Looking for a used motorhome to tow 7000 lbs.
I currently have a 1990 Fleetwood Flair 26, with a Ford 460 Gas motor and 3 speed transmission. The original hitch was rated at 3500lbs, and 500 lbs tongue weight. I recently had it reinforced to supp...
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In that time frame, '98-'02, you'll find that the Ford F53 (V10 '99-'02) will have a 26,000 pound GCWR. This means that the 16,000 and 18,000 GVWR versions COULD be equipped to tow as much as 10,000 pounds. You'll find the 10,000 number in the Ford literature of the day. Few (maybe none?) motorhomes were built with anything but a 5,000 pound hitch, but the Ford parts could handle more. Pay close attention to the frame though. Frame extensions used to build anything over about 30' tend to be pretty flimsy, surely contributing to the typical 5000 pound hitch rating.
(Ford later derated the GCWR of the lower GVWR chassis for some reason, so the current F53 doesn't have the large tow capability.)
You'll also find that a lot of DPs in that era will also have 5000 pound hitches. Sometimes it was a chassis limit, sometimes a powertrain one. The 4 speed Allison, for example, wasn't rated for much total weight, and was used in a lot of motorhomes around that time.
(Ford later derated the GCWR of the lower GVWR chassis for some reason, so the current F53 doesn't have the large tow capability.)
You'll also find that a lot of DPs in that era will also have 5000 pound hitches. Sometimes it was a chassis limit, sometimes a powertrain one. The 4 speed Allison, for example, wasn't rated for much total weight, and was used in a lot of motorhomes around that time.
