travelingwith9 wrote:
Would we do better to get a Class C MH and tow the 15 passenger van?
Most places we go, we would not need the van (weekend camping trips and such we'd be fine with just the RV) but when we travel out of state, we really would need a way to transport all 9 of us in one vehicle.
Trying to think how to make this RV thing work.
Unlikely that you could find a C large enough to carry that many people safely and still have enough margin on GCWR to pull a 6000 pound van. Unless you start looking at Super Cs (built on medium duty truck), and even then you would have to shop carefully because some of those use up more of the total capacity carrying house, rather than leaving it for towing.
What you need to do is load up the van as if traveling, and weigh it, find out how much of that 13,000 pounds you have to spare, then find a towable that fits your needs at that weight. I suspect it will be something lightweight and expandable to be towable with the 5.4 V-8 van and still sleep nine.
In the early '60s we made a Detroit to Montana round trip with 10 people, four adults, six kids from toddler to teen, station wagon pulling a lightweight (single axle) 18-foot travel trailer that could sleep the ten of us, though that meant putting four children together in the largest bed. Sleep was the only thing the TT could do with all 10 inside, and when we could, two or three teen age boys slept in the back of the wagon instead; something you could do with a 15-passenger E-350 stripped back to 11 seats (saving another 150 pounds).
They no longer make trailers like that, people want bathrooms and air conditioners now, it adds a lot of weight. 12-14 foot popup, maybe, for room and low weight.
Tom Test
Itasca Spirit 29B
