what can I tow????

[cathy rice]

I have a Coachman Freedlander 19cb; 350 ford v8. Really wanting to know if there is something out there that is towable with my MH. Specs say that I only have 1500 lbs to tow???? Have questioned dealer and coachman and get no answers as to what or if I can tow. Was told the tongue weight is 3500 . The lightest car I have found is the smart car and it weights 1800 lbs. I own a 2007 Honda crv and wanted to trade for a Honda Fit (weight 2500) Please someone let me know if and what I can pull with my motorhome.....thanks for any input on the matter

[Healeyman]

Originally Posted by cathy rice

Please someone let me know if and what I can pull with my motorhome.....

Cathy,

For 5 years, I pulled a 2,400 pound Miata more than 35,000 miles, including from Dallas to both coasts with a 1999 Four Winds 22 foot Class C. My RV was on a Chevy, 1 ton, chassis with the 350 engine. Probably about the same rig that you have.



Occasionally, I would pull an enclosed trailer with a 2,500 pound sports car inside.



I also pulled this 4,500 pound load to both coasts, but is was S..L..O..W.. going off of the flatlands.

In MY opinion, you would probably be OK if you stayed with a tow weight of 3,500 pounds or less.

Tim

[CampDaven]

Originally Posted by cathy rice

I have a Coachman Freedlander 19cb; 350 ford v8. Really wanting to know if there is something out there that is towable with my MH. Specs say that I only have 1500 lbs to tow???? Have questioned dealer and coachman and get no answers as to what or if I can tow. Was told the tongue weight is 3500 . The lightest car I have found is the smart car and it weights 1800 lbs. I own a 2007 Honda crv and wanted to trade for a Honda Fit (weight 2500) Please someone let me know if and what I can pull with my motorhome.....thanks for any input on the matter

I see the following specs:
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) 11,500 lbs.
Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) 13,000 lbs.
At this link:
http://www.coachmenrv.com/products/f...loorplanid=307

Based on that, 1500 lbs is the limit.
Other folks more expert may chime in.

Dave

[FIRE UP]

Cathy,
You have a PM.
Scott

[Libero]

Originally Posted by cathy rice

I have a Coachman Freedlander 19cb; 350 ford v8. Really wanting to know if there is something out there that is towable with my MH. Specs say that I only have 1500 lbs to tow???? Have questioned dealer and coachman and get no answers as to what or if I can tow. Was told the tongue weight is 3500 . The lightest car I have found is the smart car and it weights 1800 lbs. I own a 2007 Honda crv and wanted to trade for a Honda Fit (weight 2500) Please someone let me know if and what I can pull with my motorhome.....thanks for any input on the matter

Cathy.

I suspect your tounge wt is not 3500lbs, it may be 350lbs. "Tongue" wt is different than "Tow" wt. Your "Tow" wt might be 3500lbs. This rating is likely derrived from the power train and the hitch capabilities.

As noted in a previous post, your GCWR is 13, 000 lbs.

Even though your GVWR is 11,500lbs. This does not mean all you can tow is 1500lbs. Your normal "loaded wt" may be less than the GVWR. Suggest you get the RV weighed in your travel mode and see what you weigh and go from there.

The difference between your actual wt and the GCWR is what you can legally tow. Of course you should not exceed your GVWR or your GCWR.

I tow a Smart car with a B+. It tows like there is almost nothing there. I also have a second toad, a Malibu Max which weighs about 3300lbs. I really know when the Malibu is on behind me in my present rig.

My GVWR is 12, 300lbs and my GCWR is 16, 000lbs. My specs indicate I can tow 5000lbs. of course I could not legally tow more than 3700 lbs if I was at my GVWR.

I travel with full fresh water, fuel and full propane and empty waste tanks and with 2 people I am under my GVWR.

Hope this helps.

[theroc]

What you have to keep in mind, Cathy, is that the 1,500 lb. towing figure you are citing is assuming that the coach is at its GVWR. If you do not load the coach to its maximum capacity, the weight of the vehicle you tow can be heavier.

I downloaded the 2014 Coachmen Freelander specification page from the brochure to this post and the figures that CampDaven posted appear to be correct and from that, your figure of 1,500 lbs. is derived from subtracting one from the other which is also correct (13,000 - 11,500 = 1,500).

However, again, this is assuming that you will have the coach loaded down to its absolute maximum capacity (or its GVWR).

As you can see from the specification page, your coach will have a CCC of 2,460 lbs. That figure represents the maximum cargo or personal "stuff" you can carry without exceeding the GVWR.

So, in simple terms, let's say all the stuff you load into the coach is 1,000 lbs. less than the CCC, that means that the weight of the vehicle you can tow can essentially go up by 1,000 lbs. That means you can conceivably tow a vehicle behind your coach that can weigh 2,500 lbs. if you keep your CCC under 1,460 lbs. or 1,000 lbs. under the GVWR. This is just an example but in a nutshell, the less cargo you take, the more you can increase the weight of the vehicle you tow. The maximum weight of both vehicles combined, however, can't be more than 13,000 lbs.

Therefore, you could tow the Honda Fit (let's assume that it weighs exactly 2,500 lbs.) if you keep your CCC under 1,460 lbs. or 1,000 lbs. under the motorhome's GVWR of 11,500 lbs.

It's a balancing act. To start, load the motorhome up as you would if you traveling and going on a trip (all your gear onboard, full tank of fuel, enough water, etc.) Then go and get it weighed. If the weight is 10,500 lbs. or less, then it is in fact 1,000 lbs. or more under its GVWR and you can tow a vehicle of 2,500 lbs. --also, adjust your calculations for the number of passengers you will be traveling with (add their weights into the equation).

If the weight is substantially under the 11,500 lb. GVWR, then you may even be able to tow a heavier vehicle.

Once you've determined that you can comfortably live with that amount of cargo you are taking, you can then safely buy the Honda Fit. Once you've purchased the Fit, weigh both the vehicles together (or separately and add the weights together, including the tow bar) just to make sure you are under the 13,000 lb. GCWR. If you are over, adjust the amount of cargo so that you are sure that both the coach (GVWR) and the coach and the Fit combined (GCWR) are under each of the limits.

BTW, you also have to keep in mind how you are distributing the weight. When weighing, make sure that cargo you are taking isn't making the weight on the rear axle greater than 7,800 lbs. or what is referred to as GAWR ...another part of the balancing act.

Again, if you folks are not heavy packers, who knows, you may be able to tow even a slightly heavier vehicle.


...and I will also defer to others more "expert" that can chime in.



edited to add:

(I was composing my post and didn't know Libero already posted essentially the same information that is easier to understand. Disregard anything I posted.)

[Mr_D]

Originally Posted by theroc

What you have to keep in mind, Cathy, is that the 1,500 lb. towing figure you are citing is assuming that the coach is at its GVWR. If you do not load the coach to its maximum capacity, the weight of the vehicle you tow can be heavier.

Nope, doesn't work that way.
You can't use weight from being under you GVWR to add to the weight you can tow, or at least not legally and also keep the warranty in effect. If the manufacturer says you can tow 1,500#'s than that's the most you can tow even if nothing is loaded in the MH.

[jimmyjnr]

Originally Posted by Mr_D

Nope, doesn't work that way.
You can't use weight from being under you GVWR to add to the weight you can tow, or at least not legally and also keep the warranty in effect. If the manufacturer says you can tow 1,500#'s than that's the most you can tow even if nothing is loaded in the MH.

X2. And guess what figure your insurance company would use if you had an accident / claim

[theroc]

Originally Posted by Mr_D

Nope, doesn't work that way.
You can't use weight from being under you GVWR to add to the weight you can tow, or at least not legally and also keep the warranty in effect. If the manufacturer says you can tow 1,500#'s than that's the most you can tow even if nothing is loaded in the MH.

No, I'm sorry, you're not interpreting what I'm explaining correctly.

The manufacturer is NOT saying that the maximum towing weight is 1,500 lbs.

The manufacturer is stating a GVWR and a GCWR and as long as you keep your weight below those manufacturer mandated weights, there is nothing that will void the warranty or create a condition in which will make it unsafe to operate.

I did NOT recommend the OP do anything unsafe or illegal.

As long as the OP keeps both the GVWR and GCWR below the manufacturer's stated figures, there is not any reason at all that they will not be able to tow more than 1,500 lbs.

Nowhere in the manufacturer's literature does it state that the maximum towing weight is 1,500 lbs.

1,500 lb. figure only comes into play if the weight of the motorhome is at its GVWR, THEN the weight of vehicle being towed cannot exceed 1,500 lbs. because at that point the total combination will be over the Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR).

[Mekanic]

Originally Posted by CampDaven

I see the following specs:
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) 11,500 lbs.
Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) 13,000 lbs.
At this link:
Freelander - Coachmen RV
Based on that, 1500 lbs is the limit.
Other folks more expert may chime in.
Dave

I am really shocked that vehicle with a GVWR of 11,500 only has a GCWR of 13000. They are Not all that different from the 1 ton truck chassis they are based on.

[Libero]

IMHO. - and that of my RV manufacturer - theoc is 100% correct.

As I put in my post, my listed tow weight is 5000lbs. It is right in the manual, as is my GVWR of 12300 and GCWR of 16000. If I merely take the difference between the GCWR and the GVWR the tow weight would be 3700 lbs.

I sent an email to the maufacturer on this a couple of years ago and they confirmed my understanding. The message was:

You should not exceed either weight. But if you do not travel with the full GVWR and stay within the axel weight parameters, you can get up to the advertised 5000lb Tow weight. The power train and hitch are rated for 5000lbs tow and 350lbs tongue wt.

Sounds like sound logic to me. I am curious about why those who those who say this cannot be calculated this way. I am always open to new ideas.

BTW, I would think a 5000lb load would really be sluggish behind my RV. I never travel at full GVWR or full GCWR but I have towed my Malibu with a wt of 3300lbs and it did slow me down on hills. I normally tow a Smart car that comes in about 1840lbs. Many times I don't even take a toad.

I suggest the OP might be best to go direct to the manufacturer to get the skinny from them again. It sounded a bit confusing to me. I suspect the advertised TOW wt is 3500lbs and the OP made a typo re tounge wt and the only way this can legally be done is as my manufacturer explained to me. It just makes sense also.

Good luck.

PS just googled the Tow wt of the coach in question. It is listed at 3500 lbs. But if in doubt, get the skinny right from the horses mouth in writing. But the posted specs say 3500lbs tow wt and that wt should not be exceeded regardless of GVWR and GCWR ratings. Who would argue about that? It is common sense.

[jamesrxx951]

Originally Posted by Mekanic

I am really shocked that vehicle with a GVWR of 11,500 only has a GCWR of 13000. They are Not all that different from the 1 ton truck chassis they are based on.

I was looking at the specs and could not find the engine size. Since the other motorhomes that are longer tow more, I wonder if this motorhome has the 5.4L V8 in it and that is the limiting factor.

[jamesrxx951]

Originally Posted by jamesrxx951

I was looking at the specs and could not find the engine size. Since the other motorhomes that are longer tow more, I wonder if this motorhome has the 5.4L V8 in it and that is the limiting factor.

I checked into the van chassis specs and based on this motorhomes specs, this chassis has the 5.4L V8. The V10 chassis has a 18500LB GCVW rating. The engine is the limiting factor when towing.

[cathy rice]

Thanks to all