How much weight do you tow? and with how much motor?

[lewi7722]

I am in the market for an upgrade to my motorhome. Recently bought a 24 foot enclosed trailer and fill it with sand toys up to 10,000 pounds. On a recent trip with just over 9000 pounds my gas rig barely made it home over steep mountain grades here in Far Nothern California (20-25 mph)...it was terrible.

Due to being in California I can't legally be over 65 feet which leaves me a maximum of 36 feet (actual length) for a replacement motorhome. In looking it appears the Cat motor has 850 lb feet of torque and the Cummins is at about 650-700 in the years ranging between 2003-2007 both have about 300 hp. Thinking about a 2006-2007 Fleetwood Expedition 34h with the Cat motor.

Questions is: What speed can I expect going up long 6% grades? What has your experience been towing heavy loads? Thanks for your replies.

ps. i read alot and rarely ever post, not quite the newbie it looks like.

[Daveinet]

I tow 4600 lbs with a gasser. I get slowed down to about 80 mph up a 6% grade. I'm running somewhere between 420 and 440 HP.
In you original post you stated both engines you were looking at were 300 HP. Assuming optimum gearing, both engines are going to pull your 6% grade at the same speed, regardless of their torque rating. HP always tells you how fast you will go up a grade. Torque will tell you how often it will downshift on smaller grades. When comparing your gasser to those DPs, assuming limited altitude, those 300 hp DPs are going to be slower than your gasser on steep grades. The only advantage is the DP does not loose power at higher altitudes. If you want more power, then you have to buy more power. I'm betting 450 hp or more is much more likely to satisfy.

[Lurker1]

lewi7722 wrote:
Thanks for the responses. It appears most of the coaches I've been finding with the Cummins have the Cummins isb but that info it is not always initially available. It would be great to get the isl and not have to even think about it.

I wouldn't say you wouldn't "have to even think about it" with the ISL. That's what I have, and in SoCal, struggle on some of the long, steep grades. That's regardless of whether or not I'm towing.

Gross Vehicle on my '07 Itaska Horizon 40'' is 34K, Gross Combined is 44K. I heard someone say you should have 1 horsepower per 100 pounds of weight, so at 44K I should have 440 horsepower (and, more importantly, the corresponding torque). That sure seems right to me!

[crah]

OP, if you have a budget in mind, I'm sure others could help you find the coach. There are 36 ft coaches with 10000 pound hitch ratings out there. Monaco, Holiday Rambler, Country Coach, Alpine, are a few that did foe sure in the 2000+ year coaches. I'm sure there were earlier years. My year cummins ISC is rated ate 350 hp with 1050 ft lb of torque. If you look at coaches with the cummins isc or the larger isl, that should get you to the 10000 pound tow rating. I don't know much on the CAT engines but the C7 and the C9 would get you there as well.

[ferndaleflyer]

OK I have a 8.3 - 325hp Cummins and a 6 spd Allison trans in the one I usually tow my race car with. Trailer is 32ft long, heavy, and the weight/length police on here don't like it. Sorry about the guy in Mich as I have raced there often but didn't have the longest or heaviest rig at the track. I know nothing about hitchs but checked just to see after hearing the "expert on everything" state his case. It says Class V--whatever that means. Glad Bucky got one he likes, he has seen mine which I have over 100,000 mi on and have had nary a problem....You will find a lot of them with the 8.3 Cummins I think up to around 350hp for reasonable money.....

[Sully2]

I pull a 3800 lbs Jeep with a 36ft coach thats heavy and a 330 hp Cummins

[hanko]

lewi7722 wrote:
I am in the market for an upgrade to my motorhome. Recently bought a 24 foot enclosed trailer and fill it with sand toys up to 10,000 pounds. On a recent trip with just over 9000 pounds my gas rig barely made it home over steep mountain grades here in Far Nothern California (20-25 mph)...it was terrible.

Due to being in California I can't legally be over 65 feet which leaves me a maximum of 36 feet (actual length) for a replacement motorhome. In looking it appears the Cat motor has 850 lb feet of torque and the Cummins is at about 650-700 in the years ranging between 2003-2007 both have about 300 hp. Thinking about a 2006-2007 Fleetwood Expedition 34h with the Cat motor.

Questions is: What speed can I expect going up long 6% grades? What has your experience been towing heavy loads? Thanks for your replies.

ps. i read alot and rarely ever post, not quite the newbie it looks like.

Im glad your in california and Im in Michigan. Towing 9000 with a gasser rated to tow 5000. im sure your way over your GRVW too. Some people should not have RV's.

[nevadanick]

As I have been looking also, there are some Country Coaches out there with 400hp in the length you are talking about. I pull a 20x8.5 enclosed with my Sightseer with 8.1 and Banks additions and can maintain 45 mph on the steepest parts of Donner and usually stay at the speed limit.

[lewi7722]

Thanks for the responses. It appears most of the coaches I've been finding with the Cummins have the Cummins isb but that info it is not always initially available. It would be great to get the isl and not have to even think about it.

[prstlk]

Tandem axel enclosed 20 ft trailer 05 mini cooper 2 Chicom scooters bike tools and crap. 7000 lbs 38.5 HR Ambassador 10K hitch I SC 330 950 ft lbs. Some very steep grades we will drop to the mid 40s. We could faster by pushing the rig harder but we are FT and not in that big of a hurry.
Jw

[Ivylog]

Yes it's impossible to not have the safety police or the weight police come out. If the OP was pulling his 10K trailer with a F350 PU everything would be fine but put it behind a longer and heavier TV and the world is going to end... NOT. His frame and hitch is not stock. He is under his combine weight rating and probably using WD to shift some of the load off the rear. Not sure how having a CDL is going to educate him or me that this is not safe. Yes, I have a CDL, yes I've strengthen many a hitch so be careful in Blairsville if you see a silver/grey F350 with a heck of a load behind it as it could be me.
While going against the curve... the Cat 3126 engine at 300+ HP is not one of the "cat is the most durable engine on the road" as they rarely make 400K miles... not that in a MH it makes any difference.
*OP, I'll try again. In 96-2004 a MH with a 300 HP Cummins is probably the 8.3L engine that will have 3-400 more torque than the Cat 3126. Around 05 the little 5.9L ISB got up to 300 HP and the ISC went on up to 350+. Torque is more important than the HP, especially with Cummins having two engines that were both rated at 300 HP but the torque is 660 on one and 1000 on the other.

[bshpilot]

In Toters & Conversion Truck Coaches - there are lots of configuration options and just about any motor mfg can be found cat/cummins/detroit/benz/peterbuilt and anywhere from a small 8 L to 16 or 18 L depending on the chassis (M2 all the way to cascadia and volvo's, KW's, PB, etc)

the autotrans are amazing transmissions (dry clutch w/ not clutch pedal) 12 or 13 speeds that skip shift as needed....million mile chassis, engines & trans.

and all of these trucks are "common" parts with lower (than pusher) labor rates due to access and common OTR truck parts.

most are built for pulling loads that we'll never see & set up for trackside (dry) camping - 200+ gallons of water w/ generators from 6kw to 12kw

its a buyers market (still).

[Bucky1320]

They aren't going to leave you alone so you can get decent answers about what you are asking about.
If money is no biggie, the toters are the way to go. You can get them with hp, and there are shorties out there to be had. Better yet is to go the route already posted which is a stacker, which leaves you some length for living area.

[lewi7722]

Wow. Ok so back to the question at hand.

[Mr_Mark1]

lbligh wrote:

Bucky1320 wrote:
Can't a guy ask a question here without the safety police climbing in his rear? Probably not. Save the world.
For years I pulled an 8k trailer with my racing stuff in it with our 90 class A with 454....in Illinois. Plenty of power really. I did some mods to the engine, and reinforced the hitch. But frankly the p30 is a handful on a windy day without the billboard following you.
I recently upgraded to a DP with 275 hp Cat. Now keep in mind that most dp's that you buy are going to weigh around 5k more than the class A, so you are pulling a second trailer along with you. The first thing i noticed, or didn't, is the trailer back there. I have to check to make sure it is still there. I did reinforce the hitch, as most dp's don't even come with a decent hitch. In fact a friend of mine pulled into a truck stop for dinner with his dp and large trailer, and on the way out the hitch broke and dropped the trailer to the ground! 2 mph. Whew!
Power? I'm a bad one to ask as we live in the flatlands. All of the hills from here to the track really don't require me to move my foot down to maintain speed. Longer and steeper would certainly be a different story. But at least the engine roar is 30 feet behind you!

Safety police? Not really, I just would like to know who the guy is so to make sure to not be behind or along side of him when (not if) he has an equipment failure.

Again, guys like this make a great argument for CDL license requirements for all motorhome operators.

Safe travels.

X2

[Trumpet_Player]

Bucky1320 wrote:
Can't a guy ask a question here without the safety police climbing in his rear? Probably not. Save the world.
For years I pulled an 8k trailer with my racing stuff in it with our 90 class A with 454....in Illinois. Plenty of power really. I did some mods to the engine, and reinforced the hitch. But frankly the p30 is a handful on a windy day without the billboard following you.
I recently upgraded to a DP with 275 hp Cat. Now keep in mind that most dp's that you buy are going to weigh around 5k more than the class A, so you are pulling a second trailer along with you. The first thing i noticed, or didn't, is the trailer back there. I have to check to make sure it is still there. I did reinforce the hitch, as most dp's don't even come with a decent hitch. In fact a friend of mine pulled into a truck stop for dinner with his dp and large trailer, and on the way out the hitch broke and dropped the trailer to the ground! 2 mph. Whew!
Power? I'm a bad one to ask as we live in the flatlands. All of the hills from here to the track really don't require me to move my foot down to maintain speed. Longer and steeper would certainly be a different story. But at least the engine roar is 30 feet behind you!

Safety police? Not really, I just would like to know who the guy is so to make sure to not be behind or along side of him when (not if) he has an equipment failure.

Again, guys like this make a great argument for CDL license requirements for all motorhome operators.

Safe travels.