Keep searching this forum. There is a ton of info. Look at posts made by me...time_to_go_now. I have a trailer toad and use it all the time.
Four Winds build on the 19,500 lb. Kodiak chassis. Not the best choice for towing. You want the 22,000 lb. chassis.
There is no way the you can pull 9,000 lbs. with a class C, even a Kodiak chassis Super C, and stay within weight limits. While the Jayco Seneca comes with a 10,000 lb. hitch, there is no way you can come in under GCWR with a 9,000 lb. trailer.
Good Luck.
Jim and Deanna
Tiffin Allegro 35QBA 2007 Carson Trailer 22' Titan TH Trailer Toad
Me, Wife, Boy/10, Boy/7, Girl/5
Faith/Springer
1985 Toyota 4Runner
five quads, three kids, two motorcycles, one wife, one dog, one cat!
I tow flat, but Time-to-go-now is right. I have a GVWR of 19,500 lbs, and a GCVR of 26,000 lbs; even though I have a 10,000 lb tow hitch, the most I can tow is 6500 lbs. It seems that the manufacturers sell what they "think" the buyer wants, not what the vehicle can legally handle.
Because of the short wheelbase and extended overhang, the slightest movement in the steering is exaggerated at the hitch which transfers to the toad. since there are leaf springs on all four corners, the springs also will roll side to side allowing lateral movement of the chassis and body all while moving in a forward direction. The side to side movement of the chassis causes the steering control arm to shift laterally moving the front steering components without a related movement of the steering wheel. A real circus...
Denny
marka123 wrote: Howdy,
How are you towing the Tahoe? Flat tow? Dolly? Regular trailer?
It's not good news to hear that towing with that setup is a nightmare... :-/ What's it do when you tow?
time_to_go_now wrote: Keep searching this forum. There is a ton of info. Look at posts made by me...time_to_go_now. I have a trailer toad and use it all the time.
Four Winds build on the 19,500 lb. Kodiak chassis. Not the best choice for towing. You want the 22,000 lb. chassis.
There is no way the you can pull 9,000 lbs. with a class C, even a Kodiak chassis Super C, and stay within weight limits. While the Jayco Seneca comes with a 10,000 lb. hitch, there is no way you can come in under GCWR with a 9,000 lb. trailer.
Good Luck.
In my opinion you are not correct. I tow a Tahoe and that is something you cannot do with a Seneca unless you can keep the unloaded weight below 20,000 lbs. GVWR is 22,000 and GCWR is 26,000 (GCWR is the same as the 19,500 lbs Greyhawk that I own). No question the diesel will do a better job hauling, but if you are way over the GCWR you are looking for trouble. Now, when towing that 9,000 lb trailer the tongue weight is likely to be 900+ lbs and that is going to eat up some of the GVWR as well.
Frankly, I think you have to look one class up to get what you need. If your current Class A is a gasser I assume you have enhanced your 5000 lb receiver? Also sounds to me like you could be over the GVWR and well over the GCWR unless our Class A is kept very light.
Don
Don, Bev & Phil
07 Jayco 32SS on Kodiak May 07 Yahoo Kodiak Group
06 HR Amb 40PLQ ISC 330/950 9/05-5/07
04 Winnie Jrny 39W CAT C7 7/04-9/05)
00 Triple E Commander 5/03-5/04
Toad - 07 Tahoe LTZ 12/06 -
04 Colorado Z71 04- 06
Given the tongue weight placed on the rear axle you'd pretty well have to run empty and drive by remote control to tow 9,000 lbs and not exceed the GCWR.
Frankly, I think you have to look one class up to get what you need. If your current Class A is a gasser I assume you have enhanced your 5000 lb receiver? Also sounds to me like you could be over the GVWR and well over the GCWR unless our Class A is kept very light.
Thanks for the reply. I was starting to think the super c's weren't as good for towing as I'd thought. :-/
What's one class up from a super c in terms of towing? Of the RV types I know about (A, B, C, Super C), I thought the super c was the best for towing real weight...
We don't currently tow with our class A (which is an old 26' 1984 on a P30 chassis). We'll have to beef it up considerably to even think about it, and we'll be _well_ over recommended capacities if we go that route. At a minimum, we'll need to reinforce the frame, change rear springs, and fabricate a hitch (there's already swaybars, front springs, super steer stuff, etc. on there). We were looking at a Super C because I'm not really too excited about us exceeding the rated GVWR/GCWR by as much as we will if we take this route.
I didn't expect it to be this hard to figure out what RV I need to tow an enclosed trailer. :-)
The class of motorhome that can reasonably handle a trailer that heavy is one built on heavier truck chassis than the typical mass market Super C.
Yes, the Super C manufacturers start with a light-medium truck of decent capacity, but then they fully load the chassis with 15,000 to 18,000 pounds of house, and greatly extend the rear overhang to make room for the house so that they are already poorly balanced before you put any weight on the hitch.
If you want to put a house on a truck and still have five tons of towing capacity, you need to be looking at more truck (Class 6 to Class 8) and less house. Look at truck conversions (like Haulmark or Kingsley) or the larger Dynaquest models from Dynamax.
You can find a nominal 10K towing capacity in large diesel pushers, but with rear engines and a rearward weight bias, they are not as well balanced as medium to heavy duty truck, for the task of towing.
No question Mark, a real tough decision. I've been amazed how many racers I've seen with older Class C's towing a trailer that is clearly way beyond the GCWR of the MH and likely way over the GVWR. When I see them I keep my fingers crossed they are able to keep out of trouble - off the track as well as on the track.
If you have to move up one level to a heavier Class 6. One unit that could meet your needs I gather is the Gulfstream SuperNova - but it is a new unit and you won't find anything close to your price range on the used lot.
My son has gone through a similar exercise. He looked at an older C and was not pleased with what he saw. Figured it would be a very high cost to prepare it to tow 7000 lbs, if that was even possible (he had serious doubts). He tows his trailer (car is SCCA DSR) with an Avalanche and feels that is marginal even though he does not exceed its towing capacity.
Lots of luck in your search and let us know what you decide to do.
az99 wrote: What are you racing ? The reason I ask is that seems quite heavy for a 24' trailer. Is it a steel or aluminum trailer ?
I'm running a 4th gen camaro. On the order of 3300 lbs or so. Trailer is 24' tag, steel (Vintage Bandit). Empty weight is listed at 3500 lbs as I recall. I'm figuring worst case of another 1k to 2k of spares, tools, fuel, tires/wheels, etc.
Looking down the road, I'd like to upgrade to a 28', so I have room for a golf cart.
Btw, today we tow the trailer with a Dodge 2500 diesel which is a little overkill. Its a pretty comfortable tow at pretty much any speed we want to run. For local events my wife drives the truck/trailer and I drive our current MH. But in addition to it being annoying to have to drive separately & such, that doesn't really work for national events.
So we're looking at options to fix it, but without crushing the budget.
Offline
.
