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TLLOYD's avatar
TLLOYD
Explorer
Dec 28, 2015

Towing 6000 lbs boat behind gas class A

I am at an RV show now and the wife likes the 2016 Thor Miramar 34.2. I am questioning the salesman in the towing capacity as I have a 4500 lb boat on an approximate 1200 pound double axle trailer.
He is of course stating the rig will pull it as the hitch sticker says it's an 8000 pound rating (which it does say).
I told him I think it only has a 5000 pound capacity or even less as I was told that the gas class A rigs are around 5000.
The brochure I am reading says GVWR is 22000 lbs and GCWR is 26000 lbs.
He says I will be fine pulling it just a few times a year to/from the river, but I am skeptical for safety and the drive train.
Any suggestions as the wife is adamant she wants this RV. We do drive the boat and leave it at the river and drive it home when we are done.
Thanks

16 Replies

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  • TLLOYD's avatar
    TLLOYD
    Explorer
    Dec 28, 2015
    I was able to contact Thor and with the VIN information I received the following:
    GVWR: 22000
    GCWR: 26000
    RV dry weight (shipped from the factory as is): 18,050
    Cargo: 3,459 (assuming that is what I can add when packing)
    Hitch: 8000

    My boat and trailer (with disc brakes) actually weighs 5,800 lbs as it sits now.

    So if I take the GCWR and minus the dry weight that would give me 7950 lbs to add in cargo and trailer. That leaves me with around 2000 pounds for bodies, gas and cargo.

    I obviously could keep the cargo weight down to stay around 26000 lbs just to tow the boat 3 hours to the river, leave it there for 4 months and drive it home.

    My biggest concern is what would towing 5900 lbs behind this gas coach do to the engine and transmission?

    Thanks for the replies thus far.
  • carringb's avatar
    carringb
    Explorer
    Dec 28, 2015
    The newer F53 chassis is rated up to 30,000 GCWR. If you can find a 24k or 26k GVWR coach, that will have the higher GCWR. Depending on actual loaded weight of the coach, towing 8k is most certainly possible on a gas chassis.
  • Triker33's avatar
    Triker33
    Explorer
    Dec 28, 2015
    GVWR is 22000 lbs and GCWR is 26000 lbs

    That puts the towing lb. at 4,000 on that MH. :(
    GCWR -GVWR = towing capacity all MH's should have a sticker somewhere with those numbers.

    It will be very hard to find a gaser MH with over 5K Towing.
    My DP only has 5K towing. My 4 down toad is 4,680 lb.
  • Ivylog's avatar
    Ivylog
    Explorer III
    Dec 28, 2015
    The good news is the hitch is rated high enough but if you use all of the rigs weight carrying capacity of 22,000 lbs that only leaves 4,000 for the boat. You need to know what the empty weight of the rig is as suggested above. Since you are buying this rig (wife is adamant she wants this RV) and the boat trailer has at least one axle with brakes I would haul it without any fresh water and half a tank of fuel to reduce your GVW. You can actually us this to your advantage in that she cannot bring stuff because it will make the rig too heavy... do not let her see your tool box.:W
  • KD4UPL's avatar
    KD4UPL
    Explorer II
    Dec 28, 2015
    I'm quite certain the salesman doesn't know. You'll need to look things up for yourself. Do you know the empty weight of the RV. If you subtract the empty weight from the GCWR that would give you what's left for cargo AND trailer.
    I suspect it's not rated high enough to handle the boat.

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