Towing capacity of Sprinter motorhome

[HowellJourney]

My wife and I are evaluating the purchase of a 2015 Winnebago View or Itasca Navion 24J. They in essence are the same motorhome except for color schemes.

We previously full-timed for two years in a 42-foot Monaco Executive but sold the unit ten years ago to built a retirement home. We pulled a 2004 VW Jetta Station wagon TDI with a manual transmission. With the 500 hp Cummins diesel, you never knew it was back there.

We have gone the "big bus" route (which my wife refused to drive) and have decided to go with the Sprinter based Class C to RV on part time basis.

My concern with the Sprinter towing capacity. We are getting ready to trade our five year old Buick Enclave for a smaller vehicle that we can equip and tow four wheels down.

The GCWR of the class C RV we are looking at is 15,250. The GVWR of the RV is 11,030. The wet weight of the RV is around 9,900 lbs. The RV has a tow bar rated at 5,000 lbs.

It is our understanding that we can carry the difference of 11,030 and 9,900 or 1,130 before we are overloaded on the RV itself.

As far as the weight of a potential dingy, would it be the difference of 15,250 and 11,030 or 4,220 lbs? This seems to be very heavy load for this unit. We are currently looking at the 2014 Honda CRV (3424 lbs) or the Chev. Equinox (3777 lbs).

Any input would we appreciated. (If you happen to own a Sprinter based RV, we like to hear what you tow).

[Wayne_Dohnal]

Desert Captain wrote:
I have yet to speak with an MB owner who was satisfied, much less happy with towing. A 10,000#+ coach with a 3,000 to 5,000# Toad is asking a lot of 188 HP. Wish I had a dollar for every MB with a Toad I have seen lugging up a 6% grade at 35 to 45 with their flashers on.

I am an MB owner who is satisfied and happy with towing, a bit over 19,000 miles. So what if I'm going up the 6% grades at 45? More often than not, I'm flying past the semis if there's a passing lane.

The big problem for me is going down those steep grades. Engine braking on the Sprinter is pathetic. On a long downgrade I have to choose between 3rd gear at 55 to 60 with frequent braking, or 45 in 2nd gear with little or no braking. I go down the long steep grades at 45, and that's when the semis want to crush the little Sprinter insect in front of them.

[pnichols]

Of course towing a jeep-type, or otherwise, very small 4WD vehicle along behind on Class C RV trips enables you to almost rock crawl up narrow roads with rocks jutting out on the sides and overhead.
This is not even adequate for where we sometimes wish we could go rockhounding.

If we towed (4 wheeled vehicle) or packed (2 wheeled vehicle on the front bumper) another vehicle along on our Class C exploring trips for extreme mobility, it would be either of these:

http://www.kubota.com/product/UtilityVehicles/RTVX900.aspx

http://www.rokon.com/

Barring the bringing of either of the two transportation types above along, our Class C alone is just the ticket for our total comfort when out in the middle of nowhere ... even though we do have to do some walking after making camp to get to the rocks.

Here's some examples of where we enjoy all the comforts of home:












There's a big difference between "offroading with a Class C" versus "taking a Class C offroad". After all, Ford and Chevy based Class C motorhomes are basically "a truck", so to some degree are up to being used off road - albeit carefully. I sure wish there were a Class C RV club close to us that kindof specialized in taking a Class C offroad. Even a section is this forum for that would be great, IMHO.

[Desert_Captain]

Yep, no trouble at all to head out into the desert.... without a toad. :B



Seriously though, I have no issues whatsoever with folks who choose to pull a toad. For us there is simply no need and it would only complicate the rather simple equation we have established when it comes to RV'n.

We bought the 24' so that we would not need a toad but having a jeep to run around in out in the boonies does sound like a lot of fun and with our V-10 towing one certainly would not be a problem. Towing one with an MB does not however, sound like much fun.

:C

[Dakzuki]

pnichols wrote:
Then again ... off-roading can be done directly without toads when one has just the right chassis under certain Class C rigs.

Here's us and our friends turned off a "4X4" road camping in a remote spot in Death Valley under dry conditions:

That is hardly what I was referring to.

[pnichols]

Then again ... off-roading can be done directly without toads when one has just the right chassis under certain Class C rigs.

Here's us and our friends turned off a "4X4" road camping in a remote spot in Death Valley under dry conditions:

[neschultz]

We seldom use a toad but there are times when we need one such as when we snowbird this winter in Florida. We also used one when we stayed in a KOA outside of Baltimore and used the toad to commute to Johns Hopkins for several days in a row. The Via won't fit in those parking garages.

[Dakzuki]

Desert Captain wrote:
While I fail to see the need for a toad with a 24' C to each their own.

Try off roading in a class C and you'll know why I take the toad.

[Gonzo42]

You are only proving my point. You are driving torque.

[Desert_Captain]

pnichols wrote:

Gonzo42 wrote:
People buy horsepower, but they drive torque.

Not with our V10. I drive with gears that convert gobs of horsepower into torque-to-the-ground ... where torque really matters. :B

(BTW, high performance Ferraris had plenty of gears in them cuz regardless of what Enzo said, his high RPM high horsepower engines needed them to make ground torque.)

Once again Phil, we agree. While I fail to see the need for a toad with a 24' C to each their own. No doubt the MB's can certainly handle some toads, the lighter the better but as my ole granddad used to say... Just because you can do something does not mean it's a good idea. :B

I guess there are two kinds of MB C's out there pulling toads, the ones I see struggling on the 10 mile 6% grades and the magic models that roar up those grades, probably while getting 18 to 20 mpg. :W (and the Nile is not just a river in Egypt). LMAO!

As always.... opinions and YMMV

:B

[pnichols]

Gonzo42 wrote:
People buy horsepower, but they drive torque.

Not with our V10. I drive with gears that convert gobs of horsepower into torque-to-the-ground ... where torque really matters. :B

(BTW, high performance Ferraris had plenty of gears in them cuz regardless of what Enzo said, his high RPM high horsepower engines needed them to make ground torque.)

[Dakzuki]

Gonzo42 wrote:
Per the owner's manual our rig has a towing capacity of 3500 lb max and a tongue weight of 350 lb max.

Later View/Navions are rated for 500/5000.

[j-d]

Are you willing to go for a LIGHT TOAD?

We started out with a Toyota Tercel, under 2000#
Then a little Mitsubishi (aka Dodge Ram 50) pickup around 2500#
Sold both and went with Nissan Frontier nearly 4000#

Towed Tercel and Mitsu with a 460 then Mitsu and Frontier with V10

With both RV's we could tell between No Toad and Toad.

We can feel the difference in towing the extra weight of Frontier over Mitsu.

All this with big block or V10. Based on this, here's my counsel:

Get a Toad that weighs (mfr's Curb Weight) less than 3000#. There are very nice vehicles meeting that spec.

***OR*** find a Toad with GVWR (door sticker Gross Vehicle Weight) less than 3000#. The Tercel GVWR was 2900-something#. There are a number of subcompacts that meet this also.

I see this in Cars, Boats, RV's all the time. "Can it do it?" is not the same as "Will I like it?" We have a toad-capable Corolla (manual shift like all the others above are/were) and I'm ready to set it up for towing and save that 1000# or so when we don't want to take the Frontier on our trips.

You're re-tooling your whole RV operation, so I'd suggest you match toad to new RV and don't try bumping the max in the ratings.

[Gonzo42]

People buy horsepower, but they drive torque.

[neschultz]

Add another desert captain. We couldn't be happier or more satisfied with our Vias towing capability. We never had to slow down going over the Rocky Mountains (due to the Sprinter). And as a bonus, it goes down 5 mile long 6% grades with the cruise control on without having to use the brakes.

[Butch50]

I ran into many people in Alaska last year that had the MB Sprinter class C MH and a lot of them were towing toads. One of the most popular was the Honda CRV. I asked many of them how they towed the Honda and all were happy with it and had no problem pulling the hills. I was driving my Ford truck with a camper and followed a few on the MB Sprinters up the hills and they sure didn't seem to have any problem.

I know I'm going to try towing a Subaru Crosstrek with ours. I'm supposed to get it on 10/15/14 so I'm ordering all of my towing gear for it now.