Towing with a 2000 Four Winds 21RB?

[theotherbart]

We're RV novices with lots of questions. The issue of the day is towing with our 21' Four Winds Class C on a Chevy chassis with a 350 c.i. engine. We'd like to flat tow a car, and my wife is sort of in love with the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, but the receiver on our RV is only rated for 3500 pounds (about 700 shy of the Unlimited curb weight).

I'm fairly sure we could have a higher rated receiver installed, but what I'm not sure about is the rest of the chassis. The GVWR on the door sticker is 11,500 pounds, but nowhere have I been able to find a reference on GCWR. Can this engine/transmission/chassis tow 4300 pounds if I hung a good enough receiver on it?

[theotherbart]

carringb wrote:

theotherbart wrote:

I did manage to get my hands on the sales brochure (someone at Thor e-mailed it to me). It lists a GCWR of 13,500 pounds.

Keep in mind that the same chassis with the big block was rated for 16,000 GCWR. So its not like the motorhome is going to fall apart if you exceed 13.5k. Main limitation is really power and gradability (At 13.5k, 15% will be about the steepest you'll be able to take off from if stopped). Also the transmission will probably benefit from more cooling if you run heavy.

That's an interesting point. And since I'm talking about a toad then I could always just unhook and let my wife drive it separately if I did get into a situation where I was on a grade, or even driving through serious hills. Hmmm.

[carringb]

theotherbart wrote:

I did manage to get my hands on the sales brochure (someone at Thor e-mailed it to me). It lists a GCWR of 13,500 pounds.

Keep in mind that the same chassis with the big block was rated for 16,000 GCWR. So its not like the motorhome is going to fall apart if you exceed 13.5k. Main limitation is really power and gradability (At 13.5k, 15% will be about the steepest you'll be able to take off from if stopped). Also the transmission will probably benefit from more cooling if you run heavy.

[Snowman9000]

Ooo that's lower than I would have guessed. Well, good luck!

[theotherbart]

Healeyman wrote:
Until a month ago, we RVed for 11 years in a 1999 22' Four Winds 5000 on a Chevy 1 ton chassis with the 350 CI Vortec V8.

My 4 Winds had a 5,000# hitch and many times, I pulled an enclosed trailer (2,000#) with a sports car (2,400#) inside from Dallas to both coasts.

I spent much of my career designing and building mobile military hardware/vehicles and experience suggests that your hitch probably has a designed-in 200% or 300% safety factor. For example, we'd regularly tow 25,000# aircraft with the 5,000# hitch on a HMMWV (=Hummer).

That said, because I was right up against my rated hitch capacity, I installed VERY heavy safety chains from the trailer frame to the RV frame. I never attach safety chains to the trailer tongue or to the RV hitch.

I'd upgrade the hitch and go have fun.

Tim

Isn't the internet great? I mean really, what are the odds of finding someone with the exact same motorhome and drivetrain who has done almost exactly what I'm trying to do? Just amazing, thanks for the info.

I did manage to get my hands on the sales brochure (someone at Thor e-mailed it to me). It lists a GCWR of 13,500 pounds. Just to be on the safe side I'm going to go weight the RV and see how much room is left in that weight number. But regardless it's awesome to know it's been done successfully!

[Healeyman]

Until a month ago, we RVed for 11 years in a 1999 22' Four Winds 5000 on a Chevy 1 ton chassis with the 350 CI Vortec V8.

My 4 Winds had a 5,000# hitch and many times, I pulled an enclosed trailer (2,000#) with a sports car (2,400#) inside from Dallas to both coasts.



I spent much of my career designing and building mobile military hardware/vehicles and experience suggests that your hitch probably has a designed-in 200% or 300% safety factor. For example, we'd regularly tow 25,000# aircraft with the 5,000# hitch on a HMMWV (=Hummer).

That said, because I was right up against my rated hitch capacity, I installed VERY heavy safety chains from the trailer frame to the RV frame. I never attach safety chains to the trailer tongue or to the RV hitch.

I'd upgrade the hitch and go have fun.

Tim

[theotherbart]

Snowman9000 wrote:
My opinion is that you probably don't have any frame extensions on such a short MH. So if you subtract your actual loaded weight from the GCWR on the door or glove box or from the chassis manufacturer data (not the MH manufacturer), the difference will be your towing capacity. Once you install a hitch rated to same. I could give you my Chevy's GCWR but mine's an 04 chassis with different powertrain. Off the top of my head, I think mine is 16,000.

I suspect you'll find you can tow the Jeep within the limits.

Thanks! Unfortunately my door sticker lists a GVWR but not a GCWR. The chassis manual says I can tow either a 5,500 pound max trailer (with 3.73 gears) or a 7,000 pound max (with 4.10 gears). I have no idea what my rear end is, and obviously those numbers don't take into account the effect on combined weight that the RV build has. The manual says not to exceed GCWR but doesn't say anywhere what exactly that might be. I'm a bit flummoxed!

[Snowman9000]

My opinion is that you probably don't have any frame extensions on such a short MH. So if you subtract your actual loaded weight from the GCWR on the door or glove box or from the chassis manufacturer data (not the MH manufacturer), the difference will be your towing capacity. Once you install a hitch rated to same. I could give you my Chevy's GCWR but mine's an 04 chassis with different powertrain. Off the top of my head, I think mine is 16,000.

I suspect you'll find you can tow the Jeep within the limits.

[theotherbart]

Francesca Knowles wrote:
I'd ask the manufacturer what your rig can safely tow- but if the only info you have to go on is the GVWR and the(OE?)hitch limit, you might add those two numbers together and presume that's your GCWR. 3,500+12,500=16,000.

Next,weigh the loaded rig. No cheating! It has to be loaded for the road, and allow for you and any companions, too. Add the weight of Jeep, also loaded.

If with all that you're under 16,000 you're probably fine- but do change that hitch, please.

I would change the hitch if I go that route for sure. And I've tried contacting the manufacturer but so far no response. Thanks for the response!

Anyone else have opinions about whether or not this rig could handle towing more than 3500 pounds (with a suitable receiver)?

[Francesca_Knowl]

I'd ask the manufacturer what your rig can safely tow- but if the only info you have to go on is the GVWR and the(OE?)hitch limit, you might add those two numbers together and presume that's your GCWR. 3,500+12,500=16,000.

Next,weigh the loaded rig. No cheating! It has to be loaded for the road, and allow for you and any companions, too. Add the weight of Jeep, also loaded.

If with all that you're under 16,000 you're probably fine- but do change that hitch, please.