Class A Towing capacity

lbligh wrote:

TDInewguy wrote:
There is 10,000lb capacity on diesels, but two things. the hitch rating AND the tranmission. The lower cost diesel motorhomes USUALLY have the Allison 2000 or 2500 transmission, and the beefy ones have the Allison 3000 transmission. This is a big piece in the tow capacity.

I have an allison 3000 and can safely tow 10,000 all day long and I have done it for over 40,000 miles. I did have a custom hitch made that was much stronger than the OEM hitch, but that is another discussion and is related to my wanting things to be more than safe.

good luck on your search!

This is exactly how things like this get started. Where did the idea that "There is 10,000lb capacity on diesels, but two things. the hitch rating AND the transmission" come from because that simply is NOT TRUE. There are many components that come into play when GVWR and GCWR ratings are established.

First, there are many coaches that have a GCWR greater than 10,000 lbs. So, your statement that "there is a 10,000 lb capacity on diesels..." is completely incorrect. As an example, on our current coach, we have a GVWR of 44,600. We have a GCWR of 59,600 and a hitch capacity of 15,000. So, clearly we have a maximum towing capacity of 15,000 lbs.

Second, your statement that the hitch and the transmission alone set these ratings is incorrect. The overall GCWR is set by the manufacturer looking at many different items ie: axle capacity, frame engineering etc. and using industry standards.

The last piece of advise I would give is before you ever entertain the idea of custom making a hitch as you have stated, you first get a copy of the welders liability insurance information. Hitches are rated for a reason and the guy at the local welding shop has no means of rating any hitch.

Safe travels.

You are correct that I made a blanket statement - and should not have.

Regarding the hitch on my RV - it was professionally built by a shop that is certified and builds custom trailers, plows, hitches and many other things, and they put a rating on the hitch of 17,000lbs & 2500lbs tongue weight.

My RV is still limited by the GCWR and other weight limits, but with the old OEM hitch it was a 10,000lb hitch with a 500lb tongue weight rating. Not safe at all for what I am towing. I am still within my weight ratings with what I tow.

The other statement about the transmission - the RV's that have the smaller transmissions - like the 2100 or 2500 allison are not typically rated for more than a 5000lb trailer. Could they be, yes, but not typically.

The Allison 3000 has more than enough capacity to handle the 10,000lb trailer rating put on by most RV manufacturers and some have a 15,000lb rating.

In my extensive research a few years back and calls to Freightliner, Allison and others I found what the limits were for my RV and remedied them in order to have a large safety margin for what I'm towing.

I apologize for making a blanket statement that was not true in every case - it was not my intent. My intent is to educate and help people make good decisions in their rigs.

One more point - the hitch on my Chevy Silverado was known for failing, so the shop that did the custom hitch for my RV also did for my truck and I've been very happy with it. Safety first!