Towing Vehicle question

I would find the smallest trailer that will sleep everyone. That will shorten the list to a very few trailers and ones with bunk beds, and then see what the smallest one weighs.

The problem you will run into is that the smaller and lighter trailers will have a smaller fridge and smaller holding tanks for fresh water and black water which may restrict you to staying in the more expensive campgrounds with full hookups including sewer.

A possible option is to have some of your children sleeping in a tent beside the trailer and not inside the trailer.

I don't think you'll find a class c that will tow a one ton van. Most have hitches max towing weight of 3500 pounds.

Or just a smaller TT..... that can sleep 9.....

I know things aren't just this simple but could you sell the van and get a V10 powered one with more capacity?

A large class c with a crew of 9 will be overloaded when on the road. Also, where will you find 9 seat belted positions.

Sounds like you need to look at a converted schoolie (school bus).

Ken

See if this helps you figure it out.
http://www.learntorv.com/p/what-can-i-tow.html

If you are considering going with a class C and towing your van you might be better off to upgrade (replace) your van in order to get a bigger trailer.

With a van that has a greater towing capacity you would have a lot more options for your trailer, and you would only have 1 engine/transmission to worry about rather than 2.

travelingwith9 wrote:
My wife and I are new to RV and interested in buying a travel trailer. We have 7 children (ages 13 and under) and drive a 2008 E350 extended. It has a 5.4 L V8 engine, GCWR is 13K lbs. We believe our curbweight is around 5k lbs. We figured 9 people, 2 dogs and stuff brings the weight to around 7k (probably over estimating.) So, we think we need to find a trailer with a dry weight of around 6k lbs.

Does that math work out right? We need enough space for our family, but don't want to kill our van. We will be travelling through mountains.

So go look at Coachmen Apex. My Apex, In my sig. A 288BHS. Sleeps 10 easily. It is 30' over all, and Weighs dry exactly 4811lb. Has no canvas, and is pretty roomy. They have lots more models, all built with AZDEL siding, which is one of the things that make them so lite.

travelingwith9 wrote:
Would we do better to get a Class C MH and tow the 15 passenger van?
Most places we go, we would not need the van (weekend camping trips and such we'd be fine with just the RV) but when we travel out of state, we really would need a way to transport all 9 of us in one vehicle.

Trying to think how to make this RV thing work.

Unlikely that you could find a C large enough to carry that many people safely and still have enough margin on GCWR to pull a 6000 pound van. Unless you start looking at Super Cs (built on medium duty truck), and even then you would have to shop carefully because some of those use up more of the total capacity carrying house, rather than leaving it for towing.

What you need to do is load up the van as if traveling, and weigh it, find out how much of that 13,000 pounds you have to spare, then find a towable that fits your needs at that weight. I suspect it will be something lightweight and expandable to be towable with the 5.4 V-8 van and still sleep nine.

In the early '60s we made a Detroit to Montana round trip with 10 people, four adults, six kids from toddler to teen, station wagon pulling a lightweight (single axle) 18-foot travel trailer that could sleep the ten of us, though that meant putting four children together in the largest bed. Sleep was the only thing the TT could do with all 10 inside, and when we could, two or three teen age boys slept in the back of the wagon instead; something you could do with a 15-passenger E-350 stripped back to 11 seats (saving another 150 pounds).

They no longer make trailers like that, people want bathrooms and air conditioners now, it adds a lot of weight. 12-14 foot popup, maybe, for room and low weight.

I agree that a lighter trailer is needed and that a hybrid would achieve that without losing any space. How about something like this or thisif you need lighter.

A class C might work but it would be quite large to seat 10 people and you may find it difficult to find one that has the tow rating to pull your E350 as well.

Would we do better to get a Class C MH and tow the 15 passenger van?

That might work better for you. We have friends with 10 kids who have a large Class C and have had some wonderful camping trips with it. I think they do bring a tent or two, and the older kids use those to sleep in, though.