Thor Forums

[Hudsoner]

Originally Posted by Chance

For what it's worth, Ford specs show all F-53 frames -- regardless of wheelbase -- come with same 8'-10" rear overhang. On larger and longer motorhomes like Challengers it's safe to assume Thor has chassis extended at rear.

On shorter motorhomes like the Ace 29.2 that may not be the case. I'm not certain, but Ford specs have the standard 190-inch wheelbase chassis at just under 28 feet in length, and since the motorhome is only 29'-8" long, the difference could be made up by bumpers and bodywork.

I have a 2001 Hurricane 29D build on the 190" wheelbase. My chassis has a frame extension of about 3 - 4 feet that has similar size channels as the Ford one has, and is welded to the Ford chassis by means of gusset plates that are welded at their top and bottom only to the chassis and the extensions. My motorhome is rated to tow 3500 lb (the 2002 Model is rated to tow 5000 lb and the 2000 model could also tow 5000 lb). My son is a master mechanic and certified welder for the largest Ford dealer in the state, and he decided to inspect why this is so. It turned out that Thor used a 3500 lb hitch in my unit that was attached to the motorhome with a few bolts onto a carrier that in turn was attached to the carrier with rather short, short rather poorly welded seams!
We exchanged this hitch to a 5000 lb one and re-welded all attachment points all around with quality seams. We also added more gusset plates to the extension areas and welded those all around to the frame and the extensions.
After calculating the additional strengthening measures, my son came to the conclusion that I could tow 10 000 lb without any problem if I would have a hitch that would allow this. I decided to stay with the 5000 lb hitch because my towed vehicle has a weight of about 4000 lb plus the weight of the tow dolly that is equipped with hydraulic surge brakes (and has 15" wheels).

It seems that the tow rating specified by Thor depends totally on the receiver hitch installed and the manner how the hitch and the chassis extensions are attached to the Ford supplied chassis.
For the case of my motorhome, they went cheap and easy, but we could easily rectify this with some welding and a different hitch. However, having traveled with my setup for more than 60 000 miles now, I would not feel comfortable to tow anything much heavier than my setup, because I would not want to experience the "tail wagging the dog"!

If you plan to increase the tow rating take a look at the attachment of the frame extensions and also at the attachment of the hitch itself!