I currently have a 1990 Fleetwood Flair 26, with a Ford 460 Gas motor and 3 speed transmission. The original hitch was rated at 3500lbs, and 500 lbs tongue weight. I recently had it reinforced to support about 750lbs of tongue weight, for a trip where I was going to need to carry extra water. As it is, I have in the past towed my boat (~5000 lbs) in a pinch, which was too much by far. Now, pulling my sand rail/trailer (about 3500 lbs), Is beginning to worry me. So, Im looking for something more capable. Eventually I would like to have an enclosed trailer/sand rail/bikes, and be about ~7000 lbs as my max. I have been looking a DP between about $15k-30k and seeing 34-40 foot models from about 1998-2002 in that price range (coachmans, and Gulf Streams mostly). My questions are: should I consider another gas motor, or stick to the DP knowing that towing will take place on most trips? Tow ratings/capacity are pretty tough to find online, what should I expect to see? aside from the motor and trans, what should I be looking for to make towing more comfortable overall? Is air ride suspension in all DP, or is it an upgrade? Ive never driven an air ride vehicle, how does it compare to a vehicle on springs? Finally, is the any erra specific things that changed or were trends I might want to look for or avoid around 1998-2002?

my buddy just bought a 30-ft class C gasser which he says has an 8000-lb tow rating but that's the only gasser moho I've seen that has a tow rating of more than 5000-lbs. keep in mind that, in general, the maximum amount of weight you can safely tow will be the lesser of the following:- the GCWR (gross combination weight rating) of the MH minus the actual weight of the MH as it is loaded for travel (includes fuel, fresh water, food, clothing, people, pets, supplies, etc.)- the weight rating of your tow bar- the weight rating of your hitchthis is why it's vital to know what your MH weighs as it is loaded and configure for travel before choosing a toad. Your MH will not collapse if it is overloaded but you will experience handling issues as well as longer braking distances and accelerated wear on suspension, brakes, steering, etc.good luck.

my buddy just bought a 30-ft class C gasser which he says has an 8000-lb tow rating what year model C class had such?

It depends on your needs. Ford increased the E-450 chassis to 22,000# GCWR with 14,500# GVWR. If you do the math that means you have a 7,500# tow rating. The drawback is many of these units only had 5,000# hitches. The reason for this is due to the frame rail extensions. You can have a sub frame beef-up done that will bolt to the Ford factory frame to upgrade the hitch and still be legal. The drawback is you still only have a 31' or possibly a 32' Class C. There are no Class A gas coaches anymore that can tow over 5K that I know of. That would mean you are into a DP or Super C. There are quite a few Super C units that can tow that much as well as DP units. You do need to work out the GCWR vs the GVWR. I.e. you subtract the actual weight from the GCWR and that is what you can tow. Most coach manufacturers do not provide the ability to be at your GVWR and still tow at the maximum GCWR. You sacrifice vehicle weigh to gain tow rating. There are exceptions in some of the Dynamax, and Newell coaches but in general that is what you will be working with. It can be done and with a diesel engine it will last much longer.

gutfelt wrote:my buddy just bought a 30-ft class C gasser which he says has an 8000-lb tow rating what year model C class had such?2017 Thor Chateau 31E. I have not seen the paperwork but he tells me the tow rating AND the hitch are rated for 8K.

In that time frame, '98-'02, you'll find that the Ford F53 (V10 '99-'02) will have a 26,000 pound GCWR. This means that the 16,000 and 18,000 GVWR versions COULD be equipped to tow as much as 10,000 pounds. You'll find the 10,000 number in the Ford literature of the day. Few (maybe none?) motorhomes were built with anything but a 5,000 pound hitch, but the Ford parts could handle more. Pay close attention to the frame though. Frame extensions used to build anything over about 30' tend to be pretty flimsy, surely contributing to the typical 5000 pound hitch rating.(Ford later derated the GCWR of the lower GVWR chassis for some reason, so the current F53 doesn't have the large tow capability.)You'll also find that a lot of DPs in that era will also have 5000 pound hitches. Sometimes it was a chassis limit, sometimes a powertrain one. The 4 speed Allison, for example, wasn't rated for much total weight, and was used in a lot of motorhomes around that time.

Looking for a used motorhome to tow 7000 lbs. | Good Sam Community

tropical36
Explorer
Dec 02, 2017
Be extra careful with hitch weight specs. and for example, our coach has a 15K lb pull and a 1500lb hitch weight rating. Thing is and once on the scales, fully loaded, the rear axle is already at max. so this says that my hitch weight rating, is 0. Possibly, one could use equalizing tow bars, if needed, but not so sure about that, either. In our case, it's not a problem with towing 4 down.
Since the specs. on this coach were so good, I never considered that the ton to the good would all be on the front axle and pretty much impossible to shift 1K or so to the front. This should and could have been addressed, way back when, with Fleetwood owning American Coach, where this rig was built, but since they were in Chapter 7 at the time, this window of opportunity was lost and gone forever.
Just some food for thought, while doing some research and something that never crossed my mind. Again, not a biggie in our case, since we don't pull anything with any hitch weight, anyway.
RLS7201
Explorer II
Dec 02, 2017
McGruff38 wrote:
I currently have a 1990 Fleetwood Flair 26, with a Ford 460 Gas motor and 3 speed transmission. The original hitch was rated at 3500lbs, and 500 lbs tongue weight. I recently had it reinforced to support about 750lbs of tongue weight, for a trip where I was going to need to carry extra water. As it is, I have in the past towed my boat (~5000 lbs) in a pinch, which was too much by far. Now, pulling my sand rail/trailer (about 3500 lbs), Is beginning to worry me. So, Im looking for something more capable. Eventually I would like to have an enclosed trailer/sand rail/bikes, and be about ~7000 lbs as my max. I have been looking a DP between about $15k-30k and seeing 34-40 foot models from about 1998-2002 in that price range (coachmans, and Gulf Streams mostly). My questions are: should I consider another gas motor, or stick to the DP knowing that towing will take place on most trips? Tow ratings/capacity are pretty tough to find online, what should I expect to see? aside from the motor and trans, what should I be looking for to make towing more comfortable overall? Is air ride suspension in all DP, or is it an upgrade? Ive never driven an air ride vehicle, how does it compare to a vehicle on springs? Finally, is the any erra specific things that changed or were trends I might want to look for or avoid around 1998-2002?

You state 3 speed transmission. Then you have an Oshkosh chassis?
88-97 Ford F53 chassis have E4OD 4 speed trannys.

Richard
tderonne
Explorer
Dec 02, 2017
That's right. It's just 305 vs 320 HP these days though.
DrewE
Explorer II
Dec 02, 2017
tderonne wrote:
The class C's with 8000 pound hitches have a tongue weight rating of 500 pounds.

Ford uses the same V10 in a 26,000/30,000 pound GVWR/GCWR F53 chassis. They also use it in the F750 with GVWR/GCWR of 33,000/37,000 pounds. A 22,000 class C would do just fine.

It's not quite the same exact engine; the E series chassis uses the two valve version, while the F53 and F series trucks use the higher powered three valve version. That said, the two valve version is entirely sufficient for the E450, as you say.
tderonne
Explorer
Dec 02, 2017
The class C's with 8000 pound hitches have a tongue weight rating of 500 pounds.

Ford uses the same V10 in a 26,000/30,000 pound GVWR/GCWR F53 chassis. They also use it in the F750 with GVWR/GCWR of 33,000/37,000 pounds. A 22,000 class C would do just fine.
gutfelt
Explorer
Dec 01, 2017
Ductape wrote:
You'll be wanting something with the Allison 3000 in a diesel.

with a diesel of at least(min)of 350HP and 1050 torque and preferably a 1250T isl 425HP
gutfelt
Explorer
Dec 01, 2017
rk911 wrote:
gutfelt wrote:
my buddy just bought a 30-ft class C gasser which he says has an 8000-lb tow rating

what year model C class had such?

2017 Thor Chateau 31E. I have not seen the paperwork but he tells me the tow rating AND the hitch are rated for 8K.

yup shows a GVWR of 14500 and a GCWR of 22K with a 8K hitch rating
heres the ugly only 305HP and 420lb torque
It will be a tad tired pulling 8000 lbs
Ductape
Explorer
Dec 01, 2017
You'll be wanting something with the Allison 3000 in a diesel.
tderonne
Explorer
Dec 01, 2017
In that time frame, '98-'02, you'll find that the Ford F53 (V10 '99-'02) will have a 26,000 pound GCWR. This means that the 16,000 and 18,000 GVWR versions COULD be equipped to tow as much as 10,000 pounds. You'll find the 10,000 number in the Ford literature of the day. Few (maybe none?) motorhomes were built with anything but a 5,000 pound hitch, but the Ford parts could handle more. Pay close attention to the frame though. Frame extensions used to build anything over about 30' tend to be pretty flimsy, surely contributing to the typical 5000 pound hitch rating.

(Ford later derated the GCWR of the lower GVWR chassis for some reason, so the current F53 doesn't have the large tow capability.)

You'll also find that a lot of DPs in that era will also have 5000 pound hitches. Sometimes it was a chassis limit, sometimes a powertrain one. The 4 speed Allison, for example, wasn't rated for much total weight, and was used in a lot of motorhomes around that time.
rk911
Explorer
Dec 01, 2017
gutfelt wrote:
my buddy just bought a 30-ft class C gasser which he says has an 8000-lb tow rating

what year model C class had such?

2017 Thor Chateau 31E. I have not seen the paperwork but he tells me the tow rating AND the hitch are rated for 8K.

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