New To the Forum
New to the Forum and new to RV'ing (haven't camped since I was a kid with my parents and the wife never has). Wanted to take a moment introduce ourselves. My wife Teresa and I are anxiously awaiti...
Forum Discussion
Alex and Tee wrote:
Yes that is one thing I have been asking Tiffin for is the tow specs. The unit we ordered is on a 26,000 lb chassis with liquid springs which is new for 2022. 2021 and earlier are on a 24,000 lb chassis with a 5000 lb tow rating. I’m not sure if the the heavier chassis brings a higher tow rating or not. No one at the dealer or Tiffin can seem to answer that. I’m pretty sure I will have to go AL on the trailer or at least get one that only has two ramps for the tires like a U-Haul rather than a full flat bed to keep the weight down.
Welcome to the forum.
You'll have to do the math to see what you can tow. It's not a hard and fast answer. Just because the hitch says it's rated for 5k lbs does not mean you have that much capacity once the rig is loaded for travel. Even empty some MH's don't have capacity to match the hitch rating.
You need to weigh the MH for travel, but since you don't have it in your possession you'll have to go with what you know. A sticker in the MH should tell you the weight leaving the factory, you can guess at what cargo will be.
But to get your towing capacity, it's the LESSER of the 2:
Hitch rating
OR
GCWR minus GVW.
For your gross vehicle weight (GVW), it is: Curb Weight + Cargo Weight + Water Weight + LP Weight + Passenger Weight, Food, Clothes, etc.
So if you have a 5k hitch, and after loaded for travel your capacity is 2k, then you can only tow 2k - regardless of what the hitch is rated for.
Put more simply, your MH has a combined weight rating (should be on a sticker). You need to subtract from that number the weight of your MH loaded for travel. You will also need to know the weight of the vehicle you are towing plus the trailer. If the combined weight rating minus what your loaded MH weighs is less than your tow vehicle plus trailer, you can't tow it.
Example, if you have a 26k lb chassis, and your MH loaded for travel weighs 23k, you only have 3k towing capacity.
If your MH weighs 20k, you have 6k capacity - but - the hitch rating is 5k, so that's the lesser of the two. So you can still only tow 5k max.
You'd be surprised to learn how many MH's come off the line with almost no towing capacity at all - despite having a 5k or even a 7 or 10k hitch.
