Mountain driving and towing with a gas class A

[hoopers]

Just wondering what opinions are out there about towing 3000 lbs behind a newer gas class A motorhome. Mostly in the mountains. F53 with the 365 hp Ford motor.
Also, are the brakes good enough to stop or slow down on steep hwy grades? I would think good trailer brakes would help too.

Just looking for opinions...

[mena661]

I pull a 4800 lb loaded horse trailer with my 33 ft gasser. NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER! I was actually shocked at the stability AND the available power. I really thought it would be a dog but it wasn't at all. We live at 2500ft and have to pass 4000 to get out of the valley we live in. Slowest is 45 mph in one section, the rest is at 55-60 mph. Even going up the grapevine only slows to 45 mph. That's more than acceptable as I was expecting a much worse experience based on when I towed that same horse trailer with a 2004 Toyota Tundra. Now THAT was a horrible experience. That combination sucked! My previous rig was an 06 F250 pulling a 30ft 5th wheel. In reality, because of CA's 55 mph limit for towing and the trailer tires speed limit of 65 mph, the MH isn't any slower at getting to our destinations than our old truck/5er combo.

[JimM68]

I did the Durango to Ouray route in the DP, nice road, great views, managed 45 plus towing the jeep. Continued to Gunnison and the east to Denver on the 2 lane, very nice trip. Spent nights in Durango, Silverton, Black canyon Nat'l park and Denver.

Our gasser would have done it too, no problem.

The difference as was pointed out, is that V10 needs to rev to make power, and it is doing it right up front with you.

[rgatijnet1]

PastorCharlie wrote:
Towing Laws

It's not only where you live, it's also where you are going.
Click on the states that you are traveling through to find the minimum towing weight requirement. If what you are towing exceeds the weight, an auxiliary braking system is required.

http://www.brakebuddy.com/Towing-Laws


3,000 lbs

* Alabama
* Arizona
* Arkansas
* Colorado
* Connecticut
* Dist. of Columbia
* Florida
Georgia
* Hawaii
* Illinois * Indiana
* Iowa
* Louisiana
Maine
* Maryland * Michigan
* Minnesota
* Montana
* Nebraska
* New Jersey New Mexico
* Oklahoma
* Pennsylvania
* South Carolina
* South Dakota * Vermont
* Virginia
* Washington
* West Virginia
Wisconsin

Can't speak for the other states but for Florida, that weight(3000 pounds)applies to a TRAILER in tow, NOT a vehicle in tow. Towing a vehicle WITHOUT auxiliary braking is entirely legal altho I think it is a good idea to have toad brakes.

[roam1]

I have driven over just about every paved mountain pass in CO.
While my 09 Ford 22000# rig and 4000# toad can make it just fine and slow, I prefer to unhook and let the DW follow. Only takes 5 min on each side and doesn't push the vehicles so hard. Adds 10 minutes per pass to my drive and a whole lot of peace of mind. So I get there 10-20 minutes behind you, you will be set up and greet me with a cocktail!

[PastorCharlie]

Towing Laws

It's not only where you live, it's also where you are going.
Click on the states that you are traveling through to find the minimum towing weight requirement. If what you are towing exceeds the weight, an auxiliary braking system is required.

http://www.brakebuddy.com/Towing-Laws


3,000 lbs

* Alabama
* Arizona
* Arkansas
* Colorado
* Connecticut
* Dist. of Columbia
* Florida
Georgia
* Hawaii
* Illinois * Indiana
* Iowa
* Louisiana
Maine
* Maryland * Michigan
* Minnesota
* Montana
* Nebraska
* New Jersey New Mexico
* Oklahoma
* Pennsylvania
* South Carolina
* South Dakota * Vermont
* Virginia
* Washington
* West Virginia
Wisconsin

[SRT]

Going down always downshifted the transmission. Occassionally "stabbed" the brakes to hold speed down. Plus had auxiliary brakes in the toad for additional help if needed.

[zman-az]

Those passes you mentioned are steep with curves. Did Wolf in a workhorse towing a 4000lb jeep and it was slow up and down. At 20mph it was a long day to make that pass. This was my dads rv at the time. I had a 26' 2011 vista and it was lighter in weight and does grades a little better. Did the drive from silverton to durango with it and the only complaint was from the passenger chair. Vista had no problem towing my jeep on that stretch. As mentioned, the tow haul mode is awesome when going down steep grades and sometimes brakes are not even required. Even if you got a dp on the passes you mentioned with all those curves you are just not going to drive that fast. If you are not in a race you will have no problems. Can you do it without trailer brakes, sure. But since you are doing a lot of grades I would definitely look at getting them.

[hoopers]

Nice to get all the responses. I didn't want this to turn into a diesel vs gas debate, as I have had diesel trucks for over 20 years, and several friends with diesel pushers. I understand the advantages of diesel, and the disadvantages of all the emission requirements on the newer diesels.

If I have to go slower uphill than a diesel pusher that is OK. I just want to be safe coming downhill, without an engine brake. Typically, I travel wolf creek and red mountain (Ouray to Silverton) pass once per summer, and Eisenhower pass 2-3 times per summer.

What interests me is that gas class A's are available in smaller sizes than diesel pushers. I now have a 40' fifth wheel, and it is hard to visit state and national parks.

[Vulcaneer]

Thanks Jim. I do appreciate your observations. And you are most likely correct. My 4 years of ownership of a Monaco Diplomat DP does not qualify me as a V10 F35 expert. And my 5 years of towing a 14,000 GVW 5'r with a V10 30V F350 4.30 RAR 5 speed trans with a GCWR of 21,000 doesn't qualify me either. But both experiences allow me to speculate what I would or would not do. And I would not hitch another 3000 pounds to it and tow in the Rocky Mountains most of the time.

And I spent plenty of time at 4000 RPMs with that rig. The engine always performed great. But after a while, I got tired of making it rev like that. And listening to it scream. And that is why I went to the diesel to replace it. Because I chose not to do that.

I do not frequent the Class A forum very often. I have no reason to. But when I saw the OP under the 'Newest' heading, I thought I would offer an opinion that was requested.

And didn't I say, His rig would do what he was asking?

Anyway, I hope the OP gets what he wants from all this.

But again Jim...Thanks for your words.

[JimM68]

We had a 99 pace arrow (26k 275hp V10) and the only time it made me nervous was Teton pass. That one made me nervous just driving the jeep.
The V10 will do what you ask. It will scream like a kicked dog, but it will do it.

Vulcaneer, it seems to me you are getting some cr&*%p here because your sig indicates you pull a 14k pound trailer with a ford diesel pickup truck.

Many in this class a forum might think you r perhaps talking out your (fill in thre blank)

Not that I have any reason to doubt your expertise or experience, but just trying to be helpful...

[wa8yxm]

I have driven from Detroit to California and back twice towing 4,000 pounds of Chevy Lumina APV plus whatever was in it (NOTE the 4K pounds is just the lumina)

With my Workhorse based Gasser, Chevy 8.1 Allison Works great.

Only time I had a problem was when I trusted my Maping software and it proved it's names.. Usually it takes me down Streets.. The mountain goat trail it routed me down was clearly a TRIP.

Sadly the APV.. Died of old age. Twice,

[Vulcaneer]

Maybe the confusion comes from...

The OP lists his location as Colorado. And he specified he wants to drive his rig MOSTLY IN THE MOUNTAINS.

My opinion is based on those parameters. And if I lived in Colorado and drove my F53 towing 3,000 Mostly in the mountains around there, I would not enjoy that set up. But nowhere did I advise that the rig wouldn't make it up the hills and down.

To me there is a big difference between Living in the southeast or midwest, and taking your rig up and down a mountain once in a while and then compared to living in the rockies and asking your rig to do it MOST OF THE TIME. And also a big difference between towing up mountains in the east or south or Midwest, than towing in the rockies. Now those a real mountains. Unlike many in the south, east, or upper midwest. But that is my opinion and I don't apologize if it varies from others. If you like your Gasser screaming at 4000 RPM's MOST of the time, good for you.

The OP has my opinion and he has yours. So I trust that he can make up his mind as to what he wants to do. And only he knows his circumstances.

[BUTCHPHI]

Vulcaneer, Vulcaneer -- you know not where of you speak.

[Roadglider09]

Effy wrote:

Vulcaneer wrote:
Here is my opinion. If the Class A Gas MH weighs more than 15,000 pounds I wouldn't do it. Not that you can't do it. But it is just because it would drive me crazy to drive a slug like that. Uphill would be frustrating. Downhill would very nervous. Downshifting will be your friend going downhill. Keep off the brakes as much as you can.

What is your rear gear ratio? Hope it is 4:56 or lower.

This is obviously an uneducated answer. MANY on here who actually have class A's with the F53 can easily pull 3k up and down a mountain despite being 16-23k rigs. I can't speak for a 5er so I wouldn't.

I tow a 4,000# Wrangler with our 2012 F53. No problems pulling it up mountains, and coming down the other side I put it in tow/haul and let the tranny drag us down the mountain. I also have a Ready Brake on the Wrangler just in case.