Flat towing with a 2.0L MB

[Sonoma Coast]

I am considering buying a 2024 or 2025 Thor Delano on the Mercedes Benz chassis. The specifications say it is capable of towing 7,500 lbs. A Jeep Wrangler Sport with some extra stuff would weigh in at around 5,000 lbs. Has anyone had experience flat towing this type of load and how did it perform? Thanks.

[bigb56]

Originally Posted by Sonoma Coast

I am considering buying a 2024 or 2025 Thor Delano on the Mercedes Benz chassis. The specifications say it is capable of towing 7,500 lbs. A Jeep Wrangler Sport with some extra stuff would weigh in at around 5,000 lbs. Has anyone had experience flat towing this type of load and how did it perform? Thanks.

Have not towed with the new 2.0, only the 3.0. I am curious though because the 2.0 high output is supposed to have more HP and torque than the 3.0. I've kind of been waiting to see how the 2.0 does.

Is the new Thor on the 4500 chassis or the 3500 chassis? If it's on the 3500 chassis keep in mind your towing capacity will be limited by your GCVWR which is 15,250 on the 3500. Subtracting your GVWR of 11,030 from that only leaves 4,200 for the Jeep.

If it's on the 4500 chassis, there's kind of a double edged sword there as well. MB recently changed the allowable curb weight of the 4500 to allow for heavier builds, but the GCVWR didn't change, it's still 15,250. So you have to take your weight while loaded and subtract that from 15,250 to get your allowable towing capacity. If you use the full 12,125 allowable GVW that leaves you even less for towing, only 3,125 lbs. To tow 4,200 lbs you'd need to reduce your GVW to the same 11,030 of the 3500 which may not even be possible depending on the curb weight.

To make this easier to understand ask the sales people to send you a photo of the yellow sticker with the weights on it and post it here.

[Winterbagoal]

Originally Posted by Sonoma Coast

I am considering buying a 2024 or 2025 Thor Delano on the Mercedes Benz chassis. The specifications say it is capable of towing 7,500 lbs. A Jeep Wrangler Sport with some extra stuff would weigh in at around 5,000 lbs. Has anyone had experience flat towing this type of load and how did it perform? Thanks.

If the specs say it can tow 7500lbs, then so be it.
You aren't going to win any races, and you might lose a MPG or two towing, but it should work. Weigh your Wrangler before you try it to confirm it's towable under the specs, and keep the brakes in good shape on both vehicles, and get a reliable towing system to pull it. I've used Blue Ox/Patriot II for years without problems. Albeit, my 2018 Navion has the 3.0L V6 engine and 5 speed xmission.

[bigb56]

Originally Posted by Winterbagoal

If the specs say it can tow 7500lbs, then so be it.
You aren't going to win any races, and you might lose a MPG or two towing, but it should work. Weigh your Wrangler before you try it to confirm it's towable under the specs, and keep the brakes in good shape on both vehicles, and get a reliable towing system to pull it. I've used Blue Ox/Patriot II for years without problems. Albeit, my 2018 Navion has the 3.0L V6 engine and 5 speed xmission.

No way can it tow 7,500 lbs. The only way it could tow 7,500 lbs is if the motorhome weighed 7,750. Ain't happening. All the numbers need to be considered.

The Sprinter is rated to tow 7,500 lbs before the motorhome got built on it.

[bigb56]

Here are the old MB specs and the new MB specs. You can see where they changed the UVW of the 4500 to allow for heavier builds while the GVWR and the GCVWR remained the same. So they traded some of the payload for the buildout. There was no change to the towing capacity on any of the chassis, the GCVWR still limits it regardless of the claimed towing capacity.

The GVWR is 1,095 greater than the 3500 chassis but if you use it then it comes right off your GCVWR, thus lowering the towing capacity.

[wildtoad]

Looking at the new chart, for any of the builds but especially the 3500/4500 if you subtract UVW from GVWR you get squat for carry capacity, much less tow a Jeep.


That 7,500 number seems to be the hitch rating, not the towing capacity.

[bigb56]

Originally Posted by wildtoad

Looking at the new chart, for any of the builds but especially the 3500/4500 if you subtract UVW from GVWR you get squat for carry capacity, much less tow a Jeep.


That 7,500 number seems to be the hitch rating, not the towing capacity.

Yes that's true if the builder takes up all the available UVW. In the case of the Thor on the 4500 specs below, if accurate, the UVW is 9,782 which would leave a carrying capacity of 2,343 lbs. So let's say the owner loads up 1,000 lbs of people and gear, that would leave 4,468 for towing. If they use the entire 2,343 then they can only tow 3,125.

[Winterbagoal]

Originally Posted by bigb56

No way can it tow 7,500 lbs. The only way it could tow 7,500 lbs is if the motorhome weighed 7,750. Ain't happening. All the numbers need to be considered.

The Sprinter is rated to tow 7,500 lbs before the motorhome got built on it.

The only assumption I made was that the OP used specs from the Thor Delano website or the motorhome's brochure, not the pre-build numbers from MB. If Thor has rated the towing capacity at 7500lbs they have to have done the homework to back that claim up, or face onerous litigation if they're wrong, and someone is injured or killed, as a result of an incorrect towing rating.
Secondly, you're making a fairly common mistake when calculating towing capacity of a motorhome. Just subtracting the GVWR from the GCWR is wrong.
I've explained the correct way to calculate towing capacity in other threads on several forums, including this one.
For your info... I'll do it one more time....you can find this excerpt on this forum, if you choose to look.

"If this is mostly a towing question,
I flat tow a 2016 Wrangler JKU Sahara that weighs around 4500lbs, loaded for travel (1/4 tank of gas), including all towing accessories, braking system, towbar, safety cables, wiring, and some cargo, et al.
Most Wranglers are easy to flat tow, partly because the steering doesn't always lock, so no key in the ignition required.
Put transmission in Park, and transfer case in Neutral, and off you go.
My 2018 Navion weighs around 10,500lbs loaded for travel (full tanks diesel/propane, 1/3 water, empty black/gray) and including our "stuff".
Towing anything with motorhomes is more than just subtracting the GVWR from the GCWR.
How much you can tow is just simple math.
The weight of the "towed" can't exceed (3,500, 5,000, 7500 lbs) aka the maximum weight capacity of the hitch/towbar.
The total weight of motorhome + towed can't exceed the GCWR, which is 15,250lbs in my case.
So, for me 10,500lbs + 4,500lbs, and my total weight is 15,000lbs.
I have around 250lbs of buffer, which isn't much, but it's within the chassis specs.
I do my weighing just prior to departure, at a nearby MTO (government) Inspection Station scale.
Getting the weights done accurately is the most important part of towing.
After that, it's just simple math. You know your fixed limits, and just need to know/adjust the variables. "

I used my particular setup to get the fixed numbers. I have no experience with the newer Sprinter cab chassis, but if Thor says 7500lbs then the hitch and chassis had better be able to pull that much weight. I tend to minimize the downward force calculation which is usually 10% of the hitch's pull rating, i.e 5000lb hitch rating, downwards force limit 500lbs, and so on. Since we're flat towing the downwards force numbers should be minimal. Probably just the weight of the tow bar itself.

bigb56 you've actually posted on an old thread that I added this to, and saw this before. tizeye was the OP, I believe.

[bigb56]

Originally Posted by Winterbagoal

The only assumption I made was that the OP used specs from the Thor Delano website or the motorhome's brochure, not the pre-build numbers from MB. If Thor has rated the towing capacity at 7500lbs they have to have done the homework to back that claim up, or face onerous litigation if they're wrong, and someone is injured or killed, as a result of an incorrect towing rating. New vehicles, especially trucks, are advertised all the time with tow ratings that are not achievable under most conditions. They also come with a placard that shows the owner what the numbers are that they have to stay within which throws the advertised towing capacity out the window in most cases, unless they are towing a sled. How can you look at the MB upfitter charts and think that a 10,000 lb (at least) MH can still tow 7,500 lbs? That's totally wrong and leading the OP to think they can actually do that
Secondly, you're making a fairly common mistake when calculating towing capacity of a motorhome. Just subtracting the GVWR from the GCWR is wrong. I never said that. I stated some examples and the first one I used GVWR weight as a loaded number, if you travel at GVWR as many Sprinter MHs do then it's accurate, but I also stated that the tow capacity equals the GCVWR minus the weight of the loaded vehicle, which means it is a moving target. I said the same thing you said further down in your very reply.
I've explained the correct way to calculate towing capacity in other threads on several forums, including this one.
For your info... I'll do it one more time....you can find this excerpt on this forum, if you choose to look.

"If this is mostly a towing question,
I flat tow a 2016 Wrangler JKU Sahara that weighs around 4500lbs, loaded for travel (1/4 tank of gas), including all towing accessories, braking system, towbar, safety cables, wiring, and some cargo, et al.
Most Wranglers are easy to flat tow, partly because the steering doesn't always lock, so no key in the ignition required.
Put transmission in Park, and transfer case in Neutral, and off you go.
My 2018 Navion weighs around 10,500lbs loaded for travel (full tanks diesel/propane, 1/3 water, empty black/gray) and including our "stuff".
Towing anything with motorhomes is more than just subtracting the GVWR from the GCWR.
How much you can tow is just simple math.
The weight of the "towed" can't exceed (3,500, 5,000, 7500 lbs) aka the maximum weight capacity of the hitch/towbar.
The total weight of motorhome + towed can't exceed the GCWR, which is 15,250lbs in my case. And I didn't basically say the same thing?? I've always told people to weigh the loaded rig and subtract that from the GCVWR to find out how much they can tow, it's the simplest way, but without the OP having bought the rig yet we need to use examples as estimates
So, for me 10,500lbs + 4,500lbs, and my total weight is 15,000lbs.
I have around 250lbs of buffer, which isn't much, but it's within the chassis specs.
I do my weighing just prior to departure, at a nearby MTO (government) Inspection Station scale.
Getting the weights done accurately is the most important part of towing.
After that, it's just simple math. You know your fixed limits, and just need to know/adjust the variables. " For me, our GVW when loaded for a trip is very close to if not right at 11,000 lbs. This leaves me with 4,250 to tow. We tow 3,600 lbs leaving 650 lbs of headroom.

I used my particular setup to get the fixed numbers. I have no experience with the newer Sprinter cab chassis, but if Thor says 7500lbs then the hitch and chassis had better be able to pull that much weight. Yes of course the hitch and chassis retains the original rating if not modified, but the weight ratings trump what that rig can tow I tend to minimize the downward force calculation which is usually 10% of the hitch's pull rating, i.e 5000lb hitch rating, downwards force limit 500lbs, and so on. Since we're flat towing the downwards force numbers should be minimal. Probably just the weight of the tow bar itself.

Replies in blue

[Winterbagoal]

Originally Posted by bigb56

Replies in blue

All of your earler comments and responses are based on your speculation and assumptions, some of which have nothing to do with the OP's original question(s). He's considering a specific motorhome, (gave year, make, model) not a truck, and appears to know what the motorhome is rated for probably as part of his research/homework, and knows what he wants to tow and it's numbers, and asked what it would be like. I answered in general terms based on my personal experience, and said "you won't win any races and your MPG may suffer, but based on the numbers he quoted, it should work". If (my assumption) the numbers are Thor's actual towing capacity numbers.
My (lengthy) reply to you, was based on real world numbers (mine) to demonstrate the correct way to determine whether or not you can safely tow one vehicle with another, and to add a couple of caveats, as well (braking, downwards force, as examples).
Any further discussion will be one sided.

[bigb56]

Originally Posted by Winterbagoal

All of your earler comments and responses are based on your speculation and assumptions, some of which have nothing to do with the OP's original question(s). He's considering a specific motorhome, (gave year, make, model) not a truck, and appears to know what the motorhome is rated for probably as part of his research/homework, and knows what he wants to tow and it's numbers, and asked what it would be like. I answered in general terms based on my personal experience, and said "you won't win any races and your MPG may suffer, but based on the numbers he quoted, it should work". If (my assumption) the numbers are Thor's actual towing capacity numbers.
My (lengthy) reply to you, was based on real world numbers (mine) to demonstrate the correct way to determine whether or not you can safely tow one vehicle with another, and to add a couple of caveats, as well (braking, downwards force, as examples).
Any further discussion will be one sided.

No, sorry but telling the OP that "If Thor says it can tow 7,500 lbs so be it" on a motorhome that can't tow anywhere near that much is totally mis-leading and risky advice to the OP and that's not what this forum is about, but whatever.

[Spdracr39]

Thread Warning
Your replies have been posted time to move on.

[Sonoma Coast]

Thank you both. I just spent time on the Thor site and found another towing value. But it does specifically say "pull 5,000lbs". Clearly I have some homework to do and I need both the MB and the Thor literature. Thanks again.

[Sonoma Coast]

Thank you both. Clearly I have my homework to do. I just spent some time on the Thor site and it said the Delano is built on the 4500 chassis. I also found in another part of their site where it specifically said "This Class C RV’s build provides a smooth and comfortable ride, powered by a 2.0-liter I-4 diesel engine that effortlessly navigates through the open roads, even while towing up to 5,000 pounds to the trailer hitch". Since I have read both 7,500 and 5,000 lbs I will have to dig in a bit deeper. Thanks again for your time.