Need advice on towing cargo trailer

[daveb48]

I own a 35-foot Class A gasser motorhome (Damon Daybreak) powered by a Ford V-10. I want to tow a 20-foot cargo trailer from Michigan to Florida to move furniture, etc. I have been told that this unit cannot tow such a load without damage to the drivetrain. I have towed a Dodge Caravan numerous times without problems. Has anyone had experience with this?

[Seattle_Steve]

Just for kicks I pulled out the invoice for my move from Seattle to Tucson when I retired. I moved no appliances--they stayed with the house, and got rid of all furniture except living room, family room, and two bedrooms. Also moved almost none of my tools, maybe a couple hundred pounds. It came in at 7060 pounds.

[Bedlam]

hotjag1 wrote:
I have a 20' cargo trailer and it weighs 3000lbs empty. You should be fine with that as I doubt you will have more than 2000lbs of furniture. The issue that you may have is that the tongue weight on my trailer is over 600lbs empty. I would suggest putting the heavy furniture towards the rear to keep the tongue weight around 500lbs. Without a tongue scale, you won't actually know if the tongue weight is correct though.

My 20' cargo is about 3500 lbs dry and rated 10,000 lbs. Typically I am loaded up between 6000-8000 lbs with close to 1000 lbs tongue weight. You will be at the limits of your motor home but should be close based on the furniture you are carrying.

If you have not bought the trailer yet, look into aluminum frame versions which will cost more but be 500-1000 lbs lighter for the same weigh rating.

I did a round trip NC - WA trip last April to clear out an estate and was carrying about 2500 lbs of furniture and household goods in my trailer, yet I was only loaded up inside less than half high.

[JIMNLIN]

We have a class A forum. Ask a mod/adm to move you over there. Someone probably has the same MH pulling a trailer

[hotjag1]

I have a 20' cargo trailer and it weighs 3000lbs empty. You should be fine with that as I doubt you will have more than 2000lbs of furniture. The issue that you may have is that the tongue weight on my trailer is over 600lbs empty. I would suggest putting the heavy furniture towards the rear to keep the tongue weight around 500lbs. Without a tongue scale, you won't actually know if the tongue weight is correct though.

[carringb]

daveb48 wrote:
I did find the hitch info on the ad flyer for the coach. It says 5000# tow and 500#hitch weight. I'll research this a bit more.

Great! They did run the 5k hitch for a short time, before finally upgrading to the 7500 hitch around 2012 I think. That should be enough for a 20' trailer plus furniture.

[daveb48]

I did find the hitch info on the ad flyer for the coach. It says 5000# tow and 500#hitch weight. I'll research this a bit more.

[ferndaleflyer]

Hook it up and go. Furniture isn't heavy and the V-10 will be up to the task. That isn't a very big trailer and don't worry about getting up the hill its the down hills that are the problem......just take it easy and you will be fine. I have been towing a much larger trailer for over 20 years without a problem.

[daveb48]

It is a 2009 model, so pre-Forest River I suspect. I'm not sure of the weight numbers. I'll have to research that. I didn't consider the hitch issue.

[carringb]

It depends...

What year is your coach? What is your loaded weight and your Gross Combined Weight Rating?

Lastly, what is the hitch receiver rating? The pre-Forest River Damon designs did not have Ford-compliant frame extensions, so they have a 3,500# hitch receiver limit, unless the rear frame extension is replaced with a compliant design. Newer Forest River coaches do have compliant frame extensions, and have a 7,500# limit. Actual towing capacity is limited by either the receiver, the GCWR, or the payload available to carry the hitch-weight.

You probably won't damage the drivetrain however. The V10 is used in applications heavier than what you're attempting. Especially for the drive you're planning. You have one big climb, if that, depending which route. Worst case, you can just slow down and stay in the right lane.