Towing a cargo van

[Puppydogk91]

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 brake lines to the toad, so it brakes too?

[Puppydogk91]

Puppydogk91 wrote:
You all have talked me into a cargo trailer.
I will try to buy one so I can sell it again at the end of the line, instead of renting one.

wait, what about the cargo van with a 454? Towing the motor home? No one commented on that? Well, some of you mentioned no brakes. And I would have to reconnect the drive line if I have to move it in a forced back up situation.

Ok, Cargo trailer it is.
Thanks for all your input.

Family was sent ahead already. Got the motor home hoping to use it as a moving truck, for only 1000 lbs of stuff, clothing g, videos, books, two dresser drawers, a matress, baby stuff, tools, etc... liquidate the rest.

Then use it as a man cave, when I get there, you know, like an office, when kids are fussing, etc..

Assumed I would tow something, for the 8 foot item I built. But will be going through Oregon in the rainy season. Done that before, a few times. Must have an enclosed trailer. U-haul is not as much as I feared. Will be fine. You guys keep scaring the heck out of me with your break down on the side of the road, stories.

But not too much. Mopar motors are tough and reasonably easy to work on, and it's not like I wouldn't have a place to sleep, though a bit crowded.

I do have another question though, and perhaps should have it's own post, but since I'm here, what the heck...

That question is,.. those cream colored storage pods that go on top of an rv, ...how bad does their wind drag effect milage, if at all?

I ask because I picked up a used one on craigs, for $75, it is 2.5 feet (I think) x 6 feet, (I was excited, accessory for new toy, etc, and handy since I'm using it to move.) But now realize I have to mount it so the length of it is accross the width of my rv, instead of torpedo style. Will it slow me down that much more? Or act like a spoiler, and channel wind so it doesn't beat against the trailer I pull?

I mean, if you have your own experience to share. Not that important though I guess.

[timmac]

Puppydogk91 wrote:
You all have talked me into a cargo trailer.
I will try to buy one so I can sell it again at the end of the line, instead of renting one.

wait, what about the cargo van with a 454? Towing the motor home? No one commented on that? Well, some of you mentioned no brakes. And I would have to reconnect the drive line if I have to move it in a forced back up situation.

Ok, Cargo trailer it is.
Thanks for all your input.

A open used utility trailer is not that much, look around on craigslist they can be had for as little as 500 bucks sometimes.

If your that tight on money with babies and young children you should not be doing the motorhome thing right now, stick with a small car and tent and save your money, a motorhome broke down on the highway will cost you lots of dollars dealing with freeway repair shops.

[Puppydogk91]

You all have talked me into a cargo trailer.
I will try to buy one so I can sell it again at the end of the line, instead of renting one.

wait, what about the cargo van with a 454? Towing the motor home? No one commented on that? Well, some of you mentioned no brakes. And I would have to reconnect the drive line if I have to move it in a forced back up situation.

Ok, Cargo trailer it is.
Thanks for all your input.

[navegator]

Cargo van with no motor, you can not back up for more that a few feet before the steering goes side ways, then you nee to move the van around, how do you intend to do that with no power?

Rent a U-Haul trailer with surge brakes and that one you can back up any where, cargo van not a good idea at all, the grapevine is ok going up its coming down that the problems start.

navegator

[Puppydogk91]

"Buy a used utility trailer for goodness sakes.."

Well I'm opetating on a low budget. At the same time, I don't live in the thing.

I just had a 2nd baby, that's 2 of 'em under age 3. No Obamacare here.

Moving cost money too. I figured a little motorhome would be a man cave when the babies get too fussy, and I could use it to move, since, ...I'm moving.

Uh? My initial thought was indeed to buy a cargo trailer and sell it again, after reaching my destination. Looked at utility trailers, most of which are not enclosed. The ones that are, are over $2000 here.

The move itself is the major chunk of my change. I want emergency funds if something does go wrong on the road. I'm not wealthy. I work for a living.

[timmac]

Puppydogk91 wrote:
Well, there is a van up here for sale that doesn't run, for $300 and I figured I could sell motor and transmission for scrap, getting at least half of that $300 back, then sell the rest in Calif, for maybe another $150, and spare myself the $400+ trailer rental.

Thought I could improvise. As well your income and my income could be entirely two different animals.

But I'm liking the idea of trailer brakes and no tickets, more and more. Thanks for all your help.

Buy a used utility trailer for goodness sakes..

:R

[Puppydogk91]

Well, I crawled under and looked, yeah, hitch is on it's own rail frame which is bolted to the rv frame in four places with eight 1/2" bolts. There is some surface rust, doesn't look too bad though.

One reason I wanted to pull something that had 4 wheels of its own, is so that the weight wouldn't be pulling (down) on the hitch.

Original post asked if I could tow an F-150, it has what many say is the only thing Ford did right, the in-line six 300, motor, with granny gear.

I've read about it out-towing a V8, up hills. But it would be a lot to ask of it, to tow the motor home. So I was going to sell it (liquidating most of our stuff)

I also have a Nissan 4 banger truck with a blown motor, which I was going to convert into a solar charged EV (or try), and felt confident I could tow it as a trailer with motorhome, (especially with motor & tranny removed) but it would not be enclosed (except for the cab) and it is rain season in Northwest.

And now, the latest reply, is saying he is not even sure I will make it (that distance) towing nothing?

Well what the heck did they make 'em for than? I know people whom have gone all over the country in these rigs. Now I'm confused.

Any other opinions?

[carringb]

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.

[Puppydogk91]

Well, there is a van up here for sale that doesn't run, for $300 and I figured I could sell motor and transmission for scrap, getting at least half of that $300 back, then sell the rest in Calif, for maybe another $150, and spare myself the $400+ trailer rental.

Thought I could improvise. As well your income and my income could be entirely two different animals.

But I'm liking the idea of trailer brakes and no tickets, more and more. Thanks for all your help.

[ron_dittmer]

Bobbo wrote:
BTW, removing the motor and transmission from the cargo van is a LOT more trouble than renting a Uhaul.

And the U-Haul trailer will have surge brakes built-in, a much safer approach.

Puppydogk91, renting a long enclosed U-Haul trailer is not as expensive as you might think. They really are quite affordable to rent one-way. Call your local U-Haul dealer and ask. You mentioned some long items. Ask if they have a trailer long enough to accommodate them.

[Bobbo]

Why is it important to you to have our stamp of approval?

Especially after the near universal chorus saying NO WAY?

No one here is going to come disconnect whatever you hook up. If you choose to do it, you are on your own whether we approved or not.

BTW, removing the motor and transmission from the cargo van is a LOT more trouble than renting a Uhaul.

[pauldub]

Why not just rent a u-haul trailer for your long item?

[Puppydogk91]

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.

As for the cargo van, If I remove the motor and transmission from the cargo van it will be much lighter. The cargo itself going in the van probably only weighs 500lbs

And I was going to disconnect the drive line, so the transmission wouldn't burn up (proof that friction heaters work, for a fraction of what conventional electric heaters cost to run. But that's another story)

Or, ...
I can buy a different cargo van with a 454 in it, and tow the motor home with that? The tow bar will be par, come on guys, I'm not gonna use a rope.

I have something I built that is 8 foot long and won't fit in a short 6cyl van.
maybe I can disassemble it, without ruining it, then I can maybe fit it through the motor home door.

OK if the motor home is built to sleep 6 adults, surely it can carry 1200 pounds inside of it, at least give me that fellas.
Nay, you gave me the user name "puppydog"? (Sigh)

[carringb]

I honestly think your safest bet is finding a good (properly rated) tow bar for the motorhome, and pulling it behind a U-haul. Even a small cargo trailer will be questionable behind that motorhome.