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Shuber51's avatar
Shuber51
Explorer
Mar 06, 2015

Weight limit on towed vehicle

We have a 2007 Fleetwood Jamboree 31M on a Ford E450 chassis. The information plate on the hitch and in the motorhome data says 3500 lbs tow capacity. We were hoping to be able to tow our 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer 4WD. It is paid for and we just about tapped ourselves out upgrading to this motorhome. We took the Trailblazer to the local mill and found it weighs 4700 lbs. It may be a stupid question but I have to ask before buying another vehicle to tow. Is there any "fudge" room built into the weight limits? Warranty is not an issue as the chassis is out of warranty. We plan to use a brake system on the toad and a Falcon All Terrain tow bar my sister has to tow with. Do we need to start shopping for a vehicle?
Class C
  • Mich_F's avatar
    Mich_F
    Explorer
    Mar 07, 2015
    tatest wrote:
    E-450 chassis is rated 20,000 pounds GCWR (at least) and at that vintage GVWR was 14,050 pounds. Ford specified a "tow rating" of 5000 pounds, which still puts you almost 1000 pounds below GCWR if you tow with the motorhome loaded to GVWR.

    Clearly, the 3500 pound tow rating comes from Fleetwood, the final vehicle manufacturer. This lower limit is either because of the hitch installed, or because of something Fleetwood did extending the frame (or building the house beyond the frame).

    You can probably get back to the 5000 pounds Ford says that chassis can tow, but you need to have someone knowledgeable to check out that hitch, and how it is installed.


    That's what I was trying to point out in my earlier post. The link to the Fleetwood specs
    shows (assuming they're correct) they downgraded the GCWR to 19,050# which still leaves a 5,000# tow rating, Some of their shorter units on the same chassis do have a 5,000# hitch and a 5,000# tow rating.
  • tatest's avatar
    tatest
    Explorer II
    Mar 07, 2015
    E-450 chassis is rated 20,000 pounds GCWR (at least) and at that vintage GVWR was 14,050 pounds. Ford specified a "tow rating" of 5000 pounds, which still puts you almost 1000 pounds below GCWR if you tow with the motorhome loaded to GVWR.

    Clearly, the 3500 pound tow rating comes from Fleetwood, the final vehicle manufacturer. This lower limit is either because of the hitch installed, or because of something Fleetwood did extending the frame (or building the house beyond the frame).

    You can probably get back to the 5000 pounds Ford says that chassis can tow, but you need to have someone knowledgeable to check out that hitch, and how it is installed.
  • Executive45's avatar
    Executive45
    Explorer III
    Mar 07, 2015
    Enjoy your shopping trip.....peruse the Motorhome magazine for older vehicles that can be towed 4 down...the HHR is a good one that weighs in around 3300 # wet....Dennis
  • Bobbo's avatar
    Bobbo
    Explorer II
    Mar 07, 2015
    Normally, you get a chorus of folks saying "I did it just fine." I don't think you will hear that with this question. That is way too far over the limit for even the risk takers to try.
  • naturist's avatar
    naturist
    Nomad
    Mar 06, 2015
    Yeah, 100 lbs for a fudge factor, maybe. 1200 lbs, nope, that is more than fudge, my friend. That is 34%. Sorry, drive it separately, or buy a used Prius.
  • lanerd's avatar
    lanerd
    Explorer II
    Mar 06, 2015
    Mich F wrote:
    Perhaps Fleetwood lowered it because of their frame extensions. That would be another issue that could be addressed.

    2007 Fleetwood Jamboree Specs


    That would be my opinion also. When they add to the length of the frame, it will reduce the amount of weight you can put on the hitch or tow with it.

    1200 lbs over the limit would be really stretching the "fudge factor".

    Ron
  • Mich_F's avatar
    Mich_F
    Explorer
    Mar 06, 2015
    Just found this spec sheet for your MH. Possibly upgrading the hitch would be all you need to do, although you might be over on the GCWR. I thought Ford gave the cab and chassis a higher GCWR. Perhaps Fleetwood lowered it because of their frame extensions. That would be another issue that could be addressed.

    2007 Fleetwood Jamboree Specs
  • kaydeejay's avatar
    kaydeejay
    Explorer
    Mar 06, 2015
    Shuber51 wrote:
    We have a 2007 Fleetwood Jamboree 31M on a Ford E450 chassis. The information plate on the hitch and in the motorhome data says 3500 lbs tow capacity. We were hoping to be able to tow our 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer. It is paid for and we just about tapped ourselves out upgrading to this motorhome. We took the Trailblazer to the local mill and found it weighs 4700 lbs. It may be a stupid question but I have to ask before buying another vehicle to tow. Is there any "fudge" room built into the weight limits? Warranty is not an issue as the chassis is out of warranty. We plan to use a brake system on the toad and a Falcon All Terrain tow bar my sister has to tow with. Do we need to start shopping for a vehicle?
    What part of the 3500# max tow capacity do you not understand.:h
    A few pounds over is no big deal but 1200#!:E
    I don't think so!
    In fact, if you load up the MH you may not even have 3500# available.
    Subtract the loaded weight of the MH from the Gross Combination Weight Rating (GCWR from your Manual) to see how much tow capacity is left.
    If you do tow it, and are in an accident, you will have opened a barn door for a personal liability litigation case.

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