Towing a cargo van
I am moving across three states, from Wa to Ca, I am driving a 77 Dodge Jamboree, and intend to tow a cargo van, since they seem to be cheaper than trailers. I have the lights, do I have to use brak...
Forum Discussion
Puppydogk91 wrote:
The 77 is in pristine condition, with only 52,000 miles on it. Never seen one this clean, and I did a lot of shopping. That's why I bought it. It's been well maintained. On top of that, it's a Dodge.
Being on the Dodge chassis is exactly what gives me the most concern. The Dodge motorhome chassis was built similar to today's sprinter. It started as a Unibody van chassis, but they added frame rails for cutaway applications. It's not a full ladder-frame like the Ford vans. Also, most RVs of that era didn't even extend the frame rails to the hitch. Instead, the hitch is usually built into an angle-iron structure. The B-vans had little extra chassis capacity to start with, and the lack of standardized hitches cause me concern for anything larger than a single axle utility trailer.
Plus, being a 35 year old platform, there's many age related reliability issues even though you don't have many miles. Has the fuel system been fully updated to be compatible with 10% ethanol? Has the ignition system been rebuilt yet?
Also, if it has the small block, it probably won't have enough power to pull a trailer or toad up the major freeway grades in anything other than 1st gear. If it has the big-block, it won't have enough cooling capacity and you'll probably be pulling over to let it cool.
All in all, I think taking a motorhome on a trip that long is a risky adventure without towing anything. Add anything big and heavy behind it, and you're odds of making it all the way go down dramatically.
