighting system. It works with most vehicles.
Supplemental braking system
The last component you need to flat tow a car behind an RV is a supplemental braking system. A supplemental braking system is required in all continental states and Canada for vehicles over a set weight.
You can check each state’s requirements to see if you need a supplemental braking system or not. However, for us, it was easier to guarantee we were driving according to the law by adding a braking system.
A supplemental braking system connects your brakes to the motorhome braking system. It means when you brake your RV, the tow vehicle brakes simultaneously.
We went with the InvisiBrake system, which is one of the best braking systems on the market. InvisiBrake manages the additional weight of the car as you’re moving and gives you the same power braking system while towing as you do while driving thanks to its built-in vacuum pump.
The InvisiBrake is installed permanently into your car connecting the electrical on your towed vehicle to brake when you brake the motorhome. We love that there is nothing to turn on with this braking system, once it’s installed and you connect a single cord to tow, it’s operational.
It’s really small so it can be installed in multiple places in your car that’s out-of-sight and doesn’t get in the way while driving.
A common problem when towing a vehicle, especially on long drive days, is that your tow dinghy battery can be drained because it’s in the on-neutral position. However, the InvisiBrake system connects directly to the towed vehicle’s battery and trickle-charges the battery during towing so your braking system will never cause your car’s battery to go dead.
The InvisiBrake system is not a cheap purchase, but its built components meant we had less to install and virtually nothing to do each time we towed making it a no-brainer choice for us. We did have this professionally installed because we didn’t want to miss any wiring. Since this is the brain of our towing brake system, we needed to know this was installed correctly.
Tow bar and vehicle protection
One optional add-on we went with to protect our flat towing system is the Tow Defender bumper-to-bumper protector. This helps stop debris from flying up and hitting our car or windshield while towing. It also stops the natural vacuum of air that collects dirt while driving.
There are different models of Tow Defenders depending on your set up so I recommend talking with Roadmaster to find out exactly what model to purchase along with other necessary items for your flat towing setup.
We also got a tow bar cover to go over the tow bar when we’re not using it. This stops water and debris from intruding helping it last longer and prevent malfunctions. It’s totally optional, but we like the peace of mind it adds to our towing system.
Get the tow bar cover for free when you order a Nighthawk tow bar from Roadmaster directly and tell them “Eat See RV” sent you! 👏🏼
How to flat tow a car behind an RV
Now that you know what parts are needed to build your flat towing system, let’s talk about the steps involved to flat tow a car behind an RV. The system for towing each car can differ by year, make, and model so consult your car’s manual for instructions to begin towing.
Generally, the steps are as follows:
Step 1:
Park the car on level ground behind the RV to connect the safety cables, electrical wires, and pins of the tow bar to the baseplate. This takes us around 1 minute to do thanks to the easy clipping system of the Roadmaster Nighthawk tow bar.
Step 2:
Start the car.
To properly enter neutral, we have to move our shifter through every position to first gear, then end on neutral. We shift through each gear while pressing on the brake. We let the car run for a few minutes, then turn the car off and leave the key in the ignition (accessory position) in neutral.
Step 3:
Connect the InvisiBrake cord and release the parking brake in the vehicle. We then drive our motorhome slowly forward a foot or two to ensure the bars are engaged and do a safety check on lights and connections.
It’s truly so easy to get our dinghy car ready to tow behind an RV with the Roadmaster system. Let us know if this guide to how to tow a car behind an RV was helpful for you and any questions you still have about the process.
Remember, the easiest way to order your Roadmaster towing setup is to contact them directly. They can help you order the right products for your car and RV model. If you order through them directly and mention “Eat See RV” you can also get $100 in free products including a tow bar cover, Lubemaster spray, and hitch pin lock for free!
