jlfought
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Re: This is our TT, what the heck can tow it??
carringb wrote: BTW excursions are nice but really short on payload unles the springs are upgraded. Also, '05 was the last year so finding them in good condition is getting harder. A Suburban 2500 with the 8.1l might work too but payload will be borderline and they are even more rare. If you can find a Chevy Express 8.1L that will meet specs, but they only ever made a very small handful of those, and only in '01/'02. Exactly the problems we ran into when looking for these 2 models which is what we were originally thinking( we have a 1500 suburban now and were just going to upgrade to a 2500).589Views0likes0CommentsRe: This is our TT, what the heck can tow it??
blt2ski wrote: jlfought wrote: carringb wrote: You need a Ford E350 with the v10. payload is over 3,000 pounds. GCWR with 4.10 gears is 18,500. You will need to upgrade to a class 5 receiver however, since the stock is only a class 4. A diesel would work too but those come with additional maintenance headaches, and it's quite a bit less powerful than the v10. The Chevy Express will have enoug payload but not enough GCWR. So I found a 1997 Ford E-350 Extended wagon V-10 4.10. If we upgrade to the class V receiver it will work for us? I found just one site that had tow info on it for the model and it has it listed as a 10,000 lb tow capacity and 5590 curb weight. Those were the only figures I found for it. Thanks so much for the info too!! That tow rating assume one driver of 150 lbs, no other passengers. Your actual rating could be less than that. Or the 10 k could be because of the STD returned on it. Is this rig a single rear wheel rig? I would vote no if it is. OR plan to do a suspension upgrade to the rear, along with adding dual tires. Something like what Bryan did to his E350. Again if it were me.....I would skip the E350 and go with a bus version of an E450. This should more than cover for the passenger weight of 8 people, also include things like car seats in people or other weights you need. Along with potentially 1500 lbs of hitch weight. You will if like myself, probably add some 1500 min to 2000 lbs of gear to the trailer above and beyond what it weighs sitting there. That is the amount I had for my family of 6. During ski season, we added another 500 lbs of ski gear etc. Along with the snow that fell in the roof during weekend. The most I know of was 4-5000 lbs when it snowed over 3' one fine weekend. Marty I have never seen a 15 passenger van that is a dually. Do they make those on that type of vehicle? I wonder how much it would cost to upgrade the rear suspension and add drw. Seems costly to me but ?? Something to look into.590Views0likes0CommentsRe: This is our TT, what the heck can tow it??
blt2ski wrote: One, at this time today your family of 7-8 is 710 lbs......I'm laughing here........wait a few years, you will be like me, a family of 6 when my 4 were adult sized kids at 1200-1300 lbs betweenus. I can see at least this number for the family add in 1200-1500 lbs of hitch at.....as mentioned, a DUAL tired passenger van/bus will be my first choice. There is NOT an SUV or as van that will truly have the pay load for your total needs. Have phun with the kiddo's!! Marty no one ever believes our weights or thinks our kids are all very little lol -Our 5'10" 14 year old son is 110 -Our 13 year old daughter is 104 and has reached adult height already. -Our 11 year old is filipino so very slight and will always be. She doesn't even register on the american weight charts lol -Our 9 year old is 69lbs -and then we have a 2 year old who will have plenty of years to grow from her 25lbs she is now. -Our newest addition will be here in December so will eventually factor in some. -And my husband and I stay with in 10 lbs of our usual weight typically. But only a few years left with our oldest two and they will be out. So weights will grow some but not terribly much as the older ones leave the house and the newer ones get grow up ;) We may even be selling our TT once our year around the country is over. So it's mainly the here and now that we are concerned about. We have considered a bus but I get terribly car sick if I am not in the passenger seat and there is no passenger seat(or room for one) in a bus or shuttle bus unfortunately. So we ruled that out.590Views0likes0CommentsRe: This is our TT, what the heck can tow it??
carringb wrote: You need a Ford E350 with the v10. payload is over 3,000 pounds. GCWR with 4.10 gears is 18,500. You will need to upgrade to a class 5 receiver however, since the stock is only a class 4. A diesel would work too but those come with additional maintenance headaches, and it's quite a bit less powerful than the v10. The Chevy Express will have enoug payload but not enough GCWR. So I found a 1997 Ford E-350 Extended wagon V-10 4.10. If we upgrade to the class V receiver it will work for us? I found just one site that had tow info on it for the model and it has it listed as a 10,000 lb tow capacity and 5590 curb weight. Those were the only figures I found for it. Thanks so much for the info too!!348Views0likes0CommentsThis is our TT, what the heck can tow it??
So I did my research before we bought a trailer to be sure we would get a trailer that was towable. Then after purchasing a 30ft trailer we found out we were expecting our 6th child! Our 2 bunk trailer we just bought would be just impossible with a toddler, a baby and a special needs child( along with 3 other kiddos). We had to go bigger which totally screwed all my calculations as to what could tow the TT. I have been trying to go back and refigure but pregnancy brain is too strong and I can't figure it all up like I did last time! HELP! We are looking at 1 ton 15 passenger vans(maybe 12 passenger??). 350/3500 series And before I even put it on here, I know, I know- our trailer is a monster-Salem 36BHBS. Gulp. Did I mention that we will be full timing it for a year across the country as soon as our house sells?? Yep-we are crazy. So let's just state that as fact now and get it out of the way lol Now we just need to move forward ;) Here are our #'s that I have figured out: TT GVWR:10880 TT Dry: 7990 Weight we need at hitch: 1415 Weight of driver and passengers:710 lbs We don't plan on having any added cargo in the van but I have been throwing in an extra 100 pounds just in case and 100 pounds for hitch weight. I need to work backwards and figure out what we need to have in a vehicle for sure. We've been looking at some older models of vans but not sure some are up the challenge. We will be getting a WDS when we get our new TV. So I know we need that. Any help would be very much appreciated! ( we currently borrow a 1 ton truck from my husband's uncle to take the trailer out on weekends every now and then.) ~Jen5.9KViews0likes26CommentsRe: Thetford or Barker Portable Waste Tank??
jlfought wrote: mowermech wrote: IMO, the most important thing to think about is: "Is there a dump station here?" Getting that thing filled up and finding there is no place to dump it would be a VERY bad situation! That's why I sold the one I had. Any campground I was in either had full hookups or no hookups or dump station. It sat under the workbench for about 5 years gathering dust, then I sold it for $15 in a rummage sale. We are a family of 7, soon to be 8, so we simply can't camp anywhere without full hookups or a dump station!! lol It is must for us. We are trying to expand where we can camp by not needing full hook ups all the time, hence the portable =) I had to laugh at some of the promo videos for the portables that show someone pulling it by hand to dump LOL Yeah, I think hooking it to the hitch would be a little more sensible if you don't want to pull 300# clear across a campground!! lol412Views0likes0CommentsRe: Thetford or Barker Portable Waste Tank??
mowermech wrote: IMO, the most important thing to think about is: "Is there a dump station here?" Getting that thing filled up and finding there is no place to dump it would be a VERY bad situation! That's why I sold the one I had. Any campground I was in either had full hookups or no hookups or dump station. It sat under the workbench for about 5 years gathering dust, then I sold it for $15 in a rummage sale. We are a family of 7, soon to be 8, so we simply can't camp anywhere without full hookups or a dump station!! lol It is must for us. We are trying to expand where we can camp by not needing full hook ups all the time, hence the portable =)412Views0likes0CommentsThetford or Barker Portable Waste Tank??
Trying to decide between the Thetford or Barker portable waste tank. We would be getting a 35 gal theford or 32 gal barker ( we have 7 people, soon to be 8, in our family so need a biggin'). Will either work just as well or is one better than another? Thanks! ~Jen4.5KViews0likes16CommentsRe: Found a TT! And maybe a possible TV?! Double check my #'s
dodge guy wrote: Everything sounds good! what motor is in each van? sounds like you have a great time planned! and yes there should be a sticker in one of the cabinets on the door that states the dry weight when it left the factory. We looked at the trailer in -20 temps so it was cold inside and out of the unit and we were all just ready to get back in our nice warm vehicles. So I didn't get a chance to look at the official sticker for the weights. But we will get it in a bay and all hooked up on Monday so I will definitely be checking it out giving the inconsistencies in the weights listed online. =) The 2002 says a 5.7L V-8 with a 4.10 axle ratio and the 2006 is a listed as a 6L V8 with a 3.73 axle ratio. Thanks :)339Views0likes0Comments
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