Thinking of getting a small RV to travel to races with. Are there small ones that have decent towing capacity? Ideally, one would have:

*simple and quick set up at the track
*generator
*good towing capacity...6000+?
*good gas/diesel mileage
*decent creature comforts
*reasonably economical in price (perhaps a year or two old)
*excellent air conditioning!

Also, what about when at the track? Small enough to go out and get a steak or take a motorcycle/small vehicle with you? (family may travel with me on occasion)

Thoughts, advice and warnings much appreciated!

 

Perhaps consider renting a couple times to make sure it's something you want.

It's been my experience that most of the smaller RV's are sitting on frames that don't have much capacity left for towing. Seems like you have to get up into the diesel pushers before there is sufficient capacity for a decent sized enclosed trailer.

 

I looked into this too and most gassers are built on F450 chasis with 5000 lbs towing capacity.

Unless you get a diesel pusher ($$) you are not getting much over that.

Marc

 

Think about the ride quality too. Some of the shorter RVs have incredibly rough rides. It might be worth wandering around the paddock at the next few races and asking the current RV users what they like/don't like abut their current rig. They are usually more than happy to talk.

 

Good advice so far guys. Yeah, I noticed a couple at the last race. I will make it a point to track some down at the next one. Has to be a couple of good options out and would be simply awesome to chill in the ac and examine data, etc.

 

Dave Karl and Kristen got an F350 Dually (or something like that) to tow a much larger trailer (gooseneck) which which includes living quarters. They travel all over that way.

dan

 

I towed with a class C V-10 Ford. Loved it. Almost the same fuel mileage as a regular tow vehicle but had my fridge, bathroom, etc while traveling down the road with the kids. Loved waking up at the track. I never tried to break any speed records towing my 24 foot enclosed. It was not a lot of fun on really windy days but I recall saying the same thing about my dually/45 foot gooseneck too. I wish I would not have sold it. I have actually been perusing for another one.

 

I'll go in with you on it...
So long as we can convince our wives.... I know where you are headed, If she buys in then......


http://www.racingjunk.com/Tow-vehicl...8-Stacker.html

 

What you're looking for will typically only tow 5k lbs. You'd have to go to a Class A or B diesel to get to 10k or 15k. If you have an open trailer, then you're okay, but any enclosed will most likely exceed that limit.

Keeping fresh in the a/c during hot summer months is certainly a plus.

 

It's very hard to find a small motorhome which is rated over 5,000 lbs. I spent a year researching, on and off. Really the only one I could find was the Chevy Express 3500HD based Roadtrek. I ended up buying a 2006 Roadtrek Popular 210. It's rated to tow 7,200. The 2000 models went as high as 9,600.

It does pretty well, tows OK and is great to have at the track. My only complaint is that the engine cooling seems weak - the needle gets up there towing up hills in summer. It's pretty flat around here and I get 9.5mpg towing at 60ish. That isn't great, but it takes 87 octane which eases the pain a little.

They're nice but expensive little suckers - asking price for a 2006 is around 50k. I picked mine up for 35k.

We did a several-day family roadtrip around LA in the thing. It's impossible to get into any parking structure (too tall), but I never had a problem parking it in outdoor lots.

If you have room to store a class C you might look into getting the frame strengthened or whatever else needs to be done to increase the towing capacity. But the result might still be scary to drive - the long rear overhang is a problem.

A 28' "Safari Trek" might suit.

A 2005ish Jayco Greyhawk 24SS might have the capacity.

 

Dave and kristen have a GMC 3500 dually and tow i think its a 42 foot trailer with living quarters (very nice ones) in front and a 1 car trailer in the rear...unhook and go into town as needed for gas/tires/repairs/etc. Their set up is pretty nice.

Need to make sure the tracks you frequent also allow camping as some dont.

We also have a few locals that do something similar with approx 42-45 ft goosenecks with a diesel of some sort.
I have also seen some enclosed trailers that you pull the car into to tow, pull the car out and couch/beds are then folded out and you use the place where the car was as the living quarters, kinda neat but not sure who makes them.

 

Exactly the reasons why I "think" I need one. Convenience would be awesome.
Dave! My wife would love it, but my bank account would hate it! That thing is awesome!

 

5K would do it with my open trailex, but it would be nice to have a little breathing room with the capacity.
Cool, thanks! I will check into those models.

I've looked at some trailer solutions and they all require a monster tow vehicle. I just need something small anyway. After dressing in a non-ac car hauler for the last 4 years, even a small unit will be great.

 

We've rented a few C Class RV's and think they all had right around a 5K tow rating. Plenty of power with the 8.1L gasser. Not sure if it was the long overhang behind the rear axle or because we were towing near the rated max (open trailer with extra wheels, tools, etc.) but it was NOT a stable platform. If I was going to purchase something to use on a regular basis it would definitely have to be on a bigger chassis.

G/L

 

I'd love an Earthroamer but way too much. For a smaller RV built on a F450/550 with big towing capacity it's hard to beat Host:

http://www.hostcampers.com/graphics/...exterior_6.jpg

I've been renting bigger class C, Supernova and Dynamax, built on large commercial trucks with the tow capacity. It's too big for just the two of us but if you had family along it would be perfect.