used Cruise America 19'

[gmw_photos]

Hey all, I'm considering a 2011 Majestic 19' on a Ford E350. I believe it has a 5.4 in it. The thing that gives me pause is 160K miles. It appears nicely kept, but I have only walked around the outside. I have an appt tomorrow morning to check it out. The guy that owns it now bought it used from the crusie america fleet.

The coach systems, I'm not worried about. I'm up to speed on all that. I'm more concerned with any specifics to look at regarding the "truck" part of it.

Comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

[gmw_photos]

One thing I really like about the 19' class C was the very short rear overhang. That would contribute to a good tow setup. The longer class C's generally have a very long overhang.

Actually, I am convinced it could be made to work, with some logical and careful modification. It has a 6K axle under the rear, which is mostly defined by the fact it's SRW. With some work, it could converted to DRW, which would result in the axle itself being rated at 9K.

It has 3.73 gears, and since it's just 2WD, swapping out the gears to 4.30 or so would be fairly inexpensive.

Etc, etc. Bottom line is, it's a "project", and I don't want a project.
Thanks for all the comments, but this idea is a pass for me at this point in time. For the time being grand-daughter will continue to pull to shows with one of the pickup trucks, and stay in motels. The motel bill generally gets billed to the client anyway, so it's not really a cost burden.

[Mocoondo]

Just saw this thread, but good thing you took a walk on that one, especially the delamination. That never gets better with time. The miles are a nonissue. The towing capacity is 2,500#, but the limiting factor, usually, is the max. tongue weight which is 200#. This amounts to roughly a 4x8 Uhaul trailer.

If you seriously want one, your best bet is to call Cruise America and get on the list for one as they come out of the refurbishment process. If you've seen one, you've seen them all.

[ron_dittmer]

Given the weight of your two-horse trailer and tongue weight, I think you will be forced into a DRW axle vehicle with a lot of extra payload margin, like a short class-B+ or C typically built on an E350 chassis, but the one you need built on a E450. And a V10 will help a lot too. That setup in used condition be a very rare find. If you are impatient and want to special order a new one made that way for you, there are some brands out there to consider.

[gmw_photos]

DrewE wrote:
You might have a bit better time looking for a truck camper (and a truck to go with it if you don't care to use your dually). Some truck campers do overhang a lot and would preclude decent access to the receiver (or get in the way of the trailer without a hitch extension), but certainly not all.

That could work Drew, but if the dually is going to have to roll on these trips, then another way of going would be to just pick up a used GN living quarters horse hauler.

[ctilsie242]

I wish Thor could make a variant of the 19G floorplan to sell as new. So far, nobody sells that, and the only thing even similar are class "B"s and class "C"s like what Pleasure-Way sells at very high prices.

[DrewE]

You might have a bit better time looking for a truck camper (and a truck to go with it if you don't care to use your dually). Some truck campers do overhang a lot and would preclude decent access to the receiver (or get in the way of the trailer without a hitch extension), but certainly not all.

[Photomike]

Always better to pass then to get something that just makes do.

[gmw_photos]

DrewE wrote:

gmw photos wrote:

This little thing was apparently made to spec for cruise america I'm guessing. It's no longer in production.

Cruise America still rents them, so I believe they have batches built to spec from time to time. All the "Majestic" branded motorhomes are ex-CruiseAmerica (or perhaps CruiseCanada or a few related companies) and were built to their specifications.

When the 19G's become available for sale by CruiseAmerica, they tend to be snapped up pretty quickly.

I see what you are saying, and yes that makes sense.

I just got back from looking at it. I think I'm going to have to pass on this idea for several reasons. The limited available payload ( 2100 pounds ) as it's built, a few problems ( two broken exhaust studs, some delam, etc ) and the fact it's 160K miles. The more I thought about it, the more the idea of starting out with a high mileage vehicle bothered me.

Thanks again for all the comments.

[DrewE]

gmw photos wrote:

This little thing was apparently made to spec for cruise america I'm guessing. It's no longer in production.

Cruise America still rents them, so I believe they have batches built to spec from time to time. All the "Majestic" branded motorhomes are ex-CruiseAmerica (or perhaps CruiseCanada or a few related companies) and were built to their specifications.

When the 19G's become available for sale by CruiseAmerica, they tend to be snapped up pretty quickly.

[gmw_photos]

j-d wrote:

gmw photos wrote:
If they would have put duals under the back, it probably would have been a workable platform...

Then let Bryan (carringb) tell you how he upgraded his E320 VAN (not even an RV chassis!) to DRW. You can see it in his signature photo. Knowing Bryan, he probably can send you the Bill of Materials/BOM he ordered. It was a "parts job" not an axle transplant, but transplant might work too...

That's a good idea. I'll contact him and see what the parts were. I'm going to lay under it this morning and look at it, so I'll see if there are any clearance issues that would have to be addressed.

[j-d]

gmw photos wrote:
If they would have put duals under the back, it probably would have been a workable platform...

Then let Bryan (carringb) tell you how he upgraded his E320 VAN (not even an RV chassis!) to DRW. You can see it in his signature photo. Knowing Bryan, he probably can send you the Bill of Materials/BOM he ordered. It was a "parts job" not an axle transplant, but transplant might work too...

[gmw_photos]

Thanks again for all the added comments fellas. After a lot of reading, I have found the GCWR to be 13K pounds. The hitch they put on them has a 3500 pound limit, so that is the tow limit Thor stated for the vehicle. If the hitch is the only thing limiting that number to 3500, then it could be changed. But I still don't know what the motorhome actually weighs. It has a GVWR of 10050, so I have a feeling this is just not going to work to pull my little trailer

And yes, my two horse bumper pull actually weighs around 5500 loaded for a show. I've weighed it on the CAT scale both empty ( 3650 the day I brought it home ) and loaded.

Just to put all this in context, we also have a 33' four horse slant GN that we pull with our PS dually.
The idea of this plan of the little motorhome was to hopefully have a small self contained unit for close shows where we just take one horse. This would have been primarily for my grand-daughter to use. As it is, she is using the truck and staying in motels for out of town shows. Looks like that will likely continue as the preferred method. At 20 years old, she has turned out to be quite a good driver pulling a trailer.

Back to this 19g motorhome, it is a cute little thing. If they would have put duals under the back, it probably would have been a workable platform, because it would have had a 9K pound rear axle capacity. But as it is, it's a 6K axle ( the tires limit it to that ).

This little thing was apparently made to spec for cruise america I'm guessing. It's no longer in production.

[j-d]

Random thoughts:

Price better be good, what with Miles and De-Lam

Is your 5300 Pound Trailer a Guess Weight or a Scale Weight? Stuff always weighs more than we guess.

You should be able to de-code that Door Sticker and determine which Axle Ratio and Transmission it has.

Should be a sticker inside a Cabinet saying what it weighs as built. How much "stuff" will you have aboard? Your Hitch has a rating, and you can upgrade that. Might also have to upgrade the Frame. The controlling spec is Gross COMBINED Vehicle Weight Rating/GCWR and at the moment we don't have that number. We have the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating/GVWR and "max trailer" is GCWR minus GVWR. If your loaded Class C is Under GVWR, you can tow a little more before you reach GCWR.

You're probably doing this on a budget like most of us. If you weren't you'd be talking about your F450 Diesel and Gooseneck Horse/Bunkhouse Trailer. So...

What rigs do you see at Shows? I'd venture this 19G is about like an F250 V8 Gasser with a Truck Camper.

IMICHABOD posted stickers from a 2010. Using that, I found this spec sheet. It indicates the Transmission is that good 5R110, and the brakes (at least in front) are as big as an E450. Looking for a GCWR. No joy so far.

Only way I'm not saying No Way, is your notation of "Midwest." The combination will be marginal, but you might get away with it on flat land. I'd like to know actual scale weight of RV and Trailer and Loading. I trust you have braking on the trailer.

Midwest is Flat but it's HOT, so if I was planning to use this RV with the horse trailer and tow 300 miles, would upgrade the transmission cooler, and change rear axle lube to full synthetic.

EDIT: Found this sheet for 2013. It suggests you could go close to 7000 pounds, but that's usually based on a GCWR, meaning an empty van with just a driver could tow that 7000, reduced by passengers and cargo in the van.

[IAMICHABOD]

Here is the weight stickers for the 19 G

I don't think you will be able to haul your trailer without being severely over weight,