Community Forums

darstar · 04-12-2018, 07:10 PM

I am the owner of a new ( to me ) U320 04 42 ft. I pull a open 22' trailer with my Range Rover aboard. Its been a week since i parked in a Galveston RV park. I have come to find I can not open the engine door while the trailer is attached.! Not sure what too do, would like to hear from those who also pul a trailer for their thoughts and experiences. I find this to be a potential hazard in the event the compartment needs entry fast. What have others done who have the same seranio ?

valentob · 04-13-2018, 04:46 PM

Most of the Foretravel folks with your era coach are on the Foretravel Owner's forum, foreforums.com. I am sure you would get a lot of responses to your question if you posted it there.

saddlesore · 04-13-2018, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darstar

I am the owner of a new ( to me ) U320 04 42 ft. I pull a open 22' trailer with my Range Rover aboard. Its been a week since i parked in a Galveston RV park. I have come to find I can not open the engine door while the trailer is attached.! Not sure what too do, would like to hear from those who also pul a trailer for their thoughts and experiences. I find this to be a potential hazard in the event the compartment needs entry fast. What have others done who have the same seranio ?

WELCOME !!! to the Family!!
You may need to add a 2" extension to the reciever so as to clear the lift door.
And as has been suggested..the other place.
pm sent

darstar · 04-14-2018, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saddlesore

WELCOME !!! to the Family!!
You may need to add a 2" extension to the reciever so as to clear the lift door.
And as has been suggested..the other place.
pm sent

I have been looking at receiver extns however so far they all decrease GVW and hitch wt. by more than half .

saddlesore · 04-14-2018, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darstar

I have been looking at receiver extns however so far they all decrease GVW and hitch wt. by more than half .

A short receiver extension (2" or so) shouldn't have much affect, just get the heaviest built that you can find. (thickest walled box tubing)

darstar · 04-14-2018, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saddlesore

A short receiver extension (2" or so) shouldn't have much affect, just get the heaviest built that you can find. (thickest walled box tubing)

Been trying , but can not find any ext. shorter than 8 inches ?

saddlesore · 04-14-2018, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darstar

Been trying , but can not find any ext. shorter than 8 inches ?

OK, get the heaviest one you can find.. If 8" so be it..
Put a ball on it (finger tight will be good enough for now..
Then slide it into your receiver hitch until you have just enough room to open the engine lift door with the ball and tow bar in place.
get soap stone or similar and mark it .. thru the hole that your receiver lock pin slides thru.
Once you have that, take the extension to a good machine shop and have them drill the hole for the lock pin..
Unless I'm missing something...(a pic would help to see what you are working with)

darstar · 04-14-2018, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saddlesore

OK, get the heaviest one you can find.. If 8" so be it..
Put a ball on it (finger tight will be good enough for now..
Then slide it into your receiver hitch until you have just enough room to open the engine lift door with the ball and tow bar in place.
get soap stone or similar and mark it .. thru the hole that your receiver lock pin slides thru.
Once you have that, take the extension to a good machine shop and have them drill the hole for the lock pin..
Unless I'm missing something...(a pic would help to see what you are working with)

No , all the " ext Tube " is, is a reducer that slides in to the fixed 2" internal factory receiver . It has no attachment points other than the holes already drilled in both units. Some have a welded ball on the end, some have have a hole for placement of the ball......so , it would be a longer than 8" to match with a standard mount assembly in order to move the ball further rearward and clear the engine access door. ( I dislike the way Foretravel used this door that rotates vertical to open, which takes up more space than a standard barn door like set up on my previous CCC. The only way i can see a strong connection using a longer tube would be a welded or bolted same size unit ( extension) within the original10,000 reciever . Such a set up would have to be certified for the extended distance required to clear the ball . There would always be some reduction in wt capacity,( gvw and hitch point load ) but if designed correctly should work ok. I find it hard to believe Foretravel did not address the issue long ago. Not everyone tows flat on ground cars.

saddlesore · 04-14-2018, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darstar

No , all the " ext Tube " is, is a reducer that slides in to the fixed 2" internal factory receiver . It has no attachment points other than the holes already drilled in both units. Some have a welded ball on the end, some have have a hole for placement of the ball......so , it would be a longer than 8" to match with a standard mount assembly in order to move the ball further rearward and clear the engine access door. ( I dislike the way Foretravel used this door that rotates vertical to open, which takes up more space than a standard barn door like set up on my previous CCC. The only way i can see a strong connection using a longer tube would be a welded or bolted same size unit ( extension) within the original10,000 reciever . Such a set up would have to be certified for the extended distance required to clear the ball . There would always be some reduction in wt capacity,( gvw and hitch point load ) but if designed correctly should work ok. I find it hard to believe Foretravel did not address the issue long ago. Not everyone tows flat on ground cars.

OH......I thought that you were sliding an extended tube into the original receiver hitch...not adding to your existing ...

darstar · 04-14-2018, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saddlesore

OH......I thought that you were sliding an extended tube into the original receiver hitch...not adding to your existing ...

So far all I have found was these extended tubes That slide into the original receivers . Yes they will work to extend the hitch (ball attached ) away from the lift door....however it states right on the receiver ( tubes) that this set up is not too be used for pulling a trailer. They are designed to be used for attaching bike racks , spare tires , and other things that are designed to use the trailer ball for easy attaching the rack.