obiwancanoli wrote:
Ok, so my coach is a Newmar 35' DP Ventana LE. I admit to guessing the weight of the lift, and so, it was me, sir, who was clueless... I'm familiar with the Hydralift, and feel that might be a solution, but it means buying a new or another vehicle. Not sure on this yet...
FWIW, I'd also plan to take only the HD, and wondered if a lift on the rear DP, and the bike, would be too much weight as well. To be completely candid here, I am relatively new to the lifestyle - 7 months now - and still have a lot to learn. But that's why I'm here, and posted my query, so, keep in mind this isn't a political debate, and offer a bit more respect than my "clueless" perspective might otherwise inspire. Thanks.
Obiwan,
My comments were not directed at you. There are many on RV forums that are safety police, weight police and more and never done anything outside the box. And as such, have tendency to illicit advice that they, in fact, have never ever dealt with. And, there are ones that think ALL COACHES are built the same. Well, for those of us that ACTUALLY have done things outside the box and experimented with all kinds of situations, we've gained experience on what works and what doesn't. The manufacturers of most coaches pretty much know what they're doing and, post limits on what their coaches can do, what they can't and what kind of limits are on them.
But, if one has worked with heavy equipment, alterations, modifications, suspensions and more for most of their life, one can sometimes, exceed posted limitations with somewhat of an education/experience level that lends assistance. So, with all that being said, and as stated previously, we've done what you're thinking of doing. AND NO ONE DIED in the process due to the fact that SOME of the limits were exceeded.
Do I advise this kind of thinking, well, not really. I look at this kind of situation as, it's my coach, if I break it, I HAVE TO FIX IT. Now, again with all that being said, I appreciate you posting more info on your particular coach. Your coach is only moderately shorter than ours.
Did our coach survive with the lift and the weight of a Honda Goldwing? Yep, sure did. And we'd still be doing it today if not for one thing. TIRES! I was 2,600 lbs. over the weight limit on the four tires on the back. Using advanced math, that's 1,300 lbs. per side. Even more advanced math shows 650 lbs. per tire, over its rated weight. Did it work? Yep, sure did. As stated we traveled all over the western U.S. with that setup. WE towed an '04 Jeep Rubicon along with carrying the bike.
I have to tell ya, it was absolutely great having both of those toys with us for all that time. We love both methods of fun and transportation. But, as stated we were over the weight limits on the rear tires. So, being that, if one of my rear tires blew, the other would be instantaneously ANOTHER 650 lbs over what it was already over. So, after some discussions, we abandoned that proven game plan for an alternate way of getting the job done.
We have two toads. One is a '15 Jeep JKUR and the other one is an '11 GMC Sierra 1500 4x4 Extended Cab. When we decide we want the bike along on our trip, we hook up the truck. I setup, a Rampage lift/carrier in the back of that truck. The way I did it was so that it's instantly removable. I won't go into that unless you, or someone asks. Suffice to say, when it comes time to load that lift into the truck, from start to finish and, is ready for the bike, it's about 6-8 minutes, tops.
And, when we're back home, it's about 6 minutes and that lift is out of the back of the truck and the truck is now a truck again. But, when it does carry the bike, it's pretty neat. I ride the bike up to the prepared lift, park it, strap the front to the lift, press a button on the winch and the bike starts traveling up the lift.
After a few seconds of travel, the bike levels the lift out and finishes its travel into the back of the truck. Once it's locked in place, I add about four more tie-downs and that bike ain't going anywhere the truck isn't. The truck is exactly 5,300 lbs. I weighed it. I advise this wholeheartedly. Do not, repeat, DO NOT take the word of any printed matter when it comes to ACTUAL WEIGHT of your toad or, intended toad. GO WEIGH IT! This way you'll know for sure.
The bike is close to 900 lbs and the Rampage lift is right close to 275 lbs. So, all in all, I'm dragging right close to 6,500 lbs. behind our coach. As state, the engine in our coach is the CAT C-7 330HP. Its labeled as 860 ft.lbs. of torque. The coach, the last time I weighed it, was right at it's GVWR which is, 27,910. When the truck and bike is hooked to it, that coach does great. It's not a speedster by any stretch but, it does a great job of getting the whole Amtrak where we want to go.
So, can you do this, yep. You may have to investigate different game plans but, you can get it done and it will work. One of the links below is a definite way to go in your case that will not tax your GVWR of your coach. You will have to consider the hitch limit(s).
http://www.idahotote.com/
There others that build the same kind of system. Here's another one:
http://www.cruiserlift.com/id77
I'm considering the second one due to the fact that we'd like to bring along our Jeep JKUR along with the Wing on trips. We'll see.
Scott
