Towing a Pickup

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by mrgscooter

The popular jeep wrangler unlimited is heavier than the f150 so how are all these gas mh's I see able to do it? It appears to me as long as you don't go crazy with what you carry in pickup you should be ok.

My Wrangler Unlimited has a published curb weight of 3721 lbs and a GVWR of 4600 lbs though I’ve never weighed it. I tow it with my Class A with no problem.

[FarrellRV]

I’m gonna chime in here with “It’s not what you CAN ton, but what you SHOULD tow”. I was advised by an accident injury attorney a few months ago that when towing anything, be it a lawn tractor trailer behind a pickup truck or a car behind a class A, you’d better know your numbers and be inside every maximum there is. Just because I have a 10k hitch on my Aria does not mean I can safely and legally tow that load. GVWR & GCWR on both the MH and the toad are the numbers that matter most from a legal perspective. If you exceed either one of these and are ever in an accident, regardless of fault, the lawyers will eat you for all 3 meals plus a midnight snack. Whatever happened was YOUR fault, because you were exceeding your weight limits and therefore your rig is unsafe. There is an entire subset of lawyers who have become quite wealthy on this premise. When something bad happens, you can guarantee that they will be the first ones on scene to talk to the “other guy”, and start looking at your rig as soon as it’s available for evidence processing. I have an excel spreadsheet that does all the calculations for you, as long as you know your base weights and have a very close estimate of people and cargo weights. Disclaimer: I got the spreadsheet from a very prolific youtuber, Keep Your Daydream, and there is a very detailed video that goes along with it that should be watched in conjunction with using the spreadsheet. I’ll post the link here after I get home tomorrow if there’s any interest. Ok, off the soapbox, but after talking to my attorney friend, this is something I feel very strongly about, and truly wish new rv’ers had as much info about as humanly possible.

T.

[swd2479]

We've been towing our 2017 F150 (4,000 Lbs empty) with 30ft Gas powered motor home. Roadmaster/invisi-brake. No problem. From Sac to Reno (Pyramid Lake), also up to Trinity Lake.

[FarrellRV]

I’m not saying that you can’t tow an F-150 with a gasser. My post was simply to make those that read it aware of the potential pitfalls of being overweight, either solo vehicles or combined. Knowing your capacities and staying within the limits of your own rig is the owners responsibility and being outside those limits can be catastrophic.

T.

[MJC62]

Some one already stated just because the hitch is rated for 8000 lbs doesn't mean you can tow 8000 lbs.
The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) is 12,500 lbs for the 24.1 (and that includes all passengers, gas, water, propane, gear, clothing, food and beer!) The Gross Combined Weight Rating is 18,500 lbs. The GCWR number is the weight of the coach PLUS anything you tow. IF you are at max GVWR you can only LEGALLY tow an extra 6000 lbs. Will the coach tow more, answer is probably. Is it LEGAL answer is no.
I venture a guess most RV'rs are out there running overloaded. Hit the CAT scale at a Truck Stop and get a weight of the rig when your off for trip. You will be surprised. I have learned that I need to run with just enough water to flush the toilet while traveling, not to haul a face cord of firewood, buy the beer when I arrive and keep it to two pairs of underware and we can barely make legal weight

[MJC62]

As an FYI
Gallon of water = 8.34 lbs.
Gallon of propane = 4.24 lbs
Gallon of gas = 6 lbs.
Case of beer = 20 lbs.
DW equals ___ lbs. (answer that at own risk)

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by MJC62

Some one already stated just because the hitch is rated for 8000 lbs doesn't mean you can tow 8000 lbs.
The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) is 12,500 lbs for the 24.1 (and that includes all passengers, gas, water, propane, gear, clothing, food and beer!) The Gross Combined Weight Rating is 18,500 lbs. The GCWR number is the weight of the coach PLUS anything you tow. IF you are at max GVWR you can only LEGALLY tow an extra 6000 lbs. Will the coach tow more, answer is probably. Is it LEGAL answer is no.
I venture a guess most RV'rs are out there running overloaded. Hit the CAT scale at a Truck Stop and get a weight of the rig when your off for trip. You will be surprised. I have learned that I need to run with just enough water to flush the toilet while traveling, not to haul a face cord of firewood, buy the beer when I arrive and keep it to two pairs of underware and we can barely make legal weight

Amen to that! I learned my lesson on the last coach and put “at least 3000lb” OCCC on my “must have” list when I went shopping last time.

[Jimbo56]

Originally Posted by swd2479

We've been towing our 2017 F150 (4,000 Lbs empty) with 30ft Gas powered motor home. Roadmaster/invisi-brake. No problem. From Sac to Reno (Pyramid Lake), also up to Trinity Lake.

What model MH do you have?

[Jimbo56]

Originally Posted by Inspector57

I Tow a 2016 Crew cab Ram 4X4 behind my 2019 FreedomA30 and gave no trouble at all. Gas burner.

If you scale your setup you’d find you’re overweight. You’ve got less between GVWR and GCWR than I do. But to each his own.

[Jimbo56]

Originally Posted by Jimbo56

If you scale your setup you’d find you’re overweight. You’ve got less between GVWR and GCWR than I do. But to each his own.

https://www.freedom-motorhomes.com/f...orhomes/specs/

And my 2020 Ford F-150 crew cab, empty weighs 4901 lbs. that’s why I don’t tow it.

[lwmcguire]

I have pushed the weight limits for over 55 years

Decided to go with the Tag axle DP and have a few years of excess capacity

Stopping is always the primary concern when towing anything

In the past changing from 7k axles on trailers to 8k or upgrades like brakes and suspension made a huge difference

If you have a decent braking system on your towed I sure wouldn't worry much about the weight

[HMCSW]

We just picked up an Aria3401. One of the reasons was the 10,000# tow. Did not want to have worry about getting close to max weights in our mountain states. We were looking at Palazzo until we looked at weight and towing capacity.