Community Forums

DegoRed · 05-14-2019, 12:00 PM

bootstrap,

If you are ever up in Austin area, you are welcome to stop bye and check out my Trailer Toad, the thing is pretty awesome. I don't use mine any more, poot thing is just sitting out in my shop, but used the heck out of it when I had a gasser. The Trailer Toad does allow you to back up just like regular.

The thing most people don't get about the Trailer Toad, it takes ALL the weight off your rig, assuming you get a trailer with brakes, its really a slick set up. If you have any questions, feel free to call the owner, his name is Jok great guy very helpful and knows his stuff.

With regards to length, don't even worry about it, have traveled everywhere, including the People Republic of California and never had issues, and I tow a 24ft trailer, am around 72ft.

BillJinOR · 05-14-2019, 12:51 PM

Yes no problems , 20’ trailer with a 5’ tongue and a 41’+ MH. 67 + feet
4 years all over the country ( except the NE). Never been questioned. Never heard of any insurance denials etc.
the law says 65 in most states .. some are 60 my opinion is they are looking at commercial for the $$ , pvt operation .. they don’t care unless you are obviously unsafe.
A guy I met at Q probably 70’ had a incident damaging the rear of his motorhome and front of the trailer .. Ins was paying the repair ( less deductible of course) no questions.
I don’t worry and sleep well .. what you do is up to you

Petes Dad · 05-14-2019, 08:41 PM

Tough to see, but 73' and been all over, no questions ask. FMCA has a state by state listing of legal limits, most are well over 65'.

bootstrap · 05-15-2019, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DegoRed

bootstrap,

If you are ever up in Austin area, you are welcome to stop bye and check out my Trailer Toad, the thing is pretty awesome. I don't use mine any more, poot thing is just sitting out in my shop, but used the heck out of it when I had a gasser. The Trailer Toad does allow you to back up just like regular.

The thing most people don't get about the Trailer Toad, it takes ALL the weight off your rig, assuming you get a trailer with brakes, its really a slick set up. If you have any questions, feel free to call the owner, his name is Jok great guy very helpful and knows his stuff.

With regards to length, don't even worry about it, have traveled everywhere, including the People Republic of California and never had issues, and I tow a 24ft trailer, am around 72ft.

Awesome, I appreciate the offer. I sent a PM

DirtRider · 05-15-2019, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nvs4602

I looking at a 24' trailer as well. here is my class c's spec.

Ford chassis with V10 Wheelbase: 220" GVWR: 14500 lb. GCWR: 22000 lb. GAWR Rear: 9600 lb. GAWR Front: 5000 lb.

So I should be able to tow up to 7500 pounds? trailer weighs 3300lbs car weighs 3200lbs

Coachmen's site doesn't give much in the way of specs. What is your hitch rated for? I have a Winnie 25B with a 7500lb hitch. Mine is only rated for 500lbs of tongue weight, and I'm usually at 650. I do use a WD hitch, but that's also expressly against the label on my hitch. The WDH does make a difference in handling. I'm towing a 22' open car hauler. I'd be pretty surprised if you could get a 24' enclosed that actually met the tongue weight specs.

Oh, and I'm a broken record on this in a lot of threads. But everyone looking at a trailer to pull with their RV should check the tongue length. Especially an enclosed trailer--it's often more likely to be full width. A full-width RV and a full-width trailer will require a 48" tongue or better, or they might get a little too intimate on turns.

f365gt4 · 05-16-2019, 09:54 AM

I towed the 24 footer behind a lance for years and never knew that until doing research for the DP. So keep it up, might have picked it up from one of your blogs.
Although I did have a 48" extension to clear the Lance overhang (10.9)

robertkathy · 05-16-2019, 07:20 PM

my carry on hawkline is 8.5x20 in it is a tool box a mini cooper convertible and a hd v-rod weights in at 6800lb the winne has the w24 chass the hitch is rated 500/5000 winne underates the hitch 30%but i am still 9% over have been looking at dp but can not find a floorplan as good as the adventurer 38t or customer service as good as winne (fleetwood cs SUCKS)

Yoders2Go · 05-19-2019, 03:09 PM

We to an enclosed trailer/sheshed! I WISH it was as long as your trailer. We have no problem in our class A. We have a hitch rated for 15k #. My sewing room maxes out at 5k, so I can tow it with my car, as well.

ladagobago · 05-19-2019, 03:37 PM

Bootstrap, My DP was rated for only 5K on the hitch. I call Freightliner and they said that was what WB put on to limit their liability. He said I could pull 45K. I went to a OTR truck trailer shop and they add a 2"x3" tube to the top of the cross piece and made a new receiver that went from the cross piece all the way back to the rear motor mount. all gussets and welds were more than I could have imagined.

Result I towed my 26 car trailer with no problems. I weight my trailer and we normally ran about 9600. That trip was just tools. Made about 12 trip NJ to FL during our move and 5 from NJ to Syracuse pulling our caddi in the trailer... Never had any trouble except a few trailer flats.

I got 7.5 MPG with the load and same without it. Never even new it was back there. we also had a torsion bar load equalizer system. That helped a lot with correction the front wheel loading. Please don't start telling me how I was over weight and what all the laws are. I never got stopped . Now we pull a jeep four down.

Lewi · 05-19-2019, 03:57 PM

My solution for a similar situation was a diesel pusher with a 400HP Cummins and an enclosed 24 Hallmark Edge trailer. Our 34 foot Alpine Coach has 3 slides and a large towing capacity. We looked more for towing capacity while having two living room slides for indoor space and being able to bring the toys along. It is towing a full 10k pounds loaded and all is well, the Jeep Wrangler and Polaris RZR fit inside but just barely.

Living in California we have a 65 foot legal limit and wanted to be near it so we would be less likely to have any problems. By including the mirrors that extend out front of the coach I am 67 feet in length and have not had any problems, really close to 65 feet if we ignore the mirrors.

Johnynorthla · 05-19-2019, 08:52 PM

Sounds like a class A Diesel would better suit your needs.

We own a class C it’s our 3rd RV. It’s a 2019 Jayco Redhawk 25R. Nicely built rig, over built in fact, sleeping and seatbelts for eight passengers!. We fell in love with the floor-plan it has a dinette and couch on the same, (drivers), side of the rig’s slide out. When the slide is in there is plenty of room to walk, cook, watch TV etc.. it has a Tongue weight of 750 pounds and towing weight of 7,500 pounds!, and it’s a Ford E450 V10. Our toad is light with the dolly, (that I can’t stand anymore), we only weigh in at around 3,200 pounds. So towing is not an issue for us.

There are a few reasons why we went with a class C. The main one is safety. This is a Ford van cutaway conversion. So in my mind these vehicles were crash tested and DOT approved. I feel the survival rate if involved in a frontend collision, (God for bid), would be that much higher than a class A. Other reasons are; insurance is cheaper on a class C than that of an A or B, we feel for us the size of the vehicle is just right and it’s a Ford V 10 gasoline vehicle we are able to take it to numerous dealerships and service stations.

We had a diesel class C. It got better fuel mileage, however diesel is more expensive than gasoline, and I found the DEF to be a little annoying, but it had plenty of torque, was a little sluggish from a dead stop, and my toad vehicle was always covered in diesel Soot after a long trip, It even got into the door jambs. Other than that I didn’t mind it I could see myself going back to a Diesel someday if it’s the right fit .

Good luck with your search!

CandJ · 05-19-2019, 09:00 PM

I have a 40 ft DP with a 370 hp Cummins, Allison 3000. It’s a 2002 Spartan chassis w- 10k lbs hitch. I pull a 20 ft v- nose trailer usually containing a Motorcycle & Toyota Avalon plus assorted tools & gear.
This is ideal for me for a couple reasons -
Trailer & load is under 9500 lb, so in my hitch range and GVWR
Total length is just under the 65 ft requirement for many state highways. 40 ft coach + 20 ft trailer box + 5 ft tongue.

I have never had trouble keeping up with traffic on Interstate & Federal Rts and can reasonable pull hills like those on I-77 in WV.
You can find a used DP for under 100k on the market, but they may be 10 yrs old. I know of 2 such units for sale private owner - American Coach web site.
(Sorry, I don’t have that web address at my fingertips at the moment,but can look up & repost if you want)

Topman · 05-20-2019, 02:57 AM

Our coach, like rollnmutthut has a 500 ISM Cummins and is great to have the power when you need it. (currently for sale in the classified section).
Good luck on your search,
Iver.

G Anderson · 05-20-2019, 10:33 AM

Have towed many miles with an enclosed trailer and drag car
1st unit was a 1978 23' Itasca 454 carbureted @ 6mpg
2nd 1991 23' Itasca 454 FI. @ 6.5mpg
3rd 2003 Fleetwood 34W 300 Cummins 6spd. Allison @ 8 mpg
Towing speed 62-64 mph
Did my own hitch Reinforcements
All had enough power-Diesel of course was the power winner
All trailers weighed in the 8K range loaded and all had the RV Tongue