Towing 5K # with a gasser

Thanks for all the answers, Will have to do the math. Looks like it is possible with the right coach. OF course the salesman are trying to tell me that I need the newest coach with the new Ford V8. Thanks again. Trying to look by owner, find someone who knows his coach and little more patient while I try to figure this out.

You guys crack me up. Someone asks about tow capacity for a gasser and you can't miss an opportunity to argue about road construction.
A few people on this forum will just argue for argument's sake.

wa8yxm wrote:

JRscooby wrote:


I would say this is pretty good info except this;
(Be very careful they are not designed for 8 1/2 foot wide RV's

You are right, they are NOT designed for RVs. They are designed for trucks, and most semi-trailers are 53 ft long, and 8 1/2 foot wide. And most places the scale is designed so a driver can get off/on with a long and wide load. If you think you need to take extra care driving thru scale, how do you keep it between the curbs thru town?
The one thing you may need to watch is the divides between segments, to get steering, drive and toad each on it's own.

Well. the standard width for a "Lane" on a road is 12 feet (Some are a bit wider) Truck Scales (like the CAT) average 10-11 feet so you need to be more careful.. I'm not sure Cat Scales are that wide.

You are correct about the length however.. I was referring to "Side to side" you need to be careful about centering side to side.

I don't know how much road construction or moving oversize loads you have done. For example, a bridge deck 20 feet wide on a secondary highway will be marked 1 lane. The lanes on interstate run about 16 ft. Your 10-11 ft will be a driveway.
On more than 1 occasion I have pulled across a Cat near 14 feet wide for near 27 feet in the center of near 90 ft long rig. And most of the scales, unlike streets, give you space to line up, you don't need to be turning in the narrows. If the scale causes you drama, don't drive on the street.

JRscooby wrote:


I would say this is pretty good info except this;
(Be very careful they are not designed for 8 1/2 foot wide RV's

You are right, they are NOT designed for RVs. They are designed for trucks, and most semi-trailers are 53 ft long, and 8 1/2 foot wide. And most places the scale is designed so a driver can get off/on with a long and wide load. If you think you need to take extra care driving thru scale, how do you keep it between the curbs thru town?
The one thing you may need to watch is the divides between segments, to get steering, drive and toad each on it's own.

Well. the standard width for a "Lane" on a road is 12 feet (Some are a bit wider) Truck Scales (like the CAT) average 10-11 feet so you need to be more careful.. I'm not sure Cat Scales are that wide.

You are correct about the length however.. I was referring to "Side to side" you need to be careful about centering side to side.

wa8yxm wrote:
How much will a Gasser Class A tow?
Good question and there is no FIXED answer
Generally the hitch receiver on a Gasser is rated 5,000 pounds
This assumes a Straight hitch. No rise/drop adapters. And no extenstions
(Those deices de-rate the receiver's rating)

BUT. wait there is more Oh yes always more

Your motor home has 3 Weigh numbers you need to know (Well you need two of them for this)

Max GVW (Maximum weight of Motor home. Full fuel tank Full Fresh water.. Loaded for travel should NOT exceed this number)

Next is MAX Combined Groos Vehicle Weight (GCVW)
This is weight of Motor home as above... PLUS anything you tow.
IN my case the MAX CGVW was 26,000

The actual weight of the Motor home as scaled fully loaded for a trip
In my case 22,000

Now take the last and subtract from the one above it and you get 4000 pounds IN MY CASE.

You will load differently from what I did so your figures will be different.
Also your Motor home may have a greater (or lesser) "Dry" weight. (the weight of JUST the motor home as it is delivered before addition of Food. Water. Clothing. Other stuff and occupants)

So Your question can only be answered by you

For how to weigh your Rig.. Three ways

CAT scales found at many truck stops (Be very careful they are not designed for 8 1/2 foot wide RV's WIll give you both axle and total weights.

With a FLAT segmented scale you can get Induvial wheel weights. (ALso axle and total)

RVSafety dot com has a weigh your rig link (Have not visited in several years)

You call them. (Have the make, model and size of your RV's Tires handy IE: Mitchlin XRV 22.5 x whatever) and they come armed with the Tire's weight chart

Then they use portable scales to weigh each wheel and tell you how many PSI should be in the tires.. NOTE I believe each tire may be different. Some say that all tires on a given axel should be the same.. I won't argue Just pointing out I disagree I can explain why.

They may have other suggestions.. I used this service.

Some Weigh Stations (Depart of Transport) leave scales on when closed
ANd you can alwyas buy a beer or two for a Weighmaster

But only the RVsafety folks come armed with the tire charts (you can download those from the tire maker_)

I would say this is pretty good info except this;
(Be very careful they are not designed for 8 1/2 foot wide RV's

You are right, they are NOT designed for RVs. They are designed for trucks, and most semi-trailers are 53 ft long, and 8 1/2 foot wide. And most places the scale is designed so a driver can get off/on with a long and wide load. If you think you need to take extra care driving thru scale, how do you keep it between the curbs thru town?
The one thing you may need to watch is the divides between segments, to get steering, drive and toad each on it's own.

How much will a Gasser Class A tow?
Good question and there is no FIXED answer
Generally the hitch receiver on a Gasser is rated 5,000 pounds
This assumes a Straight hitch. No rise/drop adapters. And no extenstions
(Those deices de-rate the receiver's rating)

BUT. wait there is more Oh yes always more

Your motor home has 3 Weigh numbers you need to know (Well you need two of them for this)

Max GVW (Maximum weight of Motor home. Full fuel tank Full Fresh water.. Loaded for travel should NOT exceed this number)

Next is MAX Combined Groos Vehicle Weight (GCVW)
This is weight of Motor home as above... PLUS anything you tow.
IN my case the MAX CGVW was 26,000

The actual weight of the Motor home as scaled fully loaded for a trip
In my case 22,000

Now take the last and subtract from the one above it and you get 4000 pounds IN MY CASE.

You will load differently from what I did so your figures will be different.
Also your Motor home may have a greater (or lesser) "Dry" weight. (the weight of JUST the motor home as it is delivered before addition of Food. Water. Clothing. Other stuff and occupants)

So Your question can only be answered by you

For how to weigh your Rig.. Three ways

CAT scales found at many truck stops (Be very careful they are not designed for 8 1/2 foot wide RV's WIll give you both axle and total weights.

With a FLAT segmented scale you can get Induvial wheel weights. (ALso axle and total)

RVSafety dot com has a weigh your rig link (Have not visited in several years)

You call them. (Have the make, model and size of your RV's Tires handy IE: Mitchlin XRV 22.5 x whatever) and they come armed with the Tire's weight chart

Then they use portable scales to weigh each wheel and tell you how many PSI should be in the tires.. NOTE I believe each tire may be different. Some say that all tires on a given axel should be the same.. I won't argue Just pointing out I disagree I can explain why.

They may have other suggestions.. I used this service.

Some Weigh Stations (Depart of Transport) leave scales on when closed
ANd you can alwyas buy a beer or two for a Weighmaster

But only the RVsafety folks come armed with the tire charts (you can download those from the tire maker_)

We tow a '13 Wrangler 4 Dr with out '16 Newmar Canyon Star on a Ford chassis. Has a V 10 engine. It does fine in moving the Jeep but does have to strain some when we make steep pulls up long hills.
I would rather have a DP but the handicap models are very few and far between

Based on your other posts, it looks like you don't have the MH yet and are still shopping. So this sounds like a general MH towing capacity question. Unfortunately the answer isn't general. It's very specific to the specs of the individual MH. Looks like you have come from a FW, so in terms you are familiar with, it would be like asking if you can tow a FW with a gas truck. The answer of course depends on the truck. A super duty - yes, a ranger - no.

Tow capacity is the LESSER of the hitch rating OR the MH's weight loaded for travel (food, water, clothes, people, gear) minus the GCWR. Lots of people are surprised to find their tow capacity is so low they can't tow a car at all despite having a 5k hitch.

Example, a MH loaded for travel weighs 19k. The GCWR is 23k. It has a 5k hitch. You can only tow 4k, because doing the math, your capacity is the lesser despite having a 5k hitch.

So, to answer your question you would need to know the year, make and model.

As you have seen, folks will chime in what they are towing with theirs. Doesn't mean anything really unless you have the exact same model.

Towing capacity is a math problem, not a one size fits all.

Our 13 Explorer weighs 5k with 4 bikes and a kayak. We tow it with our 2012 V-10. It did great coming out of Denver up I70. IIRC we were at around 45mph or so going up. You will want it to rev as that where it makes it’s power, don’t be afraid of 4500 rpm even close to 5k is t out of the question. It was 90 degrees leaving Denver and the engine temp never exceeded 210 during the climb. We got off at I70 at US 40 and went up and over Berthoud Pass at 11,300ft! I would do it again.

Since then I have installed a tune from 5 star and the performance is much better.

jts140 wrote:
Anyone towing a Jeep Grand Cherokee (Trailhawk) with a gasser? My Jeep weighs almost 5k and was wondering how a Gas Class A would tow. Would be towing to the Denver area from Florida and up to Breckenridge Area numerous times. Son has just moved there. Thanks for any info.

I'm towing a GMC Acadia which weighs almost 4800 lbs. My MH is a National SeaBreezeLX with a Ford V10. BlueOx tow bar. No issues, the MH pulls it just fine.

Al