Cured My Double Towing State Law Issues, Pics Inside

Hi guys. You guys are amazing. Now go over to the Class C motorhomes forum and check out my post, "Thor 8000 lb. hitch" Thank You. Louie

I forgot to add,

If you were to add the D-ring mounts to the frame rails (outward), then lateral forces on the drop hitch would also be negated.

This would mean making the straps would be a little more involved (bent/twisted/etc).

timmac wrote:

Like a few others, I just am uncomfortable with that amount of drop.

Take the drop down part that you have on hand and have your welder guy add four gussests to it.

Add two small ones to the top, and two larger ones to the bottom.

If you want to get MORE confident, weld two 1/4" tabs to the receiver assembly, just like on a Jeep for attaching a D ring.


Then get two simple pieces of steel, with two holes, one on each end. Bolt the steel pieces from the bottom hole of the drop down to the new tabs.

What you have already might be fine, but I can't tell from just the pictures.

Even so, I think if it were MY rig, I'd do what I suggested above. If this is unclear in anyway, I'll try to add more detail.

Have FUN!

cman60 wrote:
Awesome trailer build. We have 2 Dual Sport motorcycles and have been trying to figure out how to maybe include a boat. Very nice trailer, well thought out plan. I will have to Google the boat to see how heavy it is. I'm assuming it's launched from the trailer ? Or can you drag it to the water?

The boat, motor, 3 gal gas can, and 50lb weight in front of boat to help it plane when by myself has a total weight of around 275lbs, the boat alone is only 90lbs.

Plan to launch from trailer, could get launching wheels in back of boat to walk in and out of water, but have not done that yet.

Just to let you all know I sat in the boat and ran it to the top of the trailer, was sort of scary but it worked fine so I know I can go up higher in boat weight.

If you can't see any rust bleeds, hairline cracks or bends with buckling from the pictures it looks like really nice fab job. If it carried 1000 lbs of Harley and carrier bouncing down the road your trailer tongue weight won't bend it. The way it is inserted in the frame with 3x6 box tube it will crack at the end of the box tube on the frame rail. Welds look good and paint is not bubbled with rust, round tube cross members is old school but still used on race cars because it works. Nice trailer and solution to your needs, ignore the ambulance chasers and tunnel vision problem solvers.

Awesome trailer build. We have 2 Dual Sport motorcycles and have been trying to figure out how to maybe include a boat. Very nice trailer, well thought out plan. I will have to Google the boat to see how heavy it is. I'm assuming it's launched from the trailer ? Or can you drag it to the water?

And they are spelled Axles.I'm just messing. I do it all the time. I always thought it the best way to go. Worth it that's for sure.
Mowermech: MCB22, NAM 68-69, A&P Flight test Tech McDonnell Douglas and I'm a dumb farmer and still work on small AC.

willald wrote:


Who did you have do the work on the MH, and if you don't mind me asking, how much did the MH modifications set you back, total?

Here is the pics again of the work on back of motorhome frame and hitch, I did not have it done, it was done from the last owner to carry his 1000lb Harley on back, no cracks or bent hitch from his Harley.

Its the 6x3 tube sticking out the back of motorhome and goes all the way to Ford frame and welded to frame and three 4 inch round tubes welded to extension and welded to hitch, as to those that say I am over my hitch rating and I can not say for sure if that is the factory 5000lb hitch or when the work was done they replaced hitch with a larger weight rated one, I can not find a weight rating on hitch but it did carry a 1000lb Harley for a few years with no issues.

It is super strong, others that have seen it says its well done, even the trailer builder was impressed by how heavy duty the back of the RV is..









Flame away weight police.. :p

Ok folks... Getting a little sporty with some of the rhetoric... So some of you need to dial it down a notch. That would include some of those self appointed authorities.

The trailer design and application was offered up as a solution to double towing... All view points are welcome as long as they are civil....... And are not repeatedly posted.

JohnnyT Moderator

willald wrote:

Certifications are made to insure that ratings are consistent with appropriate standards. Some guy with a welder simply is not qualified to make that call.

..And you know this, 'cause you know the welder who did his modifications, right? And you know this welder's qualifications also, right? :)

For all we know, the OP may have had this done by a professional welding company certified for all kinds of work, and very well qualified to make the call.

First, local "law enforcement" normally are not the folks involved in any inspection. That is normally left up to an enforcement division who actually are trained to evaluate safe loads and actually have the resources to weigh units. Secondly, as I have pointed out here over and over, the Federal Weight Certification label REQUIRED by law is the place where the information is gathered by the DMV. That label includes maximum towed weight capacities.

Correct, inspections are done by an appropriate enforcement division, not run of the mill law enforcement.

How many times have you, or anyone you know of, ever been stopped by this 'enforcement division', and had to submit to an inspection this thorough of your RV, where they weighed it and verified weights against weight certification labels?

How many times have you had to submit to such an inspection when registering your RV with DMV?

How many times has ANY RV owner EVER had to submit to such an inspection, except as part of an accident investigation after a bad accident?

Right, never. Doesn't happen for non-commercial vehicles, ever.

Only time such an inspection might take place (for non-commercial vehicles) is as part of an investigation after a serious accident where someone is seriously hurt or worse. Yes, it is a risk that if such happens, an inspection revealing you were over some limits could be a problem. However, all things considered, I think that is a pretty small risk with many ways to easily mitigate it (driving cautiously, have a good insurance policy, etc). Nowhere near as huge a risk as some 'weight police' folks try to make it out to be.

I only mentioned 'law enforcement', as they are the ones that make the routine stops that one is much, much more likely to be involved in. And, like I said, those guys really do not give a rat's posterior end what some certification label says, and how close you are to it.

I think, lblhigh, your experience in professional trucking may be clouding your thoughts a little bit. We're not talking about commercial trucks, we're talking about privately owned RVs. Huge difference.

...if you can't pay, then don't play. Sorry, but those are just the facts.

...Its easy to sit on a high horse and 'preach' self-righteous absolutes like this, when you can afford to drop six figures on a massive DP Motorhome.

If you could not (or chose not to) own such an expensive rig that could tow 20,000 lbs from the factory....I'm betting your outlook/opinion on this would be drastically different.

It is interesting to note the rig in the signatures of nearly ALL the 'weight police' type that have posted on this thread. ;)

Will

"And you know this, 'cause you know the welder who did his modifications, right?"

The welder used may indeed be a certified welder and that is great. However, it makes no difference in the area of certifying any modification. All a certified welder can certify is their weld... nothing more. You may want to look into things like QVM certification from Ford Motor Company. Then you might begin to understand.

"Only time such an inspection might take place (for non-commercial vehicles) is as part of an investigation after a serious accident where someone is seriously hurt or worse. Yes, it is a risk that if such happens, an inspection revealing you were over some limits could be a problem. However, all things considered, I think that is a pretty small risk with many ways to easily mitigate it (driving cautiously, have a good insurance policy, etc). Nowhere near as huge a risk as some 'weight police' folks try to make it out to be."

Well... not a risk I am willing to take. Nor is it a risk that anyone should take when they run the risk of possibly injuring others. Good insurance policy? Well my friend, I carry very high limits on my liability insurance along with a million dollar umbrella policy. Personally, if I or one of my family were injured as a result of something like this due to someone simply ignoring safety limits, I don't believe that would be enough to cover the lawsuit where we have someone knowingly exceeding published limits with some home grown modification. As I said, if someone gets hurt or worse... hold on.

"If you could not (or chose not to) own such an expensive rig that could tow 20,000 lbs from the factory....I'm betting your outlook/opinion on this would be drastically different.

It is interesting to note the rig in the signatures of nearly ALL the 'weight police' type that have posted on this thread."

Well... I have owned many different coaches. Some with far less capacity than the one I have today. When I did, I worked within the limits of what I owned. So are you are criticizing folks for owning something that they want and earned?

Also, as for inspections, yes indeed I have seen non-commercial inspection. You need to go back a review some of the other posts who have also seen these inspections. No clouded judgement here. Safety and working within equipment limitations belongs to everyone.

Safe travels.