? For You Towing Guru's

[RBeau1954]

I just bought a 1989 class c tioga 28 ft MH. E-350 frame with 460 engine. Didn't get very much information on it and have researched as much as I can online with serial num and vin num. I even called fleetwood and here is what I came up with and you guys (or ladies) that have been there tell me if I have this right. Fleetwood and the stamp on the pillar say the gvwr total cannot exceed 11,200 lbs. I went to a weigh station today and with 3/4 tank of gas, me, half tank for fresh water my weights were 3640 lbs front, 7120 lbs back for a total of 10,760 lbs, that leaves me 440 lbs of supplies. I can probably drain the fresh water while driving and that might give me a couple hundred more lbs. I emptied the black water and grey water tanks before I weighed so I figure with wife and supplies I probably have about 500 lbs I can load in supplies. The guy at fleetwood told me my unit was installed with a 3500 lb hitch. My question is does the 3500 lb ability to tow a vehicle get added to the 11,200 lbs so my total with everything from supplies, wife, gas and vehicle can total 14,700 lbs? Thanks in advance, MH's are a whole new game for me, up from a popup.

[Skip426]

Welcome to iRV2.
Only the hitch weight , of a toad or dolly figures into your GVWR.
Probably 100# on rear axle if towing 4 down.
The weight of the toad . Figures into the GCWR, ( Gross Combined Weight Rating ) 14,700, in your case, and is sometimes called TTC, ( Trailer Tow Capacity ).
3,500 on your rig.
Sorry you got trapped in the over weight RV problem, there are a lot of fellow RVers in the same mess.

[Two Bit]

Hi,
Welcome to the forum.
Your basically talking about two separate critters here...
GVWR and
TOWING CAPACITY.

1. GVWR
The GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) is what your motor home can weigh with everything in it. If you hook up a trailer that has a tongue weight of say 400 pounds then that 400 counts toward your GVWR because it puts 400 pounds of weight onto the rear of the motorhome through the hitch.... So if you weighed 10,760 and added 400 pounds tongue weight to the hitch...you now weigh 11,160. Tongue weight is the only thing that interacts with your motor home weight and counts against your GVWR.

2. TOWING CAPACITY is the amount of dead weight your vehicle can pull without destroying itself. It has nothing to do with tongue weight. If you pull a trailer that weighs 5000 pounds then you are applying 5000 pounds against your towing capacity. It all has to do with engine power, transmission strength, and cooling capacity of your engine/transmission. Example; If you hook up a truck to a wagon that has zero tongue weight (think swiveling towbar) but weighs 40,000 pounds you are adding no weight against your GVWR, but you are far exceeding the tow capacity of most vehicles. You will burn out the transmission/motor because the trailer is too heavy.

There is also CGVW (combined gross vehicle weight). An Example of that is an 18 wheeler that cannot have a total weight over 80,000 lbs or a 6000 lb pickup pulling a 14,000 lb trailer (6000+14,000=20,000 for whole rig).

Something else....that 460 ford gas engine will give you about 6 miles per gallon.

[docj]

In case you don't have one, the owner's manual for your Tioga is here: http://fleetwoodrv.com/partsandservi...1989_TIOGA.pdf

There are a couple of places in the vehicle where the GVWR and GCWR are posted; these are given in the manual.

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by RBeau1954

Fleetwood and the stamp on the pillar say the gvwr total cannot exceed 11,200 lbs. I went to a weigh station today and with 3/4 tank of gas, me, half tank for fresh water my weights were 3640 lbs front, 7120 lbs back for a total of 10,760 lbs, that leaves me 440 lbs of supplies. ... The guy at fleetwood told me my unit was installed with a 3500 lb hitch. My question is does the 3500 lb ability to tow a vehicle get added to the 11,200 lbs so my total with everything from supplies, wife, gas and vehicle can total 14,700 lbs?

No. It sounds like you are mixing apples and oranges, though.

The 11,200 pounds is the GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) of your motor home (MH), or the max weight that can be on the tires of the MH when wet and loaded on the road. That includes any weight in the MH as well as any hitch weight of a trailer or towed vehicle (toad). The GVWR is limited by the tires, suspension and brakes of the MH.

The max total weight of your rig, including any trailer or toad you're dragging, is the GCWR (gross combined weight rating). Your GCWR is more than 11,200 pounds, but it may not be as much as 14,700. The GCWR should be included in your Owner's Guide, and depends on your engine, transmission, and rear axle ratio. The GCWR indicates the total gross weight your well-maintained engine and drivetrain can power over hills and mountain passes without overheating anything in the drivetrain, and without being the slowpoke in the slow lane holding up traffic.

By a "3,500 pound hitch", that's probably the maximum weight of any trailer or toad you can tow without exceeding the weight limits of your receiver. So you can use a towbar to tow a lightweight toad that weighs less than 3,500 pounds. Or you can tow a wet and loaded trailer that weighs less than 3,500 pounds.

[RBeau1954]

Thanks guys, I think I understand it now, they did give me the manual for the camper that is put out by Fleetwood but there was nothing on the chassis. The info on the door panel doesn't give the total combined weight allowed, I had to call Fleetwood for that information. Now the challenge is to find a Toad that is under 3500 lbs. I have seen several threads on that one so we have until next spring before we start doing some extensive traveling. Thanks again

[docj]

Originally Posted by RBeau1954

Now the challenge is to find a Toad that is under 3500 lbs.

Honda CR-V

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by RBeau1954

Now the challenge is to find a Toad that is under 3500 lbs.

AND that can be towed with 4 wheels down (on the ground). Do your homework before you buy a toad.

[Dan_public]

Originally Posted by SmokeyWren

AND that can be towed with 4 wheels down (on the ground). Do your homework before you buy a toad.

Honda CR-V

[teddyu]

Originally Posted by Dan_public

Honda CR-V

My vote is for a Cobalt or HHR; both around 3120 lbs . JM2¢...