Anyone tow with an RV?

My set up is a 23' with a 454. Its towing a 16' trailer and a 4 runner, I can't even feel it when rolling. I do recommend going tp Bellew's on M street in Tacoma. They ran supports all the way up to the "real frame" not just the back rails. Motor Homes are not really legal to tow a lot of weight. Thats why you see most people flat towing. The guys at Bellew's will take care of you for $750. that the hitch and brakes.:awesomework:

Bunk said:

Fwiw Icemans rv is like a 23 footer or so. Most bitchen home on wheels for the woods.

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said MPU,,oh and it's a 21'r...drives like a car with a big appitite

I saw my dream motorhome at the RV show last year.

Sits on a Chevy 5500 drivetrain, duramax engine, 4x4 on 35" tires, 12k winch up front, 32' long and tows 13k. That doesn't even include the extra goodies I loved with the slide outs 40" plasma TV etc etc, but at $185,000 I just couldn't see it happening LOL!

Oh yeah it also had a full quad cab up front and all of the "truck seats" were captains seats with a little removable table in the middle. One of the few Class C's that I've seen that made the travelling seats useful when parked.

Money Mark said:

You have the nicest, most heavy duty RV I've ever seen in person.

The difference in caliber of RV is very different between your's and Darby's.......very different.

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Care to elaborate on this a little more? I know RVs are like anything else you get what you pay for but I'm curious which manufacturers are better than the others when it comes to towing. I'm a truck camper setup now but in the future I'll be in the market for a class A.

Comments...thoughts

jimijam19K said:

Care to elaborate on this a little more? I know RVs are like anything else you get what you pay for but I'm curious which manufacturers are better than the others when it comes to towing. I'm a truck camper setup now but in the future I'll be in the market for a class A.

Comments...thoughts

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****.......I don't know an RV from a Motorhome.:haha:

It's just that I know Darby and walked in Bobby's.......Darby can't afford a Bobby RV.:fawkdancesmiley: Sorry Darby.

Darby said:

I'm thinking about picking up an old 1984 Automate Royal with a 454. It's bitchen i know! Even has brown pin stripes. So, does anyone else tow with their RV? It's 33ft long, has a tow package. Am I fooling myself thinking it will haul my car trailer and Toyota? Most of my trips are over flat ground down 203 and hwy 2 to Reiter. I don't need to do 40mph up the pass I just need to make it there without blowing the tranny up or over heating. And I curently tow with my suburban with a 454 so I'm used to going slow.

Can you say, "party bus!" :cheer:

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We use to own a 28ft winnebago with a 454 and Turbo 400 tranny. We towed 10,000lb's with it to Pomona, ca a couple times, and to mission, BC probably a hundred times with it. It was slow going on the pass but other than that it was fine.

Money Mark said:

****.......I don't know an RV from a Motorhome.:haha:

It's just that I know Darby and walked in Bobby's.......Darby can't afford a Bobby RV.:fawkdancesmiley: Sorry Darby.

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OK, got it. Hoping you had some insight on who's stuff is better setup for towing.

yeah i guess Bobbys transmission dosent have any problems:awesomework:

anyone got an extra 35k
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/rvs/986463779.html
king of the road!




Sweet your lookin darby, hope you get one!

thats what we hauled up to Alaska this spring... My father-in-law drove the rv down w/o a trailer... He bought the trailer last summer while down here for a visit, He was overwelmed with the length,and weight.. Trailer loaded with all the stuff he ended up taking back the trailer weighted 6700lbs.on the drive back to Alaska he only drove 300 miles, that was the distance of running one tank of gas thru it... 5mpg... he bitched the whole time...:haha::haha::haha: I had no clue what it was costing cause it was in liters and canadian coin... I just drove the piss out of it... the motor it self would love to climb in tempature to the red mark when trying to climb hills... and the northwest terriatories has some crazy climbs. was in 1st. gear and 15 mph at times... I will never own a gas motorhome, that trip fixed me of that idea...:eeek::eeek::eeek: averaged 40 mph for the whole damn trip...

Darby look over the motor home really good, one for leaks (as in roof), two like everyone has been saying tail frame, that's a big one. you can get a torsion bar hitch that will help a frickin lot, but the tail frame has to have at least some structure to it, a lot of motor home have a very pathetic excuse for hitch frame. three once again, tranny cooler, tranny cooler, tranny cooler nothing will stop you faster than bunt up tranny. any way there's my $.02

but if it takes a **** you still have the slowburban:awesomework:

99% of the class C motorhomes are gassers either running a 454 or 460. There are only a few diesel Class C motorhomes on the market and they are VERY new. I asked the dealer about why so few. The reasoning is that motorhomes typically are parked 95% of the time. Putting the extra money into a 300,000 mile motor didn't make any sense, but that they're starting to see more of a demand for motorhomes with a greater pulling capacity.

In the big class A diesel pusher motorhomes (the bus style) they see a lot more mileage and people much more frequently travel for months on end in those and live in them. Towing a car is almost a standard practice on these big rigs.

I motor home with the built in capacity to haul 10,000 is almost unheard of, in something that you'd even consider taking to a trail, at least until 2007. That was when the first run of smaller, diesel power rigs with heavier duty ratings started coming out. By smaller, I mean around 30' and under. There are more and more of them available but when I was looking there was almost nothing on the used market yet and the very few that I found were in the over $70k range. A Canadian company has been making them for a while but they are in a VERY high quality rig that is 4 season prepared for Canadian winters...

I have a 32' Hurricane, seems pretty well built, we have taken it into Buck Meadows a few times and that road it a killer of mh's. I was looking a new one last year and they have models with 8.0l gm's or v10 fords, the ford chassis can tow 5k more than the chevy. If you are looking at taking it into primitive camping areas I would look at rear groung clearance also, overhang can get you into trouble over seemingly small bumps.

I keep hearing tranny cooler, tranny cooler, tranny cooler with no mention of a gauge. The first thing I'd want to know is what temp is the tranny running at.......

I tow that with that in a 24' enclosed trailer with 4 quads and 2 motorcycles. it gets 5-6 miles to the gallon but its been to moab a few times and glamis. and so far so good 63' long in all
or the boat, but it doesnt feel that
:beer:

So as to keep on topic.....My boss tows with a BIG ASS motor home....454,T-400,D-80(?). He pulls an enclosed Toy hauler(~20'?) with either his Class 7 desert truck,6K# ZJ or the moon buggy/rock race rig in it.Plus all the random crap to support each vehichle.He hauls between here and Arizona on a regular basis with no probs.

Have been pondering a class c D cell, just have to work out the details with my finacial officer....:haha:

Jeepless said:

Have been pondering a class c D cell, just have to work out the details with my finacial officer....:haha:

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although i am a chevy man at heart, i believe the 460 ford motor pulls a bit better than the 454. and in the larger rigs the ford chassis were better. now i am referring to late 90's and not all up to date on new stuff but just my $.02

also be careful as the longer rigs have extended frames that are just basically C channel tacked on, so you want to go under them and reinforce it or it will sag

Roccrawler said:

also be careful as the longer rigs have extended frames that are just basically C channel tacked on, so you want to go under them and reinforce it or it will sag

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what about the tag along's you know two axles in the rear???same problem or not??:corn: