Towing Minivan with car dolly

rjstractor wrote:

way2roll wrote:

rjstractor wrote:
IIRC the op's motorhome chassis has a GCWR of 20,000 lbs. So if it has a 5K hitch it can tow the 5K. Base curb weights on minivans I looked up are about 4500 lbs, so with tow dolly weight it would be a little over 5K. A hitch upgrade could mitigate that, but like has been said, that's a lot of weight to tow.

Without weighing the RV loaded, it's a guess at what the tow capacity is.

If the GCWR is 20k, but loaded you weigh 18k, then it doesn't matter that you have a 5k hitch, you only have 2k capacity left. Even if you only weigh 16k, you still only have 4k. Add the weight of the dolly and you really don't have a lot of tow capacity.

A hitch upgrade makes no difference unless you make the appropriate chassis upgrades as well. I can add a 15k hitch to my rig, it doesn't mean the chassis and the brakes, drivetrain, everything else can handle it. GCWR is based on the chassis, not the hitch. That's why the tow capacity is the LESSER of the two.

Right. But the OP stated he has a 2004 E450, the GVWR of which is 14050. 20000-14050= 5950. So unless his motorhome is grossly overloaded he will have the GCWR capacity. And you are correct that a hitch upgrade does not change the GCWR.

GVWR from the factory are not always correct. Often they only include fuel and not contents, people, water etc. How does the factory know how you load your RV? Ever notice how they are always nice even numbers? The only way to really know is to load it for travel and weigh it, then subtract from the GCWR.

To each his own, I feel like I am beating a dead horse at this point. Not trying to be the weight police, and there are probably a lot of people overloaded and don't even know it and never have issues. But there is a proper way to do it. Whether folks do, or even care about it, is another matter. But without weighing, you are guessing.