towing with a class c

[sunny_the_97_Su]

Howdy

I just bought a 1997 forest river sun seeker 2300 with 18,000 miles and the ford v10 on the e350 chassis

The hitch is rated at 3500 and I'm having trouble finding any others rated for more. Specifically I'd like to find a 10,000 lb rated one. Then I noticed that the factory frame has been extended 31` by butt welding and crosses plating.

Question: can safely beef up the frame and hitch to haul a 18 foot flat bed car hauler with my jeep wrangler? Total weight around 6000\7000 pounds with tongue weight around 500, if so, how?

Thanks!

[MikeRP]

Sounds like you will have fun!

[MikeRP]

Mich F wrote:

MikeRP wrote:
So your rear axle is supposed to weigh no more than 9600lbs. GVWR is 14500. And GCWR is 22,000lbs. So in my case, my Rear axle is at 9000 lbs. Remember, keeping extra air in your air bags, I run at 70 psi, raises the rear up and puts more weight on the front axle. The Coach overall is at 13,500 lbs fully gassed and loaded.

My toad is 4860 lbs. some would say you are too close to the limits with my toad but remember there is an incredible safety factor in those hitches. They are very conservatively rated and also remember the carrying capacity on a normal truck hitch is nearly double with a weight distributing hitch.

I know a guy who has been towing over 7000 lbs for years with a 3500 lb hitch. Found him on the forest river forum.

The 350 lbs may be weight on the bumper itself. I've hear those bumpers are not rated to carry much weight and 350 strikes me as what mine is. Check it out to be sure.

Overall they have told you anything wrong. You just have to know your weights.

I have a regular frame mounted hitch, which actually has a Winnebago Industries sticker on it.I know they make a lot of their own parts, perhaps they make the hitch also. They just decided to put another 350# tongue weight limit sticker on the b.umper.
I haven't weighed my MH yet, but according to a sticker on the door I'm not to exceed something around 3,275# in passengers and gear so it looks like I have plenty of CCC, if that sticker is anywhere near accurate.
My right side air bag has suddenly developed a leak which I have to get fixed when I bring the MH in next week for a recall on the range.
As far as the Firestone air bags are concerned, I believe they tell you not to exceed 90 or 100#. Back in something like 2004 I talked to someone at Firestone about air bags I had on an F250 with a slide in camper. He told me they were actually good for 150#, but rated them at the lesser weight.

The air bags are rated at 100 psi and sounds like that bumper sticker may be a relic from the old 3500 lb hitches. I'd go by what is on the hitch itself or call the manufacturer not the dealer. They won't know more than likely.

Load it up and take it to a flying j and get a weigh slip record.

[sunny_the_97_Su]

So mike can you send me a link for the Forest River Forum - having problems finding the guy you said tows 7000lbs regularly

Meanwhile, now I understand that Class C's have a horrible time with too much tongue weight in that it can cause the front end to be light and wander. This can especially be a problem if brakes have to be applied abruptly in the rain and suddenly there is no steering...Now granted I will have electric brakes on my car hauler trailer

Has anyone had any experience with loss of steering?

Thanks

Andy

[sunny_the_97_Su]

MikeRP wrote:
So your rear axle is supposed to weigh no more than 9600lbs. GVWR is 14500. And GCWR is 22,000lbs. So in my case, my Rear axle is at 9000 lbs. Remember, keeping extra air in your air bags, I run at 70 psi, raises the rear up and puts more weight on the front axle. The Coach overall is at 13,500 lbs fully gassed and loaded.

My toad is 4860 lbs. some would say you are too close to the limits with my toad but remember there is an incredible safety factor in those hitches. They are very conservatively rated and also remember the carrying capacity on a normal truck hitch is nearly double with a weight distributing hitch.

I know a guy who has been towing over 7000 lbs for years with a 3500 lb hitch. Found him on the forest river forum.

The 350 lbs may be weight on the bumper itself. I've hear those bumpers are not rated to carry much weight and 350 strikes me as what mine is. Check it out to be sure.

Overall they have not told you anything wrong. You just have to know your weights and the advice on the hitch is good. That's why folks tow with a dolly or 4 down. Either of those options put very little downforce on the hitch itself.

[Mich_F]

MikeRP wrote:
So your rear axle is supposed to weigh no more than 9600lbs. GVWR is 14500. And GCWR is 22,000lbs. So in my case, my Rear axle is at 9000 lbs. Remember, keeping extra air in your air bags, I run at 70 psi, raises the rear up and puts more weight on the front axle. The Coach overall is at 13,500 lbs fully gassed and loaded.

My toad is 4860 lbs. some would say you are too close to the limits with my toad but remember there is an incredible safety factor in those hitches. They are very conservatively rated and also remember the carrying capacity on a normal truck hitch is nearly double with a weight distributing hitch.

I know a guy who has been towing over 7000 lbs for years with a 3500 lb hitch. Found him on the forest river forum.

The 350 lbs may be weight on the bumper itself. I've hear those bumpers are not rated to carry much weight and 350 strikes me as what mine is. Check it out to be sure.

Overall they have told you anything wrong. You just have to know your weights.

I have a regular frame mounted hitch, which actually has a Winnebago Industries sticker on it.I know they make a lot of their own parts, perhaps they make the hitch also. They just decided to put another 350# tongue weight limit sticker on the bumper.
I haven't weighed my MH yet, but according to a sticker on the door I'm not to exceed something around 3,275# in passengers and gear so it looks like I have plenty of CCC, if that sticker is anywhere near accurate.
My right side air bag has suddenly developed a leak which I have to get fixed when I bring the MH in next week for a recall on the range.
As far as the Firestone air bags are concerned, I believe they tell you not to exceed 90 or 100#. Back in something like 2004 I talked to someone at Firestone about air bags I had on an F250 with a slide in camper. He told me they were actually good for 150#, but rated them at the lesser weight.

[MikeRP]

Additionally, I always hear how these Coaches e450 are so close to their ratings. And I agree they are. But really they are super heavy duty vehicles. The drive train in the E 450 is almost exactly the same, except for the 3 valve engine which is used on the Class A F53 chassis which will handle 26000 lbs.

It is made to handle some serious loads. At 19000lbs coming off a mountain, the e450 is handling 7000 lbs less than its Class A brethren. It's hardly huffing.

I also find when the Coach is fully loaded is when it drives and rides the best.

[MikeRP]

So your rear axle is supposed to weigh no more than 9600lbs. GVWR is 14500. And GCWR is 22,000lbs. So in my case, my Rear axle is at 9000 lbs. Remember, keeping extra air in your air bags, I run at 70 psi, raises the rear up and puts more weight on the front axle. The Coach overall is at 13,500 lbs fully gassed and loaded.

My toad is 4860 lbs. some would say you are too close to the limits with my toad but remember there is an incredible safety factor in those hitches. They are very conservatively rated and also remember the carrying capacity on a normal truck hitch is nearly double with a weight distributing hitch.

I know a guy who has been towing over 7000 lbs for years with a 3500 lb hitch. Found him on the forest river forum.

The 350 lbs may be weight on the bumper itself. I've hear those bumpers are not rated to carry much weight and 350 strikes me as what mine is. Check it out to be sure.

Overall they have not told you anything wrong. You just have to know your weights and the advice on the hitch is good. That's why folks tow with a dolly or 4 down. Either of those options put very little downforce on the hitch itself.

[Mich_F]

MikeRP wrote:
Here is my understanding of the rating situation on the new motor homes. Like you I have a 5000 lb hitch which can be upgraded to a a heavier hitch which would usually be 10,000 lbs.

So my manufacturer told me that sure you can upgrade and tow up to the GCVWR. They just won't warranty the Coach. Why? Their theory I'd that with the 10000 lb hitch, I might be stupid enough to load it to 10000lbs which would be over the rated 22,000lbs to 24500 lbs.

Crazy logic if you ask me, however they have told me the provided hitch is very robust.

I saw your post last night but decided to wait until I got home to respond. I somehow managed to use 126 of my monthly 300MBs in the first two days of the billing cycle on my cellphone.

I was looking in the owners operating manual from Itasca. They list all the specs as supplied by Ford including the 22,000 GCWR. They have a note with that which states

Actual towing capacity is dependent on your particular loading and towing circumstances which includes the GVWR, GAWR, and GCWR as well as adequate trailer brakes. Refer to the chassis operator's manual of your motor home for further towing information.

One could read that to mean you can tow up to Ford's rated GCWR. As far as the hitch that is on the MH now, it's rated at 5,000#. There is one sticker on the hitch that says 500# tongue weight, but there's another sticker on the hitch and an additional sticker on the bumper that say not to exceed 350# tongue weight. It also states in the manual that 500# tongue weight on a 228" wheel base adds 800# to the rear axle. They also don't want you to exceed 8" from the center line of the hitch pin to the center line of the ball.

[MikeRP]

Here is my understanding of the rating situation on the new motor homes. Like you I have a 5000 lb hitch which can be upgraded to a a heavier hitch which would usually be 10,000 lbs.

So my manufacturer told me that sure you can upgrade and tow up to the GCVWR. They just won't warranty the Coach. Why? Their theory I'd that with the 10000 lb hitch, I might be stupid enough to load it to 10000lbs which would be over the rated 22,000lbs to 24500 lbs.

Crazy logic if you ask me, however they have told me the provided hitch is very robust.

[Mich_F]

MikeRP wrote:
MichF

Which motor home do you have?

I have a 2014 Itasca Spirit 31K and a 1997 Coachmen 22RK.

[MikeRP]

MichF

Which motor home do you have?

[kaz442]

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26354171/gotomsg/26354303.cfm#26354303

[Mich_F]

MikeRP wrote:
Is it rated at 19500?

Probably - I have a 14,500 GVWR and rated to tow 5,000, with a max 350# tongue weight, instead of the "normal" 500# tongue weight with a 5,000# hitch.
That's on a vehicle with a 22,000# GCWR.

[Lumpty]

Current Sunseekers have the GCWR rating maintained as set by Ford. Specs here:

http://www.forestriverinc.com/ClassCMotorhomes/Sunseeker/default.aspx?page=specifications