Towing

[Ted Lambert]

My hitch on my 1998 class a is rated for 5000lbs. Are there anything else I should consider. 1998 Triple E Comander.
Looking forward to your comments. My main priority is to be legal and also safe.

[Jagtech]

My '98 Triple E is rated same as yours. What are you towing? I tow a Jeep Wrangler, about 4200 lbs. I use a 6000 lb rated tow bar, with the appropriate safety chains from frame to frame, not just to the hitch. I have had no problems so far, the engine and cooling capabilities seem to be adequate. I really recommend a braking system for your toad; it isn't legally required everywhere, but I wouldn't go out without it.

[Ted Lambert]

Originally Posted by Jagtech

My '98 Triple E is rated same as yours. What are you towing? I tow a Jeep Wrangler, about 4200 lbs. I use a 6000 lb rated tow bar, with the appropriate safety chains from frame to frame, not just to the hitch. I have had no problems so far, the engine and cooling capabilities seem to be adequate. I really recommend a braking system for your toad; it isn't legally required everywhere, but I wouldn't go out without it.

At present I am not towing anything. I have a towmaster dolly. Just in the process of installing surge brakes.The reason I won't be flat towing is we are moving and want to take my wife's Nissan Frontier.I will be removing the driveshaft for that one trip.
Once moved I might consider flat towing something.

[rk911]

Originally Posted by narampa

My hitch on my 1998 class a is rated for 5000lbs. Are there anything else I should consider. 1998 Triple E Comander.
Looking forward to your comments. My main priority is to be legal and also safe.

it's not just the hitch that you must consider. the maximum amount of weight you can safely tow will be the lesser of the following:

• the GCWR (gross combination weight rating) of the MH minus the actual weight of the MH as it is loaded for travel (includes fuel, fresh water, food, clothing, people, pets, supplies, etc.)
• the weight rating of your tow bar
• the weight rating of your hitch

this is why it's vital to know what your MH weighs as it is loaded and configure for travel before choosing a toad. load the MH as you would for a trip including fuel, water, food, clothing, pets, supplies and people. get individual axle weights and compare them to the GAWR for that axle. if either axle is overweight then either move weight to the other axle or eliminate the weight altogether. you need to check individual axle weights because it is possible to be under the GVWR of the MH even if one axle is overweight. I know 'cuz it happened to us.

and since you are going to use a dolly you must add the weight of the dolly to the weight of the vehicle you want to tow. you didn't say what the GVWR, GCWR or actual weights of the MH and toad are so i'll use the weights of our MH and toad to illustrate my point.

we have a 2000 Itasca Suncruiser 35U that has a GVWR of 20,500-lbs (7000 front, 13,500 rear), a GCWR of 26,000-lbs and an actual weight of 19,300-lbs (6700 front, 12,580 rear). we usually tow a 2010 Jeep Liberty that has a total weight of 4,200-lbs. our hitch is rated at 5,000-lbs and the towbar at 6,000-lbs.

applying the three tests above gives us these results:

• the GCWR (gross combination weight rating) of the MH minus the actual weight of the MH as it is loaded for travel = 6,700-lbs (26,000 minus 19,300)
• the weight rating of our tow bar = 5,000-lbs
• the weight rating of our hitch = 6,000-lbs

5,000-lbs is the most weight I can safely tow since the hitch has the lowest weight rating.

but if I was towing on a dolly that weighed in excess of 800-lbs I couldn't tow the Liberty as the combined weight of the Jeep and dolly would exceed the weight rating of the hitch. your MH will not collapse if it or the hitch is overloaded but you may experience handling issues as well as longer braking distances and accelerated wear on suspension, brakes, steering, etc.

so you see it is much more than just the weight of the hitch. good luck to you.

good luck.

[Ted Lambert]

Originally Posted by rk911

it's not just the hitch that you must consider. the maximum amount of weight you can safely tow will be the lesser of the following:

• the GCWR (gross combination weight rating) of the MH minus the actual weight of the MH as it is loaded for travel (includes fuel, fresh water, food, clothing, people, pets, supplies, etc.)
• the weight rating of your tow bar
• the weight rating of your hitch

this is why it's vital to know what your MH weighs as it is loaded and configure for travel before choosing a toad. load the MH as you would for a trip including fuel, water, food, clothing, pets, supplies and people. get individual axle weights and compare them to the GAWR for that axle. if either axle is overweight then either move weight to the other axle or eliminate the weight altogether. you need to check individual axle weights because it is possible to be under the GVWR of the MH even if one axle is overweight. I know 'cuz it happened to us.

and since you are going to use a dolly you must add the weight of the dolly to the weight of the vehicle you want to tow. you didn't say what the GVWR, GCWR or actual weights of the MH and toad are so i'll use the weights of our MH and toad to illustrate my point.

we have a 2000 Itasca Suncruiser 35U that has a GVWR of 20,500-lbs (7000 front, 13,500 rear), a GCWR of 26,000-lbs and an actual weight of 19,300-lbs (6700 front, 12,580 rear). we usually tow a 2010 Jeep Liberty that has a total weight of 4,200-lbs. our hitch is rated at 5,000-lbs and the towbar at 6,000-lbs.

applying the three tests above gives us these results:

• the GCWR (gross combination weight rating) of the MH minus the actual weight of the MH as it is loaded for travel = 6,700-lbs (26,000 minus 19,300)
• the weight rating of our tow bar = 5,000-lbs
• the weight rating of our hitch = 6,000-lbs

5,000-lbs is the most weight I can safely tow since the hitch has the lowest weight rating.

but if I was towing on a dolly that weighed in excess of 800-lbs I couldn't tow the Liberty as the combined weight of the Jeep and dolly would exceed the weight rating of the hitch. your MH will not collapse if it or the hitch is overloaded but you may experience handling issues as well as longer braking distances and accelerated wear on suspension, brakes, steering, etc.

so you see it is much more than just the weight of the hitch. good luck to you.

good luck.

I am painting the skirt on the bottom right now and will be servicing the engine and trans. Also doing front bearings and such.
So it will be a while till I can get the weights .
Thanks for your reply. I will update this post in th future. And no doubt I will have
More questions.