rsrdan

Gents

Looking at Class C 22'-28' mostly Ford E350-E450 chassis's V10's.Towing a open trailer w/944 and gear weight 4700lbs.Most the hitches have a label that reads \\Max 3500lbs and 300lb tounge//

I have seen people tow at least this or more at the track!!

I know the engine will pull it ok and the electric brakes will stop it ok,...I can beef-up the hitch for the weight... but
I am worried about the tounge weight...the RV i am looking at now has new bilstein air shocks that will help alittle from the rear squating

Are you Class C guys having any issues with towing or any advise!!

rsrdan

sorry -Tongue- i cant spell - Idiot

Crazy Canuck

Get a good weight distribution system.

I'd reccommend the Reese with integrated dual cam sway control. They aren't cheap but they work well. My company sells lots of them.

John H

I second the crazy canuck's suggestion. My 350 V10 28 footer pulls an enclosed that probably weighs 6500 fully loaded.

mhm993

Maybe you're seeing the maximums for the flimsy hitch built into the rear bumper, instead of a real, class 3 or 4 hitch installed properly?
A 450 is sure overkill for a 4500# gross weight trailer...what are you doing with it when you're not pulling your pcar?

f1rocks

Probably RV'ing with Magnum PI since he's the new spokeperson for RV's now

My E350 chassis will take a whole lot more than 300 pounds of tongue weight and will barely squat the chassis. I would imagine the hitch, bolts used to attach etc. are your limit for the tongue weight. A good weight distributing hitch system will haul 5K with ease.

That V10 will probably deliver some stellar mileage too....not

AirCOOLme

i can (an do) tow 4000K lbs with my toyota tacoma .... a 250 is overkill

rsrdan

thanks guys,
the 22' I am looking at is nice,clean,low mileage,one owner,elderly couple owned....The owner was towing a honda-tow bar,but appears he had the hitch welded to the frame for a more- piece of mind-....this would be my first RV,so I didnt want to go all out till I was sure that I would enjoy it...but it sure would be nice to have somewhere to relax between runs...

SundayDriver

Hang on folks, this is not just a truck - it is an RV on a truck platform. Now you can choose to ignore the ratings, but the reality is that a 350/450 based RV is pretty much maxed out to it's gross vehicle rating with the RV, passengers, luggage, food, etc. I don't think the rating is showing the limit of the hitch itself, as I imagine they use the same hitch as the 350/450 trucks. Rather that by adding more than 350 lbs of tongue weight, the total weight of the RV is over the rated limit.

Class C motorhomes do not have much towing capacity - IF YOU STAY IN THE PUBLISHED LIMITS. It is your choice if you go over and I have no personal experience with that.

Bull

To Mark's excellent point, if the "rating limit" (GVWR, not just towing capacity) is calculated in the same way as a F250, 350, etc., then it is done with a 150lb driver and NO passengers, equipment, supplies, etc. By the time you load up the RV and make it usable/livable, there usually is much left in the GVWR. My track friends that pull enclosed trailers all had to go to Diesel pushers to get the capacity they needed.

M758

I explored a C-class RV a couple years back to tow my 944 spec car on an open trailer.

What I found is that you need to be very carefull to make it work.

Problem is the E-350 chassis is probably right near its weight limits as is. In may cases a big C class on a E350 chassis will be overweight if you simple fill it with water and add a normal family.

My advice is get AT LEAST an E-450 chassis. Stay withl a smaller 26 foot max RV box and skip slides. Slides are nice, but are really heavy. If you do that and watch weights you might be ok with 5000lbs trailer. 2000lbs trailer + 3000lbs car is common. Then figure 1000lbs for misc racing gear like tools tires, etc. This will need to be carried either on the trailer or the RV.

Now... most hitchs on the RV's are NOT up to towing even 5000lbs. This applies to C-class and even many A-class RV's. You will need to have the hitch beefed up. Mostly this involves tieing the hitch to the frame as in most cases the hitch is tied only to the RV body, but not direct to the frame.

So... you CAN tow and open trailer with a C-class RV. You do need to be really carefull on weights, GVWR, GCVWR and Axle weights. A-classes are typically better since they often come on mid duty truck chassis vs Van chassis so they can carry more. Even so there are some "entry level" A's that have barely adequate chassis.

look at places like RV.net for all kinds of RV information. There is a forum similar to rennlist over there where you can learn all about RV's and towing with them.

In the end I decided to keep my open trailer & 2500 pickup. Does what I need for much less cost than the RV. I STILL would love to have the RV at the track, but it is an expense I can't justify right now.

John H

Mine pulls fine and doesn't squat. Hitch is tied to the frame. The gas mileage sucks (7 MPG loaded) but is still cheaper and far more convenient than hotels. The other part is that my kids have a place to hang out.

It is a PITA to town around town or to move the car from the shop and back. Also, you have to be real careful pulling into gas stations etc beause you do NOT want to back up if you can avoid it. Trailer brakes are also a must. The brakes on the RV would not stop it and the trailer without help.

tchandler

Correct me if I'm wrong but,
$40,000 RV cost
for me avg hotel bill for weekend $160
10 races per year.
so
10 races *$160weekend hotel =$1600 yr. hotel cost
$40,000/$1,600 = 25 yrs to break even*



*didn't account for inflation wich would bring down breakeven cost somewhat.

rsrdan

the one i am looking at is priced at 19k.not bad,because the low retail is 26k..The cost of fuel would be my biggest factor also.He gets 9mpg towing a CRV w/tow bar,so Iam guessing 7mpg for my rig..I to am looking for some for the kids to hang out!.I weighted my Trailer w/944 and tires and it came to 4200lbs.I will look into the weight distribution system.

John H

I bought a 98 georgie boy with 90K on the clock for $~12K. Plus I use it for camping, almost all spectator races at Mid-Ohio and for dirt biking weekends with the brother in law, nephews and my son. If you drive your tow vehicle as your daily driver, it is not as financially rewarding. If your tow vehicle is an extra vehicle which it would be for me, I think it's the only way to go (at least for me right now). Others may disagree, but I use mine so much, I think it was money well spent. If I did not use it except for towing the trailer, I would buy an F350 dually diesel.

The way I look at it, my racing hotel bills savings (30 nights this year) make my RV payment and I get to use it whenever. Plus there's the intangibles for my particular situation (single father of two who come to the track frequently).

Oh yeah, the fact I can get up later, fry eggs and bacon and make a pot of coffee in my underwear at the track is cool too.